The nature and extent of working memory dysfunction in schizophrenia.
This study aimed to examine verbal and visual-spatial working memory (WM) dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia. We compared 60 patients with schizophrenia with 57 healthy controls (matched for age, educational level, and IQ) on three WM tasks. Patients with schizophrenia performed significantly more poorly than healthy controls on verbal, visual, and spatial WM tests. Moreover, WM deficits were inversely associated with both the positive and negative symptoms of the patients. Taken together, these findings suggest that there are pervasive WM impairments in patients with schizophrenia. In addition, clinical features may play a significant role in the expression of WM deficits.
Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Xiao-Yan
XY
Cao
Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Zhi
Z
Li
Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Hugo M
HM
Metcalfe
Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Tian-Xiao
TX
Yang
Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Beijing, China.
Shu-Ping
SP
Tan
Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Ya
Y
Wang
Mental Health Center, Shantou University, Shantou, China.
Xiao-Hong
XH
Hong
Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Zhan-Jiang
ZJ
Li
Institute of Mental Health, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Xin
X
Yu
Castle Peak Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Eric F C
EF
Cheung
Behavioural Basis of Health Research Program, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.|School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
David L
DL
Neumann
Behavioural Basis of Health Research Program, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
David H K
DH
Shum
Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Raymond C K
RC
Chan
schizophrenia; spatial; verbal; working memory