Memory deficits in young schizophrenics with normal general intellectual function.

The aim of the present study was to examine different dimensions of memory functioning in young schizophrenics with normal general intellectual abilities. Thirty-three patients with schizophrenia and 33 healthy controls were included in the study. The results suggest that immediate short-term memory is intact, though there emerged a working memory deficit in the schizophrenia group. Deficient encoding of verbal material was observed in some, but not in other, testing conditions. There also seemed to be a retrieval deficit for verbal material in schizophrenia, though no storage deficit was indicated. Impaired memory for non-verbal material was also revealed. These results occurred in a context of intact executive functioning as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The results indicate that temporal and frontal structures, as well as their interconnections, may be compromised in schizophrenia.