8:30am - 8:50amCognitive deficits in schizophrenia: impact on functioning and new treatment options
Armida Mucci, Paola Bucci, Giulia Maria Giordano, Silvana Galderisi
University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy
Cognitive impairment represents a core dimension of schizophrenia that can be considered a cognitive disorder.
In fact, neurocognitive and social cognitive deficits are documented in all phases of the disorder, as well as in subjects at risk to develop psychosis.
These deficits are the strongest predictors of poor outcome in different functional domains, but still remain a major therapeutic challenge.
Second-generation antipsychotics are recommended for their favorable cognitive profile compared to first generation antipsychotics. Anticholinergic and benzodiazepine burden should be kept to a minimum, considering the negative impact on cognitive functioning.
Among psychosocial interventions, cognitive remediation and physical exercise are recommended for the treatment of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. The presence of metabolic syndrome hampers the capacity of cognitive remediation to restore cognitive deficits and should be addressed carefully before initiating cognitive remediation. Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques can be offered as add on therapy.
Individualized integrated interventions combining cognitive remediation with other approaches already changed the pessimistic view of schizophrenia as a stable or deteriorating cognitive disorder.
New treatment strategies are under development and might be available in the near future.
8:50am - 9:05amA new animal model of Gaming Disorder: sexual differences in behavior and reward sistem
Antonino Casile1,2,3, Brigitta Bonaldo2,3, Sofia Nasini4, Martina Bettarelli2, Marilena Marraudino2, Maria Vittoria Micioni Di Bonaventura1, Carlo Cifani1, Stefano Gotti1,2,3
1University of Camerino, School of Pharmacy, Pharmacology Unit, Via Madonna delle Carceri, 9, 62032 Camerino (MC), Italy.; 2Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), Regione Gonzole, 10, Orbassano (TO), University of Turin, 10043 Turin, Italy; 3Department of Neuroscience “Rita Levi-Montalcini”, Via Cherasco 15, 10126 Turin (TO), Italy.; 4Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Padua, Largo Egidio Meneghetti, 2, 35131 Padua, Italy
In 2018 International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) classified Gaming Disorder (GD) as a mental disorder. GD mainly occurs among adolescents, who after developing addiction, show psychopathological traits such as social anxiety, depressive disorder, social isolation, and attention deficit. However, the different studies conducted in humans so far show several limitations, such as exposure period, duration, and gender. Trying to address the lack of an experimental model for such a disorder, in the present work we proposed a GD rat model to investigate some peculiar tracts of the disorder. GD-rats showed a significant increase in frequency and duration of play, and time spent in front of the screen compared to both controls and rats trained but did not GD. In addition, GD females showed greater interaction and duration of play, which was maintained even in the presence of sexual or social stimuli compared to GD-males, and reduced interaction time to CON-females. Quantitative analysis of immunoreactivity of Dopamine in the Ventral Tegmental Area and Substantia Nigra, and Serotonin in Dorsal Raphe showed a significative reduction in GD animals compared to control groups.
In conclusion, we propose the first animal model of GD in rats, with great translational potential that exhibits characteristics also found in GD patients. The use of our animal model of GD will allow us to further investigate the neurological basis of the disorder also considering the sex differences.
9:05am - 9:25amCognition and clinical outcomes in severe psychiatric disorders: trans-diagnostic approaches
Mirko Manchia1,2
1University of Cagliari, Italy; 2Dalhousie University, Canada
Cognitive deficits are common symptoms during the course of severe mental disorders (SMD). Their manifestation can antecede or follow the onset of full-blown psychopathological symptoms with varying degree of severity. In general, cognitive impairment appears to influence the trajectory of SMD even when remission is achieved impacting on the quality of life and functioning of patients. Here I will focus on the results of two longitudinal prospective studies in cohorts of patients with SMD (bipolar disorders and psychotic disorders) followed at the Unit of Psychiatry of the University of Cagliari. We found that in 105 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder the higher the level of cognitive functioning and in particular verbal functioning (letter fluency) as measured with the Brief Assessment for Cognitive Symptoms in schizophrenia (BACS) the higher the lifetime suicide risk. Further, in a cohort of 45 patients with bipolar disorders and lifetime suicidality we found a statistically significant difference for the Color Naming and the Neutral words (NW) subtasks of the of the Brief Assessment of Cognition for Affective Disorder (BACA) with higher scores compared to those without lifetime suicidality. These data show
that cognitive testing can be useful in the formulation of lifetime suicide risk, albeit with a different meaning for impairment or retained cognition depending on the clinical diagnosis (e.g., in mood disorders, lower performances in certain cognitive tasks may instead be associated with a higher suicide risk).
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