Differentiation of Chronic Schizophrenics With and Without Ventricular Enlargement By of Lurai-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery

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Abstract
The present study investigated whether the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery could be used clinically to differentiate schizophrenics with ventricular or sulcal enlargement from schizophrenics with no such enlargement as identified by a CT scan. The study investigated 42 patients, 24 males and 18 females, who were admitted to the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The age range of the sample was from 20 to 39 years with all patients rating the definition of chronic schizophrenia according to DSM-III. Patients were tested in the present study while on antipsychotic medications. All patients were administered both the CT scan, which was analyzed using the methods of Weinberger and his associates (1979) and the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. Using normative data previously published in the literature, each CT scan was classified as normal or abnormal. Using objective rules of interpretation given in the paper, the Battery was 81 % accurate in determining the presence of ventricular enlargement. The Battery was also 90% accurate in identifying the presence or absence of sulcal enlargement. The implications of the present results for the use of psychological testing as a possible screening device for CT scans in a psychiatric population is discussed. Also, the limitations of the methods used in this paper are discussed as well as their advantages.