Karamaouna Penny, Zouraraki Chrysoula, Giakoumaki Stella G
Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece.
University of Crete Research Center for the Humanities, The Social and Educational Sciences (UCRC), University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jan 8;11:613015. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.613015. eCollection 2020.
Although there is ample evidence from cross-sectional studies indicating cognitive deficits in high schizotypal individuals that resemble the cognitive profile of schizophrenia-spectrum patients, there is still lack of evidence by longitudinal/follow-up studies. The present study included assessments of schizotypal traits and a wide range of cognitive functions at two time points (baseline and 4-years assessments) in order to examine (a) their stability over time, (b) the predictive value of baseline schizotypy on cognition at follow-up and (c) differences in cognition between the two time points in high negative schizotypal and control individuals. Only high negative schizotypal individuals were compared with controls due to the limited number of participants falling in the other schizotypal groups at follow-up. Seventy participants (mean age: 36.17; 70% females) were assessed at baseline and follow-up. Schizotypal traits were evaluated with the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. We found that schizotypal traits decreased over time, except in a sub-group of participants ("schizotypy congruent") that includes individuals who consistently meet normative criteria of inclusion in either a schizotypal or control group. In these individuals, negative schizotypy and aspects of cognitive-perceptual and disorganized schizotypy remained stable. The stability of cognitive functioning also varied over time: response inhibition, aspects of cued attention switching, set-shifting and phonemic/semantic verbal fluency improved at follow-up. High negative schizotypy at baseline predicted poorer response inhibition and semantic switching at follow-up while high disorganized schizotypy predicted poorer semantic processing and complex processing speed/set-shifting. The between-group analyses revealed that response inhibition, set-shifting and complex processing speed/set-shifting were poorer in negative schizotypals compared with controls at both time points, while maintaining set and semantic switching were poorer only at follow-up. Taken together, the findings show differential stability of the schizotypal traits over time and indicate that different aspects of schizotypy predict a different pattern of neuropsychological task performance during a 4-years time window. These results are of significant use in the formulation of targeted early-intervention strategies for high-risk populations.
尽管横断面研究有充分证据表明，高分裂型人格特质个体存在认知缺陷，类似于精神分裂症谱系患者的认知特征，但纵向/随访研究仍缺乏相关证据。本研究在两个时间点（基线和4年评估）对分裂型人格特质和广泛的认知功能进行了评估，以检验：（a）它们随时间的稳定性；（b）基线分裂型人格特质对随访时认知的预测价值；（c）高阴性分裂型人格特质个体与对照组在两个时间点的认知差异。由于随访时其他分裂型人格特质组的参与者数量有限，仅将高阴性分裂型人格特质个体与对照组进行了比较。70名参与者（平均年龄：36.17岁；70%为女性）在基线和随访时接受了评估。使用分裂型人格问卷评估分裂型人格特质。我们发现，除了一组参与者（“分裂型人格特质一致组”）外，分裂型人格特质随时间下降，该组包括始终符合分裂型人格特质组或对照组纳入标准的个体。在这些个体中，阴性分裂型人格特质以及认知-感知和紊乱型分裂型人格特质的各个方面保持稳定。认知功能的稳定性也随时间变化：随访时反应抑制、线索提示注意转换、定势转换以及音素/语义言语流畅性方面有所改善。基线时高阴性分裂型人格特质预测随访时反应抑制和语义转换较差，而高紊乱型分裂型人格特质预测语义加工和复杂加工速度/定势转换较差。组间分析显示，在两个时间点，阴性分裂型人格特质个体的反应抑制、定势转换和复杂加工速度/定势转换均比对照组差，而保持定势和语义转换仅在随访时较差。综上所述，研究结果表明分裂型人格特质随时间具有不同的稳定性，并表明在4年的时间窗口内，分裂型人格特质的不同方面预测了不同模式的神经心理学任务表现。这些结果对于为高危人群制定有针对性的早期干预策略具有重要意义。
