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Temporal and time–frequency features of auditory oddball response in distinct subtypes of patients at clinical high risk for psychosis

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Abstract

Individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis exhibit a reduced P300 oddball response, which indicates deficits in attention and working memory processes. Previous studies have mainly researched these responses in the temporal domain; hence, non-phase-locked or induced neural activities may have been ignored. Event-related potential (ERP) and time–frequency (TF) information, combined with clinical and cognitive profiles, may provide an insight into the pathophysiology and psychopathology of the CHR stage. The 104 CHR individuals who completed cognitive assessments and ERP tests were recruited and followed up between 2016 and 2018. Individuals with CHR were classified by three clinical subtypes demonstrated before, specifically 32 from Cluster-1 (characterized by extensive negative symptoms and cognitive deficits, at the highest risk for conversion to psychosis), 34 from Cluster-2 (characterized by thought and behavioral disorganization, with moderate cognitive impairment), and 38 from Cluster-3 (characterized by the mildest symptoms and cognitive deficits). Electroencephalograms were recorded during the auditory oddball paradigm. The P300 ERPs were analyzed in the temporal domain. The event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) and inter-trial coherence (ITC) were acquired by TF analysis. A reduced P300 response to target tones was noted in Cluster-1 relative to the other two clusters. Moreover, the P300 amplitude of Cluster-1 was associated with speed of processing (SoP) scores. Furthermore, the P300 amplitude of Cluster-3 was significantly correlated with verbal and visual learning scores. In the TF analysis, decreased delta ERSP and ITC were observed in Cluster-1; delta ITC was associated with SoP scores in Cluster-3. The results indicate relatively disrupted oddball responses in a certain CHR subtype and a close affinity between these electrophysiological indexes and attention, working memory, and declarative memory within different CHR clusters. These findings suggest that the auditory oddball response is a potential neurophysiological marker for distinct clinical subtypes of CHR.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81671329, 81671332, 81901832), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (19441907800, 19ZR1445200, 17411953100, 19410710800, 19411969100, 19411950800), Shanghai Clinical Research Center for Mental Health (19MC1911100) and The Clinical Research Center at Shanghai Mental Health Center (CRC2018ZD01, CRC2018ZD04), Project of the Key Discipline Construction, Shanghai 3-Year Public Health Action Plan (GWV-10.1-XK18).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders (No.13dz2260500), Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 600 Wanping Nan Road, Shanghai, 200030, People’s Republic of China

    GuiSen Wu, XiaoChen Tang, RanPiao Gan, JiaHui Zeng, YeGang Hu, LiHua Xu, YanYan Wei, YingYing Tang, ChunBo Li, JiJun Wang & TianHong Zhang

  2. Big Data Research Lab, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Tao Chen

  3. Senior Research Fellow, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Tao Chen

  4. Niacin (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Tao Chen

  5. Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT), Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    JiJun Wang

  6. Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    JiJun Wang

  7. Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Bio-X Institutes, 600 Wanping Nan Road, Shanghai, 200030, People’s Republic of China

    JiJun Wang

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  1. GuiSen Wu
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  2. XiaoChen Tang
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  11. JiJun Wang
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Correspondence to JiJun Wang or TianHong Zhang.

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Wu, G., Tang, X., Gan, R. et al. Temporal and time–frequency features of auditory oddball response in distinct subtypes of patients at clinical high risk for psychosis. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 272, 449–459 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-021-01316-1

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