Schizophrenic disorders are thought to involve widespread abnormalities in information processing. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a simple and robust paradigm that involved auditory and visual activation to examine basic sensory input circuits. Our aim was to determine which stages of the input processing network are disturbed in first-episode schizophrenic patients. Methods: Twelve neuroleptic-naive inpatients (paranoid subtype) were compared with 11 healthy

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... bjects by means of echo-planar functional magnetic resonance imaging. In a block design, the paradigm included the simultaneous presentation of a moving 6-Hz checkerboard and auditory stimuli in the form of drumbeats. The subjects were asked to simply look and listen.