Association between reduced duration mismatch negativity (MMN) and raised temporal discrimination thresholds in schizophrenia

Objective: The event-related potential known as mismatch negativity (MMN) is elicited whenever the auditory system detects a change against an invariant background of stimulation. A reduction in mismatch negativity is well established in schizophrenia. The present study explored the association between reduced duration mismatch negativity in schizophrenia and behavioural measures of temporal discrimination. Method: Mismatch negativity amplitude to duration increments (125 vs. 50 ms) was compared between individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Mismatch negativity amplitude was also related to two behavioural measures of temporal discrimination (silent and filled intervals) for detecting changes in stimuli of similar duration. Results: Patients produced higher discrimination threshold estimates and smaller amplitude mismatch negativity responses to temporally deviant stimuli. Temporal discrimination thresholds correlated with the amplitude of the phase reversal in mismatch negativity at the left mastoid such that patients who produced the highest thresholds produced the smallest mismatch response. Conclusions: Imprecise representations of the temporal properties of auditory stimuli can account for some of the reduction in mismatch negativity amplitude in some patients but additional factors clearly contribute. The results suggest that patients who do and do not exhibit temporal processing deficits on behavioural tasks produce different patterns of reduction in duration mismatch negativity.