Selective impairment of attentional networks of orienting and executive control in schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
Difficulty attending is a common deficit of schizophrenic patients. However, it is not known whether this is a global attentional deficit or relates to a specific attentional network.


METHODS
This study used the attention network test to compare schizophrenic patients (N=77) with controls (N=53) on the efficiency of three anatomically defined attentional networks: alerting, orienting, and executive control.


RESULTS
Schizophrenic patients showed a large and highly significant deficit in the executive network and a smaller but significant deficit in the orienting network as well as in overall RT and accuracy. There was no deficit in the alerting network.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest some specificity in the attentional networks influenced by the disorder. The executive attention network has been shown in normal subjects to activate the anterior cingulate and lateral prefrontal areas. Previous data using neuroimaging with schizophrenic patients has shown abnormal control by the anterior cingulate. Our findings support this previous research by indicating that the major attentional deficit in schizophrenic patients is in a network that includes the anterior cingulate.
Wang
Kai
K
Department of Neurology, The First Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, PR China.
Fan
Jin
J
Dong
Yi
Y
Wang
Chang-Qing
CQ
Lee
Tatia M C
TM
Posner
Michael I
MI
D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index