Associated deficits in mismatch negativity generation and tone matching in schizophrenia

Objective: Schizophrenia is associated with deficits in mismatch negativity (MMN) generation and in the ability to match two tones following brief delay. Both deficits reflect impaired early cortical processing of auditory information. However, the relationship between deficits in MMN generation and tone matching performance in schizophrenia has not been established. Methods: MMN and tone matching performance was evaluated in 12 schizophrenic subjects and 12 similar aged controls. A pitch separation known to produce non-ceiling performance in patients (5% Δf) was used. Narrow band filtering of MMN data was used to enhance signal-to-noise ratio. Results: Schizophrenic subjects showed impairments in both MMN generation and tone matching performance. The two deficits were significantly correlated across subjects. In addition, decreased MMN amplitude and poorer tone matching performance correlated with increased severity of negative symptoms. Conclusions: These findings support the concept that similar neurophysiological mechanisms underlie MMN and tone matching deficits in schizophrenia. Further, they indicate that increased sensitivity to environmental change may be related to social withdrawal and other negative symptoms in schizophrenia.