Paranoid individuals with schizophrenia show greater social cognitive bias and worse social functioning than non-paranoid individuals with schizophrenia

OpenAIRE

Amy E. Pinkham; Philip D. Harvey; David L. Penn

2016-01-01

Paranoia is a common symptom of schizophrenia that may be related to how individuals process and respond to social stimuli. Previous investigations support a link between increased paranoia and greater social cognitive impairments, but these studies have been limited to single domains of social cognition, and no studies have examined how paranoia may influence functional outcome. Data from 147 individuals with schizophrenia were used to examine whether actively paranoid and non-paranoid indiv...

Clinical significance of measurement of serum NO, IL-6 and IL-8 levels after treatment in patients with schizophrenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Wanqin

2010-01-01

Objective: To study the significance of changes of serum NO, IL-6 and IL-8 levels after treatment in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: Serum IL-6, IL-8 (with RIA) and NO (with bio-chemistry) levels were determined in 37 patients with schizophrenia both before and after treatment as well as in 35 controls. Results: Before treatment, the serum IL-6, IL-8 levels in the patients were significantly higher than those in controls (P<0.01). While the serum NO levels were significantly lower (P<0.01). After six weeks' treatment, the levels of IL-6, IL-8 in the patients, though dropped markedly still remained significantly higher (P<0.05) than those in controls. The serum NO levels, though markedly increased after treatment, were still remained significantly lower than those in the controls (P<0.05). Conclusion: Serum NO, IL-6 and IL-8 levels were closely related to the diseases process of schizophrenia and were of prognostic values. (authors)

Criterion and construct validity of the CogState Schizophrenia Battery in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

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Taisuke Yoshida

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The CogState Schizophrenia Battery (CSB, a computerized cognitive battery, covers all the same cognitive domains as the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery but is briefer to conduct. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the criterion and construct validity of the Japanese language version of the CSB (CSB-J in Japanese patients with schizophrenia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Forty Japanese patients with schizophrenia and 40 Japanese healthy controls with matching age, gender, and premorbid intelligence quotient were enrolled. The CSB-J and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia, Japanese-language version (BACS-J were performed once. The structure of the CSB-J was also evaluated by a factor analysis. Similar to the BACS-J, the CSB-J was sensitive to cognitive impairment in Japanese patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, there was a significant positive correlation between the CSB-J composite score and the BACS-J composite score. A factor analysis showed a three-factor model consisting of memory, speed, and social cognition factors. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study suggests that the CSB-J is a useful and rapid automatically administered computerized battery for assessing broad cognitive domains in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

Christianity and Schizophrenia Redux: An Empirical Study.

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Kéri, Szabolcs; Kelemen, Oguz

2016-04-09

This paper explores the relationship among schizophrenia, spirituality, and Christian religiosity. We interviewed 120 patients with schizophrenia and 120 control individuals (74.2 % of individuals with self-reported Christian religions). Patients with schizophrenia showed increases in positive spirituality and decreases in positive congregational support, as measured by the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality. There was no significant difference in Christian religiosity. Higher positive spirituality was predicted by more severe self-disorder, perceptual disorder, and positive clinical symptoms. Schizophrenia patients with religious delusions did not exhibit enhanced Christian beliefs and rituals. These results do not confirm the hypothesis of general hyper-religiosity in schizophrenia.

Neurodevelopmental correlates in schizophrenia

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Ivković Maja

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Contemporary aetiopathogenetic considerations, based on neuro-imaging genetic and developmental neurobiology studies, suggest neurodevelopmental origin of schizophrenia. Several lines of evidence including structural abnormalities on in vivo brain imaging, the excess of prenatal and obstetric complications and the association of congenital and minor physical anomalies with schizophrenia, strongly indicate the neurodevelopmental pathogenesis of schizophrenia. On the other hand, controversial concept of psychotic continuum suggests schizophrenia and depression sharing the same genetic contribution to the pathogenesis. If this would be the case, depression could also be considered as neuro developmental disorder. The aims of the study were to investigate the association between: a pregnancy and birth complications (PBC, and b minor physical anomalies (MPA and schizophrenia or depression. Experimental groups consisted of 60 schizophrenic, 28 major depression patients and 30 healthy controls. All patients were diagnosed according to DSM-IV. Schizophrenic group was divided with regard to PANSS score into positive (n=32 and negative form (n=28 subgroups. PBC information were gathered from maternal recall while MPA were examined by using Waldrop scale for adults. The results showed that negative and positive schizophrenic subgroups had significantly more PBC than depressive group (p<0,05, as well than controls (p<0,001; p<0,05; respectively. There was no significant trend for more PBC in negative than in positive subgroup. All schizophrenic patients had higher rates of MPA than depressives (p<0,05. This trend for more MPA was not significant in comparison with healthy controls. These findings suggest that schizophrenia, especially its negative forms, could be considered as a member of the spectrum of neuro developmental disorders, which does not seem to be the case with depression. PBC and MPA could also be valuable in evaluation of risks for

Variations in the Incidence of Schizophrenia: Data Versus Dogma

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McGrath, John J

2006-01-01

The schizophrenia research community has shared a belief that the incidence of schizophrenia shows little variation. This belief is related to the dogma that schizophrenia affects all individuals equally, regardless of sex, race, or nationality. However, there is now robust evidence that the incidence of schizophrenia is characterized by substantial variability. There is prominent variation in the incidence of schizophrenia between sites. The incidence of schizophrenia is significantly higher in males than in females (male:female ratio = 1.4). Migrants and those living in urban areas have a higher incidence of schizophrenia. The incidence of schizophrenia has fluctuations across time. In addition, the prevalence of schizophrenia is also characterized by prominent variation. The realization that schizophrenia is characterized by rich and informative gradients will serve as a catalyst for future research. PMID:16135560

Fine mapping of ZNF804A and genome-wide significant evidence for its involvement in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Williams, H J

2011-04-01

A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) reported evidence for association between rs1344706 within ZNF804A (encoding zinc-finger protein 804A) and schizophrenia (P=1.61 × 10(-7)), and stronger evidence when the phenotype was broadened to include bipolar disorder (P=9.96 × 10(-9)). In this study we provide additional evidence for association through meta-analysis of a larger data set (schizophrenia\\/schizoaffective disorder N=18 945, schizophrenia plus bipolar disorder N=21 274 and controls N=38 675). We also sought to better localize the association signal using a combination of de novo polymorphism discovery in exons, pooled de novo polymorphism discovery spanning the genomic sequence of the locus and high-density linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping. The meta-analysis provided evidence for association between rs1344706 that surpasses widely accepted benchmarks of significance by several orders of magnitude for both schizophrenia (P=2.5 × 10(-11), odds ratio (OR) 1.10, 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.14) and schizophrenia and bipolar disorder combined (P=4.1 × 10(-13), OR 1.11, 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.14). After de novo polymorphism discovery and detailed association analysis, rs1344706 remained the most strongly associated marker in the gene. The allelic association at the ZNF804A locus is now one of the most compelling in schizophrenia to date, and supports the accumulating data suggesting overlapping genetic risk between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Schizophrenia, culture and neuropsychology: sensory deficits, language impairments and social functioning in Chinese-speaking schizophrenia patients.

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Yang, L; Chen, S; Chen, C-M; Khan, F; Forchelli, G; Javitt, D C

2012-07-01

While 20% of schizophrenia patients worldwide speak tonal languages (e.g. Mandarin), studies are limited to Western-language patients. Western-language patients show tonal deficits that are related to impaired emotional processing of speech. However, language processing is minimally affected. In contrast, in Mandarin, syllables are voiced in one of four tones, with word meaning varying accordingly. We hypothesized that Mandarin-speaking schizophrenia patients would show impairments in underlying basic auditory processing that, unlike in Western groups, would relate to deficits in word recognition and social outcomes. Altogether, 22 Mandarin-speaking schizophrenia patients and 44 matched healthy participants were recruited from New York City. The auditory tasks were: (1) tone matching; (2) distorted tunes; (3) Chinese word discrimination; (4) Chinese word identification. Social outcomes were measured by marital status, employment and most recent employment status. Patients showed deficits in tone-matching, distorted tunes, word discrimination and word identification versus controls (all pneuropsychology and language among Mandarin-speaking schizophrenia patients. As predicted, patients were highly impaired in both tone and auditory word processing, with these two measures significantly correlated. Tonally impaired patients showed significantly worse employment-status function than tonally intact patients, suggesting a link between sensory impairment and employment status outcome. While neuropsychological deficits appear similar cross-culturally, their consequences may be language- and culture-dependent.

Large recurrent microdeletions associated with schizophrenia

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Stefansson, H.; Rujescu, D.; Cichon, S.

2008-01-01

Reduced fecundity, associated with severe mental disorders, places negative selection pressure on risk alleles and may explain, in part, why common variants have not been found that confer risk of disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and mental retardation. Thus, rare variants may account...... and autism. In a genome-wide search for CNVs associating with schizophrenia, we used a population-based sample to identify de novo CNVs by analysing 9,878 transmissions from parents to offspring. The 66 de novo CNVs identified were tested for association in a sample of 1,433 schizophrenia cases and 33......,250 controls. Three deletions at 1q21.1, 15q11.2 and 15q13.3 showing nominal association with schizophrenia in the first sample (phase I) were followed up in a second sample of 3,285 cases and 7,951 controls (phase II). All three deletions significantly associate with schizophrenia and related psychoses...

Duplications of the Neuropeptide Receptor VIPR2 Confer Significant Risk for Schizophrenia

OpenAIRE

Vacic, Vladimir; McCarthy, Shane; Malhotra, Dheeraj; Murray, Fiona; Chou, Hsun-Hua; Peoples, Aine; Makarov, Vladimir; Yoon, Seungtai; Bhandari, Abhishek; Corominas, Roser; Iakoucheva, Lilia M.; Krastoshevsky, Olga; Krause, Verena; Larach-Walters, Verónica; Welsh, David K.

2011-01-01

PUBLISHED PMID:21346763 Rare copy number variants (CNVs) play a prominent role in the etiology of schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders 1 . Substantial risk for schizophrenia is conferred by large (>500 kb) CNVs at several loci, including microdeletions at 1q21.1 2 , 3q29 3 , 15q13.3 2 and 22q11.2 4 and microduplication at 16p11.2 5 . However, these CNVs collectively account for a small fraction (2-4%) of cases, and the relevant ...

Using patient-reported outcomes in schizophrenia: the Scottish Schizophrenia Outcomes Study.

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Hunter, Robert; Cameron, Rosie; Norrie, John

2009-02-01

The primary aim of the Scottish Schizophrenia Outcomes Study (SSOS) was to assess the feasibility and utility of routinely collecting outcome data in everyday clinical settings. Data were collected over three years in the Scottish National Health Service (NHS). There were two secondary aims of SSOS: first, to compare data from patient-rated, objective, and clinician-rated outcomes, and second, to describe trends in outcome data and service use across Scotland over the three years of the study (2002-2005). This study used a naturalistic, longitudinal, observational cohort design. A representative sample of 1,015 persons with ICD-10 F20-F29 diagnoses (schizophrenia, schizotypal disorders, or delusional disorders) was assessed annually using the clinician-rated measure, the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale (HoNOS), and the patient-reported assessment, the Avon Mental Health Measure (Avon). Objective outcomes data and information on services and interventions were collected. Data were analyzed with regression modeling. Of the 1,015 persons recruited, 78% of the cohort (N=789) completed the study. Over the study period, significant decreases were seen in the number of hospitalizations, incidence of attempted suicide and self-harm, and civil detentions. Avon scores indicated significant improvement on all subscales (behavior, social, access, and mental health) and on the total score. However, HoNOS scores on the behavior and symptom subscales did not change, scores on the impairment subscale increased significantly (indicating increased levels of impairment), and scores on the social subscale decreased significantly (indicating improved social functioning). This study has demonstrated that it is feasible within the Scottish NHS to routinely collect meaningful outcomes data in schizophrenia. Patient-reported assessments were also successfully collected and used in care plans. This model shows that it is possible to incorporate patient-reported assessments into routine

Altered brain arginine metabolism in schizophrenia.

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Liu, P; Jing, Y; Collie, N D; Dean, B; Bilkey, D K; Zhang, H

2016-08-16

Previous research implicates altered metabolism of l-arginine, a versatile amino acid with a number of bioactive metabolites, in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The present study, for we believe the first time, systematically compared the metabolic profile of l-arginine in the frontal cortex (Brodmann's area 8) obtained post-mortem from schizophrenic individuals and age- and gender-matched non-psychiatric controls (n=20 per group). The enzyme assays revealed no change in total nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity, but significantly increased arginase activity in the schizophrenia group. Western blot showed reduced endothelial NOS protein expression and increased arginase II protein level in the disease group. High-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometric assays confirmed significantly reduced levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), but increased agmatine concentration and glutamate/GABA ratio in the schizophrenia cases. Regression analysis indicated positive correlations between arginase activity and the age of disease onset and between l-ornithine level and the duration of illness. Moreover, cluster analyses revealed that l-arginine and its main metabolites l-citrulline, l-ornithine and agmatine formed distinct groups, which were altered in the schizophrenia group. The present study provides further evidence of altered brain arginine metabolism in schizophrenia, which enhances our understanding of the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and may lead to the future development of novel preventions and/or therapeutics for the disease.

Validation of the Communication Skills Questionnaire (CSQ) in people with schizophrenia.

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Prat, Gemma; Casas-Anguera, Emma; Garcia-Franco, Mar; Escandell, Maria José; Martin, José Ramón; Vilamala, Sonia; Villalta-Gil, Victoria; Gimenez-Salinas, Jordi; Hernández-Rambla, Carla; Ochoa, Susana

2014-12-15

This present study describes the validation of the Communication Skills Questionnaire (CSQ) in people with schizophrenia. A total of 125 clinically stable people in rehabilitation treatment who were diagnosed with schizophrenia were included. For convergent and discriminant validity the following tests were administered; the Gambrill and Richie (GR) Assertiveness Inventory, the Social Functioning Scale (SFS), Life Skills Profile (LSP), Clinical Global Impression scale for schizophrenia (CGI-S) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. Internal consistency of the CSQ had a Cronbach׳s alpha of 0.96. Test-retest reliability showed coefficients between 0.60 and 0.70. Convergent validity showed significant relations at p<0.0001 for all instruments assessed. None of the subscales used for assessing discriminant validity showed a significant correlation with the CSQ except for the CGI-S depression subscale. The instrument shows good psychometric properties and demonstrates that it is a useful instrument for evaluating communication skills in people with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of CFH gene on symptom severity of schizophrenia

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Zhang C

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Chen Zhang,1 Qinyu Lv,1 Weixing Fan,2 Wei Tang,3 Zhenghui Yi1 1Schizophrenia Program, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 2Department of Psychiatry, Jinhua Second Hospital, Jinhua, 3Department of Psychiatry, Wenzhou Kanging Hospital, Wenzhou, People’s Republic of China Objective: Recent advances have provided compelling evidence for the role of excessive complement activity in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. In this study, we aimed to detect the association of the gene encoding complement factor H (CFH, a regulator in complement activation, with schizophrenia. Materials and methods: A sample of 1783 individuals with or without schizophrenia was recruited for genetic analysis. Genomic DNA samples were extracted from peripheral blood cells using multiplex polymerase chain reaction and the SNaPshot assay. A Database for Schizophrenia Genetic Research (SZDB was used to detect the association of brain CFH expression with schizophrenia. Next, we performed a genotype–phenotype analysis to identify the relationship between CFH Y402H polymorphism and clinical features of schizophrenia. Results: There was a significant association of hippocampal CFH expression with schizophrenia (P=0.017, whereas this significance did not survive after adjusting for false discovery rate (P=0.105. Comparing the genotype and allele frequencies of the genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms between case and control groups showed no significant difference. There were significant differences in the scores of negative symptoms and delayed memory between the patients with C allele and those without C allele (P<0.01 and P=0.04 after Bonferroni correction, respectively. Furthermore, we observed a marginally significant association between the Y402H polymorphism and CFH expression in the hippocampus (P=0.051; however, this significance was lost after multiple testing correction (P=0.51, after Bonferroni correction

Sex Differences in Familiality Effects on Neurocognitive Performance in Schizophrenia

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Calkins, Monica E.; Ray, Amrita; Gur, Ruben C.; Freedman, Robert; Green, Michael F.; Greenwood, Tiffany A.; Light, Gregory A.; Nuechterlein, Keith H.; Olincy, Ann; Radant, Allen D.; Seidman, Larry J.; Siever, Larry J.; Silverman, Jeremy M.; Stone, William S.; Sugar, Catherine; Swerdlow, Neal R.; Tsuang, Debby W.; Tsuang, Ming T.; Turetsky, Bruce I.; Braff, David L.; Lazzeroni, Laura C.; Gur, Raquel E.

