Procedural memory in schizophrenia assessed using a mirror reading task.
The preservation of procedural memory in individuals with schizophrenia has been confirmed by methods such as the Tower of Hanoi, pursuit rotor and mirror reading tests. However, the cognitive procedural memory of Japanese subjects with schizophrenia has never been assessed using mirror reading. To better determine the characteristics of cognitive procedural memory in schizophrenia, a Japanese version of the mirror reading task, consisting of cards with words written in Japanese katakana characters in mirror image, was administered to 18 Japanese patients with schizophrenia and 21 normal controls. The results indicated that the patients indeed learned the skill despite exhibiting lower overall performances in reading time than the controls, their scores displaying correlation with the severity of schizophrenic negative symptoms. This suggests that procedural memory for this task is retained in individuals with schizophrenia. It is important for them to use their preserved procedural memory for efficient rehabilitative efforts.
Takano
Kazuko
K
Department of Neuropsychiatry, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, 1 Hikarigaoka, Fukushima-City, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan. k-takano@fmu.ac.jp
Ito
Mitsuhiro
M
Kobayashi
Koji
K
Sonobe
Natsumi
N
Kurosu
Sadatoshi
S
Mori
Yukiko
Y
Takeuchi
Satoshi
S
Uchiyama
Mitsuo
M
Kanno
Masahiro
M
Niwa
Shin-Ichi
S
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation; D011340:Problem Solving; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology