PI24/01339 - Edith Pomarol-Clotet

Testing brain functional models of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia

Cognitive impairment is a core clinical feature of schizophrenia, which varies across patients and is known to be predictive of outcome in terms of functioning. However, its underlying basis or bases remain unknown. Research to date has found only inconsistent evidence that schizophrenic cognitive impairment is related to brain structural change, with recent studies suggesting that such associations are relatively minor. In these circumstances, how far cognitive impairment in schizophrenia reflects functional brain changes warrants investigation, particularly since identifying sites of brain functional change has important implications concerning its reversibility using drug treatment and cognitive remediation strategies. In a preliminary study our group found evidence for functional brain changes in cognitively impaired patients with schizophrenia compared to those without, but otherwise research in this area remains limited. The proposed study will use fMRI to examine brain activation during performance of three cognitive tasks in prospectively recruited matched groups of patients with schizophrenia who show impaired (N=50) and relatively preserved cognitive function (N=50), as determined based on tests of general intellectual function, memory and executive function. A matched group of healthy controls (N=50) will also be examined. Cognition-related activations will be examined during performance of three different cognitive tasks that probe different aspects of schizophrenic cognitive impairment: a) a novel test of executive function, the Computerised Multiple Elements Test (CMET), which is known to be sensitive to the kind of executive dysfunction seen in schizophrenia, b) two tests of memory, one of recognition memory and another known to activate the hippocampus (a virtual reality spatial navigation learning task), and c) a test of general intellectual ability (Raven's Progressive Matrices). Activations will be examined in the three groups using whole brain techniques.

140.000,00 €

Instituto de Salud Carlos III y cofinanciado por la Unión Europea.