2013-01-01

Background Numerous studies have documented that patients with schizophrenia show neurocognitive impairments, which are also heritable in schizophrenia families. In view of these findings, the current investigation tested the hypothesis that neurocognitive performance of schizophrenia probands can predict the neurocognitive performance of their unaffected family members. Methods Participants (n=1,967; schizophrenia=369; first-degree relatives=1,072; community comparison subjects=526) in the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS) were administered the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery (CNB). Results Consistent with prior work, probands showed significant neurocognitive impairment, and neurocognitive ability was significantly heritable, across domains. On average, unaffected relatives did not differ from community comparison subjects in their neurocognitive performance. However, in 6 of 7 domains, probands’ score predicted the performance of their unaffected siblings. Male, but not female, probands’ performance was predictive of their unaffected relatives (siblings and mothers) performance, most consistently in face memory and spatial processing. Conclusions Using a novel approach in which individual probands are paired with their respective unaffected relatives within each family, we found that male probands’ performance predicted both sister and brother performance, an effect that was most powerfully observed for face memory and spatial processing. Results suggest that the familial transmission of sexually dimorphic neurocognitive domains, in which a particular sex tends to show a performance advantage over the other, may not itself be sex specific in schizophrenia families. PMID:23395246

Z-drug for schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Kishi, Taro; Inada, Ken; Matsui, Yuki; Iwata, Nakao

2017-10-01

No systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the use of Z-drug for schizophrenia are available. Randomized, placebo-controlled, or non-pharmacological intervention-controlled trials published before 03/20/2017 were retrieved from major healthcare databases and clinical trial registries. A meta-analysis including only randomized, placebo-controlled trials was performed. Efficacy outcomes were measured as improvement in overall schizophrenia symptoms, total sleep time, and wake after sleep onset. Safety/acceptability outcomes were discontinuation rate and individual adverse events. Four trials [1 alpidem placebo-controlled study (n=66), 2 eszopiclone placebo-controlled studies (n=60), and 1 eszopiclone, shallow needling-controlled study (n=96)] were identified. The meta-analysis showed no significant differences in any outcome between pooled Z-drug and placebo treatment groups. For individual studies, alpidem was superior to placebo in improving the overall schizophrenia symptoms. One of the eszopiclone studies showed that eszopiclone was superior to placebo in improving the Insomnia Severity Index scores. Another eszopiclone study showed that eszopiclone did not differ from shallow needling therapy in improving both schizophrenia- and insomnia-related symptoms. Although this study failed to show significant benefits for the use of Z-drug in the treatment of schizophrenia, it showed that short-term use of eszopiclone is an acceptable method for treating persistent insomnia among these patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Affective empathy in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis.

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Bonfils, Kelsey A; Lysaker, Paul H; Minor, Kyle S; Salyers, Michelle P

2016-08-01

Affective empathy, or the emotional response one has to the experiences or emotional states of others, contributes to relationship-maintaining behaviors and is key in fostering social connections, yet no work has synthesized the body of literature for people with schizophrenia. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to determine the extent to which those diagnosed with schizophrenia experience deficits in affective empathy. A literature search was conducted of studies examining empathy. Data were analyzed using a random effects meta-analytic model with Hedges' g standardized mean difference effect size. Individuals with schizophrenia exhibited significant, medium deficits in affective empathy (k=37). Measurement type moderated the affective empathy deficit such that performance-based measures showed larger schizophrenia group deficits than self-report measures. Consistent, significant deficits in affective empathy were found comparing people with schizophrenia to healthy controls, especially when using performance-based assessments. The medium effect suggests an important role for empathy in the realm of social cognitive research, and points to the need for further investigation of measurement techniques and associations with functional outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The NCAN gene: schizophrenia susceptibility and cognitive dysfunction

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Wang P

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Peirong Wang,1 Jun Cai,2 Jianliang Ni,1 Jiangtao Zhang,1 Wei Tang,3 Chen Zhang2 1Department of Psychiatry, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 2Schizophrenia Program, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 3Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China Background: Cognitive dysfunction has been recognized as a cardinal feature of schizophrenia. Elucidating the neurobiological substrates of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia would help identify the underlying mechanism of this disorder. The rs1064395 single nucleotide polymorphism, within the gene encoding neurocan (NCAN, is reported to be associated with schizophrenia in European populations and may influence brain structure in patients with schizophrenia.Methods: In this study, we aimed to explore whether NCAN rs1064395 confers some risk for schizophrenia and cognitive dysfunction in Han Chinese. We recruited 681 patients with schizophrenia and 699 healthy subjects. Two hundred and fifty-four patients were evaluated according to Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS.Results: There were no significant differences in genotype or allele distributions of the rs1064395 polymorphism between the schizophrenia and control groups. Patients showed significantly poorer performance than controls on immediate memory, visuospatial skill, language, attention, delayed memory, and total RBANS score. Patients with the A/A or A/G genotype of rs1064395 had lower scores of immediate memory, visuospatial skill, attention, and total RBANS score than those with the G/G genotype. We performed an expression quantitative trait loci analysis and observed a significant association between rs1064395 and NCAN expression in the frontal (P=0.0022, P=0.022 after Bonferroni correction and cerebellar cortex (P=0.0032, P=0.032 after Bonferroni correction.Conclusion: Our findings indicate

Is there any role of latent toxoplasmosis in schizophrenia disease?

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Karabulut, Nuran; Bilgiç, Serkan; Gürok, Mehmet Gürkan; Karaboğa, Fatih

2015-09-01

A large number of studies have hypothesized that Toxoplasma gondii is a potentially relevant etiological factor in some cases of schizophrenia. By contrast, some studies have disproved this association. The aim of this study was to investigate whether latent toxoplasmosis has any role in schizophrenia disease. Additionally, the association between T. gondii and subtypes of schizophrenia, and the impacts of toxoplasmosis on psychopathology were examined in the study. A total of 85 patients with schizophrenia and 60 healthy volunteers were included in this prospective study. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody to T. gondii was examined by enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay method. Seropositivity rates were 43.5% for the patients with schizophrenia and 43.3% for the healthy controls (odds ratio: 1.008, 95% confidence interval: 0.517-1.964, p = 0.981).There was no significant difference in T. gondii IgG positivity between the schizophrenia and control groups with respect to sex and age. The difference in seroprevalence of T. gondii IgG antibodies among the schizophrenia subtypes was not statistically significant (p = 0.934). No significant difference was found in Positive and Negative Syndrome Subscales between Toxoplasma-infected and Toxoplasma-free patients. In the study area with a high prevalence of T. gondii, no association between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia was detected. These findings showed that toxoplasmosis has no role in the risk of schizophrenia disease. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Taiwan.

Study of Attention Deficit in Patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

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SM Kafi

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background & aim: Attention deficit has significant effect on the life of patients suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The aim of this study was to assess the attention deficit in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: In the present post-hoc study, 132 patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were selected via non-randomized sampling at Shafa Hospital (Rasht, Iran and then divided into four equal groups: chronic schizophrenia patients, first-episode patients, chronic bipolar patients, and first-episode bipolar patients. Thirty-three healthy individuals were selected as the control group. Subjects were evaluated by Stroop color-word test. The gathered Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. Results: Attention deficit among chronic schizophrenics and patients suffering from bipolar disease was higher than the control group (p <1. Chronic schizophrenic patients compared with schizophrenia bipolar disease and first round schizophrenia showed more attention deficit. There was no significant difference among the first bipolar disease and schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, as well as the first round schizophrenia (p<0.05. Conclusion: Attention deficit is more severe in schizophrenic patients than bipolar disorder, and chronicity is more effective in schizophrenic patients. Key words: Attention, Schizophrenia, Chronicity

Attribution bias and social anxiety in schizophrenia

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Amelie M. Achim

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Studies on attribution biases in schizophrenia have produced mixed results, whereas such biases have been more consistently reported in people with anxiety disorders. Anxiety comorbidities are frequent in schizophrenia, in particular social anxiety disorder, which could influence their patterns of attribution biases. The objective of the present study was thus to determine if individuals with schizophrenia and a comorbid social anxiety disorder (SZ+ show distinct attribution biases as compared with individuals with schizophrenia without social anxiety (SZ− and healthy controls. Attribution biases were assessed with the Internal, Personal, and Situational Attributions Questionnaire in 41 individual with schizophrenia and 41 healthy controls. Results revealed the lack of the normal externalizing bias in SZ+, whereas SZ− did not significantly differ from healthy controls on this dimension. The personalizing bias was not influenced by social anxiety but was in contrast linked with delusions, with a greater personalizing bias in individuals with current delusions. Future studies on attribution biases in schizophrenia should carefully document symptom presentation, including social anxiety.

Neural correlates of prospective memory impairments in schizophrenia.

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Chen, Xing-jie; Wang, Ya; Wang, Yi; Yang, Tian-xiao; Zou, Lai-quan; Huang, Jia; Li, Feng-hua; Chen, An-tao; Wang, Wei-hong; Zheng, Han-feng; Cheung, Eric F C; Shum, David H K; Chan, Raymond C K

2016-02-01

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember to carry out intended actions after a delay. PM impairments are common in schizophrenia patients and are thought to be related to their prefrontal cortex dysfunction; however, this has not yet been examined directly in the research literature. The current study aimed to examine abnormalities in brain activation during PM task performance in schizophrenia patients. Twenty-two schizophrenia patients and 25 matched healthy controls were scanned in a 3-T MRI machine while performing a PM task. The results showed that compared to the healthy controls, schizophrenia patients performed significantly worse on the PM task. Furthermore, they exhibited decreased brain activation in frontal cortex including the right superior frontal gyri (Brodmann area 10), and other related brain areas like the anterior cingulate gyrus, parietal and temporal cortex, including precuneus, and some subcortext, including parahippocampal gyrus and putamen. These findings confirm the involvement and importance of the prefrontal cortex in PM and show evidence of hypofrontality in schizophrenia patients while performing a PM task. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved.

Dysbindin-1 Involvement in the Etiology of Schizophrenia

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Haitao Wang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder that afflicts about 1% of the world’s population, falling into the top 10 medical disorders causing disability. Existing therapeutic strategies have had limited success on cognitive impairment and long-term disability and are burdened by side effects. Although new antipsychotic medications have been launched in the past decades, there has been a general lack of significant innovation. This lack of significant progress in the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia is a reflection of the complexity and heterogeneity of the disease. To date, many susceptibility genes have been identified to be associated with schizophrenia. DTNBP1 gene, which encodes dysbindin-1, has been linked to schizophrenia in multiple populations. Studies on genetic variations show that DTNBP1 modulate prefrontal brain functions and psychiatric phenotypes. Dysbindin-1 is enriched in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, while postmortem brain studies of individuals with schizophrenia show decreased levels of dysbindin-1 mRNA and protein in these brain regions. These studies proposed a strong connection between dysbindin-1 function and the pathogenesis of disease. Dysbindin-1 protein was localized at both pre- and post-synaptic sites, where it regulates neurotransmitter release and receptors signaling. Moreover, dysbindin-1 has also been found to be involved in neuronal development. Reduced expression levels of dysbindin-1 mRNA and protein appear to be common in dysfunctional brain areas of schizophrenic patients. The present review addresses our current knowledge of dysbindin-1 with emphasis on its potential role in the schizophrenia pathology. We propose that dysbindin-1 and its signaling pathways may constitute potential therapeutic targets in the therapy of schizophrenia.

Dysbindin-1 Involvement in the Etiology of Schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Haitao; Xu, Jiangping; Lazarovici, Philip; Zheng, Wenhua

2017-09-22

Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder that afflicts about 1% of the world's population, falling into the top 10 medical disorders causing disability. Existing therapeutic strategies have had limited success on cognitive impairment and long-term disability and are burdened by side effects. Although new antipsychotic medications have been launched in the past decades, there has been a general lack of significant innovation. This lack of significant progress in the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia is a reflection of the complexity and heterogeneity of the disease. To date, many susceptibility genes have been identified to be associated with schizophrenia. DTNBP1 gene, which encodes dysbindin-1, has been linked to schizophrenia in multiple populations. Studies on genetic variations show that DTNBP1 modulate prefrontal brain functions and psychiatric phenotypes. Dysbindin-1 is enriched in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, while postmortem brain studies of individuals with schizophrenia show decreased levels of dysbindin-1 mRNA and protein in these brain regions. These studies proposed a strong connection between dysbindin-1 function and the pathogenesis of disease. Dysbindin-1 protein was localized at both pre- and post-synaptic sites, where it regulates neurotransmitter release and receptors signaling. Moreover, dysbindin-1 has also been found to be involved in neuronal development. Reduced expression levels of dysbindin-1 mRNA and protein appear to be common in dysfunctional brain areas of schizophrenic patients. The present review addresses our current knowledge of dysbindin-1 with emphasis on its potential role in the schizophrenia pathology. We propose that dysbindin-1 and its signaling pathways may constitute potential therapeutic targets in the therapy of schizophrenia.

Social priming increases nonverbal expressive behaviors in schizophrenia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan Del-Monte

Full Text Available Semantic priming tasks are classically used to influence and implicitly promote target behaviors. Recently, several studies have demonstrated that prosocial semantic priming modulated feelings of social affiliation. The main aim of this study was to determine whether inducing feelings of social affiliation using priming tasks could modulate nonverbal social behaviors in schizophrenia. We used the Scrambled Sentence Task to prime schizophrenia patients according to three priming group conditions: pro-social, non-social or anti-social. Forty-five schizophrenia patients, diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR, were randomly assigned to one of the three priming groups of 15 participants. We evaluated nonverbal social behaviors using the Motor-Affective subscale of the Motor-Affective-Social-Scale. Results showed that schizophrenia patients with pro-social priming had significantly more nonverbal behaviors than schizophrenia patients with anti-social and non-social priming conditions. Schizophrenia patient behaviors are affected by social priming. Our results have several clinical implications for the rehabilitation of social skills impairments frequently encountered among individuals with schizophrenia.

Nonverbal expressive behaviour in schizophrenia and social phobia.

