Abstract

Patients suffering from schizophrenia display subtle cognitive abnormalities that may reflect a difficulty in rapidly coordinating the steps that occur in a variety of mental activities. Working interactively with the prefrontal cortex, the cerebellum may play a role in coordinating both motor and cognitive performance. This positron-emission tomography study suggests the presence of a prefrontal-thalamic-cerebellar network that is activated when normal subjects recall complex narrative material, but is dysfunctional in schizophrenic patients when they perform the same task. These results support a role for the cerebellum in cognitive functions and suggest that patients with schizophrenia may suffer from a "cognitive dysmetria" due to dysfunctional prefrontal-thalamic-cerebellar circuitry.

Keywords

DysmetriaPrefrontal cortexNeurosciencePsychologyCerebellumCognitionSchizophrenia (object-oriented programming)Dysfunctional familyPositron emission tomographyRecallWorking memoryCognitive psychologyPsychiatry

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Publication Info

Year
1996
Type
article
Volume
93
Issue
18
Pages
9985-9990
Citations
622
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Nancy C. Andreasen, Daniel S. OʼLeary, Ted Cizadlo et al. (1996). Schizophrenia and cognitive dysmetria: a positron-emission tomography study of dysfunctional prefrontal-thalamic-cerebellar circuitry.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 93 (18) , 9985-9990. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.18.9985

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DOI
10.1073/pnas.93.18.9985