PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Sun, Yue AU - Bo, Qijing AU - Mao, Zhen AU - Tian, Qing AU - Dong, Fang AU - Li, Liang AU - Wang, Chuanyue TI - Different levels of prepulse inhibition among patients with first-episode schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder AID - 10.1503/jpn.230083 DP - 2024 Jan 18 TA - Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience PG - E1--E10 VI - 49 IP - 1 4099 - http://jpn.ca/content/49/1/E1.short 4100 - http://jpn.ca/content/49/1/E1.full SO - JPN2024 Jan 18; 49 AB - Background: Deficits in prepulse inhibition may be a common feature in first-episode schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). We sought to explore the levels and viability of prepulse inhibition to differentiate first-episode schizophrenia, BD and MDD in patient populations.Methods: We tested patients with first-episode schizophrenia, BD or MDD and healthy controls using prepulse inhibition paradigms, namely perceived spatial co-location (PSC-PPI) and perceived spatial separation (PSS-PPI).Results: We included 53 patients with first-episode schizophrenia, 30 with BD and 25 with MDD, as well as 82 healthy controls. The PSS-PPI indicated that the levels of prepulse inhibition were smallest to largest, respectively, in the first-episode schizophrenia, BD, MDD and control groups. Relative to the healthy controls, the prepulse inhibition deficits in the first-episode schizophrenia group were significant (p < 0.001), but the prepulse inhibitions were similar between patients with BD and healthy controls, and between patients with MDD and healthy controls. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that PSS-PPI (area under the curve [AUC] 0.73, p < 0.001) and latency (AUC 0.72, p < 0.001) were significant for differentiating patients with first-episode schizophrenia or BD from healthy controls.Limitations: The demographics of the 4 groups were not ideally matched. We did not perform cognitive assessments. The possible confounding effect of medications on prepulse inhibition could not be eliminated.Conclusion: The level of prepulse inhibition among patients with first-episode schizophrenia was the lowest, with levels among patients with BD, patients with MDD and healthy controls increasingly higher. The PSS-PPI paradigm was more effective than PSC-PPI to recognize deficits in prepulse inhibition. These results provide a basis for further research on biological indicators that can assist differential diagnoses in psychosis.