likely to have schizophrenia. Since people with schizophrenia can often have an overload of attended stimuli, the P50 wave may serve a critical role in illuminating sensory gating at a neurological level. Currently the test has been conducted on mice, and results have been identical to human subjects in that brain activity has decreased on the second sound. In the second experiment, scientists placed internal electrodes in the auditory regions of the brain. It was found that by the time the second sound occurred, a drop in brain activity had already initiated from the brainstem. The discovery of the filter effect activating as soon as the brainstem perceives a sound was carried out on mice with the "22q11 deletion syndrome," a syndrome associated with schizophrenia in humans. The continuing study, to be verified, suggests that the filter system is indeed in the brainstem, offering hope for finding the neurological source of schizophrenia. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Those with PTSD also exhibit impaired sensory gating. Compared to those with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and control groups, those with PTSD show high sensory hyperactivity and impaired sensory disinhibition. Studies on the effect of PTSD on P50 gating have produced mixed results, with some finding a similar pattern to schizophrenia, some finding it was limited to auditory stimulation only, and others finding no effect. Impaired gating of N100 and P200 has also been observed. Drug influences Nicotine One reason people report they like smoking cigarettes is nicotine's ability to aid their selective attention. The nicotine causes the receptors to release nitric oxide, which slows sensory inhibition causing a suppression of a subsequent stimuli. Due to its effect, nicotine can correct sensory gating deficits for individuals with schizophrenia (80% of individuals with schizophrenia smoke up to 30 cigarettes/day), although the effects only last about 30 minutes since the nicotine receptors desensitize quickly. The same self-medication is present among those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and even those on the autism spectrum as well. Sensory gating and creativity Effects on creativity Some research shows evidence of a connection between sensory gating and creative thinking. One experiment conducted in 2015 suggests that so-called “leaky” attention spans in people with high levels of psychopathology may lead to increased creativity. During the study, the researchers discovered that creative people tend to show reduced sensory gating, filtering out sound less than the normal subjects. Reduced ability to inhibit secondary information caused a