Can we Forget? Directed Forgetting and Embodied Cognition in Schizophrenia
Condition: Schizophrenia
MeSH terms: Schizophrenia
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Based on the theory of embodied cognition, which focuses on the influence of sensory and
      motor processes on cognition, researchers propose to study the influence of the action on
      memorization and inhibition in patients suffering from schizophrenia, using a directed
      forgetting paradigm. The directed forgetting paradigm is used, composed of two lists of
      action verbs. The instruction "to forget" is given at the end of learning the first list (To
      Be Forgotten (TBF)), following a simulation of a computer bug. Therefore a second list is
      presented to be learned and remembered (To Be Remembered (TBR)). A recognition task is
      performed at the end. The action verbs had to be encoded using four conditions: action
      performed, mimed, imagined action, action with a contextual word, reading the action verb
      only. 48 schizophrenic patients were included in this study. Patients were randomized to have
      10 participants per condition. 48 controls matched by age, gender, laterality and education
      are also included and randomized in the same modality. This study aims to show that the
      encoding of sensory-motor components, more than providing a context could improve the
      inhibitory capacities but also memory in schizophrenia, and possibly be used in remediation
      cognitive.
    

Detailed description: 
      Researchers used the directed forgetting paradigm composed of two lists of action verbs. The
      instruction "to forget" is given at the end of learning the first list (To Be Forgotten
      (TBF)), following a simulation of a computer bug. Therefore a second list is presented to be
      learned and remembered (To Be Remembered (TBR)). A recognition task is performed at the end.
      The action verbs had to be encoded using four conditions: action performed, mimed, imagined
      action, action with a contextual word, reading the action verb only. 48 schizophrenic
      patients were included in this study. Patients were randomized to have 10 participants per
      condition. 48 controls matched by age, gender, laterality and education are also included and
      randomized in the same modality. This study aims to show that the encoding of sensory-motor
      components, more than providing a context could improve the inhibitory capacities but also
      memory in schizophrenia, and possibly be used in remediation cognitive.
    

Intervention name(s): Memorization of the verbs by miming the action; Memorization of the verbs by imagining the action; Memorization of the action verbs by means of another word; Simple memorization of the verbs
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Other; Other
Intervention description(s): The participant reads aloud the verbs that appear on the screen, by performing the corresponding action verb.; The participant reads aloud the verbs that appear on the screen, by imagining the corresponding action verb.; The participant reads aloud the verbs that appear on the screen. Then, he reads, without memorizing it, a word associated with the action verb to be learnt to favor the memorization of that one. The word is written near the action verb.; The participant reads aloud the verbs that appear on the screen, without additional instructions (control condition).
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Keywords: Schizophrenia; Memory; Cognition