title: Effect of semantic coherence on episodic memory processes in schizophrenia.
abstract: Schizophrenia is associated with severe episodic retrieval impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility that schizophrenia patients could improve their familiarity and/or recollection processes by manipulating the semantic coherence of to-be-learned stimuli and using deep encoding. Twelve schizophrenia patients and 12 healthy controls of comparable age, gender, and educational level undertook an associative recognition memory task. The stimuli consisted of pairs of words that were either related or unrelated to a given semantic category. The process dissociation procedure was used to calculate the estimates of familiarity and recollection processes. Both groups showed enhanced memory performances for semantically related words. However, in healthy controls, semantic relatedness led to enhanced recollection, while in schizophrenia patients, it induced enhanced familiarity. The familiarity estimates for related words were comparable in both groups, indicating that familiarity could be used as a compensatory mechanism in schizophrenia patients.
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 8, Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Neuropsychologie, EA 2027, 2 rue de la Liberté, 93526 Saint-Denis Cedex, France; University Malaya, Psychological Medicine Department, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: lale.merlet@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Lâle
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Battal Merlet
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 8, Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Neuropsychologie, EA 2027, 2 rue de la Liberté, 93526 Saint-Denis Cedex, France; Université François-Rabelais, UMR-CNRS 7295, CeRCA, Tours, France.
authors.forename: Shasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morel
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 8, Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Neuropsychologie, EA 2027, 2 rue de la Liberté, 93526 Saint-Denis Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blanchet
authors.affiliation: University Malaya, Psychological Medicine Department, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Hazlin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lockman
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 8, Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Neuropsychologie, EA 2027, 2 rue de la Liberté, 93526 Saint-Denis Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kostova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012660:Semantics; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Episodic memory; Familiarity; Process dissociation procedure; Recollection; Schizophrenia; Semantic relatedness