[Neuropsychological study of the schizophrenic defect]

As many as 30 patients (18 men and 12 women) aged 17 to 47 years were examined. Use was made of A. R. Luria's method. Deficiency of both activation components of the activity and higher form of regulation was recorded in all the cases. 3 variants of the neuropsychological syndrome were distinguished. The first variant was characterized by insufficiency of the function of the nonspecific brain systems, primarily of the medial formations of the frontal lobes. The second variant was marked by dyscoordination of the ++fronto-subcortical relations associated with the weakening of the functions of the primarily prefrontal convex formations of the frontal lobes. The third variant was determined by remarkable insufficiency of the convex formations of the frontal lobes and parietotemporal and occipital parts of the brain. A high correlation was discovered (r = +0.75) between the intensity of neuropsychological disorders and the magnitude of anergy. Comparison of the results with the computer-aided tomography (CT) data did not reveal any differences between the groups. However, in the third group patients, grosser changes on the CT were found. The same group manifested significant accumulation of pre-, peri-, and postnatal harm.