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. 2023 Feb:67:53-65.
doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2022.11.011. Epub 2022 Dec 8.

Relapse, cognitive reserve, and their relationship with cognition in first episode schizophrenia: a 3-year follow-up study

Ana M Sánchez-Torres  1 , Silvia Amoretti  2 , Mónica Enguita-Germán  3 , Gisela Mezquida  4 , Lucía Moreno-Izco  1 , Rocío Panadero-Gómez  5 , Lide Rementería  6 , Alba Toll  7 , Roberto Rodriguez-Jimenez  8 , Alexandra Roldán  9 , Edith Pomarol-Clotet  10 , Ángela Ibáñez  11 , Judith Usall  12 , Fernando Contreras  13 , Eduard Vieta  14 , Jose M López-Ilundain  1 , Jessica Merchán-Naranjo  5 , Ana González-Pinto  15 , Esther Berrocoso  16 , Miguel Bernardo  4 , Manuel J Cuesta  17 ; 2EPs group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Free article

Relapse, cognitive reserve, and their relationship with cognition in first episode schizophrenia: a 3-year follow-up study

Ana M Sánchez-Torres et al. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2023 Feb.
Free article

Abstract

Schizophrenia is frequently characterized by the presence of multiple relapses. Cognitive impairments are core features of schizophrenia. Cognitive reserve (CR) is the ability of the brain to compensate for damage caused by pathologies such as psychotic illness. As cognition is related to CR, the study of the relationship between relapse, cognition and CR may broaden our understanding of the course of the disease. We aimed to determine whether relapse was associated with cognitive impairment, controlling for the effects of CR. Ninety-nine patients with a remitted first episode of schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder were administered a set of neuropsychological tests to assess premorbid IQ, attention, processing speed, working memory, verbal and visual memory, executive functions and social cognition. They were followed up for 3 years (n=53) or until they relapsed (n=46). Personal and familial CR was estimated from a principal component analysis of the premorbid information gathered. Linear mixed-effects models were applied to analyse the effect of time and relapse on cognitive function, with CR as covariate. Patients who relapsed and had higher personal CR showed less deterioration in attention, whereas those with higher CR (personal and familial CR) who did not relapse showed better performance in processing speed and visual memory. Taken together, CR seems to ameliorate the negative effects of relapse on attention performance and shows a positive effect on processing speed and visual memory in those patients who did not relapse. Our results add evidence for the protective effect of CR over the course of the illness.

Keywords: Cognition; Cognitive reserve; Relapse; Schizophrenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest R. Rodriguez-Jimenez has been a consultant for, spoken in activities of, or received grants from: Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid Regional Government (S2010/ BMD-2422 AGES; S2017/BMD-3740), JanssenCilag, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, Ferrer, Juste, Takeda, Exeltis, Casen-Recordati, Angelini A. Ibáñez has received research support from or served as speaker or advisor for Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck and Otsuka. MBe has been a consultant for, received grant/research support and honoraria from, and been on the speakers/advisory board of AB-Biotics, Adamed, Angelini, Casen Recordati, Janssen-Cilag, Menarini, Roviand and Takeda. M. Hernández has served as speaker for Janssen and Lundbeck. E. Vieta has received grants and served as consultant, advisor or CME speaker for the following entities (unrelated to the present work): AB-Biotics, Abbott, Allergan, Angelini, Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma, Ferrer, Gedeon Richter, Janssen, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Sage, Sanofi-Aventis, and Takeda. L. González Blanco has received honoraria for lecturing and/or research or travel grants for attending conferences from the Spanish Foundation of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Otsuka, Lundbeck, Janssen-Cilag, Servier, Angelini and Pfizer The rest of authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

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