Attention and memory impairment in schizophrenia: a longitudinal study of drug naive patients

This study compares the cognitive performances of 18 drug naive schizophren ics patients at the beginning of their illness and after an average period of 3 years of evolution (less than 8 drop out patients). The neuropsycholog ical assessment includes the following tests: alertness, sustained attentio n, selective attention, working memory and long-term memory (explicit and i mplicit). The results suggest stability of attention and memory impairments, with sig nificant improvement at attention sub-tests. No significant deterioration i s observed. The results also suggest a correlation between the cognitive im pairment and the intensity of negative symptoms as rated on the PANSS. As d iscussed in this article, these results are in accordance with recent revie ws of the literature supporting the long term stability of cognitive impair ment in schizophrenia.