Electroretinography may reveal cognitive impairment among a cohort of subjects at risk of a major psychiatric disorder. (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Peredo, Rossana; Gagné, Anne-Marie; Gilbert, Elsa; Hébert, Marc; Maziade, Michel; Mérette, Chantal
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 291(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: Biomarker -- Bipolar disorders -- Schizophrenia -- Early detection -- Electroretinography -- Cognition -- High risk; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113227
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Highlights: Some offspring of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder will suffer a mental disease. Two subgroups of at risk offspring emerged, one with extreme ERG and another with healthy-like ERG. At risk individuals with the most ERG anomalies were also likely to show deficient cognition. ERG may be a potential biomarker of susceptibility to mental illness in at-risk populations. Abstract: Introduction: Almost a third of the offspring of parents diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder could develop a mental disorder or related symptoms. The objectives of this study were to test the existence of two distinct subgroups of youth at-risk, according to their retinal response to luminance measured with electroretinography (ERG), and to relate the resulting cluster memberships with the cognitive clusters previously reported. Methodology: A clustering analysis was performed with ERG measurements in 107 at-risk offspring. Each subgroup was compared to a healthy control group of 203 individuals. The ERG subgroup memberships were then associated with the cognitive clusters. Results: A two-cluster solution was obtained: HR-Cluster1 (n=53) showed a control-like ERG profile and HR-Cluster2 (n=54) showed reduced rod amplitudes and prolonged cone latencies of the b-wave. Subjects in the HR-Cluster2 were 2.7 times more likely to belong to the most detrimental cognitive subgroup than subjects in the HR-Cluster1 (49% Vs 18%). Conclusion: At-risk offspring showed two distinct ERG profiles: a control-like and an altered profile. A higher risk of impaired cognitive function was observed in subjects with the altered ERG profile, suggesting the ERG as a potential biomarker of susceptibility to mental illness among youth at risk.