A Perspective on Psychosis in Late Life and Deficits in Social Cognition

Abstract

The etiology of new psychotic symptoms in late life, including subtle changes in cognition, is a controversial emerging area of study. The development of psychotic symptoms, particularly paranoia, is a common occurrence in late life, and the symptoms of cognitive dysfunction and psychosis are often prominent in dementia, schizophrenia, and mood disorders. This intermixing of symptoms has inescapably led to diagnostic confusion with regard to elderly patients with new-onset psychosis. The complex relationship among different domains of psychopathology makes it difficult to tease apart disorders of affect from psychosis, affect from cognition, and psychosis from cognition. It is therefore potentially useful to modify and expand our approach to how we conceptualize these patients. Emerging evidence suggests that those with dementia, psychotic disorders, and mood disorders suffer from growing cognitive deficits. The article suggests that deficits in social cognition, in particular, may be the unifying deficit that helps to explain why heterogeneous patients may develop paranoia and psychotic symptoms in late life.