Before their first episode of psychosis, patients with schizophrenia tended to have an overall lower IQ compared to the general population, and this trend persists as they age.

New York University

People diagnosed with schizophrenia commonly experience the following cognitive impairments:
- Lower IQ scores
- Impaired attention
- Flawed working memory
- Deficits in verbal fluency and learning
- Executive functioning deficits
- Metamemory deficits

Cognitive impairments in schizophrenia

Bowie, C. R., & Harvey, P. D. (2006). Cognitive deficits and functional outcome in schizophrenia. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2(4), 531–536. https://doi.org/10.2147/nedt.2006.2.4.531

NIH: Cognitive deficits and functional outcome in schizophrenia

Research leveraging the neuropsychological instruments has revealed a high prevalence of deficits in executive functioning among individuals with schizophrenia. These deficits include challenges in planning, employing conceptual frameworks to comprehend ambiguous stimuli, and adapting and applying learned concepts flexibly across different situations.

Executive Dysfunction as a Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia

Metamemory deficits refers to the presence of metacognitive inaccuracies or distortions in the evaluation of one's memory accuracy. An inverse association has been seen in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia between their subjective evaluations, specifically their confidence levels, of memory performance and the objectively measured accuracy of their memory.

Metamemory Deficit as a Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia patients face challenges in remembering and recalling information. In other words, stimuli aren’t stored long-term in the brain. This can result in difficulties with their verbal and spatial memory. Consequently, many struggle with communicating with others when it requires processing of various stimuli.

Flawed Working Memory as a Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia

It is prevalent for patients with schizophrenia to struggle with learning and retaining verbal information as it is not stored long enough to result in long-term learning. This challenge can affect their speaking abilities, leading to issues such as retrieving appropriate words from specific semantic categories and speaking on demand. The limitations in verbal fluency may hinder the effectiveness of verbal therapy and impact successful functioning in social, occupational, and adaptive dimensions.

Deficits in Verbal Fluency and Retention as Cognitive Impairments in Schizophrenia

Lower Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Scores as a Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia

Attention deficits frequently manifested prior to the first onset of psychotic symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia.

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