18.3 DISTURBED AND INTACT ATTENTIONAL PROCESSES DURING WORKING MEMORY ENCODING IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: CONVERGING BEHAVIORAL AND IMAGING GENETICS EVIDENCE

摘要

BackgroundWorking memory and attention are fundamental and closely linked cognitive domains. This close link is exemplified by the crucial role of selective attention for the selection of information to be encoded into working memory. Patients with schizophrenia are markedly impaired in many aspects of both domains. However, the interplay between these cognitive deficits on both the cognitive and neurophysiological level remains poorly understood. Based on our previous findings regarding the central role of impaired working memory encoding to working memory dysfunction in schizophrenia, we hypothesize, that impaired attentional processes contribute to working memory dysfunction specifically during the encoding stage. This hypothesis was tested in both a behavioral experiment and in an fMRI imaging genetics study.