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Related Experiment Videos

Spatial working memory function in twins with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Tiia Pirkola1, Annamari Tuulio-Henriksson, David Glahn

  • 1Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland. tiia.pirkola@ktl.fi

Biological Psychiatry
|August 23, 2005
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Spatial working memory deficits may indicate genetic risk for schizophrenia, but not clearly for bipolar disorder. This finding helps clarify the genetic overlap between these conditions using endophenotypic markers.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Conflicting family studies exist regarding independent genetic causes for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
  • Quantitative endophenotypic markers may offer a sensitive strategy to assess genetic overlap, given the low prevalence of these disorders.
  • Previous research linked spatial working memory deficits to genetic proximity in schizophrenia.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if spatial working memory deficits are associated with genetic susceptibility to bipolar disorder.
  • To evaluate the utility of spatial working memory as an endophenotypic marker for bipolar disorder.
  • To compare spatial working memory performance between schizophrenia patients, bipolar disorder patients, and their unaffected co-twins.

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Administered Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised Visual Memory Span and Digit Span subtests.
  • Sample included schizophrenic patients (n=46), unaffected co-twins of schizophrenic patients (n=32), bipolar patients (n=22), unaffected co-twins of bipolar patients (n=16), and control twins (n=100).
  • Utilized nationwide, unselected twin samples.

    • Main Results:

    • Schizophrenic patients and their unaffected co-twins showed significant deficits in spatial working memory compared to controls.
    • Only schizophrenic patients, not their co-twins, exhibited significant deficits in verbal working memory.
    • Neither bipolar patients nor their unaffected co-twins differed from control subjects on either working memory task.

    Conclusions:

    • Spatial working memory impairment appears to reflect genetic liability for schizophrenia.
    • The association between spatial working memory deficits and genetic liability is less clear for bipolar disorder.
    • Findings suggest distinct genetic underpinnings or differing endophenotypic expressions for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.