Comparison of Latent Inhibition Mechanisms before and after Drug Therapy in Patients with Schizophrenia

This study was aimed to compare the latent inhibition mechanisms (LI) in patients at the acute phase of schizophrenia with the patients whose symptoms were controlled by antipsy- chotic medications. LI was evaluated using visual and auditory stimuli in three groups: The first group (n=30) included the patients at the acute psychotic phase that did not take any medication. The second group (n=35) were the patients whose symptoms were controlled by antipsychotic drugs. The third group (n=31) were normal controls with no history of schizophrenia. The error score in learning in the testing phase was regarded as a dependent variable. The error scores in schizophrenia patients (acute phase and stable patients) were signifi-cantly higher as compared to the control group. The expected effect of LI was not observed in stable schizophrenia patients. Our results did not show an association between LI and the phases of schizophrenia. It seems that patient's unfamiliarity with the testing technology has influenced the findings.