Alteration of event related potentials and event related spectral perturbation in schizophrenia and ADHD

Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have allowed more accurate measurement of clinical deficits and underlying neuropathophysiology for a broad range of neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. The associated impairments and the high prevalence of this disorder, prompt many researchers to focus on identification of early risk factors and possible biomarkers.

A well-documented and promising approach is the study of auditory integrity, mainly due to its susceptibility to translational research, as impairments in N1, P1 and MMN have been reported in both human and animal research (Javitt et al., 1998; Javitt et al., 2000; Rosburg et al., 2008; Turetsky et al., 2009; Javitt and Sweet, 2015).

A crucial need in schizophrenia research focus on early intervention that may be extremely important for delaying and even preventing schizophrenia symptoms’ onset. In order to find sensitive and specific biomarkers for this disorder, extensive research in high risk for developing schizophrenia groups must be done.

Consequently, the aim of this project is to explore the vulnerability of developing schizophrenia in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, a group with 30% higher risk for development of schizophrenia spectrum disorder and 40% risk for development of ADHD, compared with healthy population (Schneider et al., 2014). ADHD association might be relevant since the adult onset of schizophrenia might be meaningfully linked with ADHD diagnosis during childhood (Keshavan et al., 2001; Dalsgaard et al., 2014).

The main approach of the project is to study the development of auditory sensory processing in this population using neurophysiological approaches, including event related potential and event related spectral perturbation techniques. In order to understand the relationship between neurochemical theories and underlying auditory pathogenic mechanisms, change-specific components of the auditory event related potential are studied, since accumulating evidence supports that these auditory components are sensitive to brain changes prevailing prior to, and subsequent to the onset of schizophrenia (Näätänen et al., 2015; Näätänen et al., 2016). More, analyses are done across ages to provide a prominent, developmentally disparate depiction over stages prior to development of schizophrenia.

In sum, we expect the results to increase the knowledge on the development of auditory function from childhood to adolescence in 22q11.2 DS population, to provide valuable biomarkers which could decode the pathophysiology of prodromal period and further to assist early intervention strategies that may attenuate and delay the onset of schizophrenia.