Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T17:23:04.012Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Executive function processes mediate the impact of working memory impairment on intelligence in schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

P. Wongupparaj ,
V. Kumari  and
R.G. Morris
P. Wongupparaj*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, P078, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, LondonSE5 8AF, UK
V. Kumari
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, P078, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, LondonSE5 8AF, UK NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
R.G. Morris
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, P078, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, LondonSE5 8AF, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +00 44 207 848 5716. E-mail address:[email protected], [email protected] (P. Wongupparaj).
Get access

Abstract

Objective:

The study investigated working memory, executive functions (conceptualized as response inhibition, updating, and shifting), and intelligence in schizophrenia, using structural equation modelling to determine the relationship between working memory and intelligence, testing whether specific executive functions act as a mediator for the association.

Method:

One hundred and twenty-five individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 64 healthy participants were included in the study, tested using measures of working memory, intelligence and executive functioning. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to estimate direct and indirect associations between main measures.

Results:

The schizophrenia group had significantly lower working memory, executive function and intelligence than the healthy group. The relationship between working memory and intelligence was significantly mediated by inhibition, updating and shifting functions.

Conclusion:

The study indicates a mediating role of executive functions in determining the association between working memory and intellectual function in schizophrenia. It is further proposed that in people with schizophrenia, cognitive remediation approaches targeting working memory through executive functioning may in turn improve intellectual function generally.

