Neurodevelopmental trajectory of cognitive function in adolescents with a first episode of psychosis
Poster B26, Tuesday, October 9, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Essex Ballroom
Raquel Pilar Vicente Moreno1, María Mayoral1, Elena de la Serna2, Covadonga Diaz Martinez-Caneja1, Josefina Castro-Fornieles2, Celso Arango López1, Marta Rapado-Castro1,3; 1Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, IiSGM, CIBERSAM. Madrid, Spain., 2Servicio de Psiquiatría y Psicología Infanto-Juvenil, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM Barcelona, Spain., 3Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, 161 Barry Street, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia.
We aimed to assess longitudinally the cognitive function of early onset psychosis (EOP) patients over 5 years. A sample of 107 patients (mean age 15.53 [9-17]) and 98 matched controls (mean age 15.17 [9-17]) completed baseline assessments. Of those, 75 patients and 79 controls completed 2-years and 73 patients and 63 controls completed 5-years longitudinal cognitive assessments respectively as part of the CAFEPS study [2]). Cognitive domains were assessed with a neuropsychological battery that included measures of attention, working memory, learning and memory and executive functions (z-scores). Mixed model analyses were used to examine differences between diagnostic groups in longitudinal cognitive performance using age, gender, socioeconomic status medication, DUP and symptoms as covariates of no interest. Only significant variables were included in the final mixed models. EOP patients did not show significant changes (for better or worse) in cognitive performance between 2 and 5 years follow-up, whereas the control group improved significantly in most cognitive domains. No gains were observed in working memory or verbal memory performance over time in healthy controls, whereas major gains were found in executive functioning. No significant differences were observed between SZ and BP groups in any cognitive domain. Adolescents with psychosis presented a specific cognitive arrest in all cognitive domains evaluated compared with their healthy counterparts during the first five years after illness onset. Our results suggest that during adolescence, patients seem to follow an abnormal neurodevelopmental trajectory in which widespread cognitive dysfunction is a characteristic of both SZ and BD subgroups.
Topic Area: Neurocognition