The effects of perceptual encoding on the magnitude of object working memory impairment in schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: Deficits in the visual working memory (WM) system have been consistently reported in schizophrenia patients, but the relative contribution of initial perceptual encoding to these deficits remains unsettled. We assessed the role of visual perceptual encoding on performance on an object WM task. Schizophrenia patients (N=37) and nonpsychiatric control subjects (N=33) were tested on an object WM task involving three delay periods: 200 ms, 3s, and 10s. Schizophrenia patients performed significantly less accurately than controls on all three conditions. However, after controlling for the effect of perceptual encoding (accuracy on the 200 ms delay condition) on performance in the two memory load conditions, schizophrenia patients demonstrated intact WM in the 3s delay condition, and showed a wea

SUBMITTER: Coleman MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3393830 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature