Impaired sensory gating and increased distractibility are key
information-processing deficits in schizophrenia. This study evaluated the
hypothesis that distractibility is related to reduced sensory gating.
Performance on vigilance and distractibility tasks was compared to prepulse
inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex in 28 stable chronic
psychotic patients. PPI significantly correlated with distractibility task
score on a continuous performance test and lateralized attention on the
Posner test. These results suggest that performance on tests of
distractibility and lateralized attention are related to a measure of
sensory gating.Abstract Teaser