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Action (verb) fluency deficits in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: linking language, cognition and interpersonal
Daria Smirnova1, Melanie Clark2, Assen Jablensky2
1Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry (CCRN), School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia, Perth WA 6000, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, Narcology, Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology, Samara State Medical University, Samara, Russia.
Psychiatry Research
|August 4, 2017
Summary
Individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders show impaired action verb generation, not mental state verbs. This suggests distinct neural processes underlying verb production in these conditions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Action verb fluency deficits are noted in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
- The specific semantic categories of verb generation difficulties remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate action verb versus mental state verb generation in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
- To explore the characteristics and cognitive correlates of verb production in patients.
Main Methods:
- Classified action fluency responses into action and mental state verbs for 46 patients and 76 controls.
- Analyzed verb properties (length, frequency, age of acquisition, valence, concreteness).
- Assessed cognitive functions and clinical symptoms.
Main Results:
- Patients produced a significantly lower percentage of action verbs compared to controls.
- No difference was found in the percentage of mental state verbs produced.
- Patients' action verbs were less concrete and correlated with memory, intelligence, and interpersonal symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are characterized by impaired action verb generation, but intact mental state verb generation.
- Findings support the neural separability of action and mental state verb production processes.
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