Motor abnormalities and cognitive impairment in first-episode psychosis patients, their unaffected siblings and healthy controls

Motor abnormalities (MAs) may be already evidenced long before the beginning of illness and are highly prevalent in psychosis. However, the extent to which the whole range of MAs are related to cognitive impairment in psychosis remains understudied. This study aimed to examine comparatively the rela...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Cuesta, Manuel J., Moreno-Izco, Lucía, Ribeiro Fernández, María, López-Ilundain, José M., Lecumberri Villamediana, Pablo, Cabada Giadás, María Teresa, Lorente Omeñaca, Ruth, Sánchez Torres, Ana María, Gómez Fernández, Marisol, Peralta Martín, Víctor
Format: article
Status:Versión aceptada para publicación
Publication Date:2018
Country:España
Institution:Universidad Pública de Navarra
Repository:Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra
OAI Identifier:oai:academica-e.unavarra.es:2454/47263
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2454/47263
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Schizophrenia
First-episode psychosis
Unaffected siblings
First-degree relatives
Healthy controls
Neurological assessment
Catatonia
Extrapyramidal signs
Akathisia
Parkinsonism
Abnormal movements
Neurological soft signs
Cognitive functioning
Cognitive impairment
MATRICS
Description
Summary:Motor abnormalities (MAs) may be already evidenced long before the beginning of illness and are highly prevalent in psychosis. However, the extent to which the whole range of MAs are related to cognitive impairment in psychosis remains understudied. This study aimed to examine comparatively the relationships between the whole range of motor abnormalities and cognitive impairments in the first-episode of psychosis (FEP), their unaffected siblings and healthy control subjects. Fifty FEP patients, 21 of their healthy siblings and 24 age- and sex matched healthy controls were included. Motor assessment included catatonic, extrapyramidal and neurological soft signs (NSS) by means of standardized instruments. An exhaustive neuropsychological battery was also performed to extract the 7 cognitive dimensions of MATRICS initiative. Higher scores on NSS but not on extrapyramidal and catatonic signs showed significant associations with worse cognitive performance in the three study groups. However, the pattern of associations regarding specific cognitive functions was different among the three groups. Moreover, extrapyramidal signs showed significant associations with cognitive impairment only in FEP patients but not in their unaffected siblings and healthy controls. Catatonic signs did not show any significant association with cognitive functioning in the three study groups. These findings add evidence to the associations between motor abnormalities, particularly NSS and extrapyramidal signs, and cognitive impairment in first-episode psychosis patients. In addition, our results suggest that the specific pattern of associations between MAs and cognitive functioning is different in FEP patients from those of the unaffected siblings and healthy subjects.