Luria-Nebraska performance and symptomatology in unmedicated schizophrenic patients

Recent attempts at subgrouping schizophrenia have emphasized negative symptoms (e.g., blunted affect, emotional withdrawal), and several works have suggested that patients with negative symptoms show greater cognitive deficits and structural brain abnormalities. However, many of these studies have relied on screening devices or single measures of neuropsychological performance. Accordingly, the present study used the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) in assessing 38 unmedicated inpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The results found no relationship between LNNB performance and symptom ratings derived from clinical interviews using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. The findings show that cognitive performance may be unrelated to symptomatology when a complex battery type test is used.