Language, autobiographical memories and cognition in schizophrenia.

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  The interplay of language use, autobiographical memories and cognitive functioning in schizophrenia individuals detained in a forensic setting.

• IRAS ID

  339504

• Contact name

  Simon Chu

• Contact email

  schu@uclan.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Central Lancashire

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder characterised by symptoms of delusions (beliefs that are not based on reality, such as an individual believing the police are following them), hallucinations (hearing voices or sounds and seeing things that are not present) and disorganised thoughts. Patients with schizophrenia have cognitive difficulties that may cause problems in autobiographical memory. Autobiographical memory (AM) is memory for episodes in one’s own past. It may affect the development of a sense of self, which in turn may be important in developing relationships, problem-solving and future thinking. AMs are layered personal events that include beliefs and emotions (Fivush, 2010; McAdams, 2018). However, for a coherent narrative, the sequence of the memory being told must be accurate. It is well-documented that forensic populations, including individuals with schizophrenia, have difficulty narrating events coherently. The proposed study will see if this is the case. We will recruit a group of patients with schizophrenia and a group of participants from the general population. We will use several measures to test working memory, disorganised thinking and autobiographical memories with everyone. We will also use several linguistic tools to explore the coherency and language of the participants' responses. Therefore, this study aims to explore the linguistic aspects and the functioning of memory in individuals by analysing working memory, language use, disorganised thinking and autobiographical memory specificity.

  Lay Summary of Results:

  Mental health patients with a schizophrenia diagnosis tend to have difficulties in remembering specific events from their past – that is, problems with autobiographical memory specificity. The study aimed to assess the relationship between autobiographical memory specificity and a range of cognitive factors to see what might be related to this difficulty. This study involved 53 men with a diagnosis of schizophrenia who were receiving treatment in a secure forensic mental health facility. Participants completed tests measuring short-term memory, language skills, and symptoms of mental illness, as well as tasks that required them to recall and describe personal life events. As expected, people with poorer working memory found it more difficult to recall specific details from their past. More severe symptoms and certain patterns of language use also appeared to be linked to less detailed memories, although these relationships were weaker. Participants generally remembered childhood events more clearly and specifically than more recent experiences. Surprisingly, the ability to quickly generate words did not affect how specific their memories were. Overall, the findings suggest that skills involved in planning, organizing, and managing information play an important role in helping people retrieve detailed personal memories. The results also indicate that mental health symptoms and the way people use language may further influence how specifically past events are remembered.
  Has the registry been updated to include summary results?: No
  If yes - please enter the URL to summary results:
  If no – why not?: The study is not registered on any publicly accessible registry.
  Did you follow your dissemination plan submitted in the IRAS application form (Q A51)?: Pending
  If yes, describe or provide URLs to disseminated materials:
  If pending, date when dissemination is expected: 30/07/2027
  If no, explain why you didn't follow it:
  Have participants been informed of the results of the study?: Yes
  If yes, describe and/or provide URLs to materials shared and how they were shared: A summary of the results was released to study participants on the internal hospital bulletin board.
  If pending, date when feedback is expected:
  If no, explain why they haven't:
  Have you enabled sharing of study data with others?: No
  If yes, describe or provide URLs to how it has been shared:
  If no, explain why sharing hasn't been enabled: We will consider sharing the data on an open access data repository in the near future.
  Have you enabled sharing of tissue samples and associated data with others?: No
  If yes, describe or provide a URL:
  If no, explain why: No tissue samples collected.
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• REC name

  London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  25/LO/0112

• Date of REC Opinion

  11 Mar 2025

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion