Verbal fluency in schizophrenia: reduction in semantic store

Authors: Chen, Ronald Y.L.; Chen, Eric Y.H.; Chan, Charlotte K.Y.; Lam, Linda C.W.; Lieh-Mak, Felice

Source: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Volume 34, Number 1, February 2000 , pp. 43-48(6)

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $48.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

Objective: This is a study of the word production of patients with schizophrenia using a semantic verbal fluency task to address the unresolved issue of retrieval or storage impairment.

Method: Twenty-one patients with schizophrenia and 11 matched healthy subjects performed a semantic verbal fluency task on `food', `animal' and `transport' categories in Cantonese for 3 minutes each on five separate trials.

Results: Patients generated significantly fewer numbers of words compared with control on each trial. The estimated lexicon size of the patients was significantly smaller than that of the equivalent group. The amount of shared words and variable words generated in all five trials were reduced in the patient group.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that poor verbal fluency in patients with schizophrenia may partly be attributable to reduction in semantic store. The importance of temporal lobe involvement on verbal fluency deficits needs to be emphasised as an integral part of the neurobiological basis of schizophrenia research.

Keywords: schizophrenia; semantic store; verbal fluency

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1614.2000.00647.x

Publication date: 2000-02-01