Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Neurocognitive Domains for Schizophrenia Recovery

A recent study has come out that identifies the three measures of "frontal lobe functioning that appear to be neurocognitive domains associated with recovery from schizophrenia" (PsychiatryMatters.MD, 2005). Those with schizophrenia who had improved in their sypmtoms performed better when tested for executive functioning, verbal fluency, and verbal working memory. The results of this study will help "narrow the search" for areas that if improved on, will help to improve their (patients suffering from schizophrenia) functioning in the community.

The participants in the study were 28 people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who had improved in their symptoms in terms of the criteria used by the researchers. 28 patients with schizophrenia participated who did not meet recovery criteria, and there were 26 controls who were mentally healthy.

Those who were recovered remembered more items than those who had not recovered on the verbal learning test and also made much fewer errors and completed more "categories" on the executive function tests. Another important thing to note is that recovered patients were no different from controls on tests of executive functions, verbal fluency, and verbal working memory.

Many of the recovered patients noted that they used daily planners or personal digital assistants (PDA's) to help them with any problems they might have in memory or verbal learning.

This study also gave hope to the amazing improvement that can be accomplished by patients recovering from schizophrenia.

Original Source: Neurocognitive correlates of schizophrenia recovery identified. PsychiatryMatters.MD, 2005.

This research study was published at: Psychological Medicine 2005; 35: 1165-1173