Cholinergic pathways and cognition in patients with schizophrenia : a pilot study

Abstract

Background: Cognitive deficits are core features in schizophrenia. Disruption in cholinergic neurotransmission

has been associated with executive dysfunction in animals and humans. The objective of this study was to eval- uate the impact of compromised cholinergic pathways on executive versus non-executive cognitive functions of

patients with schizophrenia. Methods: 62 patients with schizophrenia and 62 age- and sex-matched non-psychiatric control subjects (“controls”)

were assessed and compared using: clinical measures, cognitive measures of global cognition, executive func- tion, and memory; and an MRI-based visual rating scale that assesses damage strategically localized within the

cholinergic pathways.

Results: 11 of the 62 patients with schizophrenia (17.7%) and 6 of the 62 controls (9.7%) had compromised cho- linergic pathways. These proportions were not statistically significant. Patients and controls with compromised

cholinergic pathways were more impaired on measures related to executive function than patients or controls without compromised pathways.

Conclusions: Patients with schizophrenia have worse executive function than controls. Compromised choliner- gic pathways appear to worsen the executive dysfunction observed in schizophrenia. If these preliminary find- ings are replicated, they could lead to the identification of a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia who could

specifically benefit from interventions enhancing cholinergic neurotransmission.