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. 2011 Nov 2;37(1):43–76. doi: 10.1038/npp.2011.251

Table 4. Neuropsychiatric Illnesses Are Characterized by a Range of Impairments in Neural System Functioning that have an Impact on Clinical Outcome. Although most of the work in this area has been done in schizophrenia, findings are rapidly emerging in a number of other disorders as well. Several recent representative findings from key clinical disorders are highlighted here for illustrative purposes.

Disorder Observed deficits in perceptual processing/pre-attentive processing Observed deficits in higher-order cognitions Impact on clinical/functional outcome
Schizophrenia ↓ Sensory (P1, N1) and pre-attentive (N2, CNV) visual ERP components (Dias et al, 2011) Sensory processing deficits predict impaired cognitive ERP generation (Dias et al, 2011) ↓ Attention, working memory, processing speed, cognitive control, learning and memory, receptive and expressive language, visual perceptual/constructional performance, fine-motor skills, and social cognition (Kalkstein et al, 2010) ↓ Working memory and verbal memory predict↓ functional outcome (Hofer et al, 2011) ↓ Auditory MMN related to ↓ social cognition and ↓ occupational outcome (Wynn et al, 2010)
Bipolar disorder ↓ P50, N100, and P200 auditory sensory gating (Lijffijt et al, 2009) ↓ visual P1 (Yeap et al, 2009) ↑ P1 and↓ N170 to happy vs sad faces (Degabriele et al, 2011) ↓ Processing speed, cognitive control, learning and memory (Antila et al, 2009; Bora et al, 2010; Martinez-Aran et al, 2004) ↓ Processing speed and verbal learning predict poorer social and work outcomes (Burdick et al, 2010) ↓ Verbal memory associated with unemployment status (Dickerson et al, 2004)
Major depression EEG α asymmetry (Gordon et al, 2010) ↓ Visual MMN responses (Chang et al, 2011) ↓ P1 latency to negative vs positive target stimuli (very early onset of negativity bias in emotion perception) (Yang et al, 2011) Abornmal amygdala responses to sad faces presented below consciousness (Victor et al, 2010) Mood-independent abnormalities in P2 response to emotional self-referent information (Shestyuk and Deldin, 2010) Mood-dependent abnormalities in effortful processing of emotional self-referent information (Shestyuk and Deldin, 2010) ↓ Processing speed, cognitive control, learning and memory (Bora et al, 2010) ↓ Cognition at age 20 predicts higher risk for depression at midlife (Franz et al, 2011) Enduring cognitive impairment in MDD has a significant effect on employment (Baune et al, 2010) ↓ Poor episodic memory predict depressive symptoms and future MDD diagnosis (Airaksinen et al, 2007; Simons et al, 2009)
Attention deficit disorder ↓ Cortical reactivity to unpredictable sensory events (Dockstader et al, 2009) ↓ Auditory N2 (Anjana et al, 2010; Barry et al, 2009) ↓ Auditory N1, N2, and visual N2 to attended target stimuli (Satterfield et al, 1994) ↓ Response inhibition, working memory, executive planning, and attentional set shifting (Chamberlain et al, 2011) ↓ Attention, inhibitory control, and error processing (Shen et al, 2011) Working memory problems are related to social-functioning impairments (Kofler et al, 2011) Poorer functional outcomes seen in young adults 13 years later (Oie et al, 2011)
Post-traumatic stress disorder ↓ Auditory MMNi (Menning et al, 2008) ↓ N2 latency on auditory oddball task (Veltmeyer et al, 2005) ↓ Response inhibition ↓ Attentional control (Aupperle et al, 2011; Leskin and White, 2007) ↓ Inhibitory control ↑ Sensory processing (Falconer et al, 2008) ↓ Sustained attention ↓ Verbal memory retention/retrieval (Veltmeyer et al, 2005) Impairments in response inhibition and attention regulation may predate trauma exposure, serve as risk factors for the development of PTSD, and relate to the severity of symptoms (Aupperle et al, 2011) High/persistent symptoms predict functional impairment (Thomas et al, 2010; Westphal et al, 2011) Pre-trauma neurocognitive functioning moderates the effects of trauma exposure on PTSD symptoms (Marx et al, 2009)
Addictions ↓ P50 sensory gating in abstinent alcoholics (Marco et al, 2005) ↓ P50 sensory gating in abstinent cocaine users (Boutros et al, 2002) ↓ P3 in adolescent alcohol abuse (Koskinen et al, 2011) ↓ Attention, memory, and processing speed in substance-abusing adolescents ↓ Visuospatial ability in high-risk adolescents with+family history of alcoholism (Thoma et al, 2011) ↓ Delay discounting in drug use and gambling (Reynolds, 2006) Lower executive functioning in recently abstinent alcoholics predicts poorer occupational outcome 18 months later (Moriyama et al, 2002) Impaired performance on decision-making tasks predicts relapse in drug abuse 3 months later in opiate-dependent patients (Passetti et al, 2008)
Autism ↓ P1 response to faces (Batty et al, 2011) Early sensory processing abnormalities in vision, smell/taste, and touch (Leekam et al, 2007) Abnormalities in social orientation at 20 months old (Swettenham et al, 1998) Impairments in skilled motor, complex memory, complex language, and reasoning domains (Minshew et al, 1997) Cognitive capacity predicts adaptive behavior, beyond autism symptom severity (Kanne et al, 2010) Cognitive and language scores at age 2 predict outcome status (Turner et al, 2006)
Aging brain and risk for dementia ↓ Auditory MMN in older adults (Cooper et al, 2006) ↓ Suppression of irrelevant stimuli early in visual processing in elderly (Gazzaley et al, 2008) Neuropsychological test performance predicts the transition from healthy cognitive aging to MCI (Cherbuin et al, 2010) Poor cognitive test performance in older adults predicts risk for dementia (Barnes et al, 2009) Decline in executive functioning predicts self-neglect in elderly (Dong et al, 2010)