Cognitive disorders in the positive, negative, and disorganization syndromes of schizophrenia

Recent factor-analytic studies have derived several trisyndromic models for schizophrenia, all based on the positive, negative, and disorganization syndromes. The goal of this study was to examine cognitive disorders in these three schizophrenic syndromes. The study group was composed of 40 schizophrenic patients consecutively admitted to the hospital due to a recrudescence of their symptomatology. They were selected on the basis of a semistructured interview, diagnosed with DSM-III-R criteria, and evaluated with scales for positive and negative symptoms. Their cognitive disorders were assessed with a battery of neuropsychological tests. The schizophrenic syndromes were weakly associated with cognitive performance through direct correlations and after correction for confounding variables. The disorganization and negative syndromes were more strongly associated with cognitive disturbances than was the positive syndrome, and both were associated with disturbances of visual-motor processes. Moreover, the disorganization syndrome was associated with disturbances in language and verbal memory and in time-controlled performance.