title: Impaired automatization of a cognitive skill in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: We studied healthy, first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia to test the hypothesis that deficits in cognitive skill learning are associated with genetic liability to schizophrenia. Using the Weather Prediction Task (WPT), 23 healthy controls and 10 adult first-degree Relatives Of Schizophrenia (ROS) patients were examined to determine the extent to which cognitive skill learning was automated using a dual-task paradigm to detect subtle impairments in skill learning. Automatization of a skill is the ability to execute a task without the demand for executive control and effortful behavior and is a skill in which schizophrenia patients possess a deficit. ROS patients did not differ from healthy controls in accuracy or reaction time on the WPT either during early or late training on the single-task trials. In contrast, the healthy control and ROS groups were differentially affected during the dual-task trials. Our results demonstrate that the ROS group did not automate the task as well as controls and continued to rely on controlled processing even after extensive practice. This suggests that adult ROS patients may engage in compensatory strategies to achieve normal levels of performance and support the hypothesis that impaired cognitive skill learning is associated with genetic risk for schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco, United States. Electronic address: dwagshal@memory.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wagshal
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
authors.forename: Barbara Jean
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Knowlton
authors.affiliation: University of California, Berkeley, United States.
authors.forename: Jessica Rachel
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Imaging Research Center at University of Texas at Austin, United States; Department of Psychology at University of Texas at Austin, United States; Department of Neurobiology at University of Texas at Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Russell Alan
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Poldrack
authors.affiliation: David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
authors.forename: Susan Yost
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Bookheimer
authors.affiliation: David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
authors.forename: Robert Martin
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bilder
authors.affiliation: David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
authors.forename: Robert Franklin
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Asarnow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
keywords: Automatization; Genetic liability; Schizophrenia; Skill learning