Impaired motor skill learning in schizophrenia: implications for corticostriatal dysfunction

We assessed skill learning in young and older schizophrenic patients using the rotary pursuit task. Schizophrenic patients displayed impaired learning on this task compared with normal control subjects, but older patients were not more impaired than young ones. The patients' rotary pursuit learning was not correlated to the severity of abnormal movements or to their treatment with medication, but it was associated to conceptual abilities assessed on the Dementia Rating Scale ( Mattis 1988). An impairment in acquiring motor procedures in this task might reflect neuropsychological deficits associated with corticostriatal pathology.