Matin Mortazavi , Jakob Amon , Iris Jäger , Genc Hasanaj , Zahra Aminifarsani , Kristin Fischer , Matthias Gamer , CDP Working Group , Alkomiet Hasan , Richard S.E. Keefe , Gabriele Sachs , Peter Falkai , Daniel Keeser , Florian Raabe , Elias Wagner
{"title":"Assessment of the German Version of Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS)","authors":"Matin Mortazavi , Jakob Amon , Iris Jäger , Genc Hasanaj , Zahra Aminifarsani , Kristin Fischer , Matthias Gamer , CDP Working Group , Alkomiet Hasan , Richard S.E. Keefe , Gabriele Sachs , Peter Falkai , Daniel Keeser , Florian Raabe , Elias Wagner","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100364","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100364","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Cognitive impairments are a hallmark of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD), contributing to poor treatment outcomes and a key treatment target. The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) battery is a validated tool designed to evaluate affected core domains in SSD. The present study evaluated psychometric properties of the German version of the BACS in a representative sample of individuals with SSD and healthy control subjects.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div><em>N</em> = 107 individuals with SSD and <em>n</em> = 175 healthy controls were assessed with the German version of the BACS. Diagnosis was confirmed with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview according to DSM-V. Validity was assessed through pair-wise comparisons between SSD individuals and healthy controls and by using receiver operating characteristic analysis. Internal consistency as a measure of reliability was evaluated using McDonald's Omega and Cronbach's Alpha in addition to factor and principal component analysis.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>All individuals with SSD exhibited significantly lower z-scores across all BACS subtests and BACS composite scores (Z < -1.5) compared to healthy controls. ROC analysis revealed good diagnostic accuracy with an AUC of 0.83 (95%CI: 0.78,0.88, sensitivity = 0.75, specificity = 0.75). Similar results were observed in sub-cohorts comprising clinically stable SSD patients and those with younger ages (18–35 years old). A unidimensional structure, supported by McDonald's Omega (ω = 0.72) and principal component analysis, confirmed robust internal reliability.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The German BACS demonstrates strong validity and internal reliability when assessed in a representative case-control sample. This study provides an extensive normative dataset for individuals with SSD in German-speaking populations, facilitating future research and clinical assessments of cognition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100364"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143886473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lotte Veddum , Anette Faurskov Bundgaard , Andreas Færgemand Laursen , Sanciya Mano Perfalk , Maja Gregersen , Mette Falkenberg Krantz , Birgitte Klee Burton , Camilla Jerlang Christiani , Ditte Ellersgaard , Sinnika Birkehøj Rohd , Marta Schiavon , Doris Helena Bjarnadóttir Streymá , Jens Richardt Møllegaard Jepsen , Kerstin Plessen , Nicoline Hemager , Anne Amalie Elgaard Thorup , Merete Nordentoft , Ole Mors , Aja Neergaard Greve
{"title":"Social perception in parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and their adolescent offspring – The Danish High Risk and Resilience Study","authors":"Lotte Veddum , Anette Faurskov Bundgaard , Andreas Færgemand Laursen , Sanciya Mano Perfalk , Maja Gregersen , Mette Falkenberg Krantz , Birgitte Klee Burton , Camilla Jerlang Christiani , Ditte Ellersgaard , Sinnika Birkehøj Rohd , Marta Schiavon , Doris Helena Bjarnadóttir Streymá , Jens Richardt Møllegaard Jepsen , Kerstin Plessen , Nicoline Hemager , Anne Amalie Elgaard Thorup , Merete Nordentoft , Ole Mors , Aja Neergaard Greve","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100370","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100370","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are associated with social cognitive impairments, but knowledge on social cognition in offspring of parents with these disorders is sparse. Moreover, investigations of the potential transgenerational transmission of social cognition in at-risk families are lacking. Therefore, we aimed to investigate social perception in parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and their adolescent offspring and population-based controls (PBC).</div><div>This study is part of The Danish High Risk and Resilience Study, a prospective familial high-risk study of families with parental schizophrenia (<em>n</em> = 202) or bipolar disorder (<em>n</em> = 120) and PBC (<em>n</em> = 200). Social perception was assessed with The Awareness of Social Inferences Task, Part 2A, including a total score and the subscales sincere, simple sarcasm, and paradoxical sarcasm.