title: Cognitive correlates of verbal memory and verbal fluency in schizophrenia, and differential effects of various clinical symptoms between male and female patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Impairment of higher cognitive functions in patients with schizophrenia might stem from perturbation of more basic functions, such as processing speed. Various clinical symptoms might affect cognitive efficiency as well. Notably, previous research has revealed the role of affective symptoms on memory performance in this population, and suggested sex-specific effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a post-hoc analysis of an extensive neuropsychological study of 88 patients with schizophrenia. Regression analyses were conducted on verbal memory and verbal fluency data to investigate the contribution of semantic organisation and processing speed to performance. The role of negative and affective symptoms and of attention disorders in verbal memory and verbal fluency was investigated separately in male and female patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Semantic clustering contributed to verbal recall, and a measure of reading speed contributed to verbal recall as well as to phonological and semantic fluency. Negative symptoms affected verbal recall and verbal fluency in the male patients, whereas attention disorders affected these abilities in the female patients. Furthermore, depression affected verbal recall in women, whereas anxiety affected it in men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results confirm the association of processing speed with cognitive efficiency in patients with schizophrenia. They also confirm the previously observed sex-specific associations of depression and anxiety with memory performance in these patients, and suggest that negative symptoms and attention disorders likewise are related to cognitive efficiency differently in men and women.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM, Spain. Electronic address: gildas.brebion@pssjd.org.
authors.forename: Gildas
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brébion
authors.affiliation: Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, and Departament de Psiquiatria i Medicina Legal, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain; CIBERSAM, Spain.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Villalta-Gil
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Unitat de Recerca, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Autonell
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Salud Mental, Hospital Universitario San Cecilio, Granada, Spain; CIBERSAM, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cervilla
authors.affiliation: Hospital Materno Infantil, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM, Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dolz
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM, Spain.
authors.forename: Alexandrina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Foix
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haro
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM, Spain.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Usall
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM, Spain.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vilaplana
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM, Spain.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ochoa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001244:Association; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012660:Semantics; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*