Abstract

Introduction

Impairments in executive functions are often observed in schizophrenia. However, previous studies using standard tests show inconclusive and conflicting findings.

Objectives

The main objective of this study was to compare the performance of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls on classical tasks and a non-immersive virtual reality task, Jansari assessment of Executive Functions (JEF©)

Methods

A total of 71 schizophrenia patients and 80 healthy controls took part in the study. Executive functions were assessed with JEF© and the following classical tasks: Color Trail Test (CTT), Stroop Color World Test (SCWT), Ruff Figural Fluency Test (RFFT), and computerized tasks from the PEBL battery: Berg Card Sorting Test (BCST), Tower of London (TOL), and Go/No Go task (GNG). The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess psychopathological symptoms.

Results

Compared to healthy controls, schizophrenia patients scored lower on most of JEF© indices i.e., prioritization, selective-thinking, creative-thinking, adaptive-thinking, multi-tasking, time-based prospective memory, event-based prospective memory, and action-based prospective memory (p < 0.001). Moreover, schizophrenia patients performed poorer on all traditional tasks (p < 0.001), except the GNG task.

Conclusions

Schizophrenia patients were demonstrated to manifest deficits in executive functions as measured by traditional tests, such as concept formation, problem-solving, cognitive flexibility, planning or cognitive inhibition, and the executive functions measured by the JEF© i.e., those that are used and observed in everyday situations such as working in an office.

This research was funded by the National Science Centre in Poland, grant number 2020/04/X/HS6/01920.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Details

Title
Executive dysfunctions in schizophrenia measured using a virtual reality task - Jansari assessment of Executive Functions (JEF©)
Author
Tyburski, E 1 ; Bober, A 1 ; Mak, M 1 ; Karabanowicz, E 2 ; Podwalski, P 3 ; Samochowiec, J 3 ; Michalczyk, A 3 ; Sagan, L 4 ; Mueller, S T 5 ; Zawadzka, E 6 ; Folkierska, M 7 ; Jansari, A 8 

 Department of Health Psychology, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin 
 Institute of Psychology, University of Szczecin 
 Department of Psychiatry 
 Department of Neurosurgery, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland 
 Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, United States 
 Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin 
 Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland 
 Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom 
Pages
S261-S261
Publication year
2023
Publication date
Mar 2023
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
ISSN
09249338
e-ISSN
17783585
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2880507902
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.