Sun MZ, Fan Z, Lv KY, Zhang J, Liu JK, Zhou ZH, Zhou HL. Event-related potential paradigms for delay discounting in schizophrenia: Five paradigms and a methodological roadmap. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(10): 124176 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.124176]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Zhen-He Zhou, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Wuxi Mental Health Center of Nanjing Medical University, No. 156 Qianrong Road, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China. zhouzh@njmu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
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review-article
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Sun MZ, Fan Z, Lv KY, Zhang J, Liu JK, Zhou ZH, Zhou HL. Event-related potential paradigms for delay discounting in schizophrenia: Five paradigms and a methodological roadmap. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(10): 124176 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.124176]
Ming-Zhu Sun, Zhen-He Zhou, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Mental Health Center of Jiangnan University, Training Base of Hubei University of Medicine, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China
Zheng Fan, Jing Zhang, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Mental Health Center of Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China
Ke-Ying Lv, Department of Psychiatry, Wuxi Mental Health Center, Wannan Medical College Graduate Training Unit, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China
Ji-Kang Liu, Zhen-He Zhou, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Wuxi Mental Health Center of Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China
Hong-Liang Zhou, Department of Psychology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Ming-Zhu Sun and Zheng Fan.
Co-corresponding authors: Zhen-He Zhou and Hong-Liang Zhou.
Author contributions: Sun MZ and Fan Z share equal contribution to conceptualization and original manuscript drafting, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-first authors of this manuscript; Lv KY completed table and figure visualization; Zhang J and Liu JK conducted literature retrieval and data extraction; Zhou ZH and Zhou HL oversaw project administration, supervised the research, and revised the manuscript with critical intellectual input, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; and all authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: In the course of preparing this manuscript, we utilized DeepSeek solely for language polishing and grammatical refinement. Following the application of this tool, we conducted a thorough review and made all necessary editorial revisions. The authors assume full responsibility for the final content and integrity of this manuscript.
Supported by Wuxi Taihu Talent Project, No. WXTTP 2021.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Zhen-He Zhou, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Wuxi Mental Health Center of Nanjing Medical University, No. 156 Qianrong Road, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China. zhouzh@njmu.edu.cn
Received: June 9, 2026 Revised: July 29, 2026 Accepted: September 10, 2026 Published online: October 19, 2026 Processing time: 124 Days and 8.5 Hours
Abstract
Delay discounting is a core behavioral measure of impulsivity that reflects an individual’s preference for an immediate small reward over a delayed larger reward; however, there is a gap in research on the underlying neural mechanisms of delay discounting abnormalities in individuals with schizophrenia. Therefore, this paper reviews the characteristics of delay discounting in individuals with schizophrenia, identifies five event-related potential paradigms suitable for studying delay discounting in this population, and proposes a feasible research roadmap. This paper lays the foundation for elucidating the mechanisms underlying impulsive decision-making in individuals with schizophrenia and provides a basis for clinical assessment.
Core Tip: Direct neurophysiological evidence on delay discounting in patients with schizophrenia is extremely scarce. This article identifies five event-related potential paradigms suitable for delay discounting studies, providing a critical methodological foundation for future research. We propose a practical roadmap including case-control studies using these paradigms, multicomponent event-related potential recording with time-frequency analysis, rigorous confounder control, longitudinal and cross-diagnostic designs, and integration with computational models. This framework aims to accelerate the understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying impulsive decision-making in patients with schizophrenia.
