Toxoplasma gondii exposure affects neural processing speed as measured by acoustic startle latency in schizophrenia and controls

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Bradley Pearce, Emory University; Sydney Hubbard, Emory University; Hilda N. Rivera, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Patricia P. Wilkins, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Marylynn C. Fisch, Emory University; Myfanwy H. Hopkins, Emory University; Wendy Hasenkamp, Emory University; Robin Gross, Emory University; Nancy G. Bliwise, Emory University; Jeffrey L. Jones, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Erica Duncan, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-10-01
• Publisher: Elsevier: 12 months
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2013.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2013.07.028
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Schizophrenia Research
• ISSN: 0920-9964
• Volume: 150
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 258
• End Page: 261
• Grant/Funding Information: Funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs Merit Review Program (ED).; At Emory University the following also provided infrastructure support: the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Emory University School of Medicine, the Department of Psychology, and Rollins School of Public Health.; Additional salary support was provided to ED from NIDA (R01DA018294-01A2) and BDP (NIMH (1R21MH083138-01A1).; Infrastructure support was provided by the Mental Health and R&D Services of the Atlanta Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Keywords: PERFORMANCE; Latency; PREPULSE INHIBITION; Psychiatry; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; NORMALS; Acoustic startle; Schizophrenia; Science & Technology; Toxoplasma gondii; DEFICITS; TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS; INFECTION; REFLEX; HABITUATION; RODENTS; RATS
• Research Categories: Biology, Neuroscience; Psychology, Clinical

Abstract

The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (TOXO) infection in schizophrenia (SCZ) is elevated compared to controls (odds ratio = 2.73). TOXO infection is associated with psychomotor slowing in rodents and non-psychiatric humans. Latency of the acoustic startle response, an index of neural processing speed, is the time it takes for a startling stimulus to elicit the reflexive response through a three-synapse subcortical circuit. We report a significant slowing of latency in TOXO seropositive SCZ vs. seronegative SCZ, and in TOXO seropositive controls vs. seronegative controls. Latency was likewise slower in SCZ subjects than in controls. These findings indicate a slowing of neural processing speed with chronic TOXO infection; the slowest startle latency was seen in the TOXO seropositive SCZ group.