Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154:1296-1298
Copyright © 1997 by American Psychiatric Association
PET study of greater visual activation in schizophrenia
SF Taylor, R Tandon and RA Koeppe
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The authors tested the hypothesis that photic visual stimuli
cause a greater blood flow activation response in subjects with
schizophrenia than in normal subjects. METHOD: Eleven medicated patients
with schizophrenia and 10 normal subjects were studied with [15O]H2O
positron emission tomography to measure perfusion during photic stimulation
at four different rates. RESULTS: The activation at three out of four rates
of visual stimulation was greater for the patients with schizophrenia than
it was for the normal subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Further investigation into the
mechanisms of activation during sensory stimulation in schizophrenia is
warranted.