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Del-Monte, Jonathan; Raffard, Stéphane; Salesse, Robin N; Marin, Ludovic; Schmidt, Richard C; Varlet, Manuel; Bardy, Benoît G; Philippe Boulenger, Jean; Christine Gély-Nargeot, Marie; Capdevielle, Delphine

2013-11-30

Expressive behaviour plays a crucial role in the success of social interactions. Abnormality of expressive behaviour has been reported in interpersonal interactions of patients suffering from schizophrenia and social phobia, two debilitating mental disorders with important social deficits. However, no study has compared the expressive behaviour in these two disorders. Thirty schizophrenia patients, 21 social phobia patients and 30 healthy controls were evaluated and compared on expressive, cognitive and clinical dimensions. Expressive behaviour was assessed using the Motor Affective subscale of the Motor-Affective-Social-Scale (MASS). Covariables include the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the anxiety level Liebowitz-Social-Anxiety-Scale (LSAS) and cognitive tasks. After controlling for depression, schizophrenia and social phobia patients both exhibited significantly fewer expressive behaviours compared to healthy controls. Moreover, our results showed specific signatures: schizophrenia patients performed fewer spontaneous gestures (hand gestures and smiles) whereas social phobia patients had an impaired ability to produce voluntary smiles in comparison to healthy controls. Interestingly, poor social functioning was significantly correlated with a decrease of expressive behaviour for schizophrenia patients. Expressive behaviour is impaired in different ways in social phobia and schizophrenia and is associated in schizophrenia with poorer social functioning. The Motor Affective subscale of the MASS is an interesting tool for assessing the dysfunction of interpersonal expressive behaviour in mental disorders. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risk for schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like psychosis among patients with epilepsy: population based cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qin, Ping; Xu, Huylan; Laursen, Thomas Munk

2005-01-01

.20) in people with a history of epilepsy. The effect of epilepsy was the same in men and in women and increased with age. Family history of psychosis and a family history of epilepsy were significant risk factors for schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like psychosis, and the effect of epilepsy, both in cases......OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether age at onset of epilepsy, type of epilepsy, family history of psychosis, or family history of epilepsy affect the risk of schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like psychosis among patients with epilepsy. DESIGN: Comparison of population based data. SETTING: Danish...... and families, was greater among people with no family history of psychosis. In addition, the increased risk for schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like psychosis did not differ by type of epilepsy but increased with increasing number of admissions to hospital and, particularly, was significantly greater for people...

No Evidence That Schizophrenia Candidate Genes Are More Associated With Schizophrenia Than Noncandidate Genes.

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Johnson, Emma C; Border, Richard; Melroy-Greif, Whitney E; de Leeuw, Christiaan A; Ehringer, Marissa A; Keller, Matthew C

2017-11-15

A recent analysis of 25 historical candidate gene polymorphisms for schizophrenia in the largest genome-wide association study conducted to date suggested that these commonly studied variants were no more associated with the disorder than would be expected by chance. However, the same study identified other variants within those candidate genes that demonstrated genome-wide significant associations with schizophrenia. As such, it is possible that variants within historic schizophrenia candidate genes are associated with schizophrenia at levels above those expected by chance, even if the most-studied specific polymorphisms are not. The present study used association statistics from the largest schizophrenia genome-wide association study conducted to date as input to a gene set analysis to investigate whether variants within schizophrenia candidate genes are enriched for association with schizophrenia. As a group, variants in the most-studied candidate genes were no more associated with schizophrenia than were variants in control sets of noncandidate genes. While a small subset of candidate genes did appear to be significantly associated with schizophrenia, these genes were not particularly noteworthy given the large number of more strongly associated noncandidate genes. The history of schizophrenia research should serve as a cautionary tale to candidate gene investigators examining other phenotypes: our findings indicate that the most investigated candidate gene hypotheses of schizophrenia are not well supported by genome-wide association studies, and it is likely that this will be the case for other complex traits as well. Copyright © 2017 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

No significant association of the 5' end of neuregulin 1 and schizophrenia in a large Danish sample

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Ingason, Andrés; Søeby, Karen; Timm, Sally

2006-01-01

schizophrenia patients. We found that the at-risk haplotype initially reported in the Icelandic population was not found in significant excess (or = 1.4, p = 0.12). The haplotype structure in the Danish sample was similar to that of other reported in other Caucasian populations and highly different from...

Preliminary application of brain perfusion SPECT imaging in schizophrenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Zhixing; Guo Chanliu; Li Xingbao; Liang Rongxiang; Zhao Jun; Yan Tingxiu

1996-01-01

The clinical value of 99m Tc-ECD brain perfusion SPECT imaging was evaluated in patients with schizophrenia. 32 patients with schizophrenia and 21 normal controls were analyzed with 99m Tc-ECD SPECT. 93.8% (30/32) of the patients showed decreased regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). There was normal rCBF in controls. In the patient group rCBF decreased significantly in bilateral frontal lobes, left temporal lobe and right basal ganglion. The rCBF of left temporal lobe was significantly lower than that of right temporal lobe. The decreasing rCBF was not significantly related to previous treatment and duration of illness. 99m Tc-ECD SPECT is useful for the study and diagnosis of patients with schizophrenia

Sex differences in familiality effects on neurocognitive performance in schizophrenia.

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Calkins, Monica E; Ray, Amrita; Gur, Ruben C; Freedman, Robert; Green, Michael F; Greenwood, Tiffany A; Light, Gregory A; Nuechterlein, Keith H; Olincy, Ann; Radant, Allen D; Seidman, Larry J; Siever, Larry J; Silverman, Jeremy M; Stone, William S; Sugar, Catherine; Swerdlow, Neal R; Tsuang, Debby W; Tsuang, Ming T; Turetsky, Bruce I; Braff, David L; Lazzeroni, Laura C; Gur, Raquel E

2013-05-15

Numerous studies have documented that patients with schizophrenia show neurocognitive impairments, which are also heritable in schizophrenia families. In view of these findings, the current investigation tested the hypothesis that neurocognitive performance of schizophrenia probands can predict the neurocognitive performance of their unaffected family members. Participants (n=1967; schizophrenia=369; first-degree relatives=1072; community comparison subjects=526) in the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia were administered the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery. Consistent with prior work, probands showed significant neurocognitive impairment, and neurocognitive ability was significantly heritable across domains. On average, unaffected relatives did not differ from community comparison subjects in their neurocognitive performance. However, in six of seven domains, proband scores predicted the performance of their unaffected siblings. Male, but not female, proband performance was predictive of their unaffected relatives' (siblings and mothers) performance, most consistently in face memory and spatial processing. Using a novel approach in which individual probands are paired with their respective unaffected relatives within each family, we found that male proband performance predicted both sister and brother performance, an effect that was most powerfully observed for face memory and spatial processing. Results suggest that the familial transmission of sexually dimorphic neurocognitive domains, in which a particular sex tends to show a performance advantage over the other, may not itself be sex specific in schizophrenia families. Copyright © 2013 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Early trauma, attachment experiences and comorbidities in schizophrenia

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Thalita Gabínio

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective To evaluate attachment patterns in subjects with schizophrenia and their relationships to early traumatic events, psychotic symptoms and comorbidities. Methods Twenty patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5 underwent retrospective symptom assessment and careful assessment of the number and manner of childhood caregiver changes. The Diagnostic Interview for Psychosis and Affective Disorders (DI-PAD was used to assess symptoms related to schizophrenia (positive and negative symptoms, depression and mania. Anxiety disorder comorbidities were assessed by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS, Yale-Brown Obsessions and Compulsions Scale (Y-BOCS and Panic and Schizophrenia Interview (PaSI. Experience in Close Relationships – Relationship Structures (ECR-RS and Early Trauma Inventory Self Report-Short Form (ETISR-SF were used to assess attachment patterns and traumatic history, respectively. Results Moderate and significant correlations between attachment patterns and early trauma showed that greater severity of anxious attachment was predicted by a higher frequency of total early traumas (Spearman ρ = 0.446, p = 0.04, mainly general traumas (ρ = 0.526, p = 0.017; including parental illness and separation, as well as natural disaster and serious accidents. Among the correlations between early trauma and comorbid symptoms, panic attacks occurring before the onset of schizophrenia showed significant and positive correlations with ETISR-SF total scores and the sexual trauma subscale. Conclusion Children with an unstable early emotional life are more vulnerable to the development of psychopathology, such as panic anxiety symptoms. Traumatic events may also predict later schizophrenia.

Using neuroplasticity-based auditory training to improve verbal memory in schizophrenia.

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Fisher, Melissa; Holland, Christine; Merzenich, Michael M; Vinogradov, Sophia

2009-07-01

Impaired verbal memory in schizophrenia is a key rate-limiting factor for functional outcome, does not respond to currently available medications, and shows only modest improvement after conventional behavioral remediation. The authors investigated an innovative approach to the remediation of verbal memory in schizophrenia, based on principles derived from the basic neuroscience of learning-induced neuroplasticity. The authors report interim findings in this ongoing study. Fifty-five clinically stable schizophrenia subjects were randomly assigned to either 50 hours of computerized auditory training or a control condition using computer games. Those receiving auditory training engaged in daily computerized exercises that placed implicit, increasing demands on auditory perception through progressively more difficult auditory-verbal working memory and verbal learning tasks. Relative to the control group, subjects who received active training showed significant gains in global cognition, verbal working memory, and verbal learning and memory. They also showed reliable and significant improvement in auditory psychophysical performance; this improvement was significantly correlated with gains in verbal working memory and global cognition. Intensive training in early auditory processes and auditory-verbal learning results in substantial gains in verbal cognitive processes relevant to psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia. These gains may be due to a training method that addresses the early perceptual impairments in the illness, that exploits intact mechanisms of repetitive practice in schizophrenia, and that uses an intensive, adaptive training approach.

Women and schizophrenia

OpenAIRE

Thara, R.; Kamath, Shantha

2015-01-01

Women's mental health is closely linked to their status in society. This paper outlines the clinical features of women with schizophrenia and highlights the interpersonal and social ramifications on their lives. There is no significant gender difference in the incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia. There is no clear trend in mortality, although suicides seem to be more in women with schizophrenia. In India, women face a lot of problems, especially in relation to marriage, pregnancy, child...

Deficits in Degraded Facial Affect Labeling in Schizophrenia and Borderline Personality Disorder.

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van Dijke, Annemiek; van 't Wout, Mascha; Ford, Julian D; Aleman, André

2016-01-01

Although deficits in facial affect processing have been reported in schizophrenia as well as in borderline personality disorder (BPD), these disorders have not yet been directly compared on facial affect labeling. Using degraded stimuli portraying neutral, angry, fearful and angry facial expressions, we hypothesized more errors in labeling negative facial expressions in patients with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. Patients with BPD were expected to have difficulty in labeling neutral expressions and to display a bias towards a negative attribution when wrongly labeling neutral faces. Patients with schizophrenia (N = 57) and patients with BPD (N = 30) were compared to patients with somatoform disorder (SoD, a psychiatric control group; N = 25) and healthy control participants (N = 41) on facial affect labeling accuracy and type of misattributions. Patients with schizophrenia showed deficits in labeling angry and fearful expressions compared to the healthy control group and patients with BPD showed deficits in labeling neutral expressions compared to the healthy control group. Schizophrenia and BPD patients did not differ significantly from each other when labeling any of the facial expressions. Compared to SoD patients, schizophrenia patients showed deficits on fearful expressions, but BPD did not significantly differ from SoD patients on any of the facial expressions. With respect to the type of misattributions, BPD patients mistook neutral expressions more often for fearful expressions compared to schizophrenia patients and healthy controls, and less often for happy compared to schizophrenia patients. These findings suggest that although schizophrenia and BPD patients demonstrate different as well as similar facial affect labeling deficits, BPD may be associated with a tendency to detect negative affect in neutral expressions.

Deficits in Degraded Facial Affect Labeling in Schizophrenia and Borderline Personality Disorder.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annemiek van Dijke

Full Text Available Although deficits in facial affect processing have been reported in schizophrenia as well as in borderline personality disorder (BPD, these disorders have not yet been directly compared on facial affect labeling. Using degraded stimuli portraying neutral, angry, fearful and angry facial expressions, we hypothesized more errors in labeling negative facial expressions in patients with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. Patients with BPD were expected to have difficulty in labeling neutral expressions and to display a bias towards a negative attribution when wrongly labeling neutral faces. Patients with schizophrenia (N = 57 and patients with BPD (N = 30 were compared to patients with somatoform disorder (SoD, a psychiatric control group; N = 25 and healthy control participants (N = 41 on facial affect labeling accuracy and type of misattributions. Patients with schizophrenia showed deficits in labeling angry and fearful expressions compared to the healthy control group and patients with BPD showed deficits in labeling neutral expressions compared to the healthy control group. Schizophrenia and BPD patients did not differ significantly from each other when labeling any of the facial expressions. Compared to SoD patients, schizophrenia patients showed deficits on fearful expressions, but BPD did not significantly differ from SoD patients on any of the facial expressions. With respect to the type of misattributions, BPD patients mistook neutral expressions more often for fearful expressions compared to schizophrenia patients and healthy controls, and less often for happy compared to schizophrenia patients. These findings suggest that although schizophrenia and BPD patients demonstrate different as well as similar facial affect labeling deficits, BPD may be associated with a tendency to detect negative affect in neutral expressions.

Neurocognitive functioning in parents of schizophrenia patients: Attentional and executive performance vary with genetic loading.

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Schulze-Rauschenbach, Svenja; Lennertz, Leonhard; Ruhrmann, Stephan; Petrovsky, Nadine; Ettinger, Ulrich; Pukrop, Ralf; Dreher, Jan; Klosterkötter, Joachim; Maier, Wolfgang; Wagner, Michael

2015-12-30

Neuropsychological deficits are candidate endophenotypes of schizophrenia which can assist to explain the neurocognitive impact of genetic risk variants. The identification of endophenotypes is often based on the familiality of these phenotypes. Several studies demonstrate neuropsychological deficits in unaffected biological relatives of schizophrenia patients without differentiating between genetic and non-genetic factors underlying these deficits. We assessed N=129 unaffected biological parents of schizophrenia patients, N=28 schizophrenia patients (paranoid subtype), and N=143 controls without a family history of schizophrenia with an extensive neuropsychological test battery. Direct comparison of N=22 parents with an ancestral history of schizophrenia (more likely carriers, MLC) and N=17 of their spouses without such a history (less likely carriers, LLC) allowed the separation of genetic and non-genetic aspects in cognition. Overall, parents showed significant deficits in neuropsychological tasks from all cognitive domains with medium effect sizes. Direct comparisons of MLC- and LLC-parents showed that attentional and executive tasks were most strongly affected by genetic loading. To conclude, unaffected parents of schizophrenia patients showed modest yet significant impairments in attention, memory, and executive functioning. In particular, attentional and executive impairments varied most strongly with genetic loading for schizophrenia, prioritising these dysfunctions for genotype-endophenotype analyses. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Remember and Know Judgments During Recognition in Chronic Schizophrenia

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van Erp, Theo G.M.; Lesh, Tyler A.; Knowlton, Barbara J.; Bearden, Carrie E.; Hardt, Molly; Karlsgodt, Katherine H.; Shirinyan, David; Rao, Vikas; Green, Michael F.; Subotnik, Kenneth L.; Nuechterlein, Keith; Cannon, Tyrone D.

