Verbal Memory and Voxel Based Morphometry in First Episode Non-Affective Psychosis: A Process Oriented Approach

Autores de IDIVAL

• 

  María Rosa Ayesa Arriola

  Autor

• Diana Tordesillas Gutiérrez

  Autor

• Maria Esther Setien Suero

  Autor

• Benedicto Crespo Facorro

  Autor

Autores ajenos al IDIVAL

• Remon-Gallo, D
• Gonzalez, MDG
• Albacete, A
• Blanco-Campal, A
• Rodriguez-Sanchez, JM

Unidades

• INVESTIGACIÓN EN ENFERMEDADES MENTALES

  

  Investigador Responsable

  María Rosa Ayesa Arriola

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed to comprehensively study the specific neurocognitive constructs underlying verbal memory deficits and their neuroanatomical correlates in first episode psychosis (FEP) patients. Method: A total of 218 FEP patients and 145 healthy participants were examined with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (a widely used verbal memory measure that provides a range of performance indexes to evaluate memory) and voxel-based morphometry (a neuroimaging analysis technique that allows investigation of focal differences in brain anatomy). Results: The analyses showed that the FEP group presented significantly lower scores on acquisition/learning, F(1, 566) = 40.7; p < .001, and delayed recall, F(1, 570) = 74.12; p < .001, as well as higher rates of forgetting, F(1, 566) = 20.03; p < .001. They also exhibited a significant sensitivity to retroactive, F(1, 554) = 8.74; p = .003, but not to proactive interference. Neuroimaging analyses found significant interactions between bilateral frontal lobe morphometry and proactive interference (rho FWE = 0.023). Rate of forgetting also significantly interacted with right occipital cortex morphometry (rho FWE = 0.033). Patients with higher rates of forgetting, proactive and retroactive interference demonstrated further gray matter reductions in frontal and occipital cortical areas. Conclusions: These findings emphasize the anterior orbitofrontal cortex as the brain region that contributes to verbal memory deficits in FEP patients, and suggest specific relationships between different neuroanatomical structures and discrete verbal memory processes. General Scientific Summary The present findings suggest that verbal memory deficit in FEP patients could be caused by dysfunction in encoding, retention and retrieval processes, being the anterior orbitofrontal cortex the region mainly involved the anterior orbitofrontal cortex being the brain region mainly involved. These findings add knowledge about the nature of verbal memory deficit and how it is related to broader aspects of brain and behavioral functioning in FEP patients.