State of illness-dependent associations of neuro-cognition and psychopathological syndromes in a large transdiagnostic cohort.

Stein F; Schmitt S; Brosch K; Meller T; Pfarr JK; Ringwald K; Lemmer G; Philipsen A; Meinert S; Lemke H; Waltemate L; Thiel K; Franz M; Preuss UW; Metzger FG; Nenadić I; Nagels A; Kircher T; Dannlowski U; Krug A

Abstract

There is a lack of knowledge regarding the relationship between dimensional psychopathological syndromes and neurocognitive functions, particularly across the major psychiatric disorders (i.e., Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Bipolar Disorder (BD), and Schizophrenia (SZ)).; The negative syndrome, positive formal thought disorder as well as the paranoid-hallucinatory syndrome exhibited associations with neuro-cognition in an illness state-dependent manner, while the psychopathological factors depression and increased appetite only showed weak associations. Illness severity showed moderating effects on the neurocognitive-psychopathology relationship only for the negative syndrome and positive formal thought disorder.; SANS, SAPS, HAMA, HAM-D, and YMRS were assessed in 1064 patients meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for MDD, BD, SZ or schizoaffective disorder (SZA). In addition, a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery was administered. Psychopathological syndromes derived from factor analysis and present state of illness were used to explore psychopathology-cognition relationships. Correlational analyses were corrected for age, sex, verbal IQ, years of education, and DSM-IV-TR diagnosis. Age of onset and total duration of hospitalizations as proxies for illness severity were tested as moderators on the cognition - psychopathology relationship.; This study suggests the relationship of neuro-cognition and psychopathology to be highly state of illness-dependent across affective and psychotic disorders. Results hint at the moderating effects of illness severity on psychopathological factors that might be more treatment resistant.; No healthy control subjects were entered into the analyses because of lack of variance in psychopathological symptoms, which prevents from drawing conclusions regarding the relative level of potential cognitive impairments. - BACKGROUND - RESULTS - METHOD - CONCLUSIONS - LIMITATIONS