title: Performance of schizophrenia and bipolar patients on verbal and figural working memory tasks.
abstract: Working memory (WM) was studied in 82 healthy volunteers, 43 schizophrenia patients, and 81 bipolar patients. Schizophrenia patients were impaired on verbal and figural WM tasks that possessed similar test discriminating power. Bipolar patients performed similarly to healthy volunteers. A mathematical model of WM performance revealed a primary role for reduced WM span in accounting for the impaired verbal WM of schizophrenia patients and a primary role for diminished attention in accounting for impaired figural WM. Although WM impairment in schizophrenia is due neither to the general effects of severe mental illness nor to the specific type of material studied, the microarchitecture of abnormal WM in schizophrenia may depend on the stimulus material presented.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Service, Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. gbrown@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Gregory G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lohr
authors.forename: Randy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Notestine
authors.forename: Travis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gamst
authors.forename: Lisa T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Eyler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014705:Verbal Behavior