Schizophrenia affects a wide range of cognitive functions, particularly attention, working memory, verbal learning and memory, and executive functions. Some studies have revealed mild to moderate deficits in attention, speech fluency, working memory, processing speed, verbal memory, and executive functioning.
For example, the person may neglect personal hygiene or appear to lack emotion (doesn't make eye contact, doesn't change facial expressions or speaks in a monotone). Also, the person may lose interest in everyday activities, socially withdraw or lack the ability to experience pleasure.
Many brain regions have been implicated in schizophrenia by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies; findings have included ventricular enlargement, total brain volume deficits, and deficits in brain volume within the frontal, temporal, and parietal regions (3–6).
Altogether, they found that individuals with schizophrenia have smaller volume in the hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, nucleus accumbens and intracranial space than controls, and larger pallidum and ventricle volumes.
These side effects typically include tardive or withdrawal dyskinesia (involuntary or abnormal movements), parkinsonism (tremor, bradykinesia, slowness, rigidity), and akathisia (the feeling of inner restlessness and associated need to be in constant motion, e.g., rocking or leg crossing).
Poor learning and retention of verbal information is a hallmark cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Along with executive functioning deficits, impaired ability to encode and retain verbally presented information is one of the most consistent findings across research studies.
Disorganized behavior in schizophrenia negatively impacts goal-directed behavior. A person with disorganized schizophrenia is likely to have difficulty beginning a specific task (ex: cooking a meal) or difficulty finishing a task. Independent functioning is exceptionally difficult due to this gross disorganization.
It can include odd, bizarre behavior such as smiling, laughing, or talking to oneself or being preoccupied/responding to internal stimuli. It can include purposeless, ambivalent behavior or movements. It can include random, intermittent agitation for no clear reason.
Thought, language and communication dysfunction characterize all its symptoms, but manifest at their most extreme as positive thought disorder, with disorganized and sometimes unintelligible speech. This is the first of two articles that discuss higher-order language and semantic dysfunction in schizophrenia.
Word salad is a severe form of formal thought disorder, a feature in schizophrenia that causes a disturbance in how thoughts are organized and expressed. In word salad, words and phrases may be loosely associated with one another but don't actually form a coherent thought.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a short-term, problem-focused approach with the goal of teaching people who have schizophrenia a variety of coping skills to help them manage difficult situations. This type of therapy is typically given for one hour a week during the course of 12 to 16 weeks.
There are five types of symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and the so-called “negative” symptoms. However, the symptoms of schizophrenia vary dramatically from person to person, both in pattern and severity.
In a study by Watson (14), schizophrenics tended to manipulate the impressions that they made on others via certain &! IMP1 scales, but not through measures of thinking disorder or interview behavior. The extent to which schizophrenic behavior in psychiatric hospitals stems from manipulatory motives is not yet clear.
The main known risk factors in development of schizophrenia are genetic causes, pregnancy and delivery complications, slow neuromotor development, and deviant cognitive and academic performance.
Individuals with schizophrenia show a substantial impairment in overall cognitive performance, which, on average, is around two standard deviations below that in healthy controls [1]. Moreover, this deficit contributes to poor clinical outcomes such as unemployment and an inability to live independently [2].
Grossly disorganized or abnormal motor behavior is a difficulty in sustaining goal-oriented behavior. This may manifest itself in a variety of ways, ranging from childlike “silliness” to unpredictable agitation. Negative symptoms include diminished emotional expression, avolition, alogia and anhedonia.
Psychomotor problems may appear as clumsiness, unusual mannerisms or repetitive actions, and in extreme cases, motionless rigidity held for extended periods of time. Negative symptoms reflect a loss of functioning in areas such as emotion or motivation.
Cognitive deficits are one of the core symptoms of schizophrenia that evolve during the course of schizophrenia, after being originated even before the onset of illness.
CBT also failed to improve quality of life, as measured in a patient's sense of self, hope, well-being, relationships and so on. Indeed, not one CBT trial has ever reported a rise in quality of life for people diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Flat affect is a hallmark symptom of schizophrenia, although it may also affect those with other conditions. It is a lack of showing emotion characterized by an apathetic and unchanging facial expression and little or no change in the strength, tone, or pitch of the voice.
A word salad, or schizophasia, is a "confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases", most often used to describe a symptom of a neurological or mental disorder. The term schizophasia is used in particular to describe the confused language that may be evident in schizophrenia.