title: Assessment of procedural learning and problem solving in schizophrenic patients by Tower of Hanoi type tasks.
abstract: Two versions of the Tower of Hanoi task were used to investigate different components of learning and problem solving in schizophrenia. Prior studies have suggested that a three-disk version (Tower 3), which involves primarily problem-solving abilities and planning, is preferentially sensitive to frontal lobe lesions and that the more difficult four-disk version (Tower 4), which involves "learning by doing," is sensitive to basal ganglia disease. Schizophrenic patients performed significantly worse than normal subjects on Tower 3 and Tower 4. However, they performed at least as well relatively on Tower 4 as on Tower 3, indicating that level of difficulty per se does not account for their poor performance on these tasks. Moreover, they eventually attained perfect or near-perfect performance after four days of repeated administration. Their relatively stronger performance on Tower 4 may have reflected an ability to acquire a procedure and, as such, suggests greater preservation of basal ganglia function than of prefrontal function.
authors: Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH Neuroscience Center at St. Elizabeths, Washington, DC 20032.
authors: T E
authors: TE
authors: Goldberg
authors: J A
authors: JA
authors: Saint-Cyr
authors: D R
authors: DR
authors: Weinberger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000503:physiopathology; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology; D004409:Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology