Dissociable impairments of verbal learning differentiate childhood risk profiles for schizophrenia

TY - JOUR

T1 - Dissociable impairments of verbal learning differentiate childhood risk profiles for schizophrenia

AU - Carpendale, Emma J.

AU - Cullen, Alexis E.

AU - Dickson, Hannah

AU - Laurens, Kristin R.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by funding from a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Career Development Fellowship ( CDF/08/01/015 ); a National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) Young Investigator Award ( 2005 ); Bial Foundation Research Grants ( 35/06 and 194/12 ); the British Medical Association Margaret Temple Award for Schizophrenia Research ( 2006 ), and funding from the Schizophrenia Research Institute . EJC was supported by a 2020 School of Psychology and Counselling Honours Bursary from Queensland University of Technology . AEC is supported by a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant awarded by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation ( 28336 ) and funded by the Evelyn Toll Family Foundation . KRL was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship ( FT170100294 ). AEC and HD are affiliated with the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. The funders had no role in the conduct or reporting of this research. Funding Information: The authors thank the children and caregivers who participated in the study, and the research staff and students who contributed to data collection and/or management. This research was supported by funding from a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Career Development Fellowship (CDF/08/01/015); a National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) Young Investigator Award (2005); Bial Foundation Research Grants (35/06 and 194/12); the British Medical Association Margaret Temple Award for Schizophrenia Research (2006), and funding from the Schizophrenia Research Institute. EJC was supported by a 2020 School of Psychology and Counselling Honours Bursary from Queensland University of Technology. AEC is supported by a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant awarded by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (28336) and funded by the Evelyn Toll Family Foundation. KRL was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT170100294). AEC and HD are affiliated with the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. The funders had no role in the conduct or reporting of this research. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors

PY - 2022/6

Y1 - 2022/6

N2 - Poor verbal learning and memory function is well-documented among individuals with schizophrenia and those at clinical high-risk for psychosis. This study aimed to identify these impairments among children aged 9–12 years with different schizophrenia risk profiles (family history or antecedents of schizophrenia, each of higher[H] or lower[L] risk load) relative to typically developing peers. These three groups were recruited via community-screening, and differentiated for analysis into: typically developing children (TD = 45); children who had 1 first- or ≥2 second-degree affected relatives (FHxH = 16) or one second-degree relative (FHxL = 15); and children presenting multiple replicated antecedents of schizophrenia whose clinical symptoms persisted at 2- and/or 4-year follow-up (ASzH = 16) or remitted during follow-up (ASzL = 16). Verbal learning/memory measures assessed at baseline (age 9–12 years) included: (i) total recall; (ii) trial 1 recall; (iii) learning score; (iv) intrusions; (v) total words lost; and (vi) serial position patterns. Analyses of variance indicated that FHxH and ASzH youth demonstrated impaired total recall compared to TD and ASzL children and lost significantly more words between trials than TD and FHxL children. Learning score was impaired among both FHxH and FHxL relative to TD and ASzL children. Thus, among putatively at-risk children, total words recalled and lost distinguished those with higher risk load (by family history or persistent antecedent symptomology), whereas learning score indexed familial vulnerability. Follow-up of the sample is needed to determine the capacity of verbal learning deficits to predict later illness and provide a potential avenue for early remediation to improve clinical or functional outcomes.

AB - Poor verbal learning and memory function is well-documented among individuals with schizophrenia and those at clinical high-risk for psychosis. This study aimed to identify these impairments among children aged 9–12 years with different schizophrenia risk profiles (family history or antecedents of schizophrenia, each of higher[H] or lower[L] risk load) relative to typically developing peers. These three groups were recruited via community-screening, and differentiated for analysis into: typically developing children (TD = 45); children who had 1 first- or ≥2 second-degree affected relatives (FHxH = 16) or one second-degree relative (FHxL = 15); and children presenting multiple replicated antecedents of schizophrenia whose clinical symptoms persisted at 2- and/or 4-year follow-up (ASzH = 16) or remitted during follow-up (ASzL = 16). Verbal learning/memory measures assessed at baseline (age 9–12 years) included: (i) total recall; (ii) trial 1 recall; (iii) learning score; (iv) intrusions; (v) total words lost; and (vi) serial position patterns. Analyses of variance indicated that FHxH and ASzH youth demonstrated impaired total recall compared to TD and ASzL children and lost significantly more words between trials than TD and FHxL children. Learning score was impaired among both FHxH and FHxL relative to TD and ASzL children. Thus, among putatively at-risk children, total words recalled and lost distinguished those with higher risk load (by family history or persistent antecedent symptomology), whereas learning score indexed familial vulnerability. Follow-up of the sample is needed to determine the capacity of verbal learning deficits to predict later illness and provide a potential avenue for early remediation to improve clinical or functional outcomes.

KW - Cognition

KW - Genetic liability

KW - High-risk

KW - Memory

KW - Psychosis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124205260&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.scog.2022.100239

DO - 10.1016/j.scog.2022.100239

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85124205260

SN - 2215-0013

VL - 28

JO - Schizophrenia Research: Cognition

JF - Schizophrenia Research: Cognition

M1 - 100239

ER -