Advertisement
Research Article| Volume 34, ISSUE 12, P864-877, December 15, 1993

Associative semantic network dysfunction in thought-disordered schizophrenic patients: Direct evidence from indirect semantic priming

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(93)90054-H
Associative semantic network dysfunction in thought-disordered schizophrenic patients: Direct evidence from indirect semantic priming
Previous ArticleSylvian fissure asymmetries in monozygotic twins: A test of laterality in schizophrenia
Next ArticleMood variability in normal subjects on lithium
      This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.

      Abstract

      The characteristics of the spread of semantic activation in associative networks in normal subjects, thought-disordered (TD) and nonthought-disordered (NTD) schizophrenic patients with respect to time and semantic distance are examined. Direct and indirect semantic priming effects at two stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) in a lexical decision task reveal that semantic associations spread further and faster in TD schizophrenic patients than in normal controls and in NTD schizophrenic patients. From a methodological point of view, indirect semantic priming at short prime-target intervals appears to be the best indicator of associative network dysfunction. The findings are discussed within the framework of current research on the effect of dopamine on the signal-to-noise ratio in cortical neural networks. Data suggest that semantic associative memory operates at a comparatively lower signal-to-noise ratio in thought-disordered schizophrenic patients.

      Keywords

      To read this article in full you will need to make a payment

      Purchase one-time access:

      Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online access
      One-time access price info
      • For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
      • For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'

      Subscribe:

      Subscribe to Biological Psychiatry
      Already a print subscriber? Claim online access
      Already an online subscriber? Sign in
      Register: Create an account
      Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect

