Reaction Time and Visual Memory in Connection with Alcohol Use in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

Atiqul Haq Mazumder¹, Jennifer Barnett², Nina Lindberg³, Minna Torniainen-Holm⁴, Markku Lähteenvuo^{5

6}, Kaisla Lahdensuo^{6

7}, Martta Kerkelä¹, Jarmo Hietala^{8

9}, Erkki Tapio Isometsä³, Olli Kampman^{10

11}, Tuula Kieseppä^{3

6

7}, Tuomas Jukuri^{1

6}, Katja Häkkinen^{5

6}, Erik Cederlöf⁴, Willehard Haaki^{6

8}, Risto Kajanne⁶, Asko Wegelius^{3

4

6}, Teemu Männynsalo^{6

12}, Jussi Niemi-Pynttäri^{6

12}, Kimmo Suokas^{6

10}, Jouko Lönnqvist^{4

13}, Solja Niemelä^{8

9}, Jari Tiihonen^{5

14

15}, Tiina Paunio^{3

4

13}, Aarno Palotie^{6

7

16

17}, Jaana Suvisaari⁴, Juha Veijola^{1

18}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland.
² Cambridge Cognition, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB25 9TU, UK.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Hospital, University of Helsinki, 00029 Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Mental Health Unit, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), 00271 Helsinki, Finland.
⁵ Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Niuvanniemi Hospital, University of Eastern Finland, 70240 Kuopio, Finland.
⁶ Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
⁷ Mehiläinen, Pohjoinen Hesperiankatu 17 C, 00260 Helsinki, Finland.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, 20521 Turku, Finland.
¹⁰ Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, 33014 Tampere, Finland.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, Pirkanmaa Hospital District, 33521 Tampere, Finland.
¹² Social Services and Health Care Sector, City of Helsinki, 00099 Helsinki, Finland.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁵ Center for Psychiatry Research, Stockholm City Council, 11364 Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁶ Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
¹⁷ Analytical and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, 90220 Oulu, Finland.

PMID: 34071123
PMCID: PMC8224767
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11060688

Reaction Time and Visual Memory in Connection with Alcohol Use in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

Atiqul Haq Mazumder et al. Brain Sci. 2021.

. 2021 May 23;11(6):688.

doi: 10.3390/brainsci11060688.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland.
² Cambridge Cognition, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB25 9TU, UK.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Hospital, University of Helsinki, 00029 Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Mental Health Unit, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), 00271 Helsinki, Finland.
⁵ Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Niuvanniemi Hospital, University of Eastern Finland, 70240 Kuopio, Finland.
⁶ Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
⁷ Mehiläinen, Pohjoinen Hesperiankatu 17 C, 00260 Helsinki, Finland.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, 20521 Turku, Finland.
¹⁰ Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, 33014 Tampere, Finland.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, Pirkanmaa Hospital District, 33521 Tampere, Finland.
¹² Social Services and Health Care Sector, City of Helsinki, 00099 Helsinki, Finland.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁵ Center for Psychiatry Research, Stockholm City Council, 11364 Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁶ Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
¹⁷ Analytical and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, 90220 Oulu, Finland.

PMID: 34071123
PMCID: PMC8224767
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11060688

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between cognition and hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorder in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Cognition is more or less compromised in schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder and alcohol use might aggravate this phenomenon. The study population included 3362 individuals from Finland with diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Hazardous drinking was screened with the AUDIT-C (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test for Consumption) screening tool. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) diagnoses were obtained from national registrar data. Participants performed two computerized tasks from the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery (CANTAB) on a tablet computer: The Five-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task (5-CSRTT) or the reaction time (RT) test and the Paired Associative Learning (PAL) test. The association between alcohol use and the RT and PAL tests was analyzed with log-linear regression and logistic regression, respectively. After adjustment for age, education, housing status, and the age at which the respondents had their first psychotic episodes, hazardous drinking was associated with a lower median RT in females and less variable RT in males, while AUD was associated with a poorer PAL test performance in terms of the total errors adjusted scores (TEASs) in females. Our findings of positive associations between alcohol and cognition in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder are unique.

Keywords: alcohol; cognition; reaction time; schizoaffective disorder; schizophrenia; visual memory.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Flowchart showing the selected study population.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Reaction Time and Visual Memory in Connection with Alcohol Use in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

Affiliations

Reaction Time and Visual Memory in Connection with Alcohol Use in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources