The improvement of cognitive function reflected by event-related potentials in drug-naive schizophrenia with atypical antipsycotics

Atypical antipsychotic medications are a novel medicine recently discovered and developed for clinical use. In the present study, we investigated the effects of atypical antipsychotic medications on the event-related potentials, especially (ERPs), P300 component, in 30 drug-naive schizophrenic patients. We used positive and negative syndrome scores to assess the symptoms. ERPs were recorded with a visual oddball paradigm. Subjects were asked to count and push a button in response to the targets (crying or smiling baby photographs). ERPs were recorded before the treatment (S1), after 3 months (S2), and 12 months (S3). Before taking medicine, there were no significant differences in the P300 amplitude in response to neither the crying nor the smiling photographs. Both the P300 amplitude and area were significantly larger in S2 and S3 than those in S1. The P300 latency became significantly longer at S3 than S1. A significant negative correlation was obtained between the P300 amplitude and the negative syndrome scores. Atypical antipsychotic medications may be a useful medicine for recovery of cognitive function reflected by the P300 in schizophrenic patients.