Auditory and visual P300 reflecting cognitive improvement in patients with schizophrenia with quetiapine: A pilot study

We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in patients with schizophrenia before and after treatment with quetiapine, to investigate this drug's effects on cognitive function. Auditory and visual oddball stimulus discrimination paradigms were presented to patients with schizophrenia (N = 20) before and after 3 months' treatment with quetiapine. The 2-stimulus auditory oddball paradigm used a standard tone (1000 Hz, 75 dB, 80%) and a target tone (2000 Hz, 75 dB, 20%). The 2-stimulus visual oddball paradigm used a standard stimulus (small circle, 80%) and a target stimulus (large circle, 20%). Patients' severity of psychopathology was initially evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and was likewise re-evaluated after treatment. After treatment with quetiapine, patients' P300 amplitudes increased over baseline for both tasks (auditory stimuli, P < 0.01; visual stimuli, P < 0.01) and their P300 latencies for both target stimuli decreased significantly (auditory stimuli, P < 0.001; visual stimuli, P < 0.01). Visual P300 amplitude was negatively correlated with the severity of positive symptoms at the Fz electrode before the treatment (r = − 0.45, P < 0.05). After treatment with quetiapine, there were no significant correlations between severity of positive or negative symptoms and visual P300 amplitudes for midline electrodes. These findings suggest that the reduced and delayed P300 may be a state marker for schizophrenia, which may in turn be modulated by positive symptoms, and also suggest that the amplitude and latency for both auditory and visual tasks may be decreased by quetiapine treatment. Based on these results, we suggest that the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine may improve some aspects of cognitive domains in patients with schizophrenia.