ERP Study On Conflict Monitoring Function In Patients With Chronic Schizophrenia

Objectives To investigate the impairment of conflict negative wave N270 in schizophrenic patients and its relationship with cognitive function and clinical symptoms,reveal the role of N270 in evaluating conflict processing function in schizophrenic patients.Methods EEG data of 21 schizophrenic patients and 25 healthy subjects were recorded with EGI 128 lead electroencephalogram equipment.N270 was induced by sequential visual comparison task.The task of the experiment was to determine whether the two faces successively presented were identical.The clinical symptoms of schizophrenic patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale(PANSS).The neurocognitive function of patients and healthy controls was assessed by MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery(MCCB).Results 1 There were significant differences in MCCB total score and cognitive function dimension score between patients and healthy group.2 The peak latency of N270 component in patients was significantly delayed at O1,O2,P3 electrodes,but there was no significant difference in N270 amplitude between the two groups.3 The total latency of N270 on O1 electrodes and the total score of PANSS and the total score of positive symptoms in patients showed significant difference.4 There were significant correlations between total cognitive function score,word learning score,working memory score,reasoning and problem solving score and N270.There were significant negative correlations between total MCCB score and latency of N270 on O2 and P4 electrodes in healthy group.Information processing speed,working memory and social cognition had significant negative correlations with latency of N270 on O2 electrodes.Visual learning and attention were negatively correlated with the latency of N270 on P4 electrode,and negatively correlated with working memory and the amplitude of N270 on P4 electrode.Conclusions 1 The cognitive function and N270 of schizophrenic patients are significantly impaired,and N270 of schizophrenic patients is significantly correlated with their clinical symptoms and cognitive function.2 N270 may be an objective indicator for evaluating the impairment of conflict management ability in schizophrenic patients.Figure 4;Table 15;Reference 96...