Cognitive performance in schizophrenia: relationship to regional brain volumes and psychiatric symptoms.

Full Abstract

In an all-male sample of schizophrenic patients stabilized by medication (n=62) and normal controls (n=27), we obtained neuropsychological test data and high-resolution whole brain magnetic resonance scans, as well as detailed psychiatric rating scales on a subset of the patients (n=47). Schizophrenic patients had significantly worse overall age-adjusted cognitive performance than normal controls (average z-score=-0.90, range=-0.60 to -1.81), which included relatively more severe deficits with different types of memory, psychomotor speed, verbal fluency and verbal abstraction. Schizophrenic patients also had significantly smaller bilateral volumes in gray but not white matter in the prefrontal region, superior temporal gyrus and whole temporal lobe, but no group differences were observed in the hippocampus and parahippocampus. Correlations between the brain regions and cognitive performance revealed different sets of significant relationships for the two groups, particularly in the prefrontal and hippocampal regions. In addition, inverse correlations were observed between certain cognitive abilities (psychomotor speed, cognitive flexibility and verbal fluency) and patients' psychiatric ratings, especially with measures of negative symptoms. The convergence of findings for schizophrenic patients regarding the prefrontal region, negative symptoms, psychomotor speed and cognitive flexibility suggests that schizophrenic negative symptoms may involve disruption of frontal-subcortical connections.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Sanfilipo, Michael (M); Lafargue, Todd (T); Rusinek, Henry (H); Arena, Luigi (L); Loneragan, Celia (C); Lautin, Andrew (A); Rotrosen, John (J); Wolkin, Adam (A);

Affiliation: Mental Health Service, New York Veterans Affairs Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Psychiatry research (Psychiatry Res), published in Ireland. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Nov; vol 116 (issue 1-2) : pp 1-23

Dates: Created 2002/11/11; Completed 2003/04/17; Revised 2008/04/17;

PMID: 12426030, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Brain - pathology
Cerebral Cortex - pathology
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; psychology
Dominance, Cerebral - physiology
Hippocampus - pathology
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted

Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data
Psychometrics
Reference Values
Schizophrenia - diagnosis
Schizophrenic Psychology

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.