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Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
Published on: June 12, 2017
Working memory span and motor and cognitive speed in schizophrenia
Gildas Brébion1, Anthony S David, Hugh M Jones
1Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. g.brebion@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Summary
Schizophrenia patients show deficits in verbal working memory and processing speed. Depression impacts cognitive speed, but not negative symptoms, in these patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Schizophrenia is often associated with cognitive impairments, including deficits in working memory and processing speed.
- Understanding the relationship between these cognitive functions and clinical symptoms is crucial for patient management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate verbal working memory deficits and reduced motor and cognitive speed in schizophrenia patients.
- To examine the associations between these cognitive impairments and negative and depressive symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Forty schizophrenia patients and 41 healthy controls were assessed.
- Backward digit span test measured working memory capacity.
- Three tests evaluated processing speed (motor and cognitive).
Main Results:
- Schizophrenia patients exhibited significantly reduced backward digit span and slower motor and cognitive speed compared to controls.
- Backward digit span correlated with cognitive speed but not with negative or depressive symptoms.
- Processing speed was not linked to negative symptoms, whereas depression scores were significantly associated with cognitive speed.
Conclusions:
- Working memory and processing speed likely share an underlying cognitive component in schizophrenia.
- Depression, rather than negative symptoms, significantly influences processing speed, particularly cognitive speed.
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