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Fluid and crystallized intelligence: The rate of change associated with age in schizophrenics and controls
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A CHRONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF EXECUTIVE DEFICITS IN ACUTE AND STABLE PHASES OF FIRST EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIA L. Lipschutz-Broth*, J.A. Lieberman
R.M.
Bilder,
E. Turkel,
G. Reiter,
and crystallized performance remained constant in both groups. Subjects were re-tested on the same scales one year later for longitudinal evaluation of test-retest reliability. Preliminary analysis of longitudinal data show serial measures to be highly reliable for both groups. Data from the cross-sectional study suggested that schizophrenics changed at the same rate as controls over the lifespan and, contrary to expectation, longitudinal performance of schizophrenics remained stable over a one year test-retest interval.
Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY 11004, USA Executive deficits are a central feature of schizophrenia, but the most widely used tests of executive functions are multifactorial and leave questions as to the specific constructs affected. We report initial validation of 3 novel, computerized tasks designed to measure discrete operations in the domain of executive control. Subjects included 31 patients participating in a study of first episode schizophrenia (16 acutely psychotic, and 15 clinically stable), and 8 healthy controls. Indices of set induction and shifting were based on accuracy scores and changes in response time during simple bimanual response and “competing-programs” tasks. The tendency to stereotypy in free sequential responding was assessed using indices of perseverative responding and rardomness/redundancy in a two-choice guessing procedure. Acute patients were significantly worse than both stable patients and controls in establishing set, and acute patients demonstrated higher levels of response redundancy. Stable patients had more difficulty switching sets, particularly when the task required inhibition of a previously established competing response. Both acute and stable patients, in contrast to controls, lacked stimulus control over response selection. Results demonstrate the sensitivity of these experimental tasks in differentiating patients from controls, and in distinguishing transient “state” from more persistent “trait” aspects of executive dvsfunction in schizophrenia.
FLUID AND CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE: THE RATE OF CHANGE ASSOCIATED WITH AGE IN SCHIZOPHRENICS AND CONTROLS E.R. Luntz, S. Potkin
C.A.
Sandman*,
W.E.
Butmey,
S. Wigal,
Dept. of Psychiatry, University of California at Irvine, Irvine CA 92715, USA; Psychiatry-UCIMC Building 13, Route 88, 101 City Drive South, Orange, CA 92668, USA The aging process has effects on structural and chemical features of the brain and on behavior. However, the relationship between age and schizophrenia is unclear. Some argue that aging has an ameliorating effect on schizophrenia. Others have suggested that the course of schizophrenia accelerates some of the degenerative processes associated with age. Effects of age were examined cross-sectionally in 101 schizophrenics and 25 normal controls by administering subscales of the Wechsler Adult lntelligence Scale, presumed to measure fluid intelligence (Digit span and Digit symbol) and crystallized intelligence (Vocabulary and Information). The slopes of test scores with respect to age were compared between groups. Preliminary cross-sectional analysis suggest that the rates of change for fluid abilities were parallel,
NEGATIVE SYMPTOM EXPRESSION AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL MOTHERS R.K.
MaImtin*,
D.I. Velligan,
A.L.
Miller
Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr., San Antonio, TX 78284, USA We compared neuropsychological test scores and Negative Symptom Assessment (NSA) ratings on 31 medicated schizophrenic inpatients. Patients with high NSA Total Scores (> 64) were significantly worse than those with low ratings on tests of perceptual-motor speed (Word Search, Symbol Digit Coding), attention/mental control (Sustained Attention and Tracking, Stroop), verbal memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning), generative language (Verbal Fluency) and executive function (Wisconsin Card Sort, Trail Making). The patient groups did not differ in receptive language (Token Test) or visual perception (Embedded Figures). Overall, NSA Total Scores were significantly correlated with 7 of the 10 neuropsychological measures. A derived BPRS “positive symptom” factor (Unusual Thought Content, Hallucinations, Conceptual Disorganization) did not significantly correlate with NSA Total Scores (r=.O9) or with any neuropsychological tests, suggesting an independence of positive and negative symptom expression. The results support clinical descriptors of negative symptom typology, including psychomotor slowing, poverty of speech, and attention deficits. An additional comparison was made between a subgroup of 8 patients, their biological mothers, and 12 normal controls. After controlling for differences in age and education, the mothers scored midway between patients and normal subjects on measures of attention, memory, and executive function. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between verbal fluency and attention scores of the mothers with NSA Total Scores (but not the BPRS positive factor) of their offspring, suggesting an inter-generational association of cognitive abilities and negative symptoms.
MEMORY AND OTHER NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL DEFICITS IN PSYCHOSIS: DIFFERING PATTERNS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND AFFECTIVE DISORDER A.P.
