Sensory and motor encoding strategies in n-back tasks: a simulation of schizophrenic working memory deficits in healthy subjects.

Aims: Different patterns of intact and disturbed working memory function can be observed in schizophrenic patients depending on the type of n-back task. We investigated whether these patterns can be induced in healthy subjects by experimentally preventing a motor encoding strategy.

Methods: Thirty-two healthy subjects were asked to solve 2 types of n-back task.