2008-01-01

Deficits in learning and memory are among the most robust correlates of schizophrenia. It has been hypothesized that these deficits are in part due to reduced conscious recollection and increased reliance on familiarity assessment as a basis for retrieval. The Remember-Know (R-K) paradigm was administered to 35 patients with chronic schizophrenia and 35 healthy controls. In addition to making “remember” and “know” judgments, the participants were asked to make forced choice recognition judgments with regard to details about the learning episode. Analyses comparing response types showed a significant reduction in “remember” responses and a significant increase in “know” responses in schizophrenia patients relative to controls. Both patients and controls recalled more details of the learning episode for “remember” compared to “know” responses, although, in particular for “remember” responses, patients recalled fewer details compared with controls. Notably, patients recognized fewer inter-item but not intra-item stimulus features compared with controls. These findings suggest deficits in organizing and integrating relational information during the learning episode and/or using relational information for retrieval. A Dual-Process Signal Detection interpretation of these findings suggests that recollection in chronic schizophrenia is significantly reduced, while familiarity is not. Additionally, a unidimensional Signal Detection Theory interpretation suggests that chronic schizophrenia patients show a reduction in memory strength, and an altered criterion on the memory strength distribution for detecting new compared with old stimuli but not for detecting stimuli that are remembered versus familiar. Taken together, these findings are consistent with a deficit in recollection and increased reliance on familiarity in making recognition memory judgments in chronic schizophrenia. PMID:17964760

Neuropsychology of reward learning and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

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Nestor, Paul G; Choate, Victoria; Niznikiewicz, Margaret; Levitt, James J; Shenton, Martha E; McCarley, Robert W

2014-11-01

We used the Iowa Gambling Test (IGT) to examine the relationship of reward learning to both neuropsychological functioning and symptom formation in 65 individuals with schizophrenia. Results indicated that compared to controls, participants with schizophrenia showed significantly reduced reward learning, which in turn correlated with reduced intelligence, memory and executive function, and negative symptoms. The current findings suggested that a disease-related disturbance in reward learning may underlie both cognitive and motivation deficits, as expressed by neuropsychological impairment and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Altered cognitive development in the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia.

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Barch, Deanna M; Cohen, Rachel; Csernansky, John

2014-03-01

The goal of the current study was to further investigate the late neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia by examining cross-sectional, age-related changes in cognitive function among young adult: 1) siblings of individuals with schizophrenia (N = 66); (2) healthy control participants (N = 77); and (3) the siblings of healthy controls (N = 77). All subjects participated in a battery of tasks in four domains: 1) IQ; 2) working memory; 3) episodic memory; and 4) executive function. We found significant group differences in the relationships between age and performance in working memory and episodic memory, with similar patterns for executive function and verbal IQ. The siblings of individuals with schizophrenia showed impaired performance in working memory, episodic memory, and executive function. In addition, healthy controls and/or their siblings showed age-related improvements in all four cognitive domains, while the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia only showed this for verbal IQ.

Altered cognitive development in the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia

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Barch, Deanna M.; Cohen, Rachel; Csernansky, John

2014-01-01

The goal of the current study was to further investigate the late neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia by examining cross-sectional, age-related changes in cognitive function among young adult: 1) siblings of individuals with schizophrenia (N = 66); (2) healthy control participants (N = 77); and (3) the siblings of healthy controls (N = 77). All subjects participated in a battery of tasks in four domains: 1) IQ; 2) working memory; 3) episodic memory; and 4) executive function. We found significant group differences in the relationships between age and performance in working memory and episodic memory, with similar patterns for executive function and verbal IQ. The siblings of individuals with schizophrenia showed impaired performance in working memory, episodic memory, and executive function. In addition, healthy controls and/or their siblings showed age-related improvements in all four cognitive domains, while the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia only showed this for verbal IQ. PMID:25485180

Schizophrenia on YouTube.

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Nour, Matthew M; Nour, Murraih H; Tsatalou, Olga-Maria; Barrera, Alvaro

2017-01-01

YouTube ( www.youtube.com ) is the most popular video-sharing Web site on the Internet and is used by medical students as a source of information regarding mental health conditions, including schizophrenia. The accuracy and educational utility of schizophrenia presentations on YouTube are unknown. The purpose of this study was to analyze the accuracy of depictions of psychosis in the context of a diagnosis of schizophrenia (referred to in this article as "acute schizophrenia") on YouTube and to assess the utility of these videos as educational tools for teaching medical students to recognize the clinical features of acute schizophrenia. YouTube was searched for videos purporting to show acute schizophrenia. Eligible videos were independently rated by two consultant psychiatrists on two separate occasions 22 days apart for diagnostic accuracy, psychopathology, and educational utility. Videos (N=4,200) were assessed against predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The majority were not eligible for further analysis, mostly because they did not claim to show a patient with schizophrenia (74%) or contained duplicated content (11%). Of 35 videos that met the eligibility and adequacy criteria, only 12 accurately depicted acute schizophrenia. Accurate videos were characterized by persecutory delusions (83%), inappropriate affect (75%), and negative symptoms (83%). Despite the fact that 83% of accurate videos were deemed to have good educational utility compared with 15% of inaccurate videos, accurate and inaccurate videos had similar view counts (290,048 versus 186,124). Schizophrenia presentations on YouTube offer a distorted picture of the condition.

Impairment of probabilistic reward-based learning in schizophrenia.

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Weiler, Julia A; Bellebaum, Christian; Brüne, Martin; Juckel, Georg; Daum, Irene

2009-09-01

Recent models assume that some symptoms of schizophrenia originate from defective reward processing mechanisms. Understanding the precise nature of reward-based learning impairments might thus make an important contribution to the understanding of schizophrenia and the development of treatment strategies. The present study investigated several features of probabilistic reward-based stimulus association learning, namely the acquisition of initial contingencies, reversal learning, generalization abilities, and the effects of reward magnitude. Compared to healthy controls, individuals with schizophrenia exhibited attenuated overall performance during acquisition, whereas learning rates across blocks were similar to the rates of controls. On the group level, persons with schizophrenia were, however, unable to learn the reversal of the initial reward contingencies. Exploratory analysis of only the subgroup of individuals with schizophrenia who showed significant learning during acquisition yielded deficits in reversal learning with low reward magnitudes only. There was further evidence of a mild generalization impairment of the persons with schizophrenia in an acquired equivalence task. In summary, although there was evidence of intact basic processing of reward magnitudes, individuals with schizophrenia were impaired at using this feedback for the adaptive guidance of behavior.

Downregulated kynurenine 3-monooxygenase gene expression and enzyme activity in schizophrenia and genetic association with schizophrenia endophenotypes.

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Wonodi, Ikwunga; Stine, O Colin; Sathyasaikumar, Korrapati V; Roberts, Rosalinda C; Mitchell, Braxton D; Hong, L Elliot; Kajii, Yasushi; Thaker, Gunvant K; Schwarcz, Robert

2011-07-01

Kynurenic acid, a metabolite of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan degradation, is an antagonist at N-methyl-d-aspartate and α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and modulates glutamate, dopamine, and acetylcholine signaling. Cortical kynurenic acid concentrations are elevated in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenia patients. The proximal cause may be an impairment of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), a rate-limiting enzyme at the branching point of the kynurenine pathway. To examine KMO messenger RNA expression and KMO enzyme activity in postmortem tissue from the frontal eye field (FEF; Brodmann area 6) obtained from schizophrenia individuals compared with healthy control individuals and to explore the relationship between KMO single-nucleotide polymorphisms and schizophrenia oculomotor endophenotypes. Case-control postmortem and clinical study. Maryland Brain Collection, outpatient clinics. Postmortem specimens from schizophrenia patients (n = 32) and control donors (n = 32) and a clinical sample of schizophrenia patients (n = 248) and healthy controls (n = 228). Comparison of quantitative KMO messenger RNA expression and KMO enzyme activity in postmortem FEF tissue between schizophrenia patients and controls and association of KMO single-nucleotide polymorphisms with messenger RNA expression in postmortem FEF and schizophrenia and oculomotor endophenotypes (ie, smooth pursuit eye movements and oculomotor delayed response). In postmortem tissue, we found a significant and correlated reduction in KMO gene expression and KMO enzyme activity in the FEF in schizophrenia patients. In the clinical sample, KMO rs2275163 was not associated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia but showed modest effects on predictive pursuit and visuospatial working memory endophenotypes. Our results provide converging lines of evidence implicating reduced KMO activity in the etiopathophysiology of schizophrenia and related neurocognitive deficits.

Occipital bending in schizophrenia.

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Maller, Jerome J; Anderson, Rodney J; Thomson, Richard H; Daskalakis, Zafiris J; Rosenfeld, Jeffrey V; Fitzgerald, Paul B

2017-01-01

To investigate the prevalence of occipital bending (an occipital lobe crossing or twisting across the midline) in subjects with schizophrenia and matched healthy controls. Occipital bending prevalence was investigated in 37 patients with schizophrenia and 44 healthy controls. Ratings showed that prevalence was nearly three times higher among schizophrenia patients (13/37 [35.1%]) than in control subjects (6/44 [13.6%]). Furthermore, those with schizophrenia had greater normalized gray matter volume but less white matter volume and had larger brain-to-cranial ratio. The results suggest that occipital bending is more prevalent among schizophrenia patients than healthy subjects and that schizophrenia patients have different gray matter-white matter proportions. Although the cause and clinical ramifications of occipital bending are unclear, the results infer that occipital bending may be a marker of psychiatric illness.

A self administered executive functions ecological questionnaire (the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Adult Version shows impaired scores in a sample of patients with schizophrenia

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Andrei Szöke

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Subjective measurements of cognition have seldom been used in schizophrenia. This is mainly due to the assumption that such measurements lack sensitivity in a disorder characterized by poor insight. We investigated the capacity of BRIEF-A (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Adult Version: a self-administered, ecological questionnaire to identify executive deficits in adults with schizophrenia. The global score and each domain-specific score was significantly lower in patients than in healthy controls. BRIEF-A could be a useful complement to objective measurements, providing a subjective assessment of everyday consequences of executive dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia.

Subjective burden on spouses of schizophrenia patients

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Surekha Kumari

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Background : There is limited information from India on subjective burden on spouses of schizophrenia patients. The aim of the present study was to assess and compare patterns of subjective burden on spouses of schizophrenia patients. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted at the OPD level, and follow-up was done at the Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Sciences (RINPAS during the period May 2008 to November 2008. Tools utilized were sociodemographic data sheet, Family Burden Interview Schedule developed by Pai and R. L. Kapur (1981. The sample comprised of 50 samples of spouses (25 male and 25 female spouses of schizophrenia patients. Results: The findings suggest that both the groups, viz., male and female spouses of schizophrenia patients, showed moderate level of subjective burden, i.e., 13 (52% and 15 (60% male and female spouses, respectively, which was statistically found to be insignificant. Conclusion : No significant difference was found between male and female spouses of schizophrenia patients with regard to the level of subjective burden.

Amygdala Hyperactivity at Rest in Paranoid Individuals With Schizophrenia.

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Pinkham, Amy E; Liu, Peiying; Lu, Hanzhang; Kriegsman, Michael; Simpson, Claire; Tamminga, Carol

2015-08-01

The amygdala's role in threat perception suggests that increased activation of this region may be related to paranoid ideation. However, investigations of amygdala function in paranoid individuals with schizophrenia, compared with both healthy individuals and nonparanoid individuals with schizophrenia, have consistently reported reduced task-related activation. The reliance of blood-oxygen-level-dependent functional MRI on a contrast between events and baseline, and the inability to quantitatively measure this baseline, may account for these counterintuitive findings. The present study tested for differences in baseline levels of amygdala activity in paranoid and nonparanoid individuals with schizophrenia using arterial spin labeling perfusion MRI. Resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) and task-related activation of the amygdala were measured in 25 healthy individuals, 16 individuals with schizophrenia who were actively paranoid at the time of scanning, and 16 individuals with schizophrenia who were not paranoid. Analysis of relative CBF values extracted from the amygdala bilaterally revealed significantly increased activity in the left amygdala in paranoid patient volunteers compared with healthy comparison subjects and nonparanoid patient volunteers. Increased CBF was also evident in the right amygdala but did not reach the level of statistical significance. Paranoid volunteers also showed significantly decreased task-related activation of the amygdala compared with the two other groups. These findings suggest that amygdala hyperactivation may underlie paranoia in schizophrenia. Additionally, the reported differences between paranoid and nonparanoid patient volunteers emphasize the importance of considering symptom-based subgroups and baseline levels of activity in future investigations of neural activation in schizophrenia.

Cognitive functions in methamphetamine induced psychosis compared to schizophrenia and normal subjects.

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Zahra Ezzatpanah

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to study the cognitive functions in patients with methamphetamine-induced psychosis (MIP in comparison with schizophrenia patients and normal subjects.This was a cross-sectional study, 30 patients with MIP, 30 patients with schizophrenia and 30 normal individuals were selected via convenient sampling and were matched on age, sex and education. Wisconsin Cards Sorting, Stroop, Visual Search and Attention and Wechsler Memory Tests were used to assess the subjects.The study showed that patients with MIP and schizophrenia have more deficits in executive functions, selective attention, sustained attention and memory than normal subjects. There were no significant differences in cognitive functions between patients with MIP and schizophrenia except for visual search and attention that showed more impairment in patients with schizophrenia.Although, cognitive dysfunctions of patients with MIP are mostly similar to patients with schizophrenia, some differences seem to exist, especially in those functions that are not primarily dependent on frontal lobe.

Atypical visual and somatosensory adaptation in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders

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Andrade, G N; Butler, J S; Peters, G A; Molholm, S; Foxe, J J

2016-01-01

Neurophysiological investigations in patients with schizophrenia consistently show early sensory processing deficits in the visual system. Importantly, comparable sensory deficits have also been established in healthy first-degree biological relatives of patients with schizophrenia and in first-episode drug-naive patients. The clear implication is that these measures are endophenotypic, related to the underlying genetic liability for schizophrenia. However, there is significant overlap between patient response distributions and those of healthy individuals without affected first-degree relatives. Here we sought to develop more sensitive measures of sensory dysfunction in this population, with an eye to establishing endophenotypic markers with better predictive capabilities. We used a sensory adaptation paradigm in which electrophysiological responses to basic visual and somatosensory stimuli presented at different rates (ranging from 250 to 2550 ms interstimulus intervals, in blocked presentations) were compared. Our main hypothesis was that adaptation would be substantially diminished in schizophrenia, and that this would be especially prevalent in the visual system. High-density event-related potential recordings showed amplitude reductions in sensory adaptation in patients with schizophrenia (N=15 Experiment 1, N=12 Experiment 2) compared with age-matched healthy controls (N=15 Experiment 1, N=12 Experiment 2), and this was seen for both sensory modalities. At the individual participant level, reduced adaptation was more robust for visual compared with somatosensory stimulation. These results point to significant impairments in short-term sensory plasticity across sensory modalities in schizophrenia. These simple-to-execute measures may prove valuable as candidate endophenotypes and will bear follow-up in future work. PMID:27163205

Exploring rationality in schizophrenia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Revsbech, Rasmus; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Owen, Gareth

2015-01-01

Background Empirical studies of rationality (syllogisms) in patients with schizophrenia have obtained different results. One study found that patients reason more logically if the syllogism is presented through an unusual content. Aims To explore syllogism-based rationality in schizophrenia. Meth...... differences became non-significant. Conclusions When taking intelligence and neuropsychological performance into account, patients with schizophrenia and controls perform similarly on syllogism tests of rationality.......Background Empirical studies of rationality (syllogisms) in patients with schizophrenia have obtained different results. One study found that patients reason more logically if the syllogism is presented through an unusual content. Aims To explore syllogism-based rationality in schizophrenia. Method...... Thirty-eight first-admitted patients with schizophrenia and 38 healthy controls solved 29 syllogisms that varied in presentation content (ordinary v. unusual) and validity (valid v. invalid). Statistical tests were made of unadjusted and adjusted group differences in models adjusting for intelligence...

