Psychiatry Research EG

Introduction Although recent efforts have been undertaken to investigate the aspects of short-term cerebral hemodynamics during cognitive challenge in schizophrenia, there are, to the best of our knowledge, no reports on cerebral hemodynamics during prefrontal function. Objective This aim of this study was to assess cognitive functions and measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) in patients with schizophrenia. Patients and methods Fifty adult inpatients (33 male and 17 female) participated in the study. They were referred from the outpatient clinic of psychiatry at Assiut University Hospital. All patients’ guardians provided written consent for their patients to participate in the study after full explanation of the study procedures was provided. All patients met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., Text Revision, diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia. The control group comprised 25 adults (aged 20–40 years; 14 male and 11 female) who volunteered to participate in the study. They were selected from general population and matched with the patient group for age, sex, and socioeconomic state, and were relatives of other patients in the outpatient clinic in Assiut University Hospital rather than the neuropsychiatric clinic. All patients and controls were subjected to the following after written informed consent was obtained from each first-degree relative for his or her patient: (a) psychiatric interview, (b) Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, (c) soft neurological sign assessment using Cambridge Neurology Inventory, (d) transcranial Doppler sonography, and (e) Cognitive Ability Screening Instrument. Results There was an increased frequency of each of the neurological soft sign scores measured using Cambridge Neurological Inventory part II among schizophrenic patients, especially motor coordination and motor sequencing and their correlation with predominance of negative symptoms. The evaluation of mean velocity of CBF in the middle cerebral artery, anterior cerebral artery, and basilar artery using transcranial Doppler revealed no significant difference between the patient and control groups, except for basilar artery, which had a statistical minimal significance. However, there was a correlation between positive symptoms and increased CBF as well as between negative symptoms and decreased CBF. Cognitive functions that were highly affected in schizophrenic patients were short term memory, orientation, mental manipulation, concentration, abstract thinking, judgment, drawing, and fluency, whereas long term memory and attention were affected to a lesser extent in schizophrenic patients. There was no effect on language function; it was affected by predominance of negative symptoms. Conclusion We found that most patients with schizophrenia have moderate-to-marked cognitive dysfunctions. We also found a positive correlation between positive symptoms and increased CBF and between negative symptoms and decreased CBF. Keywords: cerebral blood flow, cognitive functions, schizophrenia