DELAYED HABITUATION OF THE SKIN-CONDUCTANCE ORIENTING RESPONSE CORRELATES WITH IMPAIRED PERFORMANCE ON THE WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TASK IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

The skin-conductance orienting response (SCOR) in schizophrenia is oft en characterized by either nonresponding or delayed habituation to rep eated nonsignal tones. These abnormalities are poorly related to other dimensions of schizophrenia. In the present study, we confirmed that about 50% of patients with chronic schizophrenia are SCOR nonresponder s. Nonresponders, however, did not differ from responders on postmorbi d psychiatric or pharmacological course, and we therefore could not co nfirm the hypothesis that course of illness follows a more marked patt ern of increasing severity in nonresponders. Performance on the Wiscon sin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was particularly poor in a subgroup of re sponders who exhibited either delayed habituation and/or dishabituatio n of SCORs to tones applied after a short rest period. It is possible that pathology of the prefrontal cortex mediates the SCOR abnormalitie s that characterize schizophrenic patients who perform poorly on the W CST. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.