The influence of Schizotypy on Event-Related Oscillations in Sensory Gating during early Infant Development

Maternal schizotypic personality is thought to influence childhood risk for mental health and is a personality dimension elevated among schizophrenia-spectrum patients and their first-degree relatives, in whom neuro-oscillatory deficits have been observed. The current study investigated whether 6-month-old infants ( n =46), and a subset of their biological mothers ( n =34), who identified as either schizotypic ( n =14) non-schizotypic ( n =14), or an intermediate group ( n =6), displayed reduced evoked-oscillatory activity. All mothers completed the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences as an index of schizotypy dimensionality. An auditory paired-tone paradigm was used to probe oscillatory activity, revealing that although the infants’ evoked-oscillations displayed differences between Stimulus 1 and 2 , there were no group differences between infants of schizotypic and control mothers. Their mothers, however, displayed differences, with reduced amplitudes toward Stimulus 1 in schizotypic mothers; consistent with literature on early sensory processes, showing sensory gating is impaired in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.