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Abnormalities of mental rotation of hands associated with speed of information processing and executive function in chronic schizophrenic patients
Author(s) -
Mazhari Shahrzad,
Moghadas Tabrizi Yousef
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/pcn.12148
Subject(s) - mental rotation , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , cognition , psychology , audiology , psychosis , correlation , working memory , analysis of variance , psychiatry , medicine , geometry , mathematics
Aim Deficits in mental imagery ability have been reported in patients with schizophrenia. However, there is scarce evidence about the correlation between impairment in mental rotation and other cognitive deficits in the patients. The aim of this study was to assess mental rotation ability, along with other measures of cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia. Methods The performance of 29 patients with schizophrenia was compared with 29 healthy controls. Mental rotation was measured with the Hand Rotation Task, and cognitive functions were measured with the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia ( BACS ). Results On Hand Rotation Task, the patients were significantly slower and less accurate compared to controls. Moreover, mental rotation accuracy was significantly correlated with all the BACS domains except verbal memory. In multiple regression analysis, the two BACS subscales, T ower of L ondon and S ymbol C oding tasks, were significant predictors and accounted for 41% of the variance in accuracy in the patients. Conclusion These results support previous findings showing dysfunction of the posterior parietal cortex in schizophrenia, which is involved in general mental rotation, as well as other cognitive processes.