SCHIZOHRENIA HETEROGENEITY--A SEMANTIC PRIMING APPROACH

最近的研究表明，语言信息处理的一个缺陷 可能是精神分裂症的病因学；然而，没有一个单一的解释模型 异常认知已经能够涵盖临床和 这种疾病的生物异质性。事实上，目前的报道 研究语义记忆的结构和加工方面发现 在语言信息加工上存在显著差异 精神分裂症各亚组的表现。这些方法衍生出 从认知心理学领域来看，它见证了一个令人敬畏的 过去15年的爆炸，无论是从实验数据来看 以及照亮正常受试者思维过程的模型。 在这个项目中，我们将系统地研究语义启动 精神分裂症的疗效及其与临床现象学的关系 和神经心理表现。我们将对两者进行比较和对比 信息处理的自动和受控水平，重点是 关于区分精神分裂症患者亚组在这些问题上的表现 任务。我们假设： 精神分裂症患者的一个亚组几乎没有语义启动效应 在主要依赖于自动信息处理的任务中， 正常的(或高于正常的)启动在唤起 受控流程。这个亚群表现出偏执/妄想的特征， 阴性症状/缺陷综合征较少，表现正常 神经心理测试，主要检查执行功能，以及 神经心理学任务中的异常表现检查各方面 工作记忆。 精神分裂症患者的第二个亚组表现出高于正常的语义 自动信息处理条件下的启动(“超启动”) 加上战略/控制启动机制受损的证据。这 亚群的特征是无组织和无差别的特征， 阴性症状/缺陷综合症，以及执行功能障碍。

Recent research suggests that a defect in language information processing may be pathognomic of schizophrenia; however, no single explanatory model of abnormal cognition has been able to encompass the clinical and biological heterogeneity of this illness. Indeed, current reports which examine structural and processing aspects of semantic memory reveal that there are significant differences in the language information processing performance of various schizophrenic subgroups. These approaches derive from the field of cognitive psychology, which has witnessed a formidable explosion over the past fifteen years both in terms of experimental data and models which illuminate thought processes in normal subjects. In this project, we will systematically investigate semantic priming effects in schizophrenia and their relationship to clinical phenomenology and neuropsychological performance. We will compare and contrast both automatic and controlled levels of information processing, with an emphasis on distinguishing the performance of subgroups of schizophrenics on these tasks. We hypothesize that: A subgroup of schizophrenics shows virtually no semantic priming effects in tasks which rely mainly on automatic information processing, but shows normal (or greater-than-normal) priming in experiments which evoke controlled processes. This subgroup manifests paranoid/delusional features, less of a negative symptom/deficit syndrome, normal performance on neuropsychological testing which examines mainly executive functions, and abnormal performance in neuropsychological tasks examining aspects of working memory. A second subgroup of schizophrenics shows greater-than-normal semantic priming ("hyperpriming") in automatic information processing conditions plus evidence of impaired strategic/controlled priming mechanisms. This subgroup is characterized by disorganized and undifferentiated features, a negative symptom/deficit syndrome, and impairment on executive functions.