There are several suggestions that schizophrenia may be associated with abnormalities in the temporal lobes. Many schizophrenics have abnormal P300 auditory evoked responses to tones, and the neural generator for this auditory evoked response may also be localized in the temporal lobes, suggesting that abnormalities in the temporal lobes of schizophrenics may be related to both clinical symptoms and electrophysiologic findings. We propose to examine the interrelationships between the P300, temporal lobe structures (measured by magnetic resonance imaging) and positive symptom measures in a carefully matched group of schizophrenics and normal controls. The study will be relevant to both basic science research on the neural basis of the P300 as well as help in understanding the connection between P300 abnormalities and schizophrenic symptoms.
