Eastern Journal of Psychiatry

Register      Login

VOLUME 16 , ISSUE 1-2 ( February-August, 2013 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

Memory Dysfunctions in the Cases with Schizophrenia

Hitkar Pushpa Bhengra

Keywords : Memory Impairment, Schizophrenia

Citation Information : Bhengra HP. Memory Dysfunctions in the Cases with Schizophrenia. 2013; 16 (1-2):46-49.

DOI: 10.5005/EJP-16-1--2-46

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 13-10-2021

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2013; The Author(s).


Abstract

Background: Memory refers to the process by which information is stored in the brain. It includes encoding, storage and recall of information. Memory encapsulates sense of personal identity, culture and the meaning of individuals’ life. Schizophrenia patients consistently show performance deficits on memory tasks, whether the material in question is verbal or nonverbal, recently learned items or older material. Aim: The study has been designed to assess the memory deficits in schizophrenic patients and it's comparison with the normal control group. Method: The sample consists of 100 subjects, out of which 50 schizophrenia patients diagnosed as per ICD-10DCR criteria and 50 normal control subjects have been included in the study. Wechsler Memory Scale and GHQ- 12 have been used in the study. Result: Schizophrenia patients performed poor in comparison to normal control subjects on subtests of Wechsler Memory Scale. It has further been found that schizophrenic patients were having problems of immediate, recent and remote memory. They were having impaired logical memory in terms of conceptualizing themes of the story and had difficulty in learning and remembering the information. Conclusion: Patients with schizophrenia exhibited impaired information and orientation, disturbed logical memory and had problems in conceptualizing the themes.


PDF Share
  1. Aleman, A., Hijman, R., de Haan, E.H., Kahn, R. S. (1990) Memory impairment in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 1358–1366.
  2. Anderesen, R., Caupti, P., Oades., L. (1989) Relationships between subjective cognitive symptoms and frontal executive abilities in chronic schizophrenic outpatients. Psychopathology, 34, 153-158.
  3. Goldberg and Miller (1979) A scaled version of General Health Questionnaire. Psychological Medicine, 9:39.
  4. Goldberg, T. E., William, G. I., Weinberger, D. R., Berman, K. F. (1988) Further evidence for dementia of the prefrontal type in schizophrenia: A controlled study of teaching the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 1008–1014.
  5. Goldberg, T. E., Weinberger, D. R., Pliskin, N. H., and Berman, K. F., Podd, M. (1989) Recall memory deficit in schizophrenia: a possible manifestation of prefrontal dysfunction. Schizophrenia Research; 2, 251–257.
  6. Goldberg, T. E., Torrey, E. F., Gold, J. M., (1993) Learning and memory in monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 23, 71-85.
  7. Goldberg, T. E., Goldman, R. S., Burdick, K. E., Malhotra, A. K., Lencz, T., Patel, R. C., Woerner, M. G., Schooler, N. R., Kane, J. M., Robinson, D. G. (2008) Cognitive improvement after treatment with second-generation antipsychotic medications in first-episode schizophrenia: is it a practice effect? Archives of General Psychiatry, 64, 1115–1119.
  8. Howard, J.S. (1983) International Late-onset Schizophrenia Group. Late-onset schizophrenia and very-late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis: an international consensus. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 172–178.
  9. Klatzky, R. L. (1980) Human Memory: Structures and Processes, Second Edition. W. H. Freeman & Corporation, San Francisco.
  10. McDonald, C., Marshall, N., Sham, P., Bullmore, E., Schulze, K., Chapple, B., Bramon, E., Filbey, F., Quraishi, S., Walshe, M., Murray, R. (2006) Regional brain morphometry in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Cognitive Control Science, 288, 1835–1838.
  11. McKenna, P. J., Tamlyn, D., Lund, C. E., (1990) Amnesic syndrome in schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 20, 967–972.
  12. Ravindran, O. S. & Rangaswami, K. (2004)Astudy of frontal lobe cognitive dysfunction in chronic schizophrenia. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 31(3), 68-71.
  13. Saykin, A. J., Shtasel, D. L., Gur, R. E., Kester, D. B., Mozley, L. H., Stafiniak, P., Gur, R. C. (1994) Neuropsychological deficits in neuroleptic naive patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51(2), 124–131.
  14. Schwartz, B. L., Rosse, R. B., Deutsch, S. I. (1991) Towards a neuropsychology of memory in schizophrenia. Psychopharmacological Bulletin, 28, 341–351.
  15. Tamlyn, D., McKenna, P. J., Mortimer, A. M., (1992) Memory impairment in schizophrenia: its extent, affiliations and neuropsychological character. Psychological Medicine, 22, 101–115.
  16. Wechsler, D. (1997) Wechsler Memory Scale–Third Edition manual, TX: The Psychological Corporation: San Antonio.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.