title: Memory deficits in subsyndromes of chronic schizophrenia.
abstract: Recent psychopathological studies consistently identified a delusional, a negative, and a disorganized subsyndrome in chronic schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to investigate these subsyndromes with respect to declarative, procedural and working memory deficits. While the delusional subsyndrome was associated with an impaired delayed recognition, the negative subsyndrome showed a marked deficit in delayed recall. In addition, the delusional and the negative subsyndrome shared procedural memory changes. The disorganized subsyndrome was associated with neurological soft signs and a poor working memory performance. These results do not seem to be effected by severity of illness, degree of chronicity, nor attentional deficits. Our findings support the differentiation of three subsyndromes in chronic schizophrenia and suggest that memory impairment in schizophrenia may reflect the involvement of different memory systems rather than an unspecific, global deficit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tittel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stockert
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003702:Delusions / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000145:classification* / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index