Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42021771›Full record

ReviewFrontiers in neurology

Schizophrenia and dementia across the lifespan: epidemiological links, cognitive trajectories, and the pathophysiological interplay.

Adam Bednorz, Dorota Religa

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in neurology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Adam BednorzJohn Paul II Geriatric Hospital, Katowice, Poland.
Dorota ReligaDivision of Clinical Geriatrics, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by persistent cognitive impairment across multiple domains and is increasingly associated with elevated risk of late-life dementia. However, the nature of this association and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Objective: This mini-review synthesizes current evidence on dementia risk in schizophrenia, focusing on epidemiology, cognitive trajectories, biological mechanisms, and differential relationships with Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Results: Epidemiological studies consistently indicate a two- to threefold increased risk of dementia among individuals with schizophrenia, although estimates vary due to diagnostic and ascertainment biases. Cognitive trajectories are heterogeneous: many patients remain cognitively stable over time, while subgroups demonstrate gradual or accelerated decline associated with negative symptoms, medical comorbidities, and social factors. Current evidence does not support a uniform progression toward Alzheimer-type neurodegeneration. Biomarker, neuropathological, and neuroimaging findings suggest distinct biological profiles, with reduced cognitive reserve, neurodevelopmental vulnerability, accelerated aging processes, and vascular and metabolic burden contributing to dementia risk. Genetic overlap between schizophrenia and AD appears modest, whereas partial clinical and molecular convergence is observed with FTD. Screening tools such as MMSE and MoCA may overestimate dementia prevalence due to longstanding baseline cognitive deficits. Sex differences, late-onset psychosis, and cardiometabolic comorbidities further modify risk trajectories. Conclusion: Dementia risk in schizophrenia likely reflects the interaction of lifelong neurodevelopmental vulnerability with aging-related and modifiable factors rather than a disorder-specific neurodegenerative pathway. Longitudinal biomarker-informed studies and tailored diagnostic frameworks are needed to improve differentiation between chronic cognitive impairment and true neurodegeneration.

Indexed as

Alzheimer’s diseasecognitive declinedementiafrontotemporal dementiaschizophrenia

Identifiers

PMID42021771
PMCPMC13096775

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.