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Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
Altered cognitive development in the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia
Deanna M Barch1, Rachel Cohen2, John Csernansky3
1Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Radiology, Washington University.
Abstract:
The goal of the current study was to further investigate the late neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia by examining cross-sectional, age-related changes in cognitive function among young adult: 1) siblings of individuals with schizophrenia (N = 66); (2) healthy control participants (N = 77); and (3) the siblings of healthy controls (N = 77). All subjects participated in a battery of tasks in four domains: 1) IQ; 2) working memory; 3) episodic memory; and 4) executive function. We found significant group differences in the relationships between age and performance in working memory and episodic memory, with similar patterns for executive function and verbal IQ. The siblings of individuals with schizophrenia showed impaired performance in working memory, episodic memory, and executive function. In addition, healthy controls and/or their siblings showed age-related improvements in all four cognitive domains, while the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia only showed this for verbal IQ.
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