</div><div>Parents with schizophrenia showed poorer performance on the total scale (<em>p</em> < 0.007, <em>d</em> = 0.33) and the paradoxical sarcasm subscale (<em>p</em> < 0.003, <em>d</em> = 0.35) compared with PBC parents. We found no difference between parents with bipolar disorder and PBC parents or between the adolescent offspring. We found no significant interaction effect of familial high-risk status on any association (<em>p</em> ≤ 0.093), but the parents' and their adolescent offspring's social perception was positively and significantly associated on the total scale (<em>p</em> < 0.001), the sincere subscale (<em>p</em> = 0.005), and the simple sarcasm subscale (<em>p</em> = 0.010), but not the paradoxical sarcasm subscale (<em>p</em> = 0.052).</div><div>Our findings of transgenerational transmission of social perception in families with parental schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and PBC call for further longitudinal research to determine how social cognitive deficits are transmitted from parents to their offspring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100370"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144139674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amy M. Jimenez , Samuel J. Abplanalp , Naomi I. Eisenberger , William P. Horan , Junghee Lee , Amanda McCleery , Ana Ceci Myers , David J. Miklowitz , Eric A. Reavis , L. Felice Reddy , Jonathan K. Wynn , Michael F. Green
{"title":"A transdiagnostic approach to understanding neural responsivity to reward and its links to social motivation","authors":"Amy M. Jimenez , Samuel J. Abplanalp , Naomi I. Eisenberger , William P. Horan , Junghee Lee , Amanda McCleery , Ana Ceci Myers , David J. Miklowitz , Eric A. Reavis , L. Felice Reddy , Jonathan K. Wynn , Michael F. Green","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100367","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100367","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) are characterized by social impairments. Social impairment also occurs in the general community. Across clinical and nonclinical groups social impairment may be related to deficits in social approach and/or social avoidance motivation. However, the neural basis of social motivation deficits in SZ and BD is not well understood, nor is it known if they reflect features of the illness or are secondary to other factors such as social isolation. To fill these knowledge gaps, 31 individuals with SZ, 27 with BD, and 42 community comparisons (CCs) completed a team-based task during fMRI in which positive and negative feedback was provided by pictures of teammates or opponents. Importantly, the CC group was enriched for self-reported social isolation. fMRI analyses in five key regions of interest (ROIs; ventral striatum, orbital frontal cortex, insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala), secondary whole-brain analyses, and associations between ROI activity and social approach/avoidance motivation were performed. Across groups, ventral striatum and amygdala showed greater activation to positive versus negative feedback. In SZ, ventral striatum activity to positive feedback was correlated with social approach motivation. In CCs, amygdala activity during negative feedback was correlated with social avoidance motivation. Whole-brain analyses revealed greater activation in BD compared to SZ and CCs in fronto-parietal regions when feedback was provided by an opponent. Findings support disturbed reward sensitivity as a core component of poor social approach motivation in SZ and offer avenues for future research into neural mechanisms underlying social impairment in BD and the general community.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100367"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144107714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sarah A. Berretta , Lindsay D. Oliver , Courtland S. Hyatt , Ricardo E. Carrión , Katrin Hänsel , Aristotle Voineskos , Robert W. Buchanan , Anil K. Malhotra , Sunny X. Tang
{"title":"Domain-specific associations between social cognition and aggression in schizophrenia spectrum disorders","authors":"Sarah A. Berretta , Lindsay D. Oliver , Courtland S. Hyatt , Ricardo E. Carrión , Katrin Hänsel , Aristotle Voineskos , Robert W. Buchanan , Anil K. Malhotra , Sunny X. Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100361","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100361","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aggression in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) is rare but elevated relative to the general population. Existing studies have not identified reliable personal predictors of aggression in SSD. In line with social information processing models suggesting that difficulties interpreting social cues and others' intentions may lead to aggression, we evaluated whether social cognitive domains or global social cognition could be modifiable risk factors in SSD.</div><div>We examined aggression and social cognition in 59 participants with SSD and 43 healthy volunteers (HV). Self-reported aggression was measured via the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPAQ). Social cognition was assessed using five tasks measuring emotion processing, theory of mind, and social perception. Group differences were analyzed using Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon tests. Multiple regressions examined effects of social cognition on aggression, controlling for demographic and clinical covariates. Supplemental mediation analyses tested whether impairments in emotion processing, theory of mind, or overall social cognition explained the relationship between SSD diagnosis and increased aggression.