Self-monitoring in patients with schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
The present study investigated whether a failure of self-monitoring contributes to core syndromes of schizophrenia.


METHODS
Three groups of patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia (n = 27), with either prominent paranoid hallucinatory or disorganization syndrome, or without these symptoms, and a matched healthy control group (n = 23) drew circles on a writing pad connected to a PC monitor. Subjects were instructed to continuously monitor the relationship between their hand movements and their visual consequences. They were asked to detect gain changes in the mapping. Self-monitoring ability and the ability to automatically correct movements were assessed.


RESULTS
Patients with either paranoid-hallucinatory syndrome or formal thought disorder were selectively impaired in their ability to detect a mismatch between a self-generated movement and its consequences, but not impaired in their ability to automatically compensate for the gain change.


CONCLUSIONS
These results support the claim that a failure of self-monitoring may underlie the core symptoms of schizophrenia.
Knoblich
Günther
G
Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Munich, Germany.
Stottmeister
Frank
F
Kircher
Tilo
T
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000209:etiology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D019455:Self Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013577:Syndrome