Abstract: Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Letter to the EditorFull Access“Cognitive Dysmetria” in SchizophreniaSZABOLCS KÉRI, M.D., and ZOLT JANKA, M.D., PH.D., SZABOLCS KÉRISearch for more papers by this author, M.D., and ZOLT JANKASearch for more papers by this author, M.D., PH.D., Szeged, HungaryPublished Online:1 Apr 2000AboutSectionsView EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail To the Editor: We read with great interest the results of a recent positron emission tomography (PET) study by Benedicto Crespo-Facorro, M.D., et al. (1). Using a word list recall paradigm, the authors were able to demonstrate decreased activation of widespread cortical-subcortical neural circuitry in unmedicated patients with schizophrenia. There was relatively decreased blood flow in the left rostral supplementary motor area—a striking finding. Drs. Crespo-Facorro et al. concluded that this hypoactivation could reflect a deficit of internal response selection and the timing/sequencing of mental functions, which is closely related to the impairment of self-generated willed actions in schizophrenia (2).However, an alternative explanation may also arise. In a PET study (3), McGuire et al. found decreased activation in the left rostral supplementary motor area in hallucinating schizophrenic patients when they were requested to imagine words spoken in another person’s voice. This task involved both the generation and monitoring of internal verbal activity. McGuire et al. concluded that the decreased activation in the supplementary motor area served as a neural basis of deficient self-monitoring in these patients. Therefore, it is possible that in the word list recall task of Dr. Crespo-Facorro et al. (1), the underactivation of the supplementary motor area was related to impairment of the self-monitoring of inner speech. However, on the basis of published data, this question remains unresolved. It would be interesting to know whether their patient group included hallucinating schizophrenic subjects and, if so, how their brain activation patterns differed from those of nonhallucinating patients. Moreover, it could be that during retrieval, the patients imagined the words being said in the experimenter’s voice (the list was read to the subjects immediately before scanning) (1). These questions are important since, to our knowledge, independent research groups have not yet replicated the original findings of McGuire et al. (3).References1. Crespo-Facorro B, Paradiso S, Andreasen NC, O"Leary DS, Watkins GL, Boles Ponto LL, Hichwa RD: Recalling word lists reveals “cognitive dysmetria” in schizophrenia: a positron emission tomography study. Am J Psychiatry 1999; 156:386–392Abstract, Google Scholar2. Frith CD: Functional imaging and cognitive abnormalities. Lancet 1995; 346:615–620Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar3. McGuire PK, Silbersweig DA, Wright I, Murray RM, David AS, Frackowiak RS, Frith CD: Abnormal monitoring of inner speech: a physiological basis for auditory hallucinations. Lancet 1995; 346:596–600Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByAberrant “Default Mode” Functional Connectivity in SchizophreniaAbigail G. GarrityGodfrey D. Pearlson, M.D.Kristen McKiernan, Ph.D.Dan Lloyd, Ph.D.Kent A. Kiehl, Ph.D.Vince D. Calhoun, Ph.D.1 March 2007 | American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 164, No. 3 Volume 157Issue 4 April 2000Pages 662-662 Metrics History Published online 1 April 2000 Published in print 1 April 2000
Publication Year: 2000
Publication Date: 2000-04-01
Language: en
Type: letter
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 5
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot