title: Changes in verbal learning and memory in schizophrenia and non-psychotic controls in midlife: A nine-year follow-up in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort study 1966.
abstract: Findings on longitudinal change of cognitive performance in schizophrenia are extremely variable in the case of verbal learning and memory, and it is still unclear which dimensions of verbal learning and memory exhibit possible deterioration over the long-term. Our aim was to compare the change in verbal learning and memory in individuals with schizophrenia 10-20 years after the illness onset and healthy controls during a nine-year follow-up in a general population sample. Our sample included 41 schizophrenia spectrum subjects and 73 controls from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort study 1966. The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was used to estimate the degree of change in verbal learning and memory during a nine-year follow-up from age 34-years to 43- years. Both cases and controls deteriorated. There was statistically significant decline in two out of 20 CVLT items among cases and in 13 out of 20 CVLT items among controls. With the exception of two variables, the decline in verbal learning and memory over nine years was not significantly larger in cases. We conclude that during midlife verbal learning and memory in schizophrenia mostly declines in a normative fashion with aging at the same rate as the general population.
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, P.O. BOX 5000, FIN-90014, Finland; Medical Research Center Oulu, University Hospital and University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, FIN-90014, Finland. Electronic address: irina@rannikko.org.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rannikko
authors.affiliation: Oulu University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, OYS, P.O. Box 26, FIN-90029, Finland; Oulu University Hospital, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, OYS, P.O. Box 50, FIN-90029, Finland. Electronic address: marianne.haapea@oulu.fi.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haapea
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, P.O. BOX 5000, FIN-90014, Finland; Oulu University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, OYS, P.O. Box 26, FIN-90029, Finland; Centre for Life Course Epidemiology and Systems Medicine, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, FIN-900014, Finland; Medical Research Center Oulu, University Hospital and University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, FIN-90014, Finland. Electronic address: jouko.miettunen@oulu.fi.
authors.forename: Jouko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miettunen
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, P.O. BOX 5000, FIN-90014, Finland; Oulu University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, OYS, P.O. Box 26, FIN-90029, Finland. Electronic address: juha.veijola@oulu.fi.
authors.forename: Juha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Veijola
authors.affiliation: University of Cambridge, Department of Psychiatry, Box 189 Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom; University of Cambridge, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Herchel Smith Building, Forvie Site, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge CB2 0SZ, UK. Electronic address: gm285@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Graham K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: University of Cambridge, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Herchel Smith Building, Forvie Site, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge CB2 0SZ, UK. Electronic address: jhb32@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jennifer H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, P.O. BOX 5000, FIN-90014, Finland; Oulu University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, OYS, P.O. Box 26, FIN-90029, Finland. Electronic address: anja.husa@student.oulu.fi.
authors.forename: Anja P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Husa
authors.affiliation: University of Cambridge, Department of Psychiatry, Box 189 Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom. Electronic address: pbj21@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, P.O. BOX 5000, FIN-90014, Finland; Oulu University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, OYS, P.O. Box 26, FIN-90029, Finland. Electronic address: matti.isohanni@oulu.fi.
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Isohanni
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, P.O. BOX 5000, FIN-90014, Finland; Oulu University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, OYS, P.O. Box 26, FIN-90029, Finland; Centre for Life Course Epidemiology and Systems Medicine, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, FIN-900014, Finland; Medical Research Center Oulu, University Hospital and University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, FIN-90014, Finland. Electronic address: erika.jaaskelainen@oulu.fi.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jääskeläinen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: California Verbal Learning Test; Cognition; Follow-up; Population-based birth cohort study; Schizophrenia