Neurocognitive subtypes of schizophrenia.

Objective: To empirically identify schizophrenia neurocognitive subtypes and establish their association with clinical characteristics.

Methods: Sustained attention, executive function, facial emotion recognition, verbal learning, and working memory tests were applied to 253 subjects with schizophrenia. We identified neurocognitive subtypes by a latent class analysis of the tests results.

Verbal working memory in individuals with schizophrenia and their first degree relatives: relationship with negative and disorganized symptoms.

Objective: To determine whether there are differences in verbal working memory amongst subjects with schizophrenia, their first degree relatives and controls, and to evaluate the influence of symptoms on these differences, as an initial step to assess whether this cognitive function is an endophenotype.

Methods: We examined 197 cases with schizophrenia, 197 first degree relatives and 200 controls through psychiatric interviews and the Letters and Numbers Sequencing test (LNS). Performance was compared among the three groups adjusting for age, sex and education level.