SCHIZOTYPAL PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE AND WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TESTIN A POPULATION OF DSM-III-R SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS AND CONTROL SUBJECTS

Phenomenological, biological, genetic, treatment-response, and outcome data support a link between schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) an d schizophrenia. Furthermore, SPD and normal schizotypy also seem conn ected, although the relationship can at times be ambiguous. In this re gard, this study was conducted to test the hypothesis of a possible as sociation between neurocognitive performance evaluated by the Wisconsi n Card Sorting Test (WCST) and schizotypal personality traits evaluate d by the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) in a nonclinical sample and a sample of schizophrenic patients. The main finding of the study was that WCST performance was correlated with SPQ (total and su bscale) scores in the control group; on the contrary, in the patients, the relationship between WCST and SPQ scores was weaker. Taken togeth er, our results seem to support the hypothesis that different cognitiv e aspects (i.e., elementary WCST subcomponent scores) correlate differ entially with some SPQ schizotypal traits in a group of nonclinical su bjects. This report underlines the relevance of studying normal subjec ts within the brain-behavior paradigm to highlight the brain-behavior relationship in the mental illness. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunder s Company.