THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING P50 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL

The P50 component of the auditory evoked response has been utilized in studies of sensory gating in schizophrenia for over 15 years. As P50 gating studies have had a greater impact in neuroscience research, inv estigators have refined several key variables (e.g., filtering) to enh ance signal-to-noise ratios. A comprehensive review of P50 reports sug gests P50 amplitude has been steadily decreasing over the years. Certa in methodological ''advances'' are suggested as key reasons for this a pparent reduction in P50 amplitude. Gating studies continue to yield i nteresting findings in neuropsychiatric research, especially when rati o vs. absolute difference scores are used. (C) 1998 Society of Biologi cal Psychiatry.