Effects of sentence context on lexical ambiguity resolution in patients with schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia exhibited a trend towards facilitation of both target types following unbiased sentences at ISI = 0 ms, similar to controls. However, in contrast to the pattern of selective target facilitation exhibited by control subjects following first- or second meaning-biased sentences, no significant target facilitation was observed in patients in the same condition. At ISI = 750 ms, patients did no longer exhibit significant target facilitation in any sentence context condition. This pattern of results is compatible with the assumption of a combined impairment in lexical (automatic spreading of activation within the semantic network) and extralexical (working memory) processes in patients with schizophrenia.