ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hippocampal abnormalities have been demonstrated in schizophrenia. It is unclear whether these abnormalities worsen with age, and whether they affect cognition and function. AIMS: To determine whether hippocampal abnormalities in chronic schizophrenia are associated with age, cognition and socio-occupational function. METHOD: Using 3 T magnetic resonance imaging we scanned 100 persons aged 19-82 years: 51 were out-patients with stable schizophrenia at least 2 years after diagnosis and 49 were healthy volunteers matched for age and gender. Automated analysis was used to determine hippocampal volume and shape. RESULTS: There were differential effects of age in the schizophrenia and control samples on total hippocampal volume (group × age interaction: F(1,95) = 6.57, P = 0.012), with steeper age-related reduction in the schizophrenia group. Three-dimensional shape analysis located the age-related deformations predominantly in the mid-body of the hippocampus. In the schizophrenia group similar patterns of morphometric abnormalities were correlated with impaired cognition and poorer socio-occupational function. CONCLUSIONS: Hippocampal abnormalities are associated with age in people with chronic schizophrenia, with a steeper decline than in healthy individuals. These abnormalities are associated with cognitive and functional deficits, suggesting that hippocampal morphometry may be a biomarker for cognitive decline in older patients with schizophrenia.
Subject(s)
Aging/pathology , Cognition , Hippocampus/pathology , Schizophrenia/pathology , Schizophrenic Psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Middle Aged , Neuropsychological Tests , Outpatients , Young AdultABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Schizophrenic patients tend to attribute internal events to external agents, a bias that may be linked to positive symptoms. We investigated the effect of emotional valence on the cognitive bias. METHOD: Male schizophrenic subjects (n=30) and an experimenter alternatively produced neutral and negative words. The subject then decided whether he or the experimenter had generated the item. RESULTS: External misattributions were more common than self-misattributions, and the bias was greater for patients with active hallucinations and delusions relative to patients in remission. Actively psychotic patients but not patients in remission were more likely to generate external misattributions with negative relative to neutral words. CONCLUSIONS: Affective modulation of the externalizing cognitive bias in source monitoring is evident in patients with hallucinations and delusions.
