Event‐related potential correlates of proactive interference in schizophrenic patients and controls

Abstract

Performance and event-related potentials~ERPs! were examined in a proactive interference~PI! task with 15 male schizophrenic patients and 15 matched healthy controls. Within a paired-associate task, 30 pairs of semantically unrelated words~A-B! were presented twice, followed by cued recall, in which the paired-associate B had to be named upon cue A. Subsequently, 50% of the A-words were paired with new words~A-C! and presented in random order together with 15 novel pairings~D-E!. Slower responses and poorer recall of C-than of E-words in the final recall indicated PI in both groups. During acquisition, the paired-associates~C0E! evoked larger P3 and positive slow wave in controls than in patients. During recall, cues~A0D! evoked a slow wave with predominating anterior negativity in controls and posterior positivity in patients. The group-specific ERP pattern suggests deviant encoding and retrieval processes in schizophrenic individuals.