NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF CENTRAL MONOAMINE FUNCTION IN CHRONIC-SCHIZOPHRENIA - RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CSF METABOLITES AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION

Schizophrenia is associated with multiple cognitive deficits which in turn may be related to abnormal dopamine (DA) function. To examine pos sible associations between cognitive dysfunction and central DA activi ty in schizophrenia, neuropsychological measures (visuospatial and ver bal recall; performance on the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST); visuos patial perception) were examined in 17 drug-free male schizophrenic pa tients and related to cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of the metabo lites of dopamine (homovanillic acid (HVA)), serotonin, and norepineph rine. CSF HVA concentrations were correlated with the ability to recal l visuospatial information, with attention to verbal tasks, and with W CST performance (low CSF HVA concentrations predicting poor performanc e on these tests) but not with the ability to recall verbally presente d material and visuospatial perception. These data are consistent with earlier results suggesting that (cortical) DA function is associated with recall and retrieval of visuospatial information and with WCST pe rformance.