Early auditory impairments as a candidate marker of attenuated sensory symptoms of psychosis.

Dondé, Clément; Palmer-Cooper, Emma; Gauld, Christophe; Polosan, Mircea; Alderson-Day, Ben

Abstract

Background and hypothesis
Deficits in early auditory processing (EAP), as indexed by tone-matching performance, have been consistently demonstrated in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. However, the ontogeny of tone-matching deficits in schizophrenia remains relatively unknown. The current study aims to determine the relationship between clinical high risk for psychosis and EAP.

Study design
We employed a web-based screening approach to identify CHR individuals. A sample of 892 community dwelling participants completed the 16-tem version of the prodromal questionnaire (PQ16) for the assessment of attenuated psychotic symptoms, a 9-item questionnaire of perceptual and cognitive aberrations (PCA) for the assessment of basic symptoms and a tone-matching task.

Study results
505 (43.4 %) participants met cut-off criteria for attenuated psychotic symptoms (PQ16 ≥ 6 endorsed items), 614 (68.3 %) for basic symptoms (PCA ≥ 3 endorsed items), 647 (72.0 %) for either and 358 (40.1 %) for both of them. No significant differences in tone-matching performance were observed between CHR and non-CHR subjects, using either attenuated psychotic symptoms, basic symptoms, either or both cutoffs. In the CHR group screened with attenuated psychotic symptoms, auditory and tactile sensory symptoms were significantly associated with tone-matching deficits.

Conclusion
Tone-matching may not serve as a reliable biomarker for CHR status but rather a risk marker for the emergence of early sensory manifestations.

Citation

Dondé, C., Palmer-Cooper, E., Gauld, C., Polosan, M., & Alderson-Day, B. (2025). Early auditory impairments as a candidate marker of attenuated sensory symptoms of psychosis. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 136, Article 111214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.111214

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 1, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Dec 6, 2024
• Publication Date: Jan 10, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jan 7, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 28, 2025
• Journal: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
• Print ISSN: 0278-5846
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 136
• Article Number: 111214
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.111214
• Keywords: Tone-matching, Early auditory processing, Clinical high risk
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3229926