Stability of prepulse inhibition and habituation of the startle reflex in schizophrenia: a 6-year follow-up study of initially antipsychotic-naive, first-episode schizophrenia patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hammer, Trine Bjørg; Oranje, Bob; Fagerlund, Birgitte

2011-01-01

and is regarded as an endophenotype for schizophrenia. However, reports on the stability of PPI over a longer period of time are lacking, both for patients with schizophrenia and for healthy subjects. The current study examined 25 initially drug-naive, first-episode schizophrenia patients and 23 healthy matched...... not change in patients or controls. The present results show that PPI in drug-naive, first-episode schizophrenia patients can improve significantly over time. As PPI increased in patients over the same period that it decreased in controls, it is likely that the increase was caused by disease-related factors......Deficits in information processing appear to be core features in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) and habituation of the startle reflex are operational measures of early information processing. Impaired PPI in schizophrenia has been replicated in many studies...

Neuropsychology of Reward Learning and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia

OpenAIRE

Nestor, Paul G.; Choate, Victoria; Niznikiewicz, Margaret; Levitt, James J.; Shenton, Martha E; McCarley, Robert W.

2014-01-01

We used the Iowa Gambling Test (IGT) to examine the relationship of reward learning to both neuropsychological functioning and symptom formation in 65 individuals with schizophrenia. Results indicated that compared to controls, participants with schizophrenia showed significantly reduced reward learning, which in turn correlated with reduced intelligence, memory and executive function, and increased negative symptoms. The current findings suggested that a disease-related disturbance in reward...

[Influence of paternal age in schizophrenia].

Science.gov (United States)

Hubert, A; Szöke, A; Leboyer, M; Schürhoff, F

2011-06-01

Schizophrenia is an aetiologically heterogeneous syndrome, with a strong genetic component. Despite a reduced fertility in this disorder, its prevalence is maintained and could be explained by de novo genetic mutations. Advanced paternal age (APA) is a major source of new mutations in human beings and could thus be associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia in offspring. New mutations related to APA have been implicated as a cause of sporadic cases in several autosomal dominant diseases and also in neurodevelopmental diseases, autism, intellectual disabilities, and social functioning. The aim of the present study was to summarize the results of studies investigating the role of APA, and to discuss some interpretations. All relevant studies were identified through the National Library of Medicine (PubMed(®) database). Keywords used for research were "age" and "schizophrenia" linked to "paternal or father". We have identified and analysed eight cohort studies, five case-control studies, two meta-analyses, and one review concerning different father's mutations potentially transmitted, two studies comparing paternal age at conception between sporadic versus familial cases of schizophrenia. All studies selected have been published between 2000 and 2009. After controlling for several confounding factors including maternal age, the relative risk of schizophrenia increased from 1.84 to 4.62 in offspring of fathers with an older age of fatherhood. Mother's age showed no significant effects after adjusting for paternal age. There was a significant association between paternal age and risk of developing schizophrenia, there was a weaker association with psychosis. The results of these different studies are confirmed by two recent meta-analyses which found an increased risk of schizophrenia in offspring of fathers older than 35 years. Two main hypotheses could explain these results. The first one is based on the presence of new mutations in the

Music-evoked emotions in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Abe, Daijyu; Arai, Makoto; Itokawa, Masanari

2017-07-01

Previous studies have reported that people with schizophrenia have impaired musical abilities. Here we developed a simple music-based assay to assess patient's ability to associate a minor chord with sadness. We further characterize correlations between impaired musical responses and psychiatric symptoms. We exposed participants sequentially to two sets of sound stimuli, first a C-major progression and chord, and second a C-minor progression and chord. Participants were asked which stimulus they associated with sadness, the first set, the second set, or neither. The severity of psychiatric symptoms was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Study participants were 29 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 29 healthy volunteers matched in age, gender and musical background. 37.9% (95% confidence interval [CI]:19.1-56.7) of patients with schizophrenia associated the minor chord set as sad, compared with 97.9% (95%CI: 89.5-103.6) of controls. Four patients were diagnosed with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, and all four failed to associate the minor chord with sadness. Patients who did not recognize minor chords as sad had significantly higher scores on all PANSS subscales. A simple test allows music-evoked emotions to be assessed in schizophrenia patient, and may show potential relationships between music-evoked emotions and psychiatric symptoms. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Influence of contact with schizophrenia on implicit attitudes towards schizophrenia patients held by clinical residents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omori Ataru

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients with schizophrenia and their families have suffered greatly from stigmatizing effects. Although many efforts have been made to eradicate both prejudice and stigma, they still prevail even among medical professionals, and little is known about how contact with schizophrenia patients affects their attitudes towards schizophrenia. Methods We assessed the impact of the renaming of the Japanese term for schizophrenia on clinical residents and also evaluated the influence of contact with schizophrenia patients on attitudes toward schizophrenia by comparing the attitudes toward schizophrenia before and after a one-month clinical training period in psychiatry. Fifty-one clinical residents participated. Their attitudes toward schizophrenia were assessed twice, before and one month after clinical training in psychiatry using the Implicit Association Test (IAT as well as Link’s devaluation-discrimination scale. Results The old term for schizophrenia, “Seishin-Bunretsu-Byo”, was more congruent with criminal than the new term for schizophrenia, “Togo-Shitcho-Sho”, before clinical training. However, quite opposite to our expectation, after clinical training the new term had become even more congruent with criminal than the old term. There was no significant correlation between Link's scale and IAT effect. Conclusions Renaming the Japanese term for schizophrenia still reduced the negative images of schizophrenia among clinical residents. However, contact with schizophrenia patients unexpectedly changed clinical residents’ attitudes towards schizophrenia negatively. Our results might contribute to an understanding of the formation of negative attitudes about schizophrenia and assist in developing appropriate clinical training in psychiatry that could reduce prejudice and stigma concerning schizophrenia.

The schizophrenia risk gene ZNF804A influences the antipsychotic response of positive schizophrenia symptoms

OpenAIRE

Mössner, R; Schumacher, A; Wagner, M; Lennertz, L; Steinbrecher, A; Quednow, Boris B; Rujescu, D; Rietschel, M; Maier, W

2012-01-01

Genetic factors determining the response to antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia are poorly understood. A new schizophrenia susceptibility gene, the zinc-finger gene ZNF804A, has recently been identified. To assess the pharmacogenetic importance of this gene, we treated 144 schizophrenia patients and assessed the response of positive and negative symptoms by PANSS. Patients homozygous for the ZNF804A risk allele for schizophrenia (rs1344706 AA) showed poorer improvement of positive sympto...

ASD and schizophrenia show distinct developmental profiles in common genetic overlap with population-based social-communication difficulties

OpenAIRE

St Pourcain, B.; Robinson, E.; Anttila, V.; Sullivan, B.; Maller, J.; Golding, J.; Skuse, D.; Ring, S.; Evans, D.; Zammit, S.; Fisher, S.; Neale, B.; Anney, R.; Ripke, S.; Hollegaard, M.

2017-01-01

Difficulties in social communication are part of the phenotypic overlap between autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and\\ud schizophrenia. Both conditions follow, however, distinct developmental patterns. Symptoms of ASD typically occur during early\\ud childhood, whereas most symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia do not appear before early adulthood. We investigated whether\\ud overlap in common genetic influences between these clinical conditions and impairments in social communication depends ...

Neuropsychological profile in adult schizophrenia measured with the CMINDS.

Science.gov (United States)

van Erp, Theo G M; Preda, Adrian; Turner, Jessica A; Callahan, Shawn; Calhoun, Vince D; Bustillo, Juan R; Lim, Kelvin O; Mueller, Bryon; Brown, Gregory G; Vaidya, Jatin G; McEwen, Sarah; Belger, Aysenil; Voyvodic, James; Mathalon, Daniel H; Nguyen, Dana; Ford, Judith M; Potkin, Steven G

2015-12-30

Schizophrenia neurocognitive domain profiles are predominantly based on paper-and-pencil batteries. This study presents the first schizophrenia domain profile based on the Computerized Multiphasic Interactive Neurocognitive System (CMINDS(®)). Neurocognitive domain z-scores were computed from computerized neuropsychological tests, similar to those in the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), administered to 175 patients with schizophrenia and 169 demographically similar healthy volunteers. The schizophrenia domain profile order by effect size was Speed of Processing (d=-1.14), Attention/Vigilance (d=-1.04), Working Memory (d=-1.03), Verbal Learning (d=-1.02), Visual Learning (d=-0.91), and Reasoning/Problem Solving (d=-0.67). There were no significant group by sex interactions, but overall women, compared to men, showed advantages on Attention/Vigilance, Verbal Learning, and Visual Learning compared to Reasoning/Problem Solving on which men showed an advantage over women. The CMINDS can readily be employed in the assessment of cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders; particularly in large-scale studies that may benefit most from electronic data capture. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Targeting anxiety to improve quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Buonocore, M; Bosia, M; Bechi, M; Spangaro, M; Cavedoni, S; Cocchi, F; Bianchi, L; Guglielmino, C; Mastromatteo, A R; Cavallaro, R

2017-09-01

Several studies suggested that anxiety can significantly affect the outcome of schizophrenia. Despite this evidence, non-pharmacological interventions targeting anxiety are still heterogenous. This study aims to test the efficacy of a novel training specifically designed to target anxiety in patients with schizophrenia. Innovatively, this training, beyond psychoeducation and problem solving, also targets Theory of Mind, as it provides coping strategies. Twenty-seven outpatients with schizophrenia received a novel rehabilitative training targeting anxiety (Anxiety Management Group [AMG]) combined with a Computer-Assisted Cognitive Remediation (CACR), and twenty received CACR plus a control intervention (Control Newspaper discussion Group [CNG]). All patients were assessed at baseline and after treatment for quality of life, neurocognition and anxiety. After training, patients treated with AMG+CACR showed significantly greater improvements on anxiety. A significant increase in quality of life was observed only for AMG+CACR group. Moreover, the participants' appraisal showed a significant difference between treatment groups with higher ratings among patients who received the AMG+CACR. This study thus suggests feasibility and efficacy of the proposed intervention, that could be implemented in rehabilitative programs for patients with schizophrenia with potential benefits also on disease course and outcome. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

The neural substrates of impaired prosodic detection in schizophrenia and its sensorial antecedents.

Science.gov (United States)

Leitman, David I; Hoptman, Matthew J; Foxe, John J; Saccente, Erica; Wylie, Glenn R; Nierenberg, Jay; Jalbrzikowski, Maria; Lim, Kelvin O; Javitt, Daniel C

2007-03-01

Individuals with schizophrenia show severe deficits in their ability to decode emotions based upon vocal inflection (affective prosody). This study examined neural substrates of prosodic dysfunction in schizophrenia with voxelwise analysis of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Affective prosodic performance was assessed in 19 patients with schizophrenia and 19 comparison subjects with the Voice Emotion Identification Task (VOICEID), along with measures of basic pitch perception and executive processing (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). Diffusion tensor MRI fractional anisotropy valves were used for voxelwise correlation analyses. In a follow-up experiment, performance on a nonaffective prosodic perception task was assessed in an additional cohort of 24 patients and 17 comparison subjects. Patients showed significant deficits in VOICEID and Distorted Tunes Task performance. Impaired VOICEID performance correlated significantly with lower fractional anisotropy values within primary and secondary auditory pathways, orbitofrontal cortex, corpus callosum, and peri-amygdala white matter. Impaired Distorted Tunes Task performance also correlated with lower fractional anisotropy in auditory and amygdalar pathways but not prefrontal cortex. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in schizophrenia correlated primarily with prefrontal fractional anisotropy. In the follow-up study, significant deficits were observed as well in nonaffective prosodic performance, along with significant intercorrelations among sensory, affective prosodic, and nonaffective measures. Schizophrenia is associated with both structural and functional disturbances at the level of primary auditory cortex. Such deficits contribute significantly to patients' inability to decode both emotional and semantic aspects of speech, highlighting the importance of sensorial abnormalities in social communicatory dysfunction in schizophrenia.

The neuroproteomics of schizophrenia.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

English, Jane A

2011-01-15

Proteomics is the study of global gene expression of an organ, body system, fluid, or cellular compartment at the protein level. Proteomic findings are reflective of complex gene × environment interactions, and the importance of this is increasingly appreciated in schizophrenia research. In this review, we outline the main proteomic methods available to researchers in this area and summarize, for the first time, the findings of the main quantitative neuroproteomic investigations of schizophrenia brain. Our review of these data revealed 16 gray matter proteins, and eight white matter proteins that were differentially expressed in the same direction in two or more investigations. Pathway analysis identified cellular assembly and organization as particularly disrupted in both gray and white matter, whereas the glycolysis-gluconeogenesis pathway was the major signaling pathway significantly altered in both. Reassuringly, these findings show remarkable convergence with functional pathways and positional candidate genes implicated from genomic studies. The specificity of schizophrenia proteomic findings are also addressed in the context of neuroproteomic investigations of neurodegenerative disorders and bipolar disorder. Finally, we discuss the major challenges in the field of neuroproteomics, such as the need for high throughput validation methods and optimal sample preparation. Future directions in the neuroproteomics of schizophrenia, including the use of blood-based biomarker work, the need to focus on subproteomes, and the increasing use of mass spectrometry-based methods are all discussed. This area of research is still in its infancy and offers huge potential to our understanding of schizophrenia on a cellular level.

Attention in schizophrenia and in epileptic psychosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.C.J Kairalla

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The adaptive behavior of human beings is usually supported by rapid monitoring of outstanding events in the environment. Some investigators have suggested that a primary attention deficit might trigger symptoms of schizophrenia. In addition, researchers have long discussed the relationship between schizophrenia and the schizophrenia-like psychosis of epilepsy (SLPE. On the basis of these considerations, the objective of the present study was to investigate attention performance of patients with both disorders. Patient age was 18 to 60 years, and all patients had received formal schooling for at least four years. Patients were excluded if they had any systemic disease with neurologic or psychiatric comorbidity, or a history of brain surgery. The computer-assisted TAVIS-2R test was applied to all patients and to a control group to evaluate and discriminate between selective, alternating and sustained attention. The TAVIS-2R test is divided into three parts: one for selective attention (5 min, the second for alternating attention (5 min, and the third for the evaluation of vigilance or sustained attention (10 min. The same computer software was used for statistical analysis of reaction time, omission errors, and commission errors. The sample consisted of 36 patients with schizophrenia, 28 with interictal SLPE, and 47 healthy controls. The results of the selective attention tests for both patient groups were significantly lower than that for controls. The patients with schizophrenia and SLPE performed differently in the alternating and sustained attention tests: patients with SLPE had alternating attention deficits, whereas patients with schizophrenia showed deficits in sustained attention. These quantitative results confirmed the qualitative clinical observations for both patient groups, that is, that patients with schizophrenia had difficulties in focusing attention, whereas those with epilepsy showed perseveration in attention focus.

