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An empirical test of the frontal lobe hypothesis of schizophrenia
Dissertation   Open access

An empirical test of the frontal lobe hypothesis of schizophrenia

Bradley Joseph Kamrowski-Poppen
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
1998
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00009854
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Abstract

Schizophrenia has long been thought to be characterized by a set of behavioral and cognitive deficits which suggests frontal lobe involvement. A study was done making direct comparisons between schizophrenics and individuals with localized prefrontal lobe injuries. Twenty-one schizophrenics and 19 focal frontals were compared using MANOVA procedures to a healthy control reference group. Both clinical groups displayed neuropsychological impairments on a variety of cognitive skills, with primary deficits in executive control and verbal learning. Further MANOVA between the clinical groups indicated a lack of a difference between the schizophrenics and focal frontals as a group. Subdividing the frontal group, it was found that there was no observed difference between the profiles of schizophrenics and left frontal patients, whereas both of these groups displayed significantly more impairment in verbal learning than the right frontal group. These data fail to support a difference between the neuropsychological profiles seen in localized left prefrontal injury and schizophrenia. Executive control deficits, and the impact impaired organization and lower depth of processing has on verbal learning, are thought to be a major factor in both these profiles. It is believed that frontal lobe injury, particularly left prefrontal injury, provides an adequate model for the deficits of schizophrenia, and support the frontal lobe hypothesis of schizophrenia. Potential confounding factors and directions for further research are discussed.

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