Wood S J, Proffitt T, Mahony K, Smith D J, Buchanan J A, Brewer W, Stuart G W, Velakoulis D, McGorry P D, Pantelis C
Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Research and Academic Unit, University of Melbourne, Sunshine Hospital, St. Albans, Victoria, Australia.
Psychol Med. 2002 Apr;32(3):429-38. doi: 10.1017/s0033291702005275.
Despite a number of studies that have indicated impaired memory function in patients with schizophrenia, there have been few that have used a sensitive measure of right medial temporal lobe pathology. Given the reported findings of reduced hippocampal volume in schizophrenia, we used a theoretically sensitive test of the right medial temporal lobe to determine the nature of the visuospatial memory deficit in the disorder.
Seventy-six patients (37 with a first-episode schizophreniform psychosis, and 39 with established schizophrenia) were compared with 41 comparison subjects on a number of tests of visuospatial memory. These included spatial working memory, spatial and pattern recognition memory and a pattern-location associative learning test.
Both patient groups displayed recognition memory deficits when compared to the comparison group. However, only those patients with established schizophrenia (of 9 years duration on average) were impaired on the associative learning test.
The results indicate either a progressive decline in visuospatial associative learning ability over the course of the disorder, or that poor visuospatial associative learning is a marker for poor prognosis. In addition, these results have implications for our understanding of the role of the right medial temporal lobe in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
尽管多项研究表明精神分裂症患者存在记忆功能受损，但很少有研究使用对右侧内侧颞叶病变敏感的测量方法。鉴于报道称精神分裂症患者海马体积减小，我们使用了一种理论上对右侧内侧颞叶敏感的测试来确定该疾病中视觉空间记忆缺陷的性质。
将76名患者（37名首次发作的精神分裂症样精神病患者和39名确诊的精神分裂症患者）与41名对照受试者进行多项视觉空间记忆测试的比较。这些测试包括空间工作记忆、空间和模式识别记忆以及模式 - 位置联想学习测试。
与对照组相比，两个患者组均表现出识别记忆缺陷。然而，只有那些确诊的精神分裂症患者（平均病程9年）在联想学习测试中受损。
结果表明，在疾病过程中视觉空间联想学习能力要么逐渐下降，要么视觉空间联想学习能力差是预后不良的标志。此外，这些结果对我们理解右侧内侧颞叶在精神分裂症病理生理学中的作用具有启示意义。
