A pen-and-paper human analogue of a monkey prefrontal cortex activation task: spatial working memory in patients with schizophrenia.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
In order to pursue the hypothesis that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is a source of cognitive deficit in schizophrenia, we developed an easily administered pen-and-paper human analogue of a visuospatial working memory task that in non-human primates activates the neurons of Walker area 46 (Goldman-Rakic, 1987). Compared to normal controls, schizophrenic patients made significantly greater errors in identifying where a visuospatial stimulus had been presented to them 30 and 60 seconds earlier, and these differences were significantly greater than in an immediate recall condition. These data suggest that schizophrenic patients have visuospatial working memory deficits that are sensitive to pen-and-paper versions of the tasks that activate the Walker area 46 in non-human primates. The availability of an easily administered test that may be associated with the functioning of the prefrontal cortex may enable more specific assessment of this brain region in humans.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Keefe, RS; Roitman, SE; Harvey, PD; Blum, CS; DuPre, RL; Prieto, DM; Davidson, M; Davis, KL
Published Date
- September 1995
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 17 / 1
Start / End Page
- 25 - 33
PubMed ID
- 8541247
Pubmed Central ID
- 8541247
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0920-9964
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1016/0920-9964(95)00027-j
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- Netherlands