Neurocognitive similarities between severe chronic schizophrenia and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia. Issue 3 (28th February 2015) - Chan, Hui-Minn
Abstract: This study focuses on a group of patients with chronic schizophrenia who have a more severe form of the disorder, as indicated by socio-functional decline, treatment resistance, and recurrent hospitalisation. Previous research has suggested that the pattern and severity of cognitive deficits in people with severe chronic schizophrenia is similar to that observed in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). In the current study, we compared neurocognitive performance in 16 cognitive domains in 7 inpatients with severe chronic schizophrenia, 13 community-dwelling outpatients with chronic schizophrenia, 12 patients with bvFTD, and 18 healthy controls. Our findings revealed more similar cognitive profiles between the schizophrenia inpatient and bvFTD groups compared to the schizophrenia outpatient group, who outperformed the former groups. The current results provide preliminary evidence for a distinct schizophrenia subgroup, distinguishable from other chronic schizophrenia patients by poorer clinical and functional status, who have levels of cognitive impairment comparable to those seen in bvFTD patients. Highlights: Concept of Krapelinian schizophrenia (KScz) with poor clinical/functional status. Cognitive performance of KScz similar to behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia patients. Both groups performed worse than chronic schizophrenia outpatients. Preliminary evidence for distinct KScz subgroup based on neuropsychology.