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Cognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: Maze-Solving Behavior in Treated and Untreated Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

B. Gallhofer ,
S. Krieger ,
S. Lis ,
L. Hargarter ,
C. Roder ,
C. Lammers  and
A. Meyer-Lindenberg
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Abstract

In this article, we present data on the analysis of maze-solving behavior as a tool for the investigation of cognitive disturbance in schizophrenic patients. Solving maze tasks efficiently requires both an interaction between and an integration of perceptive and action-oriented processes. Starting from the hypothesis that these domains are preferentially disturbed in schizophrenia, we propose that the maze-solving behavior of schizophrenic patients permits insight into specific impairments in disease-related cognitive processing. We present the results of a maze task study comparing medication-free schizophrenic patients and matched healthy controls. This analysis forms the basis for an investigation of the influence of psychopharmacological treatment strategies on the observed behavior in the maze-solving paradigm. Finally, a third study concerned with improvement over time associated with medication is presented, and possible influences of extrapyramidal motor disturbances on schizophrenic patients' maze performance are discussed.

Type
Feature Article
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 2 , Issue 8: The Maze of Cognitive Dysfunction , September 1997 , pp. 26 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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