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Abstract: Purpose: Whether adjuvant therapy impairs cognitive function in women with breast cancer (BC) is unclear. We determined the effects of adjuvant therapy on cognitive function in women with early BC. Methods: We consecutively and prospectively enrolled women aged 40–69 years who had a positive radiographic finding from the mammography screening program at Stockholm South General Hospital. All women completed the Headminder Web-based neuropsychological battery Cognitive Stability Index (CSI) for response speed, processing speed, memory, and attention before diagnosis (T1), after surgery and before adjuvant treatment (T2), 6 months after start of adjuvant treatment (T3), and after another 3 months of follow-up (T4). Women with BC were divided into those receiving chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or no adjuvant medical therapy. Women without a diagnosis of BC served as healthy controls. Results: Of the 146 women enrolled, 77 had BC of whom 18 received chemotherapy; 45, hormone therapy, and 14, no adjuvant medical therapy; 69 were healthy controls. Memory scores for women with BC were significantly lower than those for controls over time, even after controlling for age and education. Memory and response speed scores were lower after chemotherapy than before (P <0.01 for both). Processing speed and attention improved significantly over time in all groups, a result consistent with a practice effect. Conclusion: Our results indicate subtle changes related to time course and treatment. Especially, that chemotherapy may impair memory and response speed in women with BC, consistent with those reported by BC survivors after adjuvant medical treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Relationships between prefrontal and temporal lobe grey matter volumes as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging and neurocognitive test results have been reported in schizophrenia. This investigation aimed to localize brain regions where cortical thickness and neurocognitive performance were related, and investigate if such relationships might differ in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Sixty-seven patients with schizophrenia and 69 healthy controls were characterized by neurocognitive testing and by brain cortical thickness maps. Putative cortical thickness/cognitive score relationships were investigated with contrast analyses of general linear models for the combined sample. Regions in which relationships were present were further investigated for diagnostic interaction. In the combined sample, significant positive relationships were found between frontal, temporal and occipital regions and tests for verbal IQ, verbal learning and executive functions. Diagnostic interaction was found for the relationships between verbal IQ and the right temporo-occipital junction and the left middle occipital gyrus. In conclusion, the significant relationships between cortical thickness and neurocognitive performances were localized in brain areas known to be involved in cognition. The relationships were similar in patients and controls, except for the right temporo-occipital and left occipital cortical areas, indicating a disrupted structure–function relationship in patients with schizophrenia compared to healthy control subjects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Neurocognitive deficits are a core feature of schizophrenia. Deficits covering a wide range of functions have been well documented. However there is still a lack of longitudinal studies regarding the development of neurocognitive impairment. The current study examined the effect of time in long-term treated patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls on cognitive functions. A neurocognitive test-battery was administered to 36 patients and 46 controls on two occasions with approximately 4.5 years interval. Patients performed significantly worse on all measures on both occasions. The only significant decline over time was the ability to shift mental set between different rules or categories (measured by Trail Making Test B). This decline was present in both patients and controls. Improvement on attention (tested by Continuous Performance Test) was found in patients only and improvement on verbal learning (tested by Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test) was found only in controls. Education was significantly related to outcome in patients and age was related to outcome in controls. We conclude that neurocognitive function is relatively stable over 4.5 years in patients with long-term treated schizophrenia, in line with previous scientific research. The authors discuss the impact of age and education and limitations of the study. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]