Orienting response research in schizophrenia: where we have come and where we might go.

This review and critique of orienting response (OR) research in schizophrenia examines the initial Western work, outlines current positions, and notes several areas in which further lines of research are needed. Discussion involves characteristics of schizophrenic patients who are OR nonresponders; OR nonresponding as a possible trait marker; the question of OR nonresponding in child patients; the association between negative symptoms and OR nonresponding as well as the possible existence of a specific subgroup marked by emotional withdrawal and cognitive disorganization; slow habituation as a prognostic index in high-risk children and adult acute patients; the need for research into defensive and startle responses as well as the OR, and possible interactions among them; electroencephalographic-autonomic differences in OR; and the need to explore the functional meaning of OR nonresponding in schizophrenia.