Exploring online communication about cigarette smoking among Twitter users who self-identify as having schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hswen, Yulin; Naslund, John A; Chandrashekar, Pooja; Siegel, Robert; Brownstein, John S; Hawkins, Jared B

2017-11-01

Novel approaches are needed to address elevated tobacco use among people with schizophrenia. This exploratory study examined the frequency, timing, and type of communication about tobacco-related content on Twitter among users who self-identify as having schizophrenia compared with users from the general population. Over a 200-day period from January to July 2016, Twitter users who self-identify as having a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (n = 203) and a randomly selected group of general population control users (n = 173) posted 1,544,122 tweets. Communication frequency did not differ between groups. Tweets containing tobacco-related keywords were extracted. Twitter users with schizophrenia posted significantly more tweets containing any tobacco-related terms (mean = 3.74; SD = 16.3) compared with control users (mean = 0.82; SD = 1.8). A significantly greater proportion of Twitter users with schizophrenia (45%; n = 92) posted tweets containing any tobacco terms compared with control users (30%; n = 52). Schizophrenia users showed significantly greater odds of tweeting about tobacco compared with control users (OR = 1.99; 95% CI 1.29-3.07). These findings suggest that online communication about tobacco may parallel real world trends of elevated tobacco use observed among people with schizophrenia. By showing that Twitter users who self-identify as having schizophrenia discuss tobacco-related content online, popular social media could inform smoking cessation efforts targeting this at-risk group. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Theory of mind reasoning in schizophrenia patients and non-psychotic relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassetta, Briana; Goghari, Vina

2014-08-15

Research consistently demonstrates that schizophrenia patients have theory of mind (ToM) impairments. Additionally, there is some evidence that family members of schizophrenia patients also demonstrate impairments in ToM, suggesting a genetic vulnerability for the disorder. This study assessed ToM abilities (i.e., sarcasm comprehension) in schizophrenia patients and their first-degree biological relatives during video-taped social interactions, to be representative of real-world interactions and to assess for disease-specific and/or genetic liability effects. Additionally, we assessed whether ToM abilities predicted social and global functioning in schizophrenia patients, and whether symptoms were associated with ToM deficits. Schizophrenia patients demonstrated impairments in sarcasm comprehension compared to controls and relatives, whereas relatives showed intact comprehension. Symptoms of schizophrenia significantly predicted worse ToM abilities. Furthermore, in schizophrenia patients, impaired ToM reasoning predicted worse social and global functioning. Given schizophrenia patients demonstrated impairments in ToM reasoning in a task that resembles real-life interactions, this might be a key area for remediation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Association of CCL11 promoter polymorphisms with schizophrenia in a Korean population.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Won Sub; Kim, Young Jong; Park, Hae Jeong; Kim, Su Kang; Paik, Jong-Woo; Kim, Jong Woo

2018-05-20

Immunological alterations and dysregulation of the inflammatory response have been suggested to play a crucial role in schizophrenia pathophysiology. Growing evidence supports the involvement of chemokines in brain development, thus many chemokines have been studied in relation with schizophrenia. The C-C motif chemokine ligand 11 (CCL11) has been shown to be related with synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis. Moreover, altered levels of CCL11 have been observed in schizophrenia patients. Therefore, we examined whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the CCL11 in the promoter region contribute to susceptibility to schizophrenia. Four promoter SNPs [rs17809012 (-384T>C), rs16969415 (-426C>T), rs17735961 (-488C>A), and rs4795896 (576G>A)] were genotyped in 254 schizophrenia patients and 405 control subjects using Fluidigm SNPtype assays. The genotype frequency of CCL11 rs4795896 (-576G>A) showed significant association with schizophrenia in a recessive model (AA vs. GG/AG, p schizophrenia (p schizophrenia (p = 0.0044, p schizophrenia in a Korean population. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Visual masking & schizophrenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael H. Herzog

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Visual masking is a frequently used tool in schizophrenia research. Visual masking has a very high sensitivity and specificity and masking paradigms have been proven to be endophenotypes. Whereas masking is a powerful technique to study schizophrenia, the underlying mechanisms are discussed controversially. For example, for more than 25 years, masking deficits of schizophrenia patients were mainly attributed to a deficient magno-cellular system (M-system. Here, we show that there is very little evidence that masking deficits are magno-cellular deficits. We will discuss the magno-cellular and other approaches in detail and highlight their pros and cons.

Subjective experience of emotions and emotional empathy in paranoid schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmann, Anja; Bahçesular, Katja; Brockmann, Eva-Maria; Biederbick, Sarah-Elisabeth; Dziobek, Isabel; Gallinat, Jürgen; Montag, Christiane

2014-12-30

Unlike the cognitive dimensions, alterations of the affective components of empathy in schizophrenia are less well understood. This study explored cognitive and affective dimensions of empathy in the context of the subjective experience of aspects of emotion processing, including emotion regulation, emotional contagion, and interpersonal distress, in individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls. In addition, the predictive value of these parameters on psychosocial function was investigated. Fifty-five patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 55 healthy controls were investigated using the Multifaceted Empathy Test and Interpersonal Reactivity Index, as well as the Subjective Experience of Emotions and Emotional Contagion Scales. Individuals with schizophrenia showed impairments of cognitive empathy, but maintained emotional empathy. They reported significantly more negative emotional contagion, overwhelming emotions, lack of emotions, and symbolization of emotions by imagination, but less self-control of emotional expression than healthy persons. Besides cognitive empathy, the experience of a higher extent of overwhelming emotions and of less interpersonal distress predicted psychosocial function in patients. People with schizophrenia and healthy controls showed diverging patterns of how cognitive and emotional empathy related to the subjective aspects of emotion processing. It can be assumed that variables of emotion processing are important moderators of empathic abilities in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Normal-range verbal-declarative memory in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinrichs, R Walter; Parlar, Melissa; Pinnock, Farena

2017-10-01

Cognitive impairment is prevalent and related to functional outcome in schizophrenia, but a significant minority of the patient population overlaps with healthy controls on many performance measures, including declarative-verbal-memory tasks. In this study, we assessed the validity, clinical, and functional implications of normal-range (NR), verbal-declarative memory in schizophrenia. Performance normality was defined using normative data for 8 basic California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II; Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 2000) recall and recognition trials. Schizophrenia patients (n = 155) and healthy control participants (n = 74) were assessed for performance normality, defined as scores within 1 SD of the normative mean on all 8 trials, and assigned to normal- and below-NR memory groups. NR schizophrenia patients (n = 26) and control participants (n = 51) did not differ in general verbal ability, on a reading-based estimate of premorbid ability, across all 8 CVLT-II-score comparisons or in terms of intrusion and false-positive errors and auditory working memory. NR memory patients did not differ from memory-impaired patients (n = 129) in symptom severity, and both patient groups were significantly and similarly disabled in terms of functional status in the community. These results confirm a subpopulation of schizophrenia patients with normal, verbal-declarative-memory performance and no evidence of decline from higher premorbid ability levels. However, NR patients did not experience less severe psychopathology, nor did they show advantage in community adjustment relative to impaired patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Predictors of employment in schizophrenia: The importance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Reddy, L Felice; Llerena, Katiah; Kern, Robert S

2016-10-01

Unemployment is a primary functional deficit for the majority of adults with schizophrenia. Research indicates that over two-thirds of adults living in the community with schizophrenia are unemployed. Despite effective programs to assist with job identification and placement, the ability to attain and maintain employment remains a pressing concern. A contributing factor that may be relevant but has received little attention in the work rehabilitation literature is motivation. People with schizophrenia show marked deficits in both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation but these deficits have not been directly examined in relation to work outcomes. The present study sought to examine the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and work outcome among a sample of 65 adults with schizophrenia enrolled in a supported employment program. One-third of the participants in the study obtained work. Intrinsic motivation related to valuing and feeling useful in a work role significantly predicted who would obtain employment. Extrinsic motivation related to gaining rewards and avoiding obstacles showed a non-significant trend-level relationship such that workers had higher extrinsic motivation than nonworkers. These findings highlight the importance of considering both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in work-related interventions and supported employment for individuals with schizophrenia. The results are discussed in terms of clinical implications for improving rehabilitation and occupational outcomes in schizophrenia. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Differences in Clinical Features of Methamphetamine Users with Persistent Psychosis and Patients with Schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Liang-Jen; Lin, Shih-Ku; Chen, Yi-Chih; Huang, Ming-Chyi; Chen, Tzu-Ting; Ree, Shao-Chun; Chen, Chih-Ken

Methamphetamine exerts neurotoxic effects and elicits psychotic symptoms. This study attempted to compare clinical differences between methamphetamine users with persistent psychosis (MAP) and patients with schizophrenia. In addition, we examined the discrimination validity by using symptom clusters to differentiate between MAP and schizophrenia. We enrolled 53 MAP patients and 53 patients with schizophrenia. The psychopathology of participants was assessed using the Chinese version of the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies and the 18-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Logistic regression was used to examine the predicted probability scores of different symptom combinations on discriminating between MAP and schizophrenia. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses and area under the curve (AUC) were further applied to examine the discrimination validity of the predicted probability scores on differentiating between MAP and schizophrenia. We found that MAP and schizophrenia demonstrated similar patterns of delusions. Compared to patients with schizophrenia, MAP experienced significantly higher proportions of visual hallucinations and of somatic or tactile hallucinations. However, MAP exhibited significantly lower severity in conceptual disorganization, mannerism/posturing, blunted affect, emotional withdrawal, and motor retardation compared to patients with schizophrenia. The ROC analysis showed that a predicted probability score combining the aforementioned 7 items of symptoms could significantly differentiate between MAP and schizophrenia (AUC = 0.77). Findings in the current study suggest that nuanced differences might exist in the clinical presentation of secondary psychosis (MAP) and primary psychosis (schizophrenia). Combining the symptoms as a whole may help with differential diagnosis for MAP and schizophrenia. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Mismatch negativity in chronic schizophrenia and first-episode schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Salisbury, Dean F; Shenton, Martha E; Griggs, Carlye B; Bonner-Jackson, Aaron; McCarley, Robert W

2002-08-01

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related brain potential that is sensitive to stimulus deviation from a repetitive pattern. The MMN is thought primarily to reflect the activity of sensory memory, with, at most, moderate influences of higher-level cognitive processes, such as attention. The MMN is reported to be reduced in patients with chronic schizophrenia. However, it is unknown whether MMN is reduced in patients with first-episode schizophrenia (at first hospitalization). Subject groups comprised patients with chronic schizophrenia (n = 16) and older control subjects (n = 13), and patients with first-episode schizophrenia (n = 21) and younger control subjects (n = 27). The MMN was visualized by subtracting the averaged event-related brain potential to standard tones (1 kHz [95% of all tones]) from the event-related brain potential to pitch-deviant tones (1.2 kHz [5% of all tones]). The MMN voltage was the mean voltage from 100 to 200 milliseconds. Pitch-deviant MMN was reduced by approximately 47% in patients with chronic illness along the sagittal midline relative to controls. The MMN was not reduced in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. All 4 groups showed approximately 64% larger MMN to pitch-deviant tones over the right hemisphere compared with the left hemisphere. The pitch-deviant MMN reductions present in patients with chronic schizophrenia are not present at first hospitalization. The sensory, echoic memory functions indexed by MMN seem unaffected early in the schizophrenia disease process. Reductions in MMN amplitude may develop over time and index the progression of the disorder, although that can only be definitively determined by longitudinal assessments.

Inflammation and elevation of interleukin-12p40 in patients with schizophrenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nora eBedrossian

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness with chronic symptoms and significant impairment in psychosocial functioning, which suggests that it likely has neurodegenerative characteristics. Inflammatory markers such as pro-inflammatory cytokines are well-known etiological contributors for psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. Although the role of inflammation in schizophrenia is becoming evident, the number of studies in this area is relatively scarce, especially in Lebanon, and increased procedural thoroughness is needed. Cytokines play a key role in the activation of the immune system and strongly influence neurotransmission. Previous investigation of plasma levels showed dysregulation of interleukin (IL-12. However, genotypical variations of this interleukin have not been investigated for patients with schizophrenia yet. Thus, in this paper, we aimed to compute and assess IL-12p40 levels in the sera of individuals with schizophrenia from different provinces in Lebanon and compare it to controls. Healthy subjects comprised 60 individuals with a male/female (M/F ratio of 31/29, whereas patients with schizophrenia consisted of 63 subjects with an M/F ratio of 30/33. The mean age for healthy controls was 30 years, whereas that for patients with schizophrenia was 35 years. A standardized ELISA technique was used to measure the concentration of IL-12p40 in all collected sera (n=123. The mean IL-12p40 levels in patients with schizophrenia were significantly higher than in healthy controls (p=0.002. Healthy females had a significantly higher concentration of IL-12p40 than healthy males (p=0.009. Female patients with schizophrenia had significantly higher concentrations of IL-12p40 than their male counterparts (p<0.001, healthy females (p=0.018 and healthy males (p<0.001, respectively. Male patients with schizophrenia had significantly higher concentrations of IL-12p40 than healthy males (p=0.023. The study’s results suggest that IL-12p40

Working memory dysfunctions predict social problem solving skills in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jia; Tan, Shu-ping; Walsh, Sarah C; Spriggens, Lauren K; Neumann, David L; Shum, David H K; Chan, Raymond C K

2014-12-15

The current study aimed to examine the contribution of neurocognition and social cognition to components of social problem solving. Sixty-seven inpatients with schizophrenia and 31 healthy controls were administrated batteries of neurocognitive tests, emotion perception tests, and the Chinese Assessment of Interpersonal Problem Solving Skills (CAIPSS). MANOVAs were conducted to investigate the domains in which patients with schizophrenia showed impairments. Correlations were used to determine which impaired domains were associated with social problem solving, and multiple regression analyses were conducted to compare the relative contribution of neurocognitive and social cognitive functioning to components of social problem solving. Compared with healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia performed significantly worse in sustained attention, working memory, negative emotion, intention identification and all components of the CAIPSS. Specifically, sustained attention, working memory and negative emotion identification were found to correlate with social problem solving and 1-back accuracy significantly predicted the poor performance in social problem solving. Among the dysfunctions in schizophrenia, working memory contributed most to deficits in social problem solving in patients with schizophrenia. This finding provides support for targeting working memory in the development of future social problem solving rehabilitation interventions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The incidence of schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders in Denmark in the period 2000-2012. A register-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kühl, Johanne Olivia Grønne; Laursen, Thomas Munk; Thorup, Anne; Nordentoft, Merete

2016-10-01

We aimed to examine changes over time in the incidence of broad and narrow schizophrenia spectrum disorders in Denmark from 2000 to 2012. Patients were classified as incident schizophrenia if registered with a first time in- or outpatient contact with relevant diagnostic codes in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register between 2000 and 2012. Their history of contacts was traced back to 1969. Broad schizophrenia included schizophrenia, schizotypal disorder, persistent delusional disorder, acute and transient psychotic disorders, schizoaffective disorders, and other nonorganic and unspecified psychotic disorders, (ICD 10 codes F20-F29). Narrow schizophrenia was defined with the ICD 10 codes F20.0-F20.9. Incidence rates (IR) and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated using Poisson regression. The IRR for broad schizophrenia increased by 1.43 (CI 95% 1.34-1.52) for females and 1.26 (CI 95% 1.20-1.33) for males. IRR for narrow schizophrenia increased by 1.36 (CI 95% 1.24-1.48) for females and 1.20 (CI 95% 1.11-1.29) for males. There was a significantly increased incidence in patients up to 32years of age. This was mainly explained by a significant 2-3 fold increase in outpatient incidence. We found a significant decrease in IRR for patients with broad and narrow schizophrenia aged 33 or older for both in- and outpatients. The increased incidence of schizophrenia could partly be explained by better implementation of the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia in child and adolescent psychiatry and improved access to early intervention services, but a true increase in incidence of schizophrenia cannot be excluded. The decrease of incidence in the older age group could indicate that the national Danish early intervention strategy was successful. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Schizophrenia illness severity is associated with reduced loss aversion.

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Currie, James; Buruju, Dheeraj; Perrin, Jennifer S; Reid, Ian C; Steele, J Douglas; Feltovich, Nick

2017-06-01

Loss aversion, whereby losses weigh more heavily than equal-sized gains, has been demonstrated in many decision-making settings. Previous research has suggested reduced loss aversion in schizophrenia, but with little evidence of a link between loss aversion and schizophrenia illness severity. In this study, 20 individuals with schizophrenia and 16 control participants, matched by age and sex, played two versions of the Iterated Prisoners' Dilemma, one version with only positive payoffs and another version in which negative payoffs were possible, with the second version being derived from the first by subtracting a constant value from all payoffs. The control group demonstrated significantly lower cooperation rates under negative payoffs, compared with the version with only positive payoffs, indicative of loss aversion. The patient group on average showed no loss aversion response. Moreover, the extent of loss aversion in patients was found to be negatively correlated with schizophrenia illness severity, with less ill patients showing loss aversion more similar to controls. Results were found to be robust to the inclusion of potential confounding factors as covariates within rigorous probit regression analyses. Reduced loss aversion is a feature of schizophrenia and related to illness severity. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Variants in TERT influencing telomere length are associated with paranoid schizophrenia risk.

