Studies of Cognition
J. Daniel Ragland, Ph.D. |
Ruben C. Gur, Ph.D. |
Associate Professor of Neuropsychology |
Professor, Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology & Radiology |
Cognitive dysfunction is one of the most common features of schizophrenia. A variety of areas of cognition can be affected in schizophrenia, particularly attention and verbal episodic memory. We have a variety of studies designed to determine what areas of cognition are most affected in schizophrenia, and what the neurobiological, clinical, and functional correlates of these areas of deficit are. We have a computerized battery of tasks that assess attention, spatial reasoning, motor coordination, emotional processing, language and abstraction and verbal and spatial memory. Our electrophysiologic and functional imaging research focuses on attention, learning and memory, emotional processing and olfactory function.
Memory impairments in schizophrenia appear related to encoding rather than to a long-term storage problem. Patients tend to rely on rote rehearsal rather than on more effective semantic organizational strategies. This contributes to their marked encoding and retrieval difficulties. It is important to determine the stage of memory impairment in schizophrenia as this information can help target pharmacological and behavioral interventions. An inherent limitation of neuropsychological testing is that encoding cannot be independently assessed because retrieval is required to obtain performance indices. Our lab uses neuroimaging to overcome this limitation, by looking at brain activity during encoding and retrieval of various types of stimuli. A better understanding of the nature of these learning and memory impairments will help to inform remediation efforts that promise to improve the dailiy functioning of individuals with schizophrenia.
ONGOING STUDIES
- Self Face Recognition & Theory of Mind in Schizophrenia
- Word Encoding fMRI
ABOUT THE TEAM
- Principle Investigators
- J. Daniel Ragland, Ph.D.
- Ruben C. Gur, Ph.D.