A visual backward masking task was used to specify the time course of
the information-processing dysfunction in 19 schizophrenic patients and 15
matched control patients using novel interstimulus intervals. The authors
found that the information-processing deficit in schizophrenic subjects
occurred at interstimulus intervals of greater than 60 msec and less than
500 msec. These data are compared with the results of evoked-potential and
other psychophysiological studies. The visual- processing impairment is
specific and time-linked rather than a reflection of the effects of gross
psychopathology or medication in schizophrenic individuals.Abstract Teaser