Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Executive function in first-episode schizophrenia

S B Hutton1, B K Puri, L J Duncan

  • 1Division of Neuroscience and Psychological Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Charing Cross Hospital, Queen Mary's University Hospital, London.

Psychological Medicine
|May 8, 1998
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Paleoenvironments shaped the exchange of terrestrial vertebrates across Wallace's Line.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2023
Same author

Increasing Nrf2 Activity as a Treatment Approach in Neuropsychiatry.

Molecular neurobiology·2021
Same author

Patients as teachers: Evaluating the experiences of volunteer inpatients during medical student clinical skills training.

Canadian medical education journal·2020
Same author

The interplay between oxidative stress and bioenergetic failure in neuropsychiatric illnesses: can we explain it and can we treat it?

Molecular biology reports·2020
Same author

Removal of DNA adducts.

Medical hypotheses·2019
Same author

Fructose-associated hepatotoxicity indexed by the lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme LDH-5.

Medical hypotheses·2019

Schizophrenia involves significant executive function deficits, particularly in planning and strategy, even at first episode. Attentional set shifting remains intact, suggesting progressive cognitive decline in schizophrenia.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Schizophrenia is hypothesized as a frontostriatal disorder.
  • Previous research on executive function in schizophrenia yielded mixed results.
  • Limited executive measures in prior studies may obscure specific deficits.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the frontostriatal disorder hypothesis by examining executive function in first-episode schizophrenia.
  • To comprehensively assess a range of executive abilities using sensitive measures.
  • To differentiate specific executive function impairments in early-stage schizophrenia.

Main Methods:

  • Thirty first-episode schizophrenia patients and 30 controls were compared.
  • Executive functions assessed using the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery (CANTAB).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Tests included planning, spatial working memory, and attentional set shifting; memory tests were also administered.

    • Main Results:

    • Schizophrenia patients showed impairments across all tested executive functions, but deficits were not uniform.
    • Patients exhibited deficits in planning and response organization, but not attentional set shifting or inhibition.
    • Significant memory impairments were observed, including free recall and associative learning.

    Conclusions:

    • First-episode schizophrenia patients exhibit profound executive impairments, primarily in planning and strategy, not attentional set shifting.
    • Intact attentional set shifting at first episode contrasts with findings in chronic patients, suggesting progressive executive decline.
    • Severe memory deficits at first episode indicate that cognitive impairments in schizophrenia span multiple domains from the outset.