</div><div>Reported aggression was higher in the SSD group, and social cognitive abilities were impaired across domains (<em>p</em> < .001). Better emotion processing (β = −0.35, <em>p</em> = .03) and theory of mind (β = −0.32, <em>p</em> = .03) predicted lower aggression in SSD, even when accounting for demographic and neurocognitive variables. Exploratory models adjusting for overall psychiatric symptom severity showed that theory of mind remained significant, while emotion processing attenuated. However, social cognition did not mediate the relationship between diagnosis and aggression. Future studies should examine other social processing factors, such as attributional bias.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100361"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143800422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Na Liu , Lihua Xu , Xiaofeng Guan , Ansi Qi , Fei Liu , Chengqing Yang , Xiangyun Long , Junjuan Zhu , Nan Huang , Jie Zhang , Yi Xu , Jing Chen , Huan Huang , Jijun Wang , Zheng Lu
{"title":"Brain functional connectivity associated with cognitive deficits in younger patients at first episode of schizophrenia","authors":"Na Liu , Lihua Xu , Xiaofeng Guan , Ansi Qi , Fei Liu , Chengqing Yang , Xiangyun Long , Junjuan Zhu , Nan Huang , Jie Zhang , Yi Xu , Jing Chen , Huan Huang , Jijun Wang , Zheng Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100359","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100359","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Cognitive deficits are a core feature of schizophrenia and are influenced by the age at onset of psychosis. Both preclinical and early-onset schizophrenia patients exhibit abnormalities in the frontal cortex, parahippocampus, precuneus, and hippocampus—regions that are closely associated with cognitive deficits. This study examines whether cognitive-related functional connectivity (FC) within these regions differs in first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients with varying ages of onset.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>FES patients (ages 18–45, <em>n</em> = 24) and matched healthy controls (HC, <em>n</em> = 29) were divided into younger and older subgroups based on the median age of 25 years: FES_young, FES_older, HC_young, and HC_older. All participants completed the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. FC within regions of interest (ROIs) was analyzed using the CONN toolbox.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Significant cognitive differences were observed between the four groups (H = 13.447, <em>p</em> = 0.004, Rank ε<sup>2</sup> = 0.259). The most prominent differences were found between the FES_young and HC_young groups (Holm-adjusted <em>p</em> = 0.012). Cognitive deficits in FES patients were significantly associated with reduced FC between the right precuneus (A31_R) and right parahippocampal gyrus (TI_R) (rho = 0.549, <em>p</em> = 0.010, Fisher's z = 0.616). FES_young showed significantly lower FC between A31_R and TI_R compared to HC_young (Holm-adjusted <em>p</em> = 0.001).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Earlier onset schizophrenia is associated with more severe cognitive deficits and specific impairments in brain functional connectivity. These findings highlight the importance of considering age of onset when assessing cognitive and neural dysfunction in schizophrenia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100359"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143740063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The glare illusion in individuals with schizophrenia","authors":"Hideki Tamura , Aiko Hoshino","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100366","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100366","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Individuals with schizophrenia are known to display unique reactions to visual illusions, and prior research has indicated a potential link between their increased susceptibility to geometric illusions and specific symptom profiles. While various illusory experiences have been examined among individuals with schizophrenia, their responses to brightness-related illusions remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated how individuals with schizophrenia perceive the glare illusion, in which the apparent brightness of the central region is increased. A total of 30 patients with schizophrenia and 34 control participants were recruited. During each trial, a glare or control image (standard stimulus) was presented alongside a control image (comparison stimulus) with one of seven luminance levels. In the glare condition, the standard stimulus was a glare image; in the control condition, two control images were presented, but only the luminance of the comparison stimulus varied. The participants were asked to judge which central region appeared brighter. The results revealed that individuals with schizophrenia exhibited greater susceptibility to the glare illusion than did the control participants. However, no significant associations were found between susceptibility to the glare illusion and scores assessing symptom severity. These findings suggest that differences in visual processing in patients with schizophrenia may increase their susceptibility to brightness illusions, although this phenomenon is independent of symptom characteristics. This information may provide a basis for exploring illusion susceptibility as a potential behavioral index for distinguishing between individuals with schizophrenia and control participants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100366"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144089452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lei Liu , Wenyang Han , Juntao Yu , Lingna Lou , Dewen Zhou , Liang Li , Peng Xu , Feng Zou
