Perfil neuropsicológico en primeros episodios de esquizofrenia y trastorno límite de la personalidad: un estudio comparativo

Introduction. Neurocognitive impairment is considered an essential symptom schizophrenia, particularly in its early stages. Nonetheless, the neuropsychological features of borderline personality (BPD) could cast doubt on the specificity neurocognitive dysfunctions. The aim this study is to determine whether neurocognitive deficits are specific to schizophrenia-spectrum conditions as compared to a similarly severe psychiatric illness like BPD.Method. A battery neuropsychological tests was used to assess the abilities for attention, verbal memory and executive functions in a group 34 borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients, 24 patients with first episode a schizophrenia-spectrum (FEP) and a group 19 controls.Results. ANOVA for multiple measures with subsequent post-hoc tests demonstrated significant effect sizes between controls and patients for all cognitive domains. However, the effect sizes comparisons between both groups patients were not significant.Conclusions. Results show significant neuropsychological impairment in both disorders when compared with normal controls, but no specific pattern neurocognitive deficits for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders was found.