Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance impairment in schizophrenia: An Indian study report

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder associated with cognitive impairments.
• The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a neuropsychological tool used to assess executive functions, particularly set-shifting abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between positive and negative clinical symptoms in schizophrenia patients and their performance on the WCST.
• To compare WCST performance between schizophrenia patients and a healthy control group.

Main Methods:

• Fifty schizophrenia patients were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).
• Patients were categorized into positive symptom and negative symptom groups.
• WCST measures were administered to schizophrenia patients and 15 normal controls by a blinded clinical psychologist.

Main Results:

• Schizophrenia diagnosis significantly impacted WCST performance across most indices compared to controls.
• Negative symptom schizophrenia patients demonstrated significantly worse performance on measures including perseverative errors and conceptual level responses.
• No significant difference was found in the total number of correct responses between groups.

Conclusions:

• Both positive and negative symptom schizophrenia patients exhibit distinct deficits in specific WCST measures.
• Cognitive impairments assessed by the WCST are present in schizophrenia, with a notable impact from negative symptoms.