Verified Document

Sex Differences In Neuropsychological Functioning Essay

Furthermore, there were gender differences in both the experimental and control groups; both healthy and schizophrenic and healthy women outperformed men in verbal learning and memory. While the findings reaffirmed the researchers' expectations, the research could have some implications for future research as well as treatment for schizophrenics. It is worth noting that the patients with schizophrenia, despite being considered stable, showed significant impairment vs. The control group. The researchers believe that these differences could indicate that schizophrenia is more than the symptoms that manifest, but is more of an underlying cognitive disorder. Moreover because the impairment exists even in stable patients, they believe that this cognitive disorder is resistant to the current treatments for schizophrenia. However, there are two things that make these results questionable. First, there was a difference in educational level between the control and experimental groups, which may have contributed to differences in cognitive functioning. In addition, all of the experimental subjects were on antipsychotic medications, which means it is impossible to know whether these cognitive differences are due to the schizophrenia or the medication. Surprisingly, the researchers showed that schizophrenia impacted the cognitive functioning of males and females in the same way; while there were gender differences, those differences existed in the control group, as well....

They did suggest that these differences in cognitive functioning may be why women tend to have a better treatment outcome than men, because schizophrenia is known for how it impacts the patient's interactions with the outside world. From a cognitive perspective, this could mean that women are simply less likely to be as significantly impacted by the disease. However, there are other gender differences in the disease, such as the fact that women are likely to be older at the time of onset, and these differences may also help explain different outcomes.
Perhaps the most significant impact of this research is that it demonstrates that men and women, because of the innate gender-based differences in healthy brains, may respond to mental illness and its treatment differently. This is an important factor because understanding those differences may be the key to improving treatment outcomes for particular diseases. One would assume that future researchers will be more cognizant of possible gender-based differences and look to see if the differences in people with an illness appear to reflect the same differences one would see in a healthy population.

References

Bozikas, V., Kosmidis, M., Peltekis, a., Giannakou, M., Nimatoudis, I., Karavatos, a., Fokas,

K., & Garyfallos, G. (2010). Sex differences in neuropsychological functioning among schizophrenia patients. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 44, 333-341.

Sources used in this document:
References

Bozikas, V., Kosmidis, M., Peltekis, a., Giannakou, M., Nimatoudis, I., Karavatos, a., Fokas,

K., & Garyfallos, G. (2010). Sex differences in neuropsychological functioning among schizophrenia patients. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 44, 333-341.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Sex Differences in Neuropsychological Functioning Among Schizophrenia...
Words: 891 Length: 3 Document Type: Research Paper

Sex Differences in Neuropsychological Functioning Among Schizophrenia Patients The researchers began this research with the premise that there may be gender-based difference in cognition among schizophrenia patients, though they acknowledged that prior research gave conflicting information about which results to expect. Some prior researchers had found that male schizophrenia patients experienced greater levels of cognitive impairment than female schizophrenia patients, while other studies had found no gender-based difference in cognitive functioning.

Gender and Smell Recognition
Words: 1851 Length: 7 Document Type: Research Paper

Gender and Smell Recognition There has been a significant amount of speculation about innate gender differences in thought, cognitive ability, and the relative strength of certain senses. One of area that has received some attention is the ability to smell. Anecdotal evidence suggests that women have a stronger ability to smell than men, as does significant prior research. This research study will examine the relative strength of the sense of smell

Adult Children of Alcoholic Parents Compared With Adult Children...
Words: 10855 Length: 39 Document Type: Term Paper

Adult Children of Alcoholic Parents Compared with Adult Children of Non-Alcoholic Parents I Situations Faced by Children of Alcoholic Parent(s) II Behavior of Children with Alcoholic Parent(s) II Hypothesis #2 I The Possibility of Developing Alcoholism on ACOA's II ACOA's have Lower Self-Esteem Compared to Non-ACOA's Comparing the Differences Between ACOAs and Non-ACOAs in Terms of Social and Intimate Relationships IV Protective Factors For Resiliency I Participants II Instruments Annotated Bibliography Children of Alcoholics Screening Test Are You an Alcoholic? Intimate Bond Measure Emotional

Memory and the Law Criminology
Words: 3285 Length: 11 Document Type: Term Paper

Criminology: Memory and the LawMemory has ample implications in the field of law for detecting a true criminal and the defenders who are struggling to prove themselves innocent. The journey from the investigator seeking for the truth to the final verdict of the court is affected by various factors of the memory, even the participants in the process such as the eyewitnesses, the jurors� and the emotions of criminal investigators

Dental Amalgam
Words: 2014 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

Dental Amalgam: The Risks and Alternatives Some of the most common dental restorative materials currently in use are dental amalgams, but these compounds contain approximately 50% mercury making their use controversial, particularly with young children who may be harmed by long-term exposure. Although there are some viable composite resin alternatives available, dental amalgams with mercury remain the treatment of choice for many practitioners. To determine the current risks and potential alternatives

Health Care Administration
Words: 820 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Organ transplant recipients are more susceptible to cancer due to oncogenic viral infections and immunosuppression. What is the overall pattern of cancer following an organ transplantation? Cancer is a major adverse outcome of solid organ transplantation.2 Previous studies have demonstrated an overall 2- to 4-fold elevated risk of cancer.3- 11 Excess risk is largely due to immunosuppression, with a spectrum of cancer resembling that seen with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection,

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now