Preliminary application of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery in patients with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar miana in China

Abstract

Objective To detect the patterns of cognitive impairment between patients with paranoid schizophrenia and patients with bipolar mania by using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) ,and to explore research clues for finding of cognitive endophenotype in patients with paranoid schizophrenia or bipolar mania. Methods Six CANTAB subtests and the seven subtests of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WAIS short form) were administered to 35 patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 33 patients with bipolar mania who were drug naive experiencing an acute episode, as well as 30 healthy controls. Results Patients with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar mania demonstrated impairments in 13 of the 15 cognitive indicators in CANTAB. After controlling IQ, both patient groups remained as significantly different from normal controls in terms of search strategy(36. 8 ±3.56,37.24 ±4. 21,30. 33 ±6.24) ,between-search errors(40. 86 ± 19.97,40.24 ± 18.92,15.4 ±17.22) on the SWM test,the proportion of hits(0.54 ±0. 18,0.56 ±0.15,0.78 ± 0.17) on the RVIP test,total errors(45.26 ±36.36,46.61 ±33.32,14 ± 11.7) and EDS errors (12.43 ±9.96, 13.18 ±8.98,4.97 ±6.09)on the IED test. Between search error in the SWM test was positively correlation with YMRS scores ( r=0.38, P=0.039) in bipolar patients. Conclusion Both patient groups demonstrated a comparable profile of cognitive impairments during active periods of their condition. The cognitive impairment index may be a discreet cognitive endophenotype overlapping the disorders. Key words: Schizophrenia; Bipolar disorder; Cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery; Cognitive function