{"title":"Impaired non-verbal auditory memory maintenance in schizophrenia: An ERP study","authors":"Lei Liu , Wenyang Han , Juntao Yu , Lingna Lou , Dewen Zhou , Liang Li , Peng Xu , Feng Zou","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100362","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100362","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) exhibit deficits in speech perception in noise, which are closely related to their abnormalities in auditory working memory (WM). Auditory WM, especially the non-verbal auditory WM, serves as a bridge between perception, action, and long-term memory, playing a crucial role in integrating sound sequences to facilitate auditory object perception and auditory scene analysis (ASA). Although considerable research has been conducted on auditory sensory memory and visual WM in schizophrenia, studies specifically addressing non-verbal auditory WM remain scarce. Therefore, this study recorded the behavioral performance and event related potentials of 36 SZ and 36 healthy controls (HC) during a modified non-musical tone-sequence delayed matching-to-sample task (DMTS). The results showed that, in the tone-sequence DMTS, SZ had not only lower accuracy but also slower reaction times compared to the HC. More importantly, during the retention period, the memory maintenance of SZ begins to decay rapidly from the mid-stage, manifested by a significantly reduction in the late sustained anterior negativity (SAN2). Meanwhile, the early sustained anterior negativity (SAN1) in patients showed a significant correlation with their general pathological symptoms. The pathological symptoms can be predicted by the SAN1 under load 4 condition. This study provides empirical evidence for the impairment of non-verbal auditory WM maintenance in schizophrenia, which is of significant importance for understanding the auditory dysfunction and ASA difficulties experienced by SZ.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100362"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143843876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nashya Linares , Danielle N. Pratt , Katherine S.F. Damme , Vijay A. Mittal
{"title":"Cognition as a predictor of social network size and early communication in clinically high risk for psychosis individuals","authors":"Nashya Linares , Danielle N. Pratt , Katherine S.F. Damme , Vijay A. Mittal","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100365","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100365","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Social networks provide critical support, yet individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR) often experience deficits in social functioning and have smaller networks compared to healthy controls (HCs). Cognitive impairment, a hallmark characteristic of this group, may be associated with these challenges. This study is the first investigation into the relationships between general and specific domains of cognition and social network and communication abilities in people at CHR. The sample included 91 participants (HC = 43, CHR = 48) with complete cognitive and social network assessments from the same visit, with additional analyses including guardian ratings of social responsiveness and communication. Cognitive ability was significantly associated with social network size in both groups (b = 0.38, <em>p</em> < .0001), with significant contributions from working memory (b = 0.29, <em>p</em> = .004), speed of processing (b = 0.23, <em>p</em> = 002), verbal learning (b = 0.24, <em>p</em> = .007), and social cognition (b = 0.25, <em>p</em> = .012). Higher scores on cognitive functioning correlated with better social reciprocity (b = 1.28, <em>p</em> = .009) and fewer communication difficulties (b = 0.25, <em>p</em> < .002). Processing speed was particularly relevant to both social responsiveness (b = 0.88, <em>p</em> < .022) and communication difficulties (b = 0.12, <em>p</em> < .03). An interaction effect revealed that associations between cognitive ability on communication skills were more pronounced in CHR individuals compared to HCs (b = 0.26, <em>p</em> < .037). These findings underscore the potential role of specific cognitive domains, such as processing speed, in social functioning among CHR individuals. Future research should examine the directionality of these relationships to better understand underlying mechanisms of social functioning impairments and inform treatment development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100365"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143917527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qi Si , Yingbo Dong , Yuting Li , Guoxin Xu , Yilin Tang , Peiyu Cao , Congxin Chen , Fangfang Ren , Runda Li , Yuxiu Sui
