The NRP has a longstanding research focus on cognitive heterogeneity in schizophrenia. Previous studies have investigated profiles of cognitive strengths and weaknesses in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as well as their first-degree relatives. We are currently investigating emotion processing, reward learning, auditory perception, neurocognition, and social cognition impairments in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Recent studies focusing on schizophrenia have been conducted in collaboration with Dr. Joel Snyder and examine the neuroanatomical correlates of electrophysiological evoked responses in the primary auditory cortex. Our findings suggest that individuals with schizophrenia have impairments in differentiating environmental sounds, and that these deficits are associated with abnormal brain structure and function in the primary auditory cortex. We have also demonstrated that individuals with bipolar disorder experiencing psychosis have impaired auditory perception relative to their non-psychotic counterparts. In future projects, we plan to extend this line of work by examining the role of auditory perception in social cognition impairments in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Previous studies on schizophrenia have also investigated the etiology of negative symptoms (e.g., anhedonia, avolition, asociality) from and affective science perspective. For example, we have examined whether anhedonia is associated with deficits in encoding and retrieving affective information rather than reductions in the capacity to experience pleasure, if reinforcement learning deficits and the ability to learn from positive and negative feedback predict avolition, and whether emotional information processing predicts negative symptoms across cognitive and sensory domains (e.g., olfactory hedonics, emotion-attention interactions, facial affect identification, and audio-visual emotion integration). These studies have demonstrated that deficits in processing positive information uniquely predict negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Additional studies have focused on predictors of social and academic premorbid adjustment, the factor structure of cognition and social cognition, and the influence of comorbid psychiatric diagnoses on neuropsychological and affective performance.
We have also investigated candidate neurocognitive endophenotypes in bipolar disorder. Specifically we have demonstrated that visuospatial constructive ability, executive functioning, visual memory, and motor speed are impaired in individuals with bipolar disorder and their first-degree relatives in comparison to healthy controls. Additional research will examine how these deficits may relate to the course and functional outcome of this illness. Recent studies have also investigated the impact that psychosis has on neurocognition and social cognition in bipolar disorder. We have demonstrated that individuals with a past history of psychotic features have unique deficits in the frontal lobe/executive system and social cognition. There is also preliminary evidence that these individuals have additional impairments in auditory perception akin to those identified in schizophrenia. We plan on further investigating the psychophyisological, cognitive, and behavioral markers of psychosis in bipolar disorder and how these in turn relate to underlying neural processes.
Recent studies focusing on schizophrenia have been conducted in collaboration with Dr. Joel Snyder and examine the neuroanatomical correlates of electrophysiological evoked responses in the primary auditory cortex. Our findings suggest that individuals with schizophrenia have impairments in differentiating environmental sounds, and that these deficits are associated with abnormal brain structure and function in the primary auditory cortex. We have also demonstrated that individuals with bipolar disorder experiencing psychosis have impaired auditory perception relative to their non-psychotic counterparts. In future projects, we plan to extend this line of work by examining the role of auditory perception in social cognition impairments in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Previous studies on schizophrenia have also investigated the etiology of negative symptoms (e.g., anhedonia, avolition, asociality) from and affective science perspective. For example, we have examined whether anhedonia is associated with deficits in encoding and retrieving affective information rather than reductions in the capacity to experience pleasure, if reinforcement learning deficits and the ability to learn from positive and negative feedback predict avolition, and whether emotional information processing predicts negative symptoms across cognitive and sensory domains (e.g., olfactory hedonics, emotion-attention interactions, facial affect identification, and audio-visual emotion integration). These studies have demonstrated that deficits in processing positive information uniquely predict negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Additional studies have focused on predictors of social and academic premorbid adjustment, the factor structure of cognition and social cognition, and the influence of comorbid psychiatric diagnoses on neuropsychological and affective performance.
We have also investigated candidate neurocognitive endophenotypes in bipolar disorder. Specifically we have demonstrated that visuospatial constructive ability, executive functioning, visual memory, and motor speed are impaired in individuals with bipolar disorder and their first-degree relatives in comparison to healthy controls. Additional research will examine how these deficits may relate to the course and functional outcome of this illness. Recent studies have also investigated the impact that psychosis has on neurocognition and social cognition in bipolar disorder. We have demonstrated that individuals with a past history of psychotic features have unique deficits in the frontal lobe/executive system and social cognition. There is also preliminary evidence that these individuals have additional impairments in auditory perception akin to those identified in schizophrenia. We plan on further investigating the psychophyisological, cognitive, and behavioral markers of psychosis in bipolar disorder and how these in turn relate to underlying neural processes.