Disordered thinking and cerebral dysfunction: laterality effects, language, and intellectual functions

This report examines two types of thought disorder, bizarre-idiosyncratic thinking and concreteness, in relation to cerebral impairment and psychotropic medication status. Results do not support lateralized dysfunction as a contributing factor for either form of thought disorder. Relationships between specific areas of neuropsychological deficit and thought disorder indicate that intellectual and arithmetic functions are more closely associated with bizarre-idiosyncratic thinking. Further, there were no specific neuropsychological impairments related to concrete thinking, nor was medication status related to either type of thought disorder. Problem-solving or reasoning affects logical orderly cognitive processes more reliably than it affects abstract thinking. Differences between these findings and other research are discussed from the standpoint of how both types of thought disorder are conceptualized and assessed, and how this may influence clinical indications for the use of psychoactive medications.