McKay*,
A.F. Tarbuck,
Falbourn Hospital, Cambridge,
P.J. McKenna CBI 5EF, UK
A CHRONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF EXECUTIVE DEFICITS IN ACUTE AND STABLE PHASES OF FIRST EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIA L. Lipschutz-Broth*, J.A. Lieberman
R.M.
Bilder,
E. Turkel,
G. Reiter,
and crystallized performance remained constant in both groups. Subjects were re-tested on the same scales one year later for longitudinal evaluation of test-retest reliability. Preliminary analysis of longitudinal data show serial measures to be highly reliable for both groups. Data from the cross-sectional study suggested that schizophrenics changed at the same rate as controls over the lifespan and, contrary to expectation, longitudinal performance of schizophrenics remained stable over a one year test-retest interval.
Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY 11004, USA Executive deficits are a central feature of schizophrenia, but the most widely used tests of executive functions are multifactorial and leave questions as to the specific constructs affected. We report initial validation of 3 novel, computerized tasks designed to measure discrete operations in the domain of executive control. Subjects included 31 patients participating in a study of first episode schizophrenia (16 acutely psychotic, and 15 clinically stable), and 8 healthy controls. Indices of set induction and shifting were based on accuracy scores and changes in response time during simple bimanual response and “competing-programs” tasks. The tendency to stereotypy in free sequential responding was assessed using indices of perseverative responding and rardomness/redundancy in a two-choice guessing procedure. Acute patients were significantly worse than both stable patients and controls in establishing set, and acute patients demonstrated higher levels of response redundancy. Stable patients had more difficulty switching sets, particularly when the task required inhibition of a previously established competing response. Both acute and stable patients, in contrast to controls, lacked stimulus control over response selection. Results demonstrate the sensitivity of these experimental tasks in differentiating patients from controls, and in distinguishing transient “state” from more persistent “trait” aspects of executive dvsfunction in schizophrenia.
FLUID AND CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE: THE RATE OF CHANGE ASSOCIATED WITH AGE IN SCHIZOPHRENICS AND CONTROLS E.R. Luntz, S. Potkin
C.A.
Sandman*,
W.E.
Butmey,
S. Wigal,
Dept. of Psychiatry, University of California at Irvine, Irvine CA 92715, USA; Psychiatry-UCIMC Building 13, Route 88, 101 City Drive South, Orange, CA 92668, USA The aging process has effects on structural and chemical features of the brain and on behavior. However, the relationship between age and schizophrenia is unclear. Some argue that aging has an ameliorating effect on schizophrenia. Others have suggested that the course of schizophrenia accelerates some of the degenerative processes associated with age. Effects of age were examined cross-sectionally in 101 schizophrenics and 25 normal controls by administering subscales of the Wechsler Adult lntelligence Scale, presumed to measure fluid intelligence (Digit span and Digit symbol) and crystallized intelligence (Vocabulary and Information). The slopes of test scores with respect to age were compared between groups. Preliminary cross-sectional analysis suggest that the rates of change for fluid abilities were parallel,
NEGATIVE SYMPTOM EXPRESSION AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL MOTHERS R.K.
MaImtin*,
D.I. Velligan,
A.L.
Miller
Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr., San Antonio, TX 78284, USA We compared neuropsychological test scores and Negative Symptom Assessment (NSA) ratings on 31 medicated schizophrenic inpatients. Patients with high NSA Total Scores (> 64) were significantly worse than those with low ratings on tests of perceptual-motor speed (Word Search, Symbol Digit Coding), attention/mental control (Sustained Attention and Tracking, Stroop), verbal memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning), generative language (Verbal Fluency) and executive function (Wisconsin Card Sort, Trail Making). The patient groups did not differ in receptive language (Token Test) or visual perception (Embedded Figures). Overall, NSA Total Scores were significantly correlated with 7 of the 10 neuropsychological measures. A derived BPRS “positive symptom” factor (Unusual Thought Content, Hallucinations, Conceptual Disorganization) did not significantly correlate with NSA Total Scores (r=.O9) or with any neuropsychological tests, suggesting an independence of positive and negative symptom expression. The results support clinical descriptors of negative symptom typology, including psychomotor slowing, poverty of speech, and attention deficits. An additional comparison was made between a subgroup of 8 patients, their biological mothers, and 12 normal controls. After controlling for differences in age and education, the mothers scored midway between patients and normal subjects on measures of attention, memory, and executive function. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between verbal fluency and attention scores of the mothers with NSA Total Scores (but not the BPRS positive factor) of their offspring, suggesting an inter-generational association of cognitive abilities and negative symptoms.
MEMORY AND OTHER NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL DEFICITS IN PSYCHOSIS: DIFFERING PATTERNS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND AFFECTIVE DISORDER A.P.
McKay*,
A.F. Tarbuck,
Falbourn Hospital, Cambridge,
P.J. McKenna CBI 5EF, UK