Research shows that some people with schizophreniasuffer a loss of certain high-level cognitive abilities, making itdifficult for them to adapt to change. But a new Ohio Universitystudy suggests this problem exists long before psychosis begins,information that eventually could be used to create preventivetherapy for this serious mental illness. In some people with schizophrenia, it appearsthat the executive is unable to work, leaving basic cognitivefunctions unsupervised. For some tasks, this may not matter. But fortasks that require you to adapt to new information, the lack of anexecutive may make a big difference.
New machinery reverses the belt'sdirection to right to left.
A person with normal executivefunctioning may have some difficulty adjusting at first, buteventually will adapt. But for a person with an executive functioningproblem, this change in routine is unsettling, and can leave theindividual unable to complete the task at all. Theymay be unable to function under these new circumstances. In a new study of people potentially at high risk forschizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, Suhr found that executivefunctioning problems exist before the onset of psychosis, which couldgive mental health professionals a good indicator of future problems. None of the 98 people who participated in the study had beendiagnosed with schizophrenia.