How Schizophrenia Impacts Cognitive Function
Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia interfere with real-world functioning.
Schizophrenia is a disorder with readily observable symptoms including hallucinations, delusions, social withdrawal, apathy, and disorganized thinking and behavior. It is also associated with substantial cognitive deficits, which interfere dramatically with everyday functioning. Robert McCutcheon, Richard Keefe, and Philip McGuire recently published an excellent review in the journal Molecular Psychiatry that summarizes current knowledge about cognitive impairment in persons with schizophrenia. Cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia include difficulties with attention, working memory, learning, and processing speed. These deficits interfere with real-world functioning. They are associated with increased hospitalization, longer hospital stays, and decreased compliance with treatment. Cognitive impairment is also a major contributor to illness-related disability, defined as an inability to work productively and/or live independently. Psychiatric illnesses, including schizophrenia, are among the leading causes of disability across the human lifespan. Although, in general, persons with schizophrenia perform poorly on cognitive tasks and average in the lowest 5 to 10 percent of the population when compared to those without schizophrenia, the degree of deficit varies greatly among individuals. It is possible that some individuals have cognitive deficits in one area while others have deficits in other cognitive domains. Sorting out various patterns of cognitive deficits among individuals will require further research. Natural History Cognitive deficits typically precede the onset of behavioral symptoms in individuals who eventually develop schizophrenia. These cognitive deficits are often present during childhood and increase during adolescence. This differs from the time course of cognitive changes in bipolar disorder where such changes occur largely after the onset of mood symptoms. The cognitive deficits that develop during childhood in those with schizophrenia remain relatively stable through middle adulthood. As individuals become elderly, they are at higher risk for cognitive decline. However, such late-in-life deterioration might result from a variety of health factors that are common in individuals with schizophrenia and that contribute to premature death in these individuals. Pathophysiology Various brain circuits and neurotransmitters play a role in the development of cognitive deficits. Elucidating which neurotransmitter systems are involved in which brain systems will require much more research. Treatment It is well known that both older- and newer-generation antipsychotic drugs do not substantially alter the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. Novel medications are being developed to treat schizophrenia, and increased attention is being directed toward developing drugs that help ameliorate cognitive deficits. Knowing which specific cognitive deficits an individual with schizophrenia is experiencing can assist caregivers in tailoring psychosocial management. Neuropsychological testing can determine the type and degree of such deficits. Advances in neuroscience will result in an improved understanding of the nature and causes of schizophrenia. This should lead to advances in novel drug development. Together with increased attention to psychosocial interventions, these advances should aid the development of integrated, personalized treatment approaches to improve the everyday functioning and life satisfaction of those suffering from this devastating psychiatric disorder. reference: psychology today link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/demystifying-psychiatry/202304/how-schizophrenia-impacts-cognitive-function
People with paranoid schizophrenia have an altered perception of reality. They may see or hear things that don’t exist, speak in confusing ways, believe that others are trying to harm them, or feel like they’re being constantly watched.
It was a useful article, thank you and your team
After finishing this interesting article, it occurred to me that how much childhood memories and experiences affect people’s behavior and attitudes. Schizophrenia is a type of mental illness that a person may have from childhood, whose symptoms are social isolation and There are hallucinations, delusions, etc., which have not been successfully treated with medication.
Dorsa dehghani fard
Schizophrenia is a disorder with symptoms of hallucinations, delusions, cornering and indifference and disturbed thinking and behavior.
Cognitive symptoms associated with schizophrenia include problems with attention, working memory, learning, and processing speed.
Cognitive deficits are often present in childhood and increase in adolescence.
Different brain circuits and neurotransmitters play a role in creating cognitive roles.
A better understanding of cognitive deficits helps to improve symptoms and adjust the patient’s psychosocial management.
Thanks for sharing such an interesting article, I think apart from genetics, hallucinogens and marijuana use can also cause this disorder.
Schizophrenia, as a mental disorder, has a great impact on a person’s cognitive function, and we must know how to treat people with schizophrenia and support them so that they can deal with their problems.
Identifying and accepting mental disorders from a young age and referring to specialists by observing the smallest symptoms will help to treat disorders including schizophrenia more effectively.
Schizophrenia can be inherited or caused by genetics?
One of the most serious mental illnesses is schizophrenia, one of the most obvious symptoms of this illness is auditory and visual hallucinations. This disease in a person causes his behavior and communication disorder with the people around him and the environment outside the home. People with schizophrenia often have hallucinations of hearing voices. Voices that contain comments.
In my opinion, youth madness or schizophrenia is a type of mental illness that affects the functioning of the brain. This disease causes serious problems in a person’s thoughts and behavior. Usually, the patient needs lifelong treatment and care
I just finished this article and got very interesting information about this disorder. I think this disorder is with a person since birth and it just needs time to work and it cannot be prevented to a large extent. Maybe it can be done. we can slowed it down with medicine, but in the end it still affects the person. Thank you for this controversial article.
Thank you very much for publishing this article, because I think that few people have information about schizophrenia, and I myself belong to the same category.
But I was able to get a lot of useful information by reading this article
Hi,I finished this article now and I can say I found a lot of information about this disorder, such as the fact that cognitive disorders occur before the onset of behavioral symptoms and are present in a person.and also this fact that many brain circuits and some neurotransmitters can affect a person’s brain to become more vulnerable and have severe cognitive defects.
Hi Professor. Given the increased schizophrenia and the weirdness of this psychological disease, this article helps us to better understand and deal with it and even treat it. Thanks for this article
About 0.3 to 0.7% of people are diagnosed with schizophrenia in their lifetime.In 2017, there were an estimated 1.1 million new cases, and in 2019, there were a total of 20 million cases of this disease in the world.Men are affected more than women, and the age of onset of the disease in men is on average lower than in women Although some extensive researches have not found gender differences in the prevalence of this disorder.Environmental and genetic factors such as family history, marijuana use in adolescence, problems during pregnancy, childhood adversity, being born in late winter and early spring, father’s age, being born or growing up in the city have an effect on it.Environmental and genetic factors such as family history, marijuana use in adolescence, problems during pregnancy, childhood adversity, being born in late winter and early spring, father’s age, being born or growing up in the city have an effect on it.
There is evidence that people with schizophrenia may have an overactive dopamine system, which can lead to positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. At the same time, there may be defects in glutamate function that can contribute to negative symptoms such as apathy and social withdrawal.
However, in my opinion, schizophrenia has a genetic origin, and environmental conditions often aggravate it
Schizophrenia is described as a neurodevelopmental disease without precise boundaries and single cause, and it is thought to be caused by gene-environment interactions with vulnerable factors involved in it. The interactions of these risk factors The disease is complex, because many and diverse factors from pregnancy to adulthood can be involved in it.
Schizophrenia is described as a neurodevelopmental disease without precise boundaries and single cause, and it is thought to be caused by gene-environment interactions with vulnerable factors involved in it. The interactions of these risk factors The disease is complex, because many and diverse factors from pregnancy to adulthood can be involved in it.
Research has shown that schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects thinking, feeling and behavior. It usually starts in late adolescence or early adulthood and affects about 7 out of 1,000 people, and according to statistics, shortens a person’s life by almost 15 years. Symptoms include hearing or seeing things that aren’t there, believing things that aren’t real, disordered thinking and behavior, and lack of motivation. These symptoms can be very uncomfortable for the person who has them and the people around them. For many people, schizophrenia is well managed with treatment, but current medications do not work for everyone, symptoms and side effects vary, and more research is needed. Recently, two new genes have been discovered that are associated with schizophrenia