10 - Schizotypal personality and skin conductance orienting

Summary

Psychophysiological approaches to schizotypal personality are of potentially great value because psychophysiology lies at the interface between clinical science, cognitive science, and neuroscience (Dawson, 1990). Within the field of the psychophysiology of schizophrenia, one of the most widely used measures that has also produced one of the most replicated findings is the skin conductance orienting response (SCOR). As such, this chapter focuses on the growing literature on the application of SCOR to schizotypal personality and attempts to place the findings of this field into a wider neuroscience context.

The nature of SC orienting as a sensitive measure of information processing will first be outlined together with a very brief summary of key findings on SC orienting in schizophrenic patients and subjects at risk for schizophrenia. Findings from 10 previous studies of SC orienting and schizotypal personality will then be reviewed together with an initial interpretation of these findings. Three new analyses from two other studies will then be described. Interpretation of these studies will focus on the notion of increased variability of attentional processes and disinhibition in schizotypals, and the notion that prefrontal dysfunction may underlie these and other cognitive and psychophysiological deficits. Main conclusions and directions for future research will be outlined. The central idea to be put forward in this chapter is that prefrontal dysfunction represents the common mechanism that underlies not only orienting deficits but also disinhibition, eye tracking abnormalities, and working memory deficits.