The P300 as a possible endophenotype for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: Evidence from twin and patient studies

It has been proposed that psychophysiological abnormalities in schizophrenia, such as decreased amplitude of the evoked potential component P300, may be genetically influenced. Studies of heritability of the P300 have used different and typically more complex tasks than those used in clinical studies of schizophrenia. Here we present data on P300 parameters on the same set of auditory and visual tasks in samples of twins, and patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder to examine the P300 as a possible endophenotype. Evidence from the twin study indicated that the auditory, but not visual, P300 amplitude is genetically influenced at centro-parietal sites. Similarly, auditory and to a lesser extent visual P300 amplitude were decreased in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Results indicate that the auditory P300 may serve as an endophenotype for schizophrenia. However, given that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients could not be distinguished on these measures at midline sites, it appears that the P300 may be a marker for functional psychosis in general rather than being specific to schizophrenia.

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