一个能够显示精神神经疾病患者空间工作记忆能力以及注意力缺陷的新测试.pdfVIP

A novel spatial working memory and attention test on paired symbols shows developmental deficits in neuropsychiatric patients Abstract People with neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and major depressive disorder often display deficits in spatial working memory and attention. Evaluating working memory and attention in schizophrenia and depression patients in China is usually based on traditional tasks and the interviewer’sjudgment. But the traditional tasks usually take a lot of time and are affected by many uncontrollable factors. We developed a novel Spatial Working Memory and Attention Test on Paired Symbols (SWAPS) inspired by the Chinese historicaljiugongtu (nine spaced grid). It takes only several minutes to complete, comprising 101 trials for each subject. In this study, we tested 59 schizophrenia patients, 24 depression patients and 130 healthy volunteers in China. In a healthy control group with ages ranging from 12 to 60, spatial working memory and attention reached a peak in the 20-26 age range and then declined with increasing age. Importantly, schizophrenia patients failed to display this developmental trend in the same age range and adults(both schizophrenia patients and major depressive disorder patients) had significant deficits compared to the control group. Our data suggests that this novel and simple SWAPS test can be a useful tool for studies of spatial working memory and attention in neuropsychiatric disorders. Key Words: Spatial Working Memory; Attention; Schizophrenia; Major depressive disorder; SWAPS test 6 万方数据