Cognitive profiles of healthy siblings of schizophrenia patients: application of the cognitive domains of the MATRICS consensus battery.
Even though a large body of data suggests the presence of various types of cognitive deficits in the unaffected relatives of schizophrenia patients, more study is needed to clarify the comparative sensitivities of specific cognitive measures for relative-control differences. In this study, the authors compared the cognitive profiles of unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients and those of patients and normal controls, and attempted to identify cognitive markers that might be associated with genetic liability to schizophrenia. Eighty-eight clinically stable schizophrenia patients, 44 healthy patient siblings, and 100 normal controls were evaluated using comprehensive neuropsychological tests. The domain structure of the MATRICS consensus cognitive battery was adopted, and both domain scores and individual test scores were used in the analysis. Performances of the sibling group were intermediate between those of patients and controls on most measures. A significant difference between the sibling and control groups was observed only in the Category Fluency Test. This cognitive deficit might be caused by familial predisposition to schizophrenia and could be a candidate of endophenotype for schizophrenia.
Nam
Hee Jung
HJ
Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
Nara
N
Park
Taesung
T
Oh
Sohee
S
Jeon
Hyun Ok
HO
Yoon
Se Chang
SC
Lee
Yu-Sang
YS
Lee
Woo Kyeong
WK
Ha
Kyooseob
K
Kim
Ji-Hae
JH
Hong
Kyung Sue
KS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010641:Phenotype; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D012564:Schizophrenic Language; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D035781:Siblings; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult