Schizophrenia, smoking status, and performance on the matrics Cognitive Consensus Battery

Andrey · September 19, 2016, 10:15am

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Schizophrenia, smoking status, and performance on the matrics Cognitive Consensus Battery.

AC Reed, JG Harris and A Olincy, Psychiatry research, Dec 30 2016

Cognitive deficits and high rates of nicotine dependence are consistently documented in the schizophrenia literature. However, there is currently no consensus about how regular smoking influences cognition in schizophrenia or which cognitive domains are most affected by chronic smoking. Previous studies have also failed to disambiguate the effects of chronic nicotine from those of acute exposure. The current study uses a novel approach to testing nicotine addicted patients at a time-point between acute enhancement and withdrawal and implements the MATRICS Cognitive Consensus Battery (MCCB) to compare the overall cognitive performance of regular smokers (n=40) and nonsmokers (n=36) with schizophrenia. Controlling for age, gender, and education, smokers with schizophrenia were significantly more impaired on a visual learning task, the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R), than their nonsmoking peers. Among smokers, smoking behavior (i.e., exhaled carbon monoxide levels of smokers) predicted BVMT-R T score; greater smoking was associated with more impaired visual learning. Negative symptom severity was not predictive of greater visual learning deficits in smokers or nonsmokers. Future longitudinal research will be required to determine if there is a dose-response relationship between chronic nicotine and visual learning impairment in patients at various stages of psychotic illness.

far_cry0 · September 19, 2016, 10:27am

That’s why i quit smoking…!!!
i have severe cognitive illness…!!!
though i want to continue my education …!!!
i came to know all the people with Sz not necessarily has to have cognitive impairment…!!!
if i have u guys may not have had …!!!
hey @andrey how are U …thanks for sharing…!!

NutsAboutU · September 19, 2016, 4:13pm

Smoking might cause hardening of the arteries and reduced circulation, cholesterol deposits, reduced blood flow to the brain, silent strokes etc.

Anon10 · September 20, 2016, 12:59pm

I don’t smoke and my cognition is pretty great…