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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Derya Cokal, Dr Stuart Watson
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Formal thought disorder (FTD) in schizophrenia (SZ) is clinically manifested primarily through language production, where linguistic studies have reported numerous anomalies including lesser use of embedded clauses. Here, we explored whether problems of language may extend to comprehension and clause embedding in particular. A sentence-picture matching task was designed with two conditions in which embedded clauses were presupposed as either true (factive) or not. Performance across these two conditions was compared in people with SZ and moderate-to-severe FTD (SZ + FTD), SZ with minimal FTD (SZ-FTD), first-degree relatives of people with SZ, and neurotypical controls. The SZ + FTD group performed significantly worse than all others in both conditions, and worse in the nonfactive than in the factive one. These results demonstrate language dysfunction in comprehension specific to FTD is a critical aspect of grammatical complexity and its associated meaning, which has been independently known to be cognitively significant as well.
Author(s): Cokal D, Zimmerer V, Varley R, Watson S, Hinzen W
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: The Journal of nervous and mental disease
Year: 2019
Volume: 207
Issue: 5
Pages: 384-392
Print publication date: 01/05/2019
Acceptance date: 02/04/2016
ISSN (print): 0022-3018
ISSN (electronic): 1539-736X
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
URL: https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000981
DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000981
PubMed id: 30958421
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