title: A comparative profile analysis of neuropsychological function in men and women with schizotypal personality disorder.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the cognitive profiles of men and women with clinically defined schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). We examined the neuropsychological profile of SPD in 26 right-handed females and 31 right-handed males who met DSM-IV criteria for SPD, and matched comparison subjects. Cognitive performance was assessed on measures of abstraction, verbal and spatial intelligence, learning and memory, language, attention, and motor skills. Neuropsychological profiles were constructed by standardizing test scores based on the means and standard deviations of comparison groups matched for sex, age, handedness, ethnicity and parental SES. Overall, SPD subjects showed mild, general decrements in performance in most cognitive domains. However, unlike male SPD subjects, female SPDs did not show relative deficits in verbal learning and abstraction. The results suggest a less severe pattern of cognitive deficits in women with SPD compared to men, consistent with hypotheses of gender differences in cognitive function in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, MA 02139, USA. martina_voglmaier@hms.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Martina M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Voglmaier
authors.forename: Larry J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Seidman
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Niznikiewicz
authors.forename: Chandlee C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Dickey
authors.forename: Martha E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Shenton
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: McCarley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D014888:Wechsler Scales