Abstract
In 10 patients with schizophrenia diagnosed by the DSM III-R, we repeatedly recorded the Event-Related Potentials (ERP) based on the odd-ball task, and estimated in great detail their clinical symptoms by using the Brief Psychiatry Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Score for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) from the time in which psychotropic drugs were not taken to the time of their remission. Then I longitudinally evaluated the changes of N100 and P300 component during the course of schizophrenia.
In patients with catatonic type 2 and paranoid type 2, the P300 amplitude tended to be augumented with the remission of their symptoms, whereas in patients with disorganized type 3 and residual type 3, the changes in P300 amplitude were mostly low without having a fixed relation with the change of symptoms. Also, in the intermediate to low level group of social adaptation as compared to high level groups, the P300 component frequently appeared in the ERP when non-target stimulation was made. Also in the lowest level group, the P300 component was not observed at the stimulation of either the target or non-target.
In the cognitive disorder of schizophrenia, therapeutic responsibility was high in the catatonic type and paranoid type whereas in the disorganized type and residual type there was a thrapy-resistant factor in which the pathological state was thought to be different from the former types. And from the evaluation of P300 when non-target stimulation was made, the disorganizing degree of cognitive structures was suggested to affect the social adaptation level.