      References

        • American Psychiatric Association
        3rd ed, rev. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Press, Washington, DC1987
        • Balota D.A.
        • Lorch R.F.
        Depth of automatic spreading activation: Mediated priming effects in pronunciation but not in lexical decision.
        J Exp Psychol [Learn Mem Cogn]. 1986; 12: 336-345
        • Bleuler E.
        Dementia Praecox or the Group of Schizophrenias.
        International Universities Press, New York1911/1950 (transl. by J. Zinkin)
        • Callaway E.
        Psychopharmacology's need for linking variables.
        Biolo Psychiatry. 1992; 31: 1-3
        • Cameron N.
        Deterioration and regression in schizophrenic thinking.
        J Abnorm Soc Psychol. 1939; 34: 265
        • Carlsson A.
        The current status of the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia.
        Neuropsychopharmacology. 1988; 1: 179-203
        • Cohen J.
        • Servan-Schreiber D.
        Context, cortex and dopamine: A connectionist approach to behavior and biology in schizophrenia.
        Psychol Rev. 1992; 12: 45-77
        • Collins A.M.
        • Loftus E.F.
        A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing.
        Psychol Rev. 1975; 82: 407-428
        • Crow T.J.
        Molecular pathology of schizophrenia: More than one disease process?.
        Bri Med J. 1980; 137: 383-386
        • Cutler A.
        Slips of the Tongue and Language Production.
        Mouton, Berlin1982
        • Davis K.L.
        • Kahn R.S.
        • Ko G.
        • Davidson M.
        Dopamine in schizophrenia: A review and reconceptualization.
        Am J Psychiatry. 1991; 148: 1474-1486
        • De Groot A.M.B.
        The range of automatic spreading activation in word priming.
        J Verbal learn Verbal Behav. 1983; 22: 417-436
        • Den Heyer K.
        • Briand K.
        Priming single digit numbers: Automatic spreading activation dissipates as a function of semantic distance.
        Am J Psychol. 1986; 99: 315-339
        • Fromkin V.A.
        Errors in Linguistic Performance. Slips of the Tongue, Ear, Pen, and Hand.
        Academic Press, New York1980
        • Grace A.A.
        Phasic versus tonic dopamine release and the modulation of dopamine system responsivity: A hypothesis for the etiology of schizophrenia.
        Neuroscience. 1991; 41: 1-24
        • Heritch A.J.
        Evidence for reduced and dysregulated turnover of dopamine in schizophrenia.
        Schizophr Bull. 1990; 16: 605-615
        • Kent G.H.
        • Rosanoff A.J.
        A study of associations in insanity.
        Am J Insanity. 1910; 66/67 (part I): 37-47
        • Kent G.H.
        • Rosanoff A.J.
        A study of associations in insanity.
        Am J Insanity. 1910; 66/67 (part II): 317-390
        • Kosslyn S.M.
        • König O.
        Wet Mind: The New Cognitive Neuroscience.
        Macmillan, New York1992
        • Levelt W.J.M.
        Speaking, From Intention to Articulation.
        MIT Press, Cambridge, MA1989
        • Mackay A.V.P.
        Positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms and the role of dopamine.
        Br J Psychiatry. 1980; 137: 379-386
        • Maher B.A.
        • Manschreck T.C.
        • Molino M.A.C.
        Redundancy, pause distribution and thought disorder in schizophrenia.
        Lang Speech. 1983; 26: 191-199
        • Maher B.A.
        • Manschreck T.C.
        • Hoover T.M.
        • Weisstein C.C.
        Thought disorder and measured features of language production in schizophrenia.
        in: Harvey P. Walker E. Positive and Negative Symptoms in Psychosis: Description, Research and Future Directions. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ1987: 195-215
        • Manschreck T.C.
        • Maher B.A.
        • Milavetz J.J.
        • Ames D.
        • Weisstein C.C.
        • Schneyer M.L.
        Semantic priming in thought-disordered schizophrenic patients.
        Schizophr Res. 1988; 1: 61-66
        • McNamara T.P.
        • Altarriba J.
        Depth of spreading activation revisited: semantic mediated priming occurs in lexical decisions.
        J Mem Lang. 1988; 27: 545-559
        • Meyer D.E.
        • Schvaneveldt R.W.
        Facilitation in recognizing pairs of words: Evidence of a dependence between retrieval operations.
        J Exp Psychol. 1971; 20: 227-234
        • Neely J.H.
        Semantic priming and retrieval from lexical memory: Roles of inhibitionless spreading activation and limited capacity attention.
        J Exp Psychol [Gen]. 1977; 106: 226-254
        • Neely J.H.
        Semantic priming effects in visual word recognition: a selective review of current findings and theories.
        in: Besner D. Humphreys G.W. Basic Progresses in Reading and Visual word Recognition. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ1991: 264-333
        • Nurnberger J.I.
        Should a biological marker be sensitive and specific?.
        Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1992; 86: 1-4
        • Overall J.E.
        • Gorham D.R.
        Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale.
        in: ECDEU Assessment Manual for Psychopharmacology. 1986: 157-169 (rev. ed. Rockville, MD)
        • Petersen S.E.
        • Fox P.T.
        • Posner M.I.
        • Mintun M.
        • Raichle M.E.
        Positron emission tomographic studies of the cortical anatomy of single word processing.
        Nature. 1988; 331: 585-589
        • Poljakov J.
        Schizophrenie und Erkenntnistätigkeit.
        Hippokrates, Stuttgart1973
        • Posner M.I.
        Chronometric explorations of mind.
        Oxford University Press, New York1986
        • Posner M.I.
        • Petersen S.E.
        • Fox P.T.
        • Raichle M.E.
        Localization of cognitive operations in the human brain.
        Science. 1988; 240: 1627-1631
        • Ruoff A.
        Häufigkeitswörterbuch Gesprochener Sprache.
        2nd ed. Niemeyer, Tübingen1990
        • Servan-Schreiber D.
        • Printz H.
        • Cohen J.D.
        A network model of catecholamine effects: Gain, signal-to-noise ratio, and behavior.
        Science. 1990; 249: 892-895
        • Spitzer M.
        • Mamelak A.
        • Stickgold R.
        • et al.
        Semantic priming in a lexical decision task on awakenings from REM-sleep: Evidence for a disinhibited semantic network.
        Sleep Res Abst. 1991; : 131
        • Spitzer M.
        Word-associations in experimental psychiatry: A historical perspective.
        in: Spitzer M. Uehlein F.A. Schwartz M.A. Mundt C. Phenomenology, Language and Schizophrenia. Springer, New York1992: 160-196
        • Spitzer M.
        Assoziative Netzwerke, formale Denkstörungen und Schizophrenie: Zur experimentellen Psychopathologie sprachabhängiger Denkprozesse (Associative networks, formal thought disorder, and schizophrenia: On the experimental psychopathology of language-dependent thought processes).
        Der Nervenarzt. 1993; 64: 147-159
        • Spitzer M.
        The psychopathology, neuropsychology, and neurobiology of associative and working memory in schizophrenia.
        Euro Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1993; (in press)
        • Spitzer M.
        • Walder S.
        • Clarenbach P.
        Semantische Bahnung im REM-Schlaf.
        in: Meier-Ewert K. Rüther E. Schlafmedizin. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart1993: 168-178
        • Spitzer M.
        • Braun U.
        • Maier S.
        • Hermle L.
        • Maher B.A.
        Indirect semantic priming in schizophrenic patients.
        Schizophr Res. 1993; (in press)
        • Weinberger D.R.
        • Berman K.F.
        • Illowsky B.P.
        Physiological dysfunction of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia: A new cohort of evidence for a monoaminergic mechanism.
        Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1988; 45: 606-615

      Article info

      Publication history

      Received in revised form: July 23, 1993
      Received: March 22, 1993

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(93)90054-H

      Copyright

      © 1993 Published by Elsevier Inc.

      ScienceDirect

      Access this article on ScienceDirect
      We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. To update your cookie settings, please visit the for this site.
      Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. except certain content provided by third parties. The content on this site is intended for healthcare professionals.


      RELX