Attention, memory and verbal learning and their relation to schizotypal traits in unaffected parents of schizophrenic patients

Abstract

The main objective of this ex post facto study is to compare the differences in cognitive functions and their relation to schizotypal personality traits between a group of unaffected parents of schizophrenic patients and a control group. A total of 52 unaffected biological parents of schizophrenic patients and 52 unaffected parents of unaffected subjects were assessed in measures of attention (Continuous Performance Test- Identical Pairs Version, CPT-IP), memory and verbal learning (California Verbal Learning Test, CVLT) as well as schizotypal personality traits (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences, O-LIFE). The parents of the patients with schizophrenia differ from the parents of the control group in omission errors on the Continuous Performance Test- Identical Pairs, on a measure of recall and on two contrast measures of the California Verbal Learning Test. The associations between neuropsychological variables and schizotpyal traits are of a low magnitude. There is no defined pattern of the relationship between cognitive measures and schizotypal traits

El objetivo principal de este estudio ex post facto es comparar las diferencias de las alteraciones cognitivas y su relación con los rasgos de la personalidad esquizotípica entre un grupo de padres no afectados de pacientes esquizofrénicos y un grupo control. Se han evaluado 52 padres biológicos no afectados de pacientes esquizofrénicos y 52 padres no afectados de sujetos no afectados en medidas de atención (Continuous Performance Test- Identical Pairs Version, CPT-IP), memoria y aprendizaje verbal (California Verbal Learning Test, CVLT) así como en rasgos de personalidad esquizotípica (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences, O-LIFE). Los padres de los pacientes con esquizofrenia se diferencian de los padres del grupo control en los errores de omisión del Continuous Performance Test- Identical Pairs, en una medida de recuerdo y en dos índices de contraste del California Verbal Learning Test. No existe un patrón definido de la relación entre las medidas cognitivas y los rasgos de esquizotipia