Sensitivity of Schizophrenia Endophenotype Biomarkers to Anticholinergic Medication Burden

What is it about?

Objective methods to help diagnose and treat schizophrenia have been elusive but mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a are two neurophysiological biomarkers which are leading candidates. Both MMN and P3a are valued in schizophrenia research because they are thought to only be affected by schizophrenia-related brain changes. Here, we describe for the first time that MMN and P3a are affected by anticholinergic medication burden, which stems from multiple psychiatric and non-psychiatric medications. These findings suggest that we should account for medication factors in studies that use MMN and P3a as biomarkers; doing so could help accelerate treatments for those living with schizophrenia.

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