Changes in the cognitive function of Chinese college students with a clinical high risk of psychosis

The purpose of our study was to explore the value of measuring cognitive functions for predicting the conversion to psychosis in Chinese college students with a clinical high risk (CHR). A total of 115 CHR students and 99 healthy controls were enrolled. All included participants were recruited from colleges in Wuhan, China. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery was used to evaluate cognitive function. CHR individuals were followed for 2 years, and the cognitive function of CHR individuals who later converted to psychosis (CHR-C) was compared to CHR individuals who did not convert (CHR-NC). Of the 107 CHR individuals that completed the 2- year follow-up, 29 (27.1%) developed a psychotic disorder. CHR individuals demonstrated poorer performance on all cognitive function tests compared to controls. CHR-C participants exhibited poorer performance on all cognitive tests except the Trail Making Test A and Continuous Performance Test-Identical Pairs compared to CHR-NC participants. The most significant differences displayed between CHR-C and CHR-NC groups were in visual learning, working memory, and reasoning and problem solving. The degree of cognitive impairment in visual learning and working memory may be a predictive marker for individuals who are at risk of developing psychosis.