Keywords

Working memoryExecutive functionsIntelligenceSchizophreniaStructural equation modelling
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 1 - 7
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackerman, PL, Beier, ME, Boyle, MO. Working memory and intelligence: the same or different constructs?. Psychol Bull 2005;131:30–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arbuckle, JLIBM SPSS AMOS 21: user's guide. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp; 2012.Google Scholar
Aylward, E, Walker, E, Bettes, B. Intelligence and schizophrenia: meta-analysis of the research. Schizophrenia Bull 1984;10:430–459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, AWorking memory, thought and action. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A. Working memory: theories, models, and controversies. Annu Rev Psychol 2012;63:1–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barbey, AK, Colom, R, Grafman, J. Dorsolateral prefrontal contributions to human intelligence. Neuropsychologia 2013;51:1361–1369.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barch, D. What can research on schizophrenia tell us about the cognitive neuroscience of working memory?. Neuroscience 2006;139:73–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barch, DM, Ceaser, A. Cognition in schizophrenia: core psychological and neural mechanisms. Trends Cogn Sci 2012;16:27–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blair, C. How similar are fluid cognition and general intelligence?. A developmental neuroscience perspective on fluid cognition as an aspect of human cognitive ability. Behav Brain Sci 2006;29:109–125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowie, CR, Harvey, PDCognitive deficits and functional outcome in schizophrenia Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2006;2:531–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brancucci, A. Neural correlates of cognitive ability. J Neurosci Res 2012;90:1299–1309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burgess, GC, Gray, JR, Conway, ARA, Braver, TS. Neural mechanisms of interference control underlie the relationship between fluid intelligence and working memory span. J Exp Psychol Gen 2011;140:674–692.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byrne, BMStructural equations with latent variables. New York: Wiley; 2010.Google Scholar
Caspi, A, Reichenberg, A, Weiser, M, Rabinowitz, J, Kaplan, ZE, Knobler, H, et al.Cognitive performance in schizophrenia patients assessed before and following the first psychotic episode. Schizophr Res 2003;65:87–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cole, MW, Yarkoni, T, Repovš, G, Anticevic, A, Braver, TS. Global connectivity of prefrontal cortex predicts cognitive control and intelligence. J Neurosci 2012;32:8988–8999.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colom, R, Thompson, PMUnderstanding human intelligence by imaging the brain, the Wiley-Blackwell handbook of individual differences. Wiley-Blackwell; 2011.Google Scholar
Coolidge, FL, Wynn, T, Overmann, KAThe evolution of working memory In: Alloway, TP, Alloway, RGWorking memory: the connected intelligence. New York: Psychology Press; 2012. p. 37–60.Google Scholar
Cowan, NAn embedded-processes model of working memory. Cambridge University Press; 1999.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cudeck, R, du Toit, SGeneral structural equation models In: Millsap, R, Maydeu-Olivares, A, The SAGE handbook of quantitative methods in psychology. London: SAGE Publications Ltd; 2009. p. 515–540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickinson, D, Ragland, JD, Calkins, ME, Gold, JM, Gur, RC. A comparison of cognitive structure in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls using confirmatory factor analysis. Schizophr Res 2006;85:20–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duncan, J, Owen, AM. Common regions of the human frontal lobe recruited by diverse cognitive demands. Trends Neurosci 2000;23:475–483.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, NP, Miyake, A, Corley, RP, Young, SE, DeFries, JC, Hewitt, JK. Not all executive functions are related to intelligence. Psychol Sci 2006;17:172–179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gevins, A, Smith, ME. Neurophysiological measures of working memory and individual differences in cognitive ability and cognitive style. Cereb Cortex 2000;10:830–839.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glahn, DC, Cannon, TD, Gur, RE, Ragland, JD, Gur, RC. Working memory constrains abstraction in schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 2000;47:34–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gläscher, J, Rudrauf, D, Colom, R, Paul, LK, Tranel, D, Damasio, H, et al.Distributed neural system for general intelligence revealed by lesion mapping. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2010;107:4705–4709.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gold, JM, Carpenter, C, Randolph, C, Goldberg, TE, Weinberger, DR. Auditory working memory and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiat 1997;54:159–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golden, CJStroop color and word test: a manual for clinical and experimental uses. Chicago, lllinois: Skoelting; 1978. p. 1–32.Google Scholar
Goldman-Rakic, PS. Working memory dysfunction in schizophrenia. J Neuropsych Clin N 1994;6:348–357.Google Scholar
Gray, JR, Chabris, CF, Braver, TS. Neural mechanisms of general fluid intelligence. Nat Neurosci 2003;6:316–322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenwood, KE, Morris, R, Sigmundsson, T, Landau, S, Wykes, T. Executive functioning in schizophrenia and the relationship with symptom profile and chronicity. J Int Neuropsych Soc. 2008;14:782–792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heaton, RK, Chelune, GJ, Talley, JL, Kay, GG, Curtiss, GWisconsin card sorting test manual: revised psychological assessment resources. Odessa, FL; 1993.Google Scholar
Hedman, AM, van Haren, NE, van Baal, CG, Kahn, RS, Hulshoff Pol, HE. IQ change over time in schizophrenia and healthy individuals: a meta-analysis. Schizophr Res 2013;146:201–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hooper, D, Coughlan, J, Mullen, MR. Structural equation modelling: guidelines for determining model fit. Elect J Bus Res Methods 2008;6:53–60.Google Scholar
Horn, JL, Cattell, RB. Age differences in fluid and crystallized intelligence. Acta Psychol 1967;26:107–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horn, JL, Noll, JHuman cognitive capabilities: Gf-Gc theoryFlanagan, DP, Gensaft, JL, Harrison, PL, Comtemporary intellectual assessment: theories, tests, and issues. NY: Guilford; 1997. p. 53–91.Google Scholar
