What Is Schizophrenia Attention Disorder?

Schizophrenia Attention Disorder is a term that may refer to impaired attention, cognition, and memory in those with schizophrenia.

Definition

• According to the National Institutes of Health, schizophrenia is characterized by abnormal perception, disorganized thoughts and speech, and difficulties with attention and memory.

Features

• A study by the Royal Dundee Liff Hospital and the Department of Psychiatry, University of St. Andrew, Scotland, claims schizophrenic patients may have a selective attention disorder, which is a diminished ability to filter out irrelevant information.

Memory

• According to the study by the Royal Dundee Liff Hospital and the Department of Psychiatry, University of St. Andrew, Scotland, a disorder of selective attention may overload the short-term memory causing poor recall.

Pharmacology

• Research conducted by the Department of Psychology, Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and published in "Biological Psychiatry" concludes that typical and atypical neuroleptics, which may be used to treat schizophrenia, enhance animals' abilities to filter out irrelevant information.

Considerations

• Researchers from the University of California, Davis claim that those with schizophrenia may display a limited capacity for filtering out unnecessary information; however, control over auditory attention could not be sustained.