Flexibility, inhibition, and planning: Frontal dysfunctioning in schizophrenia

Neuropsychological tests known to reveal abnormalities in patients with fro ntal lobe damage were used to explore cognitive function in 20 chronic schi zophrenic patients. Eleven control subjects, matched on age and NLV-IQ (NLV is the Dutch version of the NART) were also tested. No impairements of pla nning ability were found on either the Action Program test or the Zoomap te st, both subtests from the BADS (Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome). No abnormalities were apparent on tests of reactive flexibility , measured by task-switching and by the Rule Shift Cards test, also a subte st of the BADS. Patients with schizophrenia, however, had significantly gre ater difficulty in inhibiting irrelevant information and in generating word s in a verbal fluency task, a measure of spontaneous flexibility. (C) 2000 Academic Press.