IntroductionAccording to the literature, cognition may be more preserved in late-onset schizophrenia (LOS) compared to early-onset schizophrenia (EOS), but data are limited.ObjectivesTo compare performance on cognitive tests in LOS and EOS.MethodsLOS patients (n=14, mean age 58.1±8.2, 13 females, illness duration 1.07±1.5 years) and age-comparable controls (n=17, mean age 55.3±7.8, 12 females), EOS patients (n=25, mean age 20.7±3.9, 25 males, illness duration 0.75±0.62 years) and age-comparable controls (n=15, mean age 22.9±2.3, 15 males) underwent the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) comprised of six subtests: Verbal Memory, Digit Sequencing, Verbal Fluency, Token Motor Task, Symbol Coding, and Tower of London. The Mann-Whitney U test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was applied (p <.05/8, i.e. p <.006).ResultsCompared to LOS, EOS patients had lower score on Verbal Fluency (VF): U=78, p=.004; mean T-scores are 43.5±9.5 and 33.6±12.6 for LOS and EOS, respectively. Additionally, we compared VF performance in each clinical group with age-comparable controls and revealed significantly lower performance in both LOS (U=37.5, p=.001) and EOS (U=56.5, p=.000).ConclusionsPerformance on VF is deteriorated in clinical groups, but may be more intact in LOS compared to EOS. This result is of particular interest because low performance on VF is considered as a cognitive endophenotype of schizophrenia. Performance on VF requires preserved executive functions, language, and processing speed. Our results are in line with the idea that LOS and EOS may be different subtypes of schizophrenia. Limitation of this study is that the clinical groups are not sex-matched.
Aim. To evaluate cognitive functions and independent living skills in patients with late-onset schizophrenia (LOS) compared to patients with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS). Methods. The study included two clinical groups: 8 EOS patients (M=51.37.2; 7 males) and 8 LOS patients (M=67.89.9; 8 females), with comparable illness duration (22.69.1 and 19.911.9 respectively). Cognitive functions were assessed through the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). The Autonomy Assessment Scale (AS) was used to measure independent living skills. The MannWhitney U-test was applied to determine differences between groups. Results. LOS group performed significantly better on Digit Sequencing Task, Verbal Fluency and Tower Test of the BACS. Composite score on AS was also significantly better in LOS group along with better scores on AS`s subscales assessing primarily social skills. Conclusion. LOS patients have milder cognitive dysfunction along with better independent living and social skills compared to AOS patients.
Impaired communication is one of the key features of schizophrenia. Therefore, an investigation of the disease’s nature calls for a better understanding of the neural underpinnings of not only verbal communication but also the lesser-studied non-verbal communication. Spontaneous gestures accompanying oral speech are one of the most important channels for the transmission of non-verbal information. Poor gesture performance in schizophrenia is well documented, but data on the relevant neurophysiological and neuroanatomical aberrations have been obtained only recently. Compared to gesture performance, the perception of gestures provides more opportunities for neurophysiological study, as it does not require a participant’s active movement during measurements or the development of time-consuming expert annotations for each participant’s gestures. At the same time, the brain mechanisms of gesture perception in schizophrenia are understudied. In this review, the existing evidence is analyzed, and future perspectives for studying the brain correlates of spontaneous gesture perception in schizophrenia are discussed. To clarify the context of such studies, we briefly describe data on the brain organization of co-speech gestures, the perception of such gestures in healthy individuals, and the cognitive and social neuroscience methods through which such data may be obtained.
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