Formal Thought Disorder and Working Memory Deficit in Schizophrenia

INTRODUCTION: Formal Thought Disorder (FTD) is regarded as a cardinal symptom of Schizophrenia (Goldberg and Werberger; 2000) and is characterized by aberrant speech pattern and inappropriate word use. The causal and openings of this phenomenon are still being debated. To date, the strongest evidence has emerged for compromised executive functioning and abnormal semantic processing (Soriano, etal; 2008). Working Memory (WM) deficits has been found to correlate significantly with FTD because monitoring one’s own speech is a function of WM AIM: The aim of the present study is to explore the relationship between WM and FTD in Schizophrenia. METHODS: The sample of the present study will be comprised of 30 schizophrenic patients with FTD and 30 patients without FTD. The sample will be taken from the in-patient and OPD of Institute of Mental Health and Hospital, Agra using ICD-10 DCR. Participants will be further screened for exclusion criteria of mental retardation, history of head injury/neurological disorder, age above 50 years and dual diagnosis. The tools that will be used are scale for the assessment of Thought, Language and Communication (Nancy C Anderson), PGI memory scale, Stroop, Colour-word test and N-back test. After taking consent to participate in the study the above mentioned tools will be administered to assess FTD and WM of participants. The person assessing cognitive functions will be blind to the assessment score of FTD scale. Data will be analyzed by using SPSS software.