FRONTAL-LOBE IMPAIRMENT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - RELATIONSHIP TO INTELLECTUAL-FUNCTIONING

Schizophrenic subjects (N = 48) and individually matched healthy contr ols were administered the Verbal Scale of the Wechsler Adult Intellige nce Scale (VIQ) and a test of verbal fluency. The verbal fluency and V IQ scores of the schizophrenic subjects were significantly lower than the scores of the control subjects. An additional sample of healthy su bjects (N = 144) was used to generate a regression equation for the pr ediction of verbal fluency scores from Verbal IQ and age. The verbal f luency scores obtained by the schizophrenic subjects were significantl y lower than the scores predicted from the regression equation, wherea s a significant difference was not obtained in the matched controls. T hese results provide further evidence of frontal lobe dysfunction in s chizophrenia.