MEMORY DISORDERS IN SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENT S WITH DIFFERENTIAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS

We analysed 41 patients classified as schizophrenic by DSM IIIR and ra ted their psychopathological profiles using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). All patients received neuroleptics because of an acute episode of their chronic illness. The patients were tested wi th a German version of the California Verbal Learning Test for their m emory performance. The amount of global disfunctioning was assessed by a German Version of the Trail Making Test. Neuropsychological testing and psychopathological rating were done mutual uninformed. A cluster- analysis of the psychopathological symptoms revelled four clusters of patients: (I) patients in remission, (2) patients with paranoid-halluc inatory symptoms, (3) desorganized patients, and (4) patients with neg ative symptoms. These subgroups differed significantly in their memory performance: paranoid-hallucinatory patients were less impaired than the other patients; desorganized patients and patients with negative s ymptoms documented qualitatively different memory disorders. Two possi ble explanation are discussed: cortical versus subcortical memory diso rders and left-versus right-frontal memory disorder. In any case, the study documents that paranoid-hallucinatory patients show a specific n eurocognitive deficit pattern and it therefore argues for a differenti ation of the concept of schizophrenia as a unitary disease.