Relationships between Psychotic Symptoms and Cognitive Functions in Schizophrenic Patients

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between psychotic symptoms and cognitive functions in schizophrenia. METHODS: The study group was composed of 36 schizophrenic patients. Positive, negative, and disorganization symptoms were assessed using the PANSS. Verbal, visuospatial, attention, memory, and executive functions were assessed using a battery of cognitive tests. RESULTS: Correlation analysis between symptom vs. cognitive measures showed that (a) positive symptoms were significantly correlated with no cognitive measures, (b) negative symptoms were significantly correlated with all cognitive measures, and (c) disorganization symptoms were significantly correlated with executive and memory measures. Correlation analyses between symptom vs. cognitive factors showed that negative-disorganization factor is significantly correlated with executive-memory factor. CONCLUSION: Significant relationships were confined mostly to frontal symptoms vs. frontal cognitive functions. Thus, the relationships may be mediated mainly by variations in severity of frontal pathology among patients.