More prolonged brain activity related to gaze cueing in schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The ability to use the gaze direction of another person to guide attention is important for social functioning, but behavioral reports on this topic among individuals with schizophrenia are inconclusive. Event Related Potentials (ERPs) can very accurately pinpoint the shifting of attention, and can therefore shed more light on cueing abilities in schizophrenia. METHODS: ERPs were measured during two spatial attention tasks in 14 high-functioning, young adult schizophrenic individuals and 19 age- and IQ-matched controls. In one task neutral faces were used as cues, and in the other arrows. RESULTS: Speeded behavioral and ERP responses were found to validly cued targets compared with responses to invalidly cued targets in both groups. However, we found more prolonged cueing effects in the patient group in later stages of processing, indicated by enhanced validity effects of late ERP latencies to gaze cues but not to arrow cues. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides evidence for normal attentional orienting at behavioral level and early cognitive processing, but more prolonged cognitive evaluation of gaze cues in young adults with schizophrenia. SIGNIFICANCE: Evidence from this study excludes a specific attentional orienting deficit from being a possible endophenotype for the disorder.