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Rao, Shuquan; Ye, Ning; Hu, Huiling; Shen, Yan; Xu, Qi

2016-04-01

Schizophrenia is one of the most severe psychiatric disorders, with a high heritability of up to 80%. Several studies have reported telomere dysfunction in schizophrenia, and common variants in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene. TERT is a key component of the telomerase complex that maintains telomere length by addition of telomere repeats to telomere ends, and has repeatedly shown association with mean lymphocyte telomere length (LTL). Thus, we hypothesized that TERT may be a novel susceptibility gene for schizophrenia. Using a Taqman protocol, we genotyped eight tag SNPs from the TERT locus in 1,072 patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 1,284 control subjects from a Chinese Han population. We also measured mean LTL in 98 cases and 109 controls using a quantitative PCR-based technique. Chi-square tests showed that two SNPs, rs2075786 (P = 0.0009, OR = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.65-0.90) and rs4975605 (P = 0.0026, OR = 0.73, 95%CI = 0.60-0.90), were associated with a protective effect, while rs10069690 was associated with risk of paranoid schizophrenia (P = 0.0044, OR = 1.23, 95%CI = 1.07-1.42). Additionally, the rs2736118-rs2075786 haplotype showed significant association with paranoid schizophrenia (P = 0.0013). Moreover, mean LTL correlated with rs2075786 genotypes was significantly shorter in the patient group than the control group. The present results suggest that the TERT gene may be a novel candidate involved in the development of paranoid schizophrenia. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Income inequality and schizophrenia: increased schizophrenia incidence in countries with high levels of income inequality.

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Burns, Jonathan K; Tomita, Andrew; Kapadia, Amy S

2014-03-01

Income inequality is associated with numerous negative health outcomes. There is evidence that ecological-level socio-environmental factors may increase risk for schizophrenia. The aim was to investigate whether measures of income inequality are associated with incidence of schizophrenia at the country level. We conducted a systematic review of incidence rates for schizophrenia, reported between 1975 and 2011. For each country, national measures of income inequality (Gini coefficient) along with covariate risk factors for schizophrenia were obtained. Multi-level mixed-effects Poisson regression was performed to investigate the relationship between Gini coefficients and incidence rates of schizophrenia controlling for covariates. One hundred and seven incidence rates (from 26 countries) were included. Mean incidence of schizophrenia was 18.50 per 100,000 (SD = 11.9; range = 1.7-67). There was a significant positive relationship between incidence rate of schizophrenia and Gini coefficient (β = 1.02; Z = 2.28; p = .02; 95% CI = 1.00, 1.03). Countries characterized by a large rich-poor gap may be at increased risk of schizophrenia. We suggest that income inequality impacts negatively on social cohesion, eroding social capital, and that chronic stress associated with living in highly disparate societies places individuals at risk of schizophrenia.

Can I trust you? Negative affective priming influences social judgments in schizophrenia

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Hooker, Christine I.; Tully, Laura M.; Verosky, Sara C.; Fisher, Melissa; Holland, Christine; Vinogradov, Sophia

2010-01-01

Successful social interactions rely on the ability to make accurate judgments based on social cues as well as the ability to control the influence of internal or external affective information on those judgments. Prior research suggests that individuals with schizophrenia misinterpret social stimuli and this misinterpretation contributes to impaired social functioning. We tested the hypothesis that for people with schizophrenia social judgments are abnormally influenced by affective information. 23 schizophrenia and 35 healthy control participants rated the trustworthiness of faces following the presentation of neutral, negative (threat-related), or positive affective primes. Results showed that all participants rated faces as less trustworthy following negative affective primes compared to faces that followed neutral or positive primes. Importantly, this effect was significantly more pronounced for schizophrenia participants, suggesting that schizophrenia may be characterised by an exaggerated influence of negative affective information on social judgment. Furthermore, the extent that the negative affective prime influenced trustworthiness judgments was significantly associated with patients’ severity of positive symptoms, particularly feelings of persecution. These findings suggest that for people with schizophrenia negative affective information contributes to an interpretive bias, consistent with paranoid ideation, when judging the trustworthiness of others. This bias may contribute to social impairments in schizophrenia. PMID:20919787

Vitamin D Levels in Different Severity Groups of Schizophrenia.

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Akinlade, Kehinde Sola; Olaniyan, Oyejide Afolabi; Lasebikan, Victor Olufolahan; Rahamon, Sheu Kadiri

2017-01-01

Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) continues to be associated with schizophrenia, but there is the dearth of information on the relationship between the severity of schizophrenia and plasma levels of vitamin D. This study, therefore, determined the plasma levels of vitamin D in different severity groups of schizophrenia. Plasma level of vitamin D was determined in 60 patients with schizophrenia and 30 apparently healthy individuals who served as controls. Patients with schizophrenia were classified into mildly ill, moderately ill, markedly ill, and severely ill groups using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The mean level of vitamin D was significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia compared with the controls. Similarly, there was a significant association between VDD and schizophrenia. The mean plasma levels of vitamin D were not significantly different when the mildly, moderately, markedly, and severely ill groups were compared with one another and there was no significant correlation between vitamin D level and PANSS scores. Furthermore, patients on atypical antipsychotics had an insignificantly lower level of vitamin D compared with the patients on typical antipsychotics. It could be concluded from this study that patients with schizophrenia have low plasma vitamin D level which does not appear to be associated with the severity of schizophrenia and type of antipsychotics. Therefore, regular screening for vitamin D status of patients with schizophrenia is suggested in order to allow for the institution of appropriate clinical intervention when necessary.

Vitamin D Levels in Different Severity Groups of Schizophrenia

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Kehinde Sola Akinlade

2017-06-01

Full Text Available BackgroundVitamin D deficiency (VDD continues to be associated with schizophrenia, but there is the dearth of information on the relationship between the severity of schizophrenia and plasma levels of vitamin D. This study, therefore, determined the plasma levels of vitamin D in different severity groups of schizophrenia.Materials and methodsPlasma level of vitamin D was determined in 60 patients with schizophrenia and 30 apparently healthy individuals who served as controls. Patients with schizophrenia were classified into mildly ill, moderately ill, markedly ill, and severely ill groups using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS.ResultsThe mean level of vitamin D was significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia compared with the controls. Similarly, there was a significant association between VDD and schizophrenia. The mean plasma levels of vitamin D were not significantly different when the mildly, moderately, markedly, and severely ill groups were compared with one another and there was no significant correlation between vitamin D level and PANSS scores. Furthermore, patients on atypical antipsychotics had an insignificantly lower level of vitamin D compared with the patients on typical antipsychotics.ConclusionIt could be concluded from this study that patients with schizophrenia have low plasma vitamin D level which does not appear to be associated with the severity of schizophrenia and type of antipsychotics. Therefore, regular screening for vitamin D status of patients with schizophrenia is suggested in order to allow for the institution of appropriate clinical intervention when necessary.

Systems-level analysis of risk genes reveals the modular nature of schizophrenia.

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Liu, Jiewei; Li, Ming; Luo, Xiong-Jian; Su, Bing

2018-05-19

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a complex mental disorder with high heritability. Genetic studies (especially recent genome-wide association studies) have identified many risk genes for schizophrenia. However, the physical interactions among the proteins encoded by schizophrenia risk genes remain elusive and it is not known whether the identified risk genes converge on common molecular networks or pathways. Here we systematically investigated the network characteristics of schizophrenia risk genes using the high-confidence protein-protein interactions (PPI) from the human interactome. We found that schizophrenia risk genes encode a densely interconnected PPI network (P = 4.15 × 10 -31 ). Compared with the background genes, the schizophrenia risk genes in the interactome have significantly higher degree (P = 5.39 × 10 -11 ), closeness centrality (P = 7.56 × 10 -11 ), betweeness centrality (P = 1.29 × 10 -11 ), clustering coefficient (P = 2.22 × 10 -2 ), and shorter average shortest path length (P = 7.56 × 10 -11 ). Based on the densely interconnected PPI network, we identified 48 hub genes and 4 modules formed by highly interconnected schizophrenia genes. We showed that the proteins encoded by schizophrenia hub genes have significantly more direct physical interactions. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed that cell adhesion, cell cycle, immune system response, and GABR-receptor complex categories were enriched in the modules formed by highly interconnected schizophrenia risk genes. Our study reveals that schizophrenia risk genes encode a densely interconnected molecular network and demonstrates the modular nature of schizophrenia. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Premorbid personality in schizophrenia spectrum: a prospective study

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Ekstrøm, Morten; Lykke Mortensen, Erik; Sørensen, Holger J

2006-01-01

Schizophrenia has been linked with premorbid character anomalies since it was first described. However, few prospective studies of premorbid personality characteristics in schizophrenia and related disorders have been conducted. This study evaluates premorbid personality in children who developed...... to these three diagnostic categories. Twelve-year-old children destined to develop a disorder in the schizophrenia spectrum deviated significantly from healthy controls on a number of personality characteristics: they were rated significantly lower than controls on intelligence, concentration, maturity......, friendliness, cooperation, self-control and significantly higher on aggression. Non-significant trends indicated that this group displayed more deviant personality scores than psychiatric controls. Children who later develop schizophrenia spectrum disorder differed from normal controls with respect to a number...

Portrayals of schizophrenia by entertainment media: a content analysis of contemporary movies.

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Owen, Patricia R

2012-07-01

Critics of entertainment media have indicated that cinematic depictions of schizophrenia are stereotypic and characterized by misinformation about symptoms, causes, and treatment. The pervasiveness and nature of misinformation are difficult to ascertain because of the lack of empirically based studies of movies portraying schizophrenia. This study analyzed portrayals of schizophrenia in contemporary movies to ascertain prevalence of stereotypes and misinformation about schizophrenia. English-language movies featuring at least one main character with schizophrenia that were released for showing in theaters between 1990 and 2010 were analyzed for depictions of schizophrenia. Two researchers independently rated each character with a checklist that assessed demographic characteristics, symptoms and stereotypes, causation, and treatment. Forty-two characters from 41 movies were identified, a majority of whom were male and Caucasian. Most characters displayed positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Delusions were featured most frequently, followed by auditory and visual hallucinations. A majority of characters displayed violent behavior toward themselves or others, and nearly one-third of violent characters engaged in homicidal behavior. About one-fourth of characters committed suicide. Causation of schizophrenia was infrequently noted, although about one-fourth of movies implied that a traumatic life event was significant in causation. Of movies alluding to or showing treatment, psychotropic medications were most commonly portrayed. The finding that misinformation and negative portrayals of schizophrenia in contemporary movies are common underscores the importance of determining how viewers interpret media messages and how these interpretations inform attitudes and beliefs both of the general public and of people with schizophrenia.

Cerebral asymmetry in patients with schizophrenia: a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study.

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Takao, Hidemasa; Abe, Osamu; Yamasue, Hidenori; Aoki, Shigeki; Kasai, Kiyoto; Ohtomo, Kuni

2010-01-01

To evaluate the differences in gray- and white-matter asymmetry between schizophrenia patients and normal subjects. Forty-eight right-handed patients with chronic schizophrenia (24 males and 24 females) and 48 right-handed age- and sex-matched healthy controls (24 males and 24 females) were included in this study. The effects of diagnosis on gray-matter volume asymmetry and white-matter fractional anisotropy (FA) asymmetry were evaluated with use of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and voxel-based analysis of FA maps derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), respectively. The mean gray- and white-matter volumes were significantly smaller in the schizophrenia group than in the control group. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) showed no significant effect of diagnosis on gray-matter volume asymmetry. The voxel-based analysis of DTI also showed no significant effect of diagnosis on white-matter FA asymmetry. Our results of voxel-based analyses showed no significant differences in either gray-matter volume asymmetry or white-matter FA asymmetry between schizophrenia patients and normal subjects. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Increased plasma agmatine levels in patients with schizophrenia.

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Uzbay, Tayfun; Goktalay, Gokhan; Kayir, Hakan; Eker, Salih S; Sarandol, Asli; Oral, Sema; Buyukuysal, Levent; Ulusoy, Gokhan; Kirli, Selcuk

2013-08-01

Agmatine is an endogenous substance, synthesized from l-arginine, and it is proposed to be a new neurotransmitter. Preclinical studies indicated that agmatine may have an important role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. This study was organized to investigate plasma agmatine in patients with schizophrenia and in healthy controls. Eighteen patients with schizophrenia and 19 healthy individuals constituted the subjects. Agmatine levels in the plasma were measured using the HPLC method. The S100B protein level, which is a peripheral biomarker for brain damage, was also measured using the ELISA method. While plasma levels of agmatine in patients with schizophrenia were significantly increased (p agmatine levels as a clinical diagnostic test would significantly differentiate between patients with schizophrenia and those in the control group (predictive value: 0.969; p  0.05). A multiple regression analysis revealed that the age of the patient and the severity of the illness, as indicated by the PANSS score, significantly contributed the plasma agmatine levels in patients with schizophrenia. These results support the hypothesis that an excess agmatine release is important in the development of schizophrenia. The findings also imply that the plasma agmatine level may be a potential biomarker of schizophrenia. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abnormal Task Modulation of Oscillatory Neural Activity in Schizophrenia

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Elisa C Dias

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Schizophrenia patients have deficits in cognitive function that are a core feature of the disorder. AX-CPT is commonly used to study cognition in schizophrenia, and patients have characteristic pattern of behavioral and ERP response. In AX-CPT subjects respond when a flashed cue A is followed by a target X, ignoring other letter combinations. Patients show reduced hit rate to go trials, and increased false alarms to sequences that require inhibition of a prepotent response. EEG recordings show reduced sensory (P1/N1, as well as later cognitive components (N2, P3, CNV. Behavioral deficits correlate most strongly with sensory dysfunction. Oscillatory analyses provide critical information regarding sensory/cognitive processing over and above standard ERP analyses. Recent analyses of induced oscillatory activity in single trials during AX-CPT in healthy volunteers showed characteristic response patterns in theta, alpha and beta frequencies tied to specific sensory and cognitive processes. Alpha and beta modulated during the trials and beta modulation over the frontal cortex correlated with reaction time. In this study, EEG data was obtained from 18 schizophrenia patients and 13 controls during AX-CPT performance, and single trial decomposition of the signal yielded power in the target wavelengths.Significant task-related event-related desynchronization (ERD was observed in both alpha and beta frequency bands over parieto-occipital cortex related to sensory encoding of the cue. This modulation was reduced in patients for beta, but not for alpha. In addition, significant beta ERD was observed over motor cortex, related to motor preparation for the response, and was also reduced in patients. These findings demonstrate impaired dynamic modulation of beta frequency rhythms in schizophrenia, and suggest that failures of oscillatory activity may underlie impaired sensory information processing in schizophrenia that in turn contributes to cognitive deficits.

