P300 in family studies of schizophrenia: review and critique

The published studies using P300 event-related potential (ERP) as a vulnerability marker in schizophrenia have been summarized and reviewed. Several factors across sibling, offspring, and familial studies appear to contribute to the variegated findings with respect to the utility of P300 as a vulnerability marker for schizophrenia. These include how subject samples are defined in terms of their genetic loading for schizophrenia, sample size, ERP methodology, and the relationship of P300 measures to neuropsychological test outcomes. It was concluded that the P300 holds promise as a vulnerability marker for schizophrenia, if used in conjunction with other neuroimaging and neuropsychological testing methods. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.