Atypical attentional filtering of visual information in youth with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome as indexed by event-related potentials

S R Linton; A M Popa; S J Luck; K Bolden; K Angkustsiri; C S Carter; T A Niendam; T J Simon

doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102877

Atypical attentional filtering of visual information in youth with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome as indexed by event-related potentials

Neuroimage Clin. 2021:32:102877. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102877. Epub 2021 Nov 9.

Authors

S R Linton¹, A M Popa², S J Luck³, K Bolden⁴, K Angkustsiri⁵, C S Carter⁴, T A Niendam⁴, T J Simon²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis, 2230 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; MIND Institute, UC Davis, 2825 50(th) Street, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA. Electronic address: slinton@mclean.harvard.edu.
² Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis, 2230 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; MIND Institute, UC Davis, 2825 50(th) Street, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
³ Center for Mind and Brain and Department of Psychology, UC Davis, 267 Cousteau Place, Davis, CA 95618, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis, 2230 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Imaging Research Center, UC Davis, 4701 X Street, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis, 2230 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Pediatrics, UC Davis, 2516 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.

Abstract

Background: Youth with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q) face one of the highest genetic risk factors for the development of schizophrenia. Previous research suggests impairments in attentional control and potential interactions with elevated anxiety and reduced adaptive functioning may increase the risk for developing psychosis in this population. Here, we examined how variations in attentional control relate to the presence or severity of psychosis-proneness symptoms in these individuals.

Methods: To achieve this, we measured attentional control in youth (12-18 years) with 22q (N = 35) compared to a typically developing group (N = 45), using a flanker task (the Distractor Target task) while measuring neural activity with event-related potentials.

Results: Similar to previous findings observed in people with schizophrenia, greater attentional capture by, and reduced suppression of, non-target flanker stimuli characterized participants with 22q and was indexed by the N2pc (N2-posterior-contralateral) and P_D (distractor positivity) components. Although we observed no relationships between these components and measures of psychosis-proneness in youth with 22q, these individuals endorsed a relatively low incidence of positive symptoms overall.

Conclusions: Our results provide neural evidence of an attentional control impairment in youth with 22q that suggests these individuals experience sustained attentional focus on irrelevant information and reduced suppression of distracting stimuli in their environment. Impairments in attentional control might be a valid biomarker of the potential to develop attenuated positive symptoms or frank psychosis in high-risk individuals long before the age at which such symptoms typically arise. The evaluation of such a hypothesis, and the preventive potential for the putative biomarker, should be the focus of future studies.

Keywords: 22q11.2 deletion; Attention; Event-related potential; Flanker; Psychosis.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Attention
Chromosomes
DiGeorge Syndrome* / complications
DiGeorge Syndrome* / genetics
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials
Humans
Psychotic Disorders* / genetics

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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