Unawareness of Illness and Neuropsychological Performance in Chronic Schizophrenia.

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Unawareness of Illness and Neuropsychological Performance in Chronic Schizophrenia.

Young DA; Davila R & Scher H.

Schizophrenia Research, 10:117-124, 1993

RELEVANCE FOR EARLY INTERVENTION

This study reports on data that implicates frontal lobe dysfunction in the etiology of poor insight in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Previous authors had hypothesized that frontal lobe pathology may account for the severe forms of unawareness frequently seen in certain psychotic disorders (see recommended review article: Amador et al., 1991). Young and his colleagues tested this hypothesis using neuropsychological tests and the Scale to assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder. The results indicated that poor performance on tests of frontal function predicted poor insight independent of other cognitive functions tested including IQ. These results lend important support to the idea that poor insight into illness and resulting treatment refusal stem from a mental defect rather than informed choice.

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