Background: The VEPs provide an objective measure of brain function, analyzing integrity of visual processing. With patients affected with schizophrenia, the changes with the implementation of VEP are evident, such as symmetrical deceleration of the impulse (reduction of the amplitude) and the continuance of latency, which points to a degenerative illness, suggesting the presence of optical neuritis or hemianopsia conjoined with mentioned intracranial illness. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the correlation of l P100 latency and P100 amplitude (µV) between patients with schizophrenia and patients with migraine headache. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were applied. Methods: The sample included 80 subjects: a) S group- 40 patients with schizophrenia (21 males; 19 females), b) H group-40 healthy subjects with migraine headache (10 males; 30 females). The study was conducted at the Department of Psychiatry, Neurology and Radiology, University Clinical Center Sarajevo. Results: Our research revealed positive correlations were registered in P100 latency in left view field of both eyes and in P100 amplitude in the region of right eye (p=0.01) in comparison with left eye region (p=0.05) in patients with schizophrenia. Conclusion: Results imply that the cognitive impairment seen in schizophrenia is not just due to deficits in higher order aspects of cognition but also encompasses significant deficits in early sensory processing. Our study is useful to initiate new questions and recommendations for further studies, specifically on changes in the occipital lobe in the schizophrenic patient’s brain. Changes in the volume in the occipital lobe are quite evident and further studies are required to better understand how the progressive brain changes affect the structural, functional, and metabolic activities of the occipital lobe in schizophrenia.
Key words: schizophrenia, early visual dysfunction, visual evoked potentials (VEPs).
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