Previous studies have demonstrated that negative symptoms are regulated by
frontal brain regions. We were interested in the relationship between psych
iatric symptoms and performance on a verbal fluency (VF) battery in a popul
ation of elderly schizophrenic subjects. Thirty-five elderly schizophrenic
subjects were administered a neuropsychological battery which included verb
al fluency performance and Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS). Res
ults showed negative symptoms to be strongly correlated with performance on
tasks of VF, which may suggest that negative symptomatology in schizophren
ia is related to prefrontal cortical activity. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.
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