Brain structural changes in schizoaffective disorder compared to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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Amann, B L; Canales-Rodríguez, E J; Madre, M; Radua, J; Monte, G; Alonso-Lana, S; Landin-Romero, R; Moreno-Alcázar, A; Bonnin, C M; Sarró, S; Ortiz-Gil, J; Gomar, J J; Moro, N; Fernandez-Corcuera, P; Goikolea, J M; Blanch, J; Salvador, R; Vieta, E; McKenna, P J; Pomarol-Clotet, E

2016-01-01

Brain structural changes in schizoaffective disorder, and how far they resemble those seen in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, have only been studied to a limited extent. Forty-five patients meeting DSM-IV and RDC criteria for schizoaffective disorder, groups of patients with 45 matched schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and 45 matched healthy controls were examined using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Analyses comparing each patient group with the healthy control subjects found that the patients with schizoaffective disorder and the patients with schizophrenia showed widespread and overlapping areas of significant volume reduction, but the patients with bipolar disorder did not. A subsequent analysis compared the combined group of patients with the controls followed by extraction of clusters. In regions where the patients differed significantly from the controls, no significant differences in mean volume between patients with schizoaffective disorder and patients with schizophrenia in any of five regions of volume reduction were found, but mean volumes in the patients with bipolar disorder were significantly smaller in three of five. The findings provide evidence that, in terms of structural gray matter brain abnormality, schizoaffective disorder resembles schizophrenia more than bipolar disorder. © 2015 The Authors. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The prevalence, risk factors and clinical correlates of obesity in Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

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Li, Qiongzhen; Du, Xiangdong; Zhang, Yingyang; Yin, Guangzhong; Zhang, Guangya; Walss-Bass, Consuelo; Quevedo, João; Soares, Jair C; Xia, Haishen; Li, Xiaosi; Zheng, Yingjun; Ning, Yuping; Zhang, Xiang Yang

2017-05-01

Obesity is a common comorbidity in schizophrenia. Few studies have addressed obesity in Chinese schizophrenia patients. The aims of this current study were to evaluate the prevalence, risk factors and clinical correlates of obesity in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. A total of 206 patients were recruited from a hospital in Beijing. Their clinical and anthropometric data together with plasma glucose and lipid parameters were collected. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was rated for all patients. Overall, 43 (20.9%) patients were obese and 67 (32.5%) were overweight. The obese patients had significantly higher glucose levels, triglyceride levels than non-obese patients. Females and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus had increased risk for obesity. Correlation analysis showed that BMI was associated with sex, education levels, negative symptoms, total PANSS score, triglyceride levels and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Further stepwise regression analysis showed that sex, type 2 diabetes, education level, triglyceride and amount of smoking/day were significant predictors for obesity. Our study showed that the prevalence of obesity in Chinese patients with schizophrenia is higher than that in the general population. Some demographic and clinical variables are risk factors for obesity in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Smoking improves divided attention in schizophrenia.

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Ahlers, Eike; Hahn, Eric; Ta, Thi Minh Tam; Goudarzi, Elnaz; Dettling, Michael; Neuhaus, Andres H

2014-10-01

Smoking is highly prevalent in schizophrenia, and there is evidence for beneficial effects on neurocognition. Smoking is therefore hypothesized a self-medication in schizophrenia. Although much effort is devoted to characterize those cognitive domains that potentially benefit from smoking, divided attention has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to analyze the interactional effects of diagnosis of schizophrenia and smoking history on divided attention. We investigated behavioral measures of divided attention in a sample of 48 schizophrenic patients and 48 controls (24 current smokers and non-smokers each) carefully matched for age, sex, education, verbal IQ, and smoking status with general linear models. Most important within the scope of this study, significant interactions were found for valid reactions and errors of omission: Performance substantially increased in smoking schizophrenic patients, but not in controls. Further, these interactions were modified by sex, driven by female schizophrenic patients who showed a significant behavioral advantage of smokers over non-smokers, other than male schizophrenic patients or healthy controls who did not express this sex-specific pattern. Results suggest a positive effect of smoking history on divided attention in schizophrenic patients. This study provides first evidence that the complex attention domain of divided attention is improved by smoking, which further substantiates the self-medication hypothesis of smoking in schizophrenia, although this has been shown mainly for sustained and selective attention. Gender-specific effects on cognition need to be further investigated.

Emotional Intelligence deficits in schizophrenia: The impact of non-social cognition.

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Frajo-Apor, Beatrice; Pardeller, Silvia; Kemmler, Georg; Welte, Anna-Sophia; Hofer, Alex

2016-04-01

Previous studies using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) revealed significant performance deficits across all areas of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls. However, none of these studies has investigated a potential influence of non-social cognition on these findings. 56 schizophrenia outpatients and 84 control subjects were investigated using the MSCEIT and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). Analyses of covariance were performed with adjustment for the BACS composite score and education. To investigate this issue in more detail, a mediation analysis was conducted. Patients showed significantly lower EI and non-social cognition levels compared to healthy controls. After adjustment for BACS composite score and education, only the group difference in the "managing emotions" branch and thus in the "strategic" EI part of the MSCEIT remained statistically significant, whereas for all other MSCEIT branches (perceiving, using, understanding emotions) statistical significance was lost. The mediation analysis revealed that the difference between schizophrenia patients and controls regarding the MSCEIT total score was almost fully attributable to the mediating effect of non-social cognition. Our findings suggest that in schizophrenia patients EI is largely influenced by non-social cognitive functioning. Only the "managing emotions" branch was found to be independent of non-social cognition. Consequently, non-social cognitive performance was mainly responsible for the observed differences in EI between schizophrenia patients and controls. This has to be taken into account when interpreting MSCEIT data in this population. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Relationship between abstract thinking and eye gaze pattern in patients with schizophrenia

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Effective integration of visual information is necessary to utilize abstract thinking, but patients with schizophrenia have slow eye movement and usually explore limited visual information. This study examines the relationship between abstract thinking ability and the pattern of eye gaze in patients with schizophrenia using a novel theme identification task. Methods Twenty patients with schizophrenia and 22 healthy controls completed the theme identification task, in which subjects selected which word, out of a set of provided words, best described the theme of a picture. Eye gaze while performing the task was recorded by the eye tracker. Results Patients exhibited a significantly lower correct rate for theme identification and lesser fixation and saccade counts than controls. The correct rate was significantly correlated with the fixation count in patients, but not in controls. Conclusions Patients with schizophrenia showed impaired abstract thinking and decreased quality of gaze, which were positively associated with each other. Theme identification and eye gaze appear to be useful as tools for the objective measurement of abstract thinking in patients with schizophrenia. PMID:24739356

[Burden of mothers and fathers of persons with schizophrenia].

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Friedrich, Fabian; Gross, Rainer; Wrobel, Margit; Klug, Günter; Unger, Annemarie; Fellinger, Matthäus; Süßenbacher, Stefanie; Freidl, Marion; Saumer, Gertraud; Wancata, Johannes

2015-05-01

Most studies about the burden of schizophrenia carers included only one care-giving relative, usually the patients' mothers. The present study intended to analyse differences of the level of burden between mothers and fathers of the same patients. 101 mothers and 101 fathers of the same patients suffering from schizophrenia were included into this study. They were assessed by means of the "Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire" and the "Carers' Needs Assessment for Schizophrenia". Mothers showed significantly higher scores than fathers regarding the subscores "Tensions" and "Urging". Multiple linear regression analyses showed positive associations between the frequency of mothers' as well as fathers' unmet needs and dimensions of caregiver involvement. Unmet needs among mothers and fathers have negative effects on their burden. The differences between mothers and fathers indicate the importance of considering the carer's gender in clinical work. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Association analysis of 94 candidate genes and schizophrenia-related endophenotypes.

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Tiffany A Greenwood

Full Text Available While it is clear that schizophrenia is highly heritable, the genetic basis of this heritability is complex. Human genetic, brain imaging, and model organism studies have met with only modest gains. A complementary research tactic is to evaluate the genetic substrates of quantitative endophenotypes with demonstrated deficits in schizophrenia patients. We used an Illumina custom 1,536-SNP array to interrogate 94 functionally relevant candidate genes for schizophrenia and evaluate association with both the qualitative diagnosis of schizophrenia and quantitative endophenotypes for schizophrenia. Subjects included 219 schizophrenia patients and normal comparison subjects of European ancestry and 76 schizophrenia patients and normal comparison subjects of African ancestry, all ascertained by the UCSD Schizophrenia Research Program. Six neurophysiological and neurocognitive endophenotype test paradigms were assessed: prepulse inhibition (PPI, P50 suppression, the antisaccade oculomotor task, the Letter-Number Span Test, the California Verbal Learning Test-II, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-64 Card Version. These endophenotype test paradigms yielded six primary endophenotypes with prior evidence of heritability and demonstrated schizophrenia-related impairments, as well as eight secondary measures investigated as candidate endophenotypes. Schizophrenia patients showed significant deficits on ten of the endophenotypic measures, replicating prior studies and facilitating genetic analyses of these phenotypes. A total of 38 genes were found to be associated with at least one endophenotypic measure or schizophrenia with an empirical p-value<0.01. Many of these genes have been shown to interact on a molecular level, and eleven genes displayed evidence for pleiotropy, revealing associations with three or more endophenotypic measures. Among these genes were ERBB4 and NRG1, providing further support for a role of these genes in schizophrenia susceptibility

Mosaic Turner syndrome associated with schizophrenia.

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Jung, Sook Young; Park, Joo Won; Kim, Dong Hyun; Jun, Yong Hoon; Lee, Jeong Seop; Lee, Ji Eun

2014-03-01

Turner syndrome is a sex-chromosome disorder; occurring in 1 in 2,500 female births. There are sporadic few case reports of concomitant Turner syndrome with schizophrenia worldwide. Most Turner females had a 45,X monosomy, whereas the majority of comorbidity between Turner syndrome and schizophrenia had a mosaic karyotype (45,X/46,XX). We present a case of a 21-year-old woman with Turner syndrome, mosaic karyotype (45,X/46,XX), showing mental retardation, hypothyroidism, and schizophrenia. HOPA gene within Xq13 is related to mental retardation, hypothyroidism, and schizophrenia. Our case may be a potential clue which supports the hypothesis for involvement of genes on X chromosome in development of schizophrenia. Further studies including comorbid cases reports are need in order to discern the cause of schizophrenia in patients having Turner syndrome.

Assessment of white matter abnormalities in paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar mania patients.

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Cui, Liqian; Chen, Zhuangfei; Deng, Wei; Huang, Xiaoqi; Li, Mingli; Ma, Xiaohong; Huang, Chaohua; Jiang, Lijun; Wang, Yingcheng; Wang, Qiang; Collier, David A; Gong, Qiyong; Li, Tao

2011-12-30

White matter abnormalities have been repeatedly reported in both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies, but the empirical evidence about the diagnostic specificity of white matter abnormalities in these disorders is still limited. This study sought to investigate the alterations in fractional anisotropy (FA) in white matter throughout the entire brain of patients from Chengdu, China with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar mania. For this purpose, DTI was used to assess white matter integrity in patients with paranoid schizophrenia (n=25) and psychotic bipolar mania (n=18) who had been treated with standard pharmacotherapy for fewer than 5 days at the time of study, as well as in normal controls (n=30). The differences in FA were measured by use of voxel-based analysis. The results show that reduced FA was found in the left posterior corona radiata (PCR) in patients with psychotic bipolar mania and paranoid schizophrenia compared to the controls. Patients with psychotic bipolar mania also showed a significant reduction in FA in right posterior corona radiata and in right anterior thalamic radiation (ATR). A direct comparison between the two patient groups found no significant differences in any regions, and none of the findings were associated with illness duration. Correlation analysis indicated that FA values showed a significant negative correlation with positive symptom scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale in the left frontal-parietal lobe in the paranoid schizophrenia. It was concluded that common abnormalities in the left PCR might imply an overlap in white matter pathology in the two disorders and might be related to shared risk factors for the two disorders. 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mutation intolerant genes and targets of FMRP are enriched for nonsynonymous alleles in schizophrenia.

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Leonenko, Ganna; Richards, Alexander L; Walters, James T; Pocklington, Andrew; Chambert, Kimberly; Al Eissa, Mariam M; Sharp, Sally I; O'Brien, Niamh L; Curtis, David; Bass, Nicholas J; McQuillin, Andrew; Hultman, Christina; Moran, Jennifer L; McCarroll, Steven A; Sklar, Pamela; Neale, Benjamin M; Holmans, Peter A; Owen, Michael J; Sullivan, Patrick F; O'Donovan, Michael C

2017-10-01

Risk of schizophrenia is conferred by alleles occurring across the full spectrum of frequencies from common SNPs of weak effect through to ultra rare alleles, some of which may be moderately to highly penetrant. Previous studies have suggested that some of the risk of schizophrenia is attributable to uncommon alleles represented on Illumina exome arrays. Here, we present the largest study of exomic variation in schizophrenia to date, using samples from the United Kingdom and Sweden (10,011 schizophrenia cases and 13,791 controls). Single variants, genes, and gene sets were analyzed for association with schizophrenia. No single variant or gene reached genome-wide significance. Among candidate gene sets, we found significant enrichment for rare alleles (minor allele frequency [MAF] schizophrenia by excluding a role for uncommon exomic variants (0.01 ≤ MAF ≥ 0.001) that confer a relatively large effect (odds ratio [OR] > 4). We also show risk alleles within this frequency range exist, but confer smaller effects and should be identified by larger studies. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[Depression Symptoms of Mothers and Fathers of Persons with Schizophrenia].

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Alexandrowicz, Rainer W; König, Daniel; Unger, Annemarie; Klug, Günter; Soulier, Nathalie; Freidl, Marion; Friedrich, Fabian

2016-05-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate if depression symptomatology of patients' parents is predicted by the symptoms of schizophrenia. 101 mothers and 101 fathers of the same patients suffering from schizophrenia were included into this study. Parents filled in the "Beck Depression Inventory". Patients were assessed by means of the "Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale". For statistical analyses a Multidimensional Random Coefficients Multinomial Logit Model was applied. We found a significant positive association between negative symptoms and depression severity of fathers and mothers. Further, a significant positive association between positive symptoms and depression severity of fathers, but not of mothers was found. Our results show that depression of mothers and of fathers is associated with symptoms of schizophrenia even when controlling for potential predictors. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Social cognition in schizophrenia in comparison to bipolar disorder: A meta-analysis.

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Bora, Emre; Pantelis, Christos

2016-08-01

Cognitive dysfunction is a common characteristic of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BP). While these deficits are more severe in schizophrenia, there is a significant overlap between conditions. However, it was hypothesized that social cognitive deficits might be more specific to schizophrenia. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies comparing facial emotion recognition and theory of mind (ToM) abilities in schizophrenia and BP. 26 studies comparing 1301 patients with schizophrenia and 1075 with BP were included. Schizophrenia patients significantly underperformed compared with BP patients in both facial emotion recognition (d=0.39) and ToM (d=0.57). Neurocognitive deficits significantly contributed to schizophrenia-BP group differences for ToM. However, between-group differences for social cognition were not statistically more severe than neurocognition. Social cognitive impairment is more severe in schizophrenia in comparison to BP. However, between-group differences are modest and are comparable to other neurocognitive differences between schizophrenia and BP. There is significant overlap in social cognitive performance deficits observed in both schizophrenia and BP. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Schizophrenia, antipsychotics and risk of hip fracture

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Sørensen, Holger J; Jensen, Signe O W; Nielsen, Jimmi

2013-01-01

In a nationwide study using linkage of Danish hospital registers we examined predictors of hip fracture (ICD-10: S72) in 15,431 patients with schizophrenia (ICD-10: F20 or ICD-8: 295) and 3,807,597 population controls. Shorter education, disability pension, lifetime alcohol abuse, somatic co......-morbidity, antipsychotics (IRR=1.19; 95% CI 1.15-1.24), antidepressant (IRR=1.18; 95% CI 1.16-1.20), anticholinergics (IRR=1.29; 95% CI 1.22-1.36), benzodiazepines (IRR=1.06