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Evaluation of Specific Executive Functioning Skills and the Processes Underlying Executive Control in Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2010

Gauri N. Savla ,
Elizabeth W. Twamley ,
Wesley K. Thompson ,
Dean C. Delis ,
Dilip V. Jeste  and
Barton W. Palmer
Gauri N. Savla*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
Elizabeth W. Twamley
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, Psychiatry Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California
Wesley K. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California The Sam and Rose Stein Center for Research on Aging, University of California School of Medicine, La Jolla, California
Dean C. Delis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
Dilip V. Jeste
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California The Sam and Rose Stein Center for Research on Aging, University of California School of Medicine, La Jolla, California
Barton W. Palmer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Gauri N. Savla, PhD, University of California, San Diego, Department of Psychiatry MC 0603 V, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0603. E-mail: gsavla@ucsd.edu
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Abstract

Schizophrenia is associated with executive dysfunction. Yet, the degree to which executive functions are impaired differentially, or above and beyond underlying basic cognitive processes is less clear. Participants included 145 matched pairs of individuals with schizophrenia (SCs) and normal comparison subjects (NCs). Executive functions were assessed with 10 tasks of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS), in terms of “achievement scores” reflecting overall performance on the task. Five of these tasks (all measuring executive control) were further examined in terms of their basic component (e.g., processing speed) scores and contrast scores (reflecting residual higher order skills adjusted for basic component skills). Group differences were examined via multivariate analysis of variance. SCs had worse performance than NCs on all achievement scores, but the greatest SC-NC difference was that for the Trails Switching task. SCs also had worse performance than NCs on all basic component skills. Of the executive control tasks, only Trails Switching continued to be impaired after accounting for impairments in underlying basic component skills. Much of the impairment in executive functions in schizophrenia may reflect the underlying component skills rather than higher-order functions. However, the results from one task suggest that there might be additional impairment in some aspects of executive control. (JINS, 2010, 17, 000–000)

Keywords

CognitionExecutive functionSchizoaffective disorderPsychotic disordersTrail Making TestD-KEFS
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 14 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2010

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