[Working memory and the psychopathology of schizophrenia].
Working memory (WM) deficits are core symptoms of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. WM-models serve as theoretical and empirical framework for the investigation of cognitive dysfunction as well as of schizophrenic phenomenology. Behavioral and functional neuroimaging data support the concept of a supramodal WM-deficit in schizophrenia, associated with the functional integrity of prefrontal regions. This review provides a short overview of WM-dysfunction in schizophrenia as well as its impact on psychopathology. Furthermore, the relationship of WM-associated cerebral activation and psychopathological symptoms is illustrated. Currently available studies on WM-function and psychopathology in schizophrenia obtained rather heterogeneous results, although disorganisation and negative symptoms may be closely linked to prefrontal regions. The investigation of WM-function in schizophrenic subsyndromes with functional neuroimaging techniques still remains a clinical and scientific desideratum.
Walter
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H
Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Friedrich Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Germany. henrik.walter@ukb.uni-bonn.de
Wolf
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RC
D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology