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Intentional cognitive control impairments in schizophrenia: generalized or specific?
Georgie Paulik1, Johanna C Badcock, Murray T Maybery
1School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia. georgiepaulik@graduate.uwa.edu.au
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS
|September 22, 2009
Summary
Schizophrenia patients show intact unintentional inhibition but struggle with intentional resistance to interference. This suggests broader cognitive control deficits beyond just inhibition in schizophrenia, impacting resistance to interference.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Previous research identified intentional inhibition deficits in schizophrenia, linked to psychotic symptoms.
- It remained unclear if these intentional cognitive control impairments extend to other executive functions like resistance to interference.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether intentional cognitive control impairments in schizophrenia encompass resistance to interference.
- To differentiate performance on tasks demanding intentional resistance to interference versus unintentional inhibition.
Main Methods:
- Administered two cognitive control tasks to individuals with schizophrenia (n=61) and healthy controls (n=34).
- One task assessed intentional resistance to interference; the other assessed unintentional inhibition.
Main Results:
- Schizophrenia participants performed comparably to controls on the unintentional inhibition task.
- Individuals with schizophrenia demonstrated significant impairment on the intentional resistance to interference task compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive control impairments in schizophrenia are not limited to inhibition but are more general.
- These deficits include difficulties with intentional resistance to interference, suggesting a broader executive function challenge.
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