The neural underpinnings of cognitive flexibility and their disruption in psychotic illness.
Schizophrenia (SZ) has long been associated with a variety of cognitive deficits, including reduced cognitive flexibility. More recent findings, however, point to tremendous inter-individual variability among patients on measures of cognitive flexibility/set-shifting. With an eye toward shedding light on potential sources of variability in set-shifting abilities among SZ patients, I examine the neural substrates of underlying probabilistic reversal learning (PRL) - a paradigmatic measure of cognitive flexibility - as well as neuromodulatory influences upon these systems. Finally, I report on behavioral and neuroimaging studies of PRL in SZ patients, discussing the potentially influences of illness profile and antipsychotic medications on cognitive flexibility in SZ.
Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: jwaltz@mprc.umaryland.edu.
James A
JA
Waltz
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012193:Reversal Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
basal ganglia; dopamine; prefrontal cortex; psychosis; serotonin; set-shifting