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The Neural Correlates of Implicit Sequence Learning in Schizophrenia
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The Neural Correlates of Implicit Sequence Learning in Schizophrenia

Cherie L Marvel, Beth M Turner, Daniel S O’Leary, Hans J Johnson, Ronald K Pierson, Laura L Boles Ponto and Nancy C Andreasen
Neuropsychology, Vol.21(6), pp.761-777
11/2007
DOI: 10.1037/0894-4105.21.6.761
PMCID: PMC2799042
PMID: 17983290
url
http://doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.21.6.761View
Open Access

Abstract

Twenty-seven schizophrenia spectrum patients and 25 healthy controls performed a probabilistic version of the serial reaction time task (SRT) that included sequence trials embedded within random trials. Patients showed diminished, yet measurable, sequence learning. Postexperimental analyses revealed that a group of patients performed above chance when generating short spans of the sequence. This high-generation group showed SRT learning that was similar in magnitude to that of controls. Their learning was evident from the very 1st block; however, unlike controls, learning did not develop further with continued testing. A subset of 12 patients and 11 controls performed the SRT in conjunction with positron emission tomography. High-generation performance, which corresponded to SRT learning in patients, correlated to activity in the premotor cortex and parahippocampus. These areas have been associated with stimulus-driven visuospatial processing. Taken together, these results suggest that a subset of patients who showed moderate success on the SRT used an explicit stimulus-driven strategy to process the sequential stimuli. This adaptive strategy facilitated sequence learning but may have interfered with conventional implicit learning of the overall stimulus pattern.
visuomotor schizophrenia implicit sequence learning positron emission tomography (PET) serial reaction time task (SRT)

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