Abstract
With fMRI the prefrontal information integration in neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients compared to matched controls has been studied using a very simple visual (checkerboard 6 Hz) and acoustic (drum) input paradigm. The statistical analysis revealed a significant (p<0.05) activation in the primary visual cortex, extrastriate and acoustic areas of both groups due to the visuo-acoustic stimulation. However, when compared with healthy subjects, first-episode schizophrenics showed a significant (p<0.05) reduced activation pattern in the posterior thalamus and in the prefrontal cortex. In a second approach we used fMRI to investigate possible differences in frontal lobe function of schizophrenic patients alternatively treated with typical or atypical antipsychotic drugs. The fMRI data showed significant differences between the two groups. Under atypical drugs the prefrontal activation patterns tend towards normal control values. Our results support the hypothesis of a dysfunction in the prefrontal-temporolimbic pathway in schizophrenia that can be more favourably modulated by atypical anti- psychotic drug treatment.
| Translated title of the contribution | Neuroleptic drugs and simple information processing |
|---|---|
| Original language | German |
| Pages (from-to) | 97-101 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Psycho |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| State | Published - 2000 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Antipsychotics
- Information processing
- Prefrontal cortex
- Schizophrenia
- fMRI