Language in schizophrenia and its relationship to formal thought disorder

Background. Although poor language test performance has been documented in schizophrenia, its relationship to formal thought disorder remains unclear. Method. Forty schizophrenic patients were administered eight language tests and, under blind conditions, rated for formal thought disorder. Measures o f general intellectual function were also obtained. Results. Performance on all language tests was significantly correlated wit h the general intellectual measures. Three language test scores also showed significant correlations with formal thought disorder scores. Multiple reg ression and analysis of intellectually preserved patients suggested particu lar associations of formal thought disorder with semantic comprehension and picture description. Conclusions. General intellectual impairment is an important determinant of poor language test performance in schizophrenia, but presence of formal th ought disorder may also contribute. A higher-order semantic deficit may be particularly relevant to both linguistic impairment and formal thought diso rder.