COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA AND TEMPORAL-LOBE EPILEPSY ON MEMORY

The goal of this study was to further characterize episodic memory fun ctioning in schizophrenia This study compared verbal and visual learni ng and memory performance in (1) patients with schizophrenia (N = 35), (2) patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE; N = 30), and (3) norma l controls (N = 25). Results indicated significant memory impairments in patients with schizophrenia and TLE. ''Savings'' score measures of memory decay showed that the loss of information in schizophrenia and TLE was approximately equal, and quantitatively mild compared to that found in most neurologic groups with memory disorders. The severe diff iculty shown by the schizophrenia group on a task of incidental recall suggested that the absence of instructional set added to a vulnerabil ity to memory deficit. In contrast, relatively mildly impaired perform ance on paired associate learning suggested that patients with schizop hrenia benefited from retrieval cues, multiple trials, and short (nons upraspan) informational loads. Because patients with schizophrenia con sisted of a relatively nonchronic sample with a mean IQ of 99.7, their memory disorder could not be attributed to schizophrenic dementia, no r was it accounted for by other potential confounds. Patients with sch izophrenia, even those relatively early in the course of illness, have a mild episodic memory disorder.