{"title":"Effects of modifying the pulse width on cognitive side effects with electroconvulsive therapy for schizophrenia","authors":"Qi Si , Yingbo Dong , Yuting Li , Guoxin Xu , Yilin Tang , Peiyu Cao , Congxin Chen , Fangfang Ren , Runda Li , Yuxiu Sui","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100369","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100369","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>The majority of studies have shown substantially reduced cognitive impairment with ultra-brief pulse (UBP) electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) compared to brief pulse (BP) ECT, though the results remain inconclusive.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This study employed a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial design. A total of 114 patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) were enrolled and received BP ECT (63 participants) or UBP ECT (51 participants). Cognitive function was assessed before and after treatment, with peripheral blood biomarkers and hippocampal magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data collected concurrently.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>No significant baseline differences in demographic or clinical characteristics were observed between the two groups. After the end of ECT sessions, the UBP group and BP group respectively showed advantages in the Trail Making Test (TMT) and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT). No between-group differences reached statistical significance in other cognitive tests. The homocysteine, prolactin, inducible nitric oxide synthase and left hippocampal myoinositol (MI) levels were significantly elevated in the UBP group than those in the BP group. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that right hippocampal MI levels were positively correlated with TMT scores.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>There are no significant differences in efficacy between UBP ECT at high-dosage and BP ECT, and further research is required to determine whether this modality can reduce cognitive impairment after treatment.</div></div><div><h3>Clinical trial registration</h3><div><span><span>https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=243964</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>, registration number: ChiCTR2400091601.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100369"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144123746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Noaz Cohen , Mark Weiser , Abraham Reichenberg , John M. Davis , Michael Davidson , Nomi Werbeloff
{"title":"Cognitive changes in schizophrenia before and after illness onset: A meta-analysis examining consistency in measurement tools as a moderator","authors":"Noaz Cohen , Mark Weiser , Abraham Reichenberg , John M. Davis , Michael Davidson , Nomi Werbeloff","doi":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100371","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scog.2025.100371","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Cognitive impairment, a core feature of schizophrenia, is often evident before the onset of illness. The current study aimed to quantify IQ decline following the onset of illness by conducting a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies that evaluated cognitive functioning both before and after the first psychotic episode. Consistency in measurement tools – i.e. whether the same measurement tool was used at both assessments – was considered a potential moderating variable.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>Eleven studies were included in the meta-analysis - seven using the same measurement tool at both time-points and four using different tools. In addition, meta-regression explored whether the magnitude of IQ decline was associated with age at baseline.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The meta-analysis effect size was −0.343 (95 % CI: −0.503 to −0.184), equivalent to a decrease of 5 IQ points. Use of the same (SMD −0.321, 95 % CI: −0.501 to −0.142) vs different (SMD −0.427, 95 % CI: −0.777 to −0.077) measurement tools was not a moderator of IQ change (<em>p</em> = 0.279). The meta-regression results were not significant (<em>p</em> = 0.544).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The current meta-analysis indicates a slight cognitive decline from the premorbid stage to post-onset. The use of different measurement tools yielded a slightly larger effect size and greater heterogeneity, suggesting that employing the same assessment tool could lead to more accurate results. Future longitudinal studies should focus on determining the timeline of cognitive decline.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38119,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Research-Cognition","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100371"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144190157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}