Abstract
BackgroundThought disorder and visual-perceptual deficits have been well documented, but their relationships with clinical symptoms and cognitive function remain unclear. Cognitive-perceptual deficits may underscore clinical symptoms in schizophrenia patients.AimThis study aimed to explore how thought disorder and form perception are related with clinical symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in first-episode schizophrenia.SettingForty-two patients with a first-episode of schizophrenia, schizophreniform or schizoaffective disorder were recruited from community clinics and state hospitals in the Cape Town area.MethodsPatients were assessed at baseline with the Rorschach Perceptual Thinking Index (PTI), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the MATRICS Cognitive Consensus Battery (MCCB). Spearman correlational analyses were conducted to investigate relationships between PTI scores, PANSS factor analysis-derived domain scores and MCCB composite and subscale scores. Multiple regression models explored these relationships further.ResultsUnexpectedly, poor form perception (X- %) was inversely correlated with the severity of PANSS positive symptoms (r = -0.42, p = 0.02). Good form perception (XA%) correlated significantly with speed of processing (r = 0.59, p < 0.01), working memory (r = 0.48, p < 0.01) and visual learning (r = 0.55, p < 0.01). PTI measures of thought disorder did not correlate significantly with PANSS symptom scores or cognitive performance.ConclusionsForm perception is associated with positive symptoms and impairment in executive function during acute psychosis. These findings suggest that there may be clinical value in including sensory-perceptual processing tasks in cognitive remediation and social cognitive training programmes for schizophrenia patients.
Highlights
Thought disorder and visual-perceptual deficits in schizophrenia have been well described in the literature,[1] but their relationships with other psychopathology and cognitive functions remain unclear
We further explored the relationships between thought disorder and form perception with other components of psychopathology and cognitive function
We hypothesised that the severity of thought disorder and poor form perception would be significantly correlated with disorganisation and negative symptom domains, as well as with poor cognitive function
Summary
Thought disorder and visual-perceptual deficits in schizophrenia have been well described in the literature,[1] but their relationships with other psychopathology and cognitive functions remain unclear. These relationships are important as they may help us to better understand the symptom expression of the illness, as well as its underlying pathophysiology. Cognitive deficits are well described in schizophrenia and most studies have shown that they have modest correlations with negative and disorganisation symptoms in schizophrenia and weak correlations with positive symptoms.[4,5] The cognitive mechanisms underlying thought disorder remain unclear. Thought disorder and visual-perceptual deficits have been well documented, but their relationships with clinical symptoms and cognitive function remain unclear. Cognitive-perceptual deficits may underscore clinical symptoms in schizophrenia patients
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