title: Neuropsychological assessment of memory in child and adolescent first episode psychosis: cannabis and «the paradox effect».
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The importance of neuropsychological functioning in First-Episode Psychosis (FEP) has led to the publication of a growing number of studies in this area of research. The present study pursued three goals: First, to examine verbal and visual memory in a sample of Child and Adolescent FEP, second, to evaluate the effect of other cognitive domains on verbal and visual memory, and finally, to examine the relationship between performance in this cognitive dimension and the use of cannabis at this age.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 41 FEPs and 39 healthy subjects were evaluated. The variables assessed were verbal and visual memory, attention, working memory, processing speed, mental flexibility, verbal fluency, motor coordination, planning ability and intelligence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results found impairment of short and long-term recall of verbal memory, and short-term visual memory in early psychosis. They also found relationships between cognitive dimensions, such as visual memory and intelligence and motor coordination. Finally, a «paradoxical» effect was found in patients who used cannabis, as the FEP consumers performed the visual memory test better than those who had not used it.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients showed impairment of short and long-term recall of verbal information and short-term visual reproduction. In the second place, motor coordination and intelligence influenced short-term visual memory in patients in the early stages of the illness. Third, use of cannabis in patients with FEP was associated with better performance in the test that evaluated the short-term visual memory, as measured by task completion time, that is, efficiency in performing the test. However, when measured by task execution accuracy, their visual memory was no better than the controls.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Psicosis y Neurodesarrollo, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBIS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, España.
authors.forename: Josefa María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Moreno-Granados
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Sunshine House (Neurodevelopmental Team), Londres, Reino Unido; Centro de Salud Mental Estella, Estella, Pamplona, España.
authors.forename: Maite
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrín
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Psicosis y Neurodesarrollo, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBIS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, España.
authors.forename: Dolores M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Salcedo-Marín
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Sunshine House (Neurodevelopmental Team), Londres, Reino Unido. Electronic address: miguel.ruiz.veguilla.sspa@juntadeandalucia.es.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Veguilla
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002188:Cannabis; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D008568:Memory; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Cannabis; Early psychosis; First-Episode Psychosis; Memoria; Memory; Primer episodio de psicosis; Psicosis precoz