AUTHOR=Barder Helene E., Sundet Kjetil , Rund Bjørn , Evensen Julie , Haahr Ulrik , Hegelstad Wenche , Joa Inge , Johannessen Jan Olav , Langeveld Johannes , Larsen Tor Ketil , Melle Ingrid , Opjordsmoen Stein , Røssberg Jan Ivar , Simonsen Erik , Vaglum Per , McGlashan Thomas , Friis Svein 

TITLE=Ten year neurocognitive trajectories in first-episode psychosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00643

DOI=10.3389/fnhum.2013.00643

ISSN=1662-5161

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objective:</bold> Neurocognitive impairment is commonly reported at onset of psychotic disorders. However, the long-term neurocognitive course remains largely uninvestigated in first episode psychosis (FEP) and the relationship to clinically significant subgroups even more so. We report 10 year longitudinal neurocognitive development in a sample of FEP patients, and explore whether the trajectories of cognitive course are related to presence of relapse to psychosis, especially within the first year, with a focus on the course of verbal memory.</p><p><bold>Method:</bold> Forty-three FEP subjects (51% male, 28 ± 9 years) were followed-up neurocognitively over five assessments spanning 10 years. The test battery was divided into four neurocognitive indices; Executive Function, Verbal Learning, Motor Speed, and Verbal Fluency. The sample was grouped into those relapsing or not within the first, second and fifth year.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The four neurocognitive indices showed overall stability over the 10 year period. Significant relapse by index interactions were found for all indices except Executive Function. Follow-up analyses identified a larger significant decrease over time for the encoding measure within Verbal Memory for patients with psychotic relapse in the first year [<italic>F</italic><sub>(4, 38)</sub> = 5.8, <italic>p</italic> = 0.001, η<sup>2</sup> = 0.40].</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> Main findings are long-term stability in neurocognitive functioning in FEP patients, with the exception of verbal memory in patients with psychotic relapse or non-remission early in the course of illness. We conclude that worsening of specific parts of cognitive function may be expected for patients with on-going psychosis, but that the majority of patients do not show significant change in cognitive performance during the first 10 years after being diagnosed.</p>