Demand and modality of directed attention modulate “pre-attentive” sensory processes in schizophrenia patients and nonpsychiatric controls

Attentional demand and modality of directed attention significantly influence the amplitude and latencies of “pre-attentive” ERP components in both SZ and NCS. Deficits in MMN and P3a were not “normalized” when attention was directed to the auditory stimuli in schizophrenia patients. The adaptive modulation of early sensory information processing appears to govern concurrent attentional task performance. The temporal window reflecting automatic sensory discrimination as indexed as MMN and P3a may serve as a gateway to some higher order cognitive operations necessary for psychosocial functioning.