ASSESSING DECLARATIVE MEMORY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA USING WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TEST STIMULI - THE PAIRED-ASSOCIATE RECOGNITION TEST

The Paired Associate Recognition Test (PART) was developed to measure declarative memory using Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) stimuli, s o that both tasks could be administered during functional neuroimaging to differentiate memory and executive function, and associated fronta l and temporal lobe activation in schizophrenia. The current study was designed to compare PART and WCST performance in schizophrenic patien ts and to examine effects of medication and symptomatology. The PART, WCST, and standard declarative memory tasks were administered to 30 ch ronic schizophrenic patients and 30 matched healthy control subjects. Supporting task validity was the finding that patients were equally im paired on the PART and the WCST. Neuroleptics did not appear to affect performance. The effect of anticholinergic medication correlated nega tively with WCST performance in a small subsample. Severity of schizop hrenia-specific symptoms measured at intake on the Brief Psychiatric R ating Scale correlated negatively with performance on the WCST. These results support the application of the PART and WCST in future functio nal neuroimaging studies.