• Human and animal model studies of sensorimotor gating allow us to understand the
functional significance of attentional abnormalities and monoaminergic alterations in
patients with schizophrenic disorders. Clinically, schizophrenic patients report oversensitivity
to sensory stimulation that theoretically correlates with stimulus overload and leads to
cognitive fragmentation. Paradigms using cortical event-related potentials and the prepulse
inhibition of startle responses show that schizophrenic patients also have impaired central …