Hubacher, M, Weiland, M, Calabrese, P, Stoppe, G, Stöcklin, M, Fischer-Barnicol, D, et al.Working memory training in patients with chronic schizophrenia: a pilot study. Psychiatry J 2013;1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hutcheson, G, Sofroniou, NThe multivariate social scientist. London: Sage; 1999.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jausovec, N, Jausovec, K. Working memory training: improving intelligence – changing brain activity. Brain Cognition 2012;79:96–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson-Selfridge, M, Zalewski, C. Moderator variables of executive functioning in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bull 2001;27:305–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, RE, Haier, RJ. The parieto-frontal integration theory (PFIT) of intelligence: converging neuroimaing evidence. Behav Brain Sci 2007;30:135–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaiser, HF. An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika 1974;39:31–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kane, MJ, Brown, LH, McVay, JC, Silvia, PJ, Myin-Germeys, I, Kwapil, TR. For whom the mind wanders, and when: an experience-sampling study of working memory and executive control in daily life. Psychol Sci 2007;18:614–621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kerns, JG, Nuechterlein, KH, Braver, TS, Barch, DM. Executive functioning component mechanisms and schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 2008;64:26–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khandaker, GM, Barnett, JH, White, IR, Jones, PB. A quantitative meta-analysis of population-based studies of premorbid intelligence and schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2011;132:220–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klingberg, T. Training and plasticity of working memory. Trends Cogn Sci 2010;14:317–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumari, V, Peters, ER, Fannon, D, Antonova, E, Premkumar, P, Anilkumar, AP, et al.Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity predicts responsiveness to cognitive-behavioral therapy in schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 2009;66:594–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J, Park, S. Working memory impairments in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. J Abnorm Psychol 2005;114:599–611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lett, TA, Voineskos, AN, Kennedy, JL, Levine, B, Daskalakis, ZJ. Treating working memory deficits in schizophrenia: a review of the neurobiology. Biol Psychiatry 2014;75:361–370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Melby-Lervag, M, Hulme, C. Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review. Dev Psychol 2013;49:270–291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miyake, AF, Friedman, NP, Emerson, MJ, Witzki, AH, Howerter, A, Wager, TD. The unity and diversity of EFs and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychol 2000;41:49–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nouchi, R, Taki, Y, Takeuchi, H, Hashizume, H, Nozawa, T, Kambara, T, et al.Brain training game boosts executive functions, working memory and processing speed in the young adults: a randomized controlled trial. PloS one 2013;8:1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oberauer, K, Lewandowsky, S, Farrell, S, Jarrold, C, Greaves, M. Modeling working memory: an interference model of complex span. Psychon B Rev 2012;19:779–819.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oberauer, K, Schulze, R, Wilhelm, O, Süß, HM. Working memory and intelligence – Their correlation and their relation: comment on Ackerman Beier, and Boyle (2005). Psychol Bull 2005;131:61–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Reilly, RC, Braver, TS, Cohen, JDA biologically based computational model of working memory. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1999.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, S, Püschel, J, Sauter, BH, Rentsch, M, Hell, D. Spatial selective attention and inhibition in schizophrenia patients during acute psychosis and at 4-month follow-up. Biol Psychiatry 2002;51:498–506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Penner, IK, Hubacher, M, Vogt, A, Calabrese, P, Weiland, M, Opwis, K. Training working memory in schizophrenia. Eur Psychiat 2010;25(Supplement 1):1118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pukrop, R. Dimensions of working memory dysfunction in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2003;62:259–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radvansky, GAHuman memory. United States of America: Allyn and Bacon; 2006.Google Scholar
Roca, M, Parr, A, Thompson, R, Woolgar, A, Torralava, T, Antoun, N, et al.Executive function and fluid intelligence after frontal lobe lesions. Brain 2010;133:234–247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruiz, JC, Soler, MJ, Fuentes, I, Tomas, P. Intellectual functioning and memory deficits in schizophrenia. Compr Psychiat 2007;48:276–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seidman, LJ, Thermenos, HW, Poldrack, RA, Peace, NK, Koch, JK, Faraone, SV, et al.Altered brain activation in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in adolescents and young adults at genetic risk for schizophrenia: an fMRI study of working memory. Schizophr Res 2006;85:58–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shelton, JT, Elliott, EM, Hill, BD, Calamia, MR, Gouvier, WD. Comparison of laboratory and clinical working memory tests and their prediction of fluid intelligence. Intelligence 2009;37:283–293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shipstead, Z, Redick, TS, Engle, RW. Is working memory training effective?. Psychol Bull 2012;138:628–654.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Soriano, MF, Jiménez, JF, Román, P, Bajo, MT. Inhibitory processes in memory are impaired in schizophrenia: evidence from retrieval-induced forgetting. Brit J Psychol 2009;100:661–673.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spindler, KA, Sullivan, EV, Menon, V, Lim, KO, Pfefferbaum, A. Deficits in multiple systems of working memory in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 1997;27:1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
St Clair-Thompson, HL, Gathercole, SE. Executive functions and achievements in school: shifting, updating, inhibition, and working memory. Q J Exp Psycho A 2006;59:745–759.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Takeuchi, H, Sekiguchi, A, Taki, Y, Yokoyama, S, Yomogida, Y, Komuro, N, et al.Training of working memory impacts structural connectivity. J Neurosci 2010;30:3297–3303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thermenos, HW, Goldstein, JM, Buka, SL, Poldrack, RA, Koch, JK, Tsuang, MT, et al.The effect of working memory performance on functional MRI in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2005;74:179–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, P, Duam, I. Working memory and multi-tasking in paranoid schizophrenia with and without comorbid substance use disorder. Addiction 2008;103:774–786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, BExploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: understanding concepts and applications. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Winkel, R, Myin-Germeys, I, Delespaul, P, Peuskens, J, De Hert, M, van Os, J. Premorbid IQ as a predictor for the course of IQ in first onset patients with schizophrenia: a 10-year follow-up study. Schizophr Res 2006;88:47–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ward, JThe student's guide to cognitive neuroscience. New York: Psychology Press; 2006.Google Scholar
Wechsler, DWechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence. New York, NY: The Psychological Corporation: Harcourt Brace & Company; 1999.Google Scholar
Weisbrod, M, Kiefer, M, Marzinzik, F, Spitzer, MExecutive control is disturbed in schizophrenia: evidence from event-related potentials in a Go–noGo task. Biol Psychiatry 2000;47:51–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, EM, Hofer, A, Fleischhacker, WWExecutive functions in schizophrenia. Eur Psychiat 2002;17(Supplement 1):23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woolgar, A, Parr, A, Thompson, R, Cusack, R, Nimmo-Smith, I, Antoun, N, et al.Fluid intelligence loss linked to restricted regions of damage within frontal and parietal cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2010;107:14899–14902.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wykes, T, Huddy, V, Cellard, C, McGurk, SR, Czobor, PA meta-analysis of cognitive remediation for schizophrenia: methodology and effect sizes. Am J Psychiatry 2011;168:472–485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.