@entity51 , notably those involved in @entity1155 , blunted affect, @entity2026 and poverty of content of speech, are pronounced in a wide range of serious mental illnesses (e.g., @entity161 , @entity308 , @entity162 ). The present project evaluated the degree to which these deficits manifest as a function of cognitive resource limitations. We examined natural speech from 52 @entity1 meeting criteria for serious mental illnesses (i.e., severe @entity71 with a concomitant diagnosis of @entity161 , @entity162 ) and 30 non-psychiatric controls using a range of objective, computer-based measures tapping speech production (" @entity2026 "), variability ("blunted vocal affect") and content ("poverty of content of speech"). Subjects produced natural speech during a baseline condition and while engaging in an experimentally-manipulated cognitively-effortful task. For correlational analysis, cognitive ability was measured using a standardized battery. Generally speaking, speech deficits did not differ as a function of SMI diagnosis. However, every speech production and content measure was significantly abnormal in SMI versus control groups. Speech variability measures generally did not differ between groups. For both @entity1 and controls as a group, speech during the cognitively-effortful task was sparser and less rich in content. Relative to controls, @entity1 were abnormal under cognitive load with respect only to average pause length. Correlations between the speech variables and cognitive ability were only significant for this same variable: average pause length. Results suggest that certain speech deficits, notably involving pause length, may manifest as a function of cognitive resource limitations. Implications for treatment, research and assessment are discussed.

XXXX in serious mental illness: A cognitive resource issue?

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity162 :: ('MESH:D001714', 'Disease') :: ['unipolar and/or bipolar affective disorders', 'bipolar disorders'] @entity308 :: ('MESH:D003866', 'Disease') :: ['unipolar depression'] @entity71 :: ('MESH:D001289', 'Disease') :: ['functional deficits'] @entity51 :: ('MESH:D009461', 'Disease') :: ['Speech deficits'] @entity2026 :: ('MESH:D001037', 'Disease') :: ['alogia'] @entity161 :: ('MESH:D012559', 'Disease') :: ['schizophrenia'] @entity1155 :: ('MESH:D011596', 'Disease') :: ['psychomotor retardation']
@entity51 :: (MESH:D009461,Disease) :: ['Speech deficits']
