Semantic memory organization on verbal fluency test "Human Body Parts" in patients with chronic schizophrenia diagnosis and healthy controls

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The cognitive impairments known as schizophrenia have been extensively reported in the literature. The severity of such impairments has been shown to vary depending on the cognitive domain that is being studied. Impairments in performance in VF tasks have also been extensively reported by comparing schizophrenic patients on the one hand with healthy controls and patients suffering from other mental disorders on the other, and it is suggested that such impairments can be considered as part of the neuropsychological endophenotype for schizophrenia. This study analyzed the organization of semantic memory in patients with chronic schizophrenia by means of the "Human Body Parts" VF task. Methods: 44 patients with chronic schizophrenia and 44 healthy controls were examined, paired by age, sex, years of education, and handedness. The organization of semantic memory was derived from the construction of semantic maps obtained by means of correspondence analysis. Results: Performance in the VF task studied was significantly lower in the patients group. The semantic maps obtained from the CoA show a semantic organization partly differential in both groups of participants. Conclusions: The hypothesis that there would be better performance because this is a test that has a self-referential key was partially rebutted. Although there was a deficit in per­formance, the findings from this study suggest that such performance cannot be accounted for by lack of organization in semantic networks or clinical variables.