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Sex differences in neuropsychological functioning among schizophrenic patients
R R Lewine1, E F Walker, R Shurett
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. sdprrj@emory.edu
The American Journal of Psychiatry
|September 1, 1996
Summary
Schizophrenia patients showed significant cognitive impairment compared to healthy individuals. Contrary to expectations, female schizophrenic patients exhibited worse verbal memory, spatial memory, and visual processing deficits than males.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Traditional views suggest men with schizophrenia have poorer premorbid development and worse outcomes than women.
- This suggests men with schizophrenia may exhibit greater neuropsychological impairment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neuropsychological functioning in male and female patients with schizophrenia.
- To compare cognitive performance between schizophrenic patients and healthy individuals.
Main Methods:
- Neuropsychological tests were administered to 132 male and 63 female patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
- Cognitive performance was compared to that of 99 healthy controls (40 male, 59 female).
Main Results:
- Schizophrenic patients, as a group, demonstrated pervasive and significant cognitive impairments compared to controls.
- Unexpectedly, female patients with schizophrenia performed significantly worse than male patients in verbal memory, spatial memory, and visual processing.
- Female schizophrenic patients showed poorer performance in right hemisphere functions compared to left, while male patients had similar performance across both hemispheres.
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest that schizophrenia in women may involve right hemisphere dysfunction.
- Potential influences of sampling, diagnostic criteria, and epidemiological factors on the results are acknowledged.