Computer EEG and Auditory Evoked Potential Investigations in Children at High Risk for Schizophrenia

Computerized EEG and evoked auditory potential investigations demonstrated that the patterns of a group of children at high risk for schizophrenia (children of schizophrenic parents) had statistically significant differences when compared with those of a matched control group of children. High-risk children were characterized by the presence of high-frequency beta activity, fewer fast alpha waves, and more very slow low-voltage delta activity in computerized EEG as well as by shorter latencies in auditory evoked potential. These neurophysiological characteristics of high-risk children showed striking similarities to computerized EEG and evoked potential findings in psychotic children and schizophrenic adults, suggesting that this pattern may be the neurophysiological measurement of schizophrenia. These findings support some of the most recent biochemical hypotheses in schizophrenia and, if confirmed by further work, suggest new means in the preventive treatment of this illness.