Effects of clonidine on MMN and P3a amplitude in schizophrenia patients on stable medication
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a complex brain disease involving several neurotransmitter systems, including aberrant noradrenergic activity, which might underlie cognitive deficits. Clonidine is an α2A-agonist and previous research has demonstrated that single dosages of clonidine normalize sensori(motor) gating in schizophrenia. Currently, we investigated whether clonidine is able to normalize mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a amplitude deficits in this same group of patients. This is important, since reports have shown that MMN amplitude is associated with cognitive functioning and daily life functions in schizophrenia. Twenty chronically ill, male schizophrenia patients were tested with the MMN paradigm from the Copenhagen Psychophysiological Test Battery (CPTB) on 5 occasions, separated by a week. Patients received randomized, yet balanced, either a placebo or a single dose (25, 50, 75 or 150 μg) of clonidine (each dose only once) on top of their usual medication on each occasion. Patients were matched on age and gender with 20 healthy controls (HC) who did not receive any treatment. We found decreased MMN and P3a amplitudes in our patients compared to HC. Although clonidine did neither significantly increase MMN nor P3a amplitude in ou...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Methods Mentioned
Software Mentioned
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Auditory Perception
Auditory perception is the ability to receive and interpret information attained by the ears. Here is the latest research on factors and underlying mechanisms that influence auditory perception.