NONSELECTIVE IMPAIRMENT OF WISCONSIN-CARD-SORTING-TEST PERFORMANCE INPATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Sixty-two schizophrenic patients and 26 healthy volunteers were admini stered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) a task putatively specif ic for frontal functions and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WA IS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presence of specifi c frontal lobe deficits in the course of schizophrenia and the capacit y of these tasks to discriminate between patients and controls. Schizo phrenic patients showed a poorer performance than control subjects in both tests. No evidence emerged to support a higher discriminant power for the WCST in identifying schizophrenic subjects from healthy contr ols compared with the WAIS. Our data suggest that the deficit in WCST performance is not selective, but rather part of a more generalized ne uropsychological impairment in schizophrenic patients. (C) 1997 Elsevi er Science B.V.