Mahi Patel
Research Mentor: Negin Nadvar
Mentor Department: Department of Psychiatry, Medicine
Author(s): Mahi Patel, Madeline Vincent, Aml Almamri, Negin Nadvar
Session: Session 5 (2:00 PM – 2:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 44
Abstract
Opioid use disorder (OUD) has been linked to hippocampal dysfunction (Gruber et al, 2007), leading to impaired spatial navigation (Pu et al., 2002). However, the relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ) and allocentric spatial navigation performance in individuals affected by OUD remains unclear. This study aims to examine whether there is a correlation between IQ and performance on allocentric spatial navigation in individuals with OUD compared to healthy controls (HCs), and to assess between-group differences in correlation strength. We hypothesize that the correlation between IQ and allocentric spatial navigation performance would be stronger in HCs than in individuals with OUD. Participants included 7 individuals with OUD and 14 HCs, each completed a WASI-II intelligence test and a spatial navigation task in a virtual environment on a desktop. Pearson correlation between IQ percentile and percentage correct on a recognition-based allocentric navigation task was first calculated for each group and was then compared between the groups using Fisher’s r-to-z transformation (p < 0.05). Contrary to the initial expectation, the correlation between IQ and spatial navigation performance was significant in the OUD (r = 0.830, p= 0.021), but not the HC (r = 0.265, p = 0.360) group. However, both correlations were positive, suggesting that higher IQ tends to be associated with better spatial navigation performance in both groups. This correlation was not significantly different between the groups (z = 1.568, p = 0.117). These findings suggest that there may be a positive relationship between IQ and allocentric spatial navigation ability. Our study also indicates that individual differences in intelligence may play an adaptive compensatory role in spatial navigation among those with OUD, whereas such an association is less pronounced in healthy individuals (Amata et al., 2008). Importantly, the small sample size limits interpretation, and larger studies are needed to confirm these findings. References Amata, J.A., Bansala, R., Whiteman, R., Haggerty, R., Royala, J., & Petersona, B.S. (2008). Correlates of intellectual ability with morphology of the hippocampus and amygdala in healthy adults. Brain and Cognition, 66(2), 105-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2007.05.009. Gruber, S.A., Silveri, M.M., & Yurgelun-Todd, D.A. (2007). Neuropsychological consequences of opiate use. Neuropsychology Review, 17(3), 299-315. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-007-9041-y. Pu, L., Bao, G.-B., Xu, N.-J., Ma, L., & Pei, G. (2002). Hippocampal long-term potentiation is reduced by chronic opiate treatment and can be restored by re-exposure to opiates. The Journal of Neuroscience, 22(5), 1914-1921. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-05-01914.2002.
