Abnormal theta and alpha oscillations in children and adolescents with first-episode psychosis and clinical high-risk psychosis.

Background: Cognitive control deficits are one of the main symptoms of psychosis. The basic neural oscillation patterns associated with cognitive control are already present in early adolescence. However, as previous studies have focused on adults with psychosis, it is unclear whether neurobiological impairments in cognitive control are present in children and adolescents with first-episode psychosis (FEP) or clinical high-risk (CHR) state for psychosis.

Aims: To explore the deficits of electroencephalogram related to cognitive control tasks in children and adolescents with FEP and CHR.

Method: Electroencephalogram was recorded in untreated 48 patients with FEP, 24 patients with CHR and 42 healthy controls aged 10-17 years, while performing the visual oddball task. The N2 amplitude, theta and alpha oscillations were then analysed and compared between groups.

Results: There was no significant group difference in N2 amplitude ( = 0.099). All groups showed increased theta and alpha oscillations relative to baseline before the stimulus in the frontal, central, left fronto-central and right fronto-central areas. These changes differed significantly between groups, with the FEP group showing significantly smaller theta ( < 0.001) and alpha ( < 0.01) oscillation than healthy controls. Theta and alpha oscillations in the CHR group did not differ significantly from the FEP group and healthy controls.

Conclusions: These results suggest that neural damage has already occurred in the early stage of psychosis, and that abnormal rhythmic activity of neurons may constitute the pathophysiological mechanism of cognitive dysfunction related to early-onset psychosis.