title: Cognitive deficits distinguish patients with adolescent- and adult-onset schizophrenia.
abstract: Recent studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia who have an adolescent-symptom onset (before age 21) have a worse clinical course and greater frequency of cerebral abnormalities than those with an adult-onset (after age 25). However, little is known about the neuropsychological functioning of these groups. A comprehensive neuropsychological examination was administered to groups of patients with schizophrenia with either an adolescent- or adult symptom-onset and a healthy control group. The adolescent-onset group performed worse than the adult-onset and control groups, particularly on measures of memory and executive function. The adult-onset group also performed worse than the controls, but to a lesser extent than did the adolescent-onset group. Results are discussed with reference to hypotheses that adolescent-onset schizophrenia represents a distinct neurodevelopmental disease entity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Basso
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Nasrallah
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bornstein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology