Abstract
BackgroundChildren of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder display neurocognitive deficits. However, studies of schizophrenia offspring and bipolar offspring at the same age are lacking. The objective was to compare neurocognitive abilities in 7-year-old children of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with neurocognitive abilities in children of parents without these disorders.MethodsIn this nationwide cohort study we assessed 522 7-year-old children (schizophrenia offspring: N=202, bipolar offspring: N=120, and controls=200) with a detailed and well validated neurocognitive test battery. We compared the neurocognitive test scores of the three study groups.ResultsChildren of parents with schizophrenia showed neurocognitive deficits, whereas children of parents with bipolar disorder displayed neurocognitive abilities comparable to the control group.DiscussionNeurocognitive deficits are numerous in 7-year-old children of parents with schizophrenia, which supports the neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia. Unimpaired neurocognitive abilities in children of parents with bipolar disorder indicate different neurodevelopmental manifestations in these high risk populations at this early age. Our results call for early identification of schizophrenia offspring with cognitive dysfunctions.
Highlights
The deficits of empathy in schizophrenia spectrum disorders has been recognized in previous studies, little is known about the associations between empathy and schizotypal traits
Because of extensive brain maturation in the adolescence, the Early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) patients provide unique neurodevelopmental data that may contribute to a better understanding of schizophrenia at all ages
We have reported a deteriorated, but stable cognitive course in EOS,1 and examined the relationship between cognition and symptoms.2. While both cognition and clinical variables have been subject to comprehensive research in schizophrenia, the interaction between the two has gained less attention, especially in EOS
Summary
Neurocognitive impairments are a core and enduring feature of psychosis that continue to persist despite pharmacological interventions. Focus has shifted to using social cognitive training (SCT) as evidence suggests that targeting social cognition may lead to improvements in cognition and in real-world functioning (Horan et al, 2011). This improvement is thought to be mediated by restoration of functional brain activity in patients undergoing neurocognitive interventions, especially associated with medial prefrontal cortex (Hooker et al, 2014). We report our interim findings of the effects of a 10-hour SCT on cognition and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC). Our hypothesis was that training would improve cognition and normalize functional connectivity
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