Infant motor development and adult cognitive functions in schizophrenia

Murray, G.K.; Jones, P.B.; Moilanen, K.; Veijola, J.; Miettunen, J.; Cannon, T.D.; Isohanni, M.

doi:10.1016/j.schres.2005.08.016

« Previous Next »Schizophrenia Research
Volume 81, Issue 1 , Pages 65-74, 1 January 2006

Infant motor development and adult cognitive functions in schizophrenia

G.K. Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
- Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Box 189 Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK. Tel.: +44 0 1223 336965; fax: +44 0 1223 336968.
P.B. Jones
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK
K. Moilanen
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
J. Veijola
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
- Academy of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
J. Miettunen
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
T.D. Cannon
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, USA
M. Isohanni
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
- Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Finland

Received 4 August 2005; received in revised form 4 August 2005; accepted 8 August 2005.

Abstract

Background

Childhood neuromotor dysfunction is a risk factor for schizophrenia, a disorder in which cognitive deficits are prominent. The relationship between early neurodevelopment and adult cognition in schizophrenia remains unclear.

Methods

We examined the associations between infant motor development and adult cognitive functions in schizophrenia (n=61) and the general population (n=104) in a sample drawn from the The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort. Data on ages of learning to stand and walk with or without support were obtained at age 12 months by health visitor assessment. Neurocognitive measures at age 33–35 included executive function, verbal and visual episodic memory, and visuo-spatial working memory.

Results

The schizophrenia group achieved neuromotor milestones later and performed significantly worse than the control group on all measures of cognition. In pooled analyses there were associations between infant motor development and adult cognition in the domains of executive function, verbal learning and visuospatial working memory, but not in visual object learning. The pattern of associations between development and cognition was similar in schizophrenia and the general population.

Conclusions

These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that in schizophrenia mild infant motor developmental delay and adult cognitive deficits (at least in some domains) are age dependent manifestations of the same underlying neural process. Thus, they may be better considered as part of a single longitudinal syndrome.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, Neurodevelopment, Neurocognition, Motor development, Neuropsychology, Longitudinal birth cohort study