Memory and learning impairments in deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia: a scoping review

The evidence available indicates that patients with deficit schizophrenia experience more pronounced global cognitive impairments than non-deficit patients. Whether this syndrome is also marked by disproportionately greater difficulties in memory and learning remains unclear. This scoping review aimed to map the existing literature on differences in memory and learning between deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia patients, relative to healthy controls.

We systematically searched PsycINFO, ERIC, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, and MEDLINE for studies published from January 1980 through June 2025. Methodology according to the PRISMA 2020 was applied. Thirty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Nineteen assessed working memory; as a condition, deficit schizophrenia showed greater impairments than non-deficit schizophrenia in verbal working memory in 5 studies (33.3%) and in visual working memory in 3 studies (37.5%). Twenty-nine studies examined episodic memory and learning; deficit schizophrenia showed greater deficits than non-deficit schizophrenia in verbal episodic memory/learning in 14 studies (48.3%) and in visual episodic memory/learning in 5 studies (38.5%). In most of the studies that included healthy controls, both patient groups performed worse than the controls.

The evidence available supports the presence of memory and learning impairments in deficit schizophrenia; however, current data are insufficient to determine whether impairments of working and episodic memory are more prevalent in deficit than in non-deficit schizophrenia. This review highlights existing gaps in the literature and suggests directions for future research as well as discussing practical implications.