Neuropsychological correlates of discourse production in schizophrenic patients

86 Italian-speaking participants (30 Schizophrenic patients and 56 normal controls) matched for chronological age and level of formal education were included in the study. All participants underwent accurate neuropsychological examination. The discourse analysis was performed on narratives collected on a cartoon-picture description task. Productivity was similar in both groups. However, the schizophrenic participants produced more semantic errors and their narratives were less informative and more tangential. Correlations between neuropsychological and narrative measures help explaining such aberrant discourse behaviour