Sensory input deficits and negative symptoms in schizophrenic patients.

The information-processing correlates of positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenic patients are of increasing clinical research interest. The author tested 40 schizophrenic patients and 35 normal control subjects and reports on two major findings. First, patients with negative symptoms had dramatic inflations of stimulus recognition thresholds, similar to the deficits previously reported in patients with head injuries resulting in organic brain syndromes. Second, the schizophrenic patients had deficits in the time-dependent processing of information. Collectively, these data support the link between negative symptoms and multiple levels of information-processing abnormalities in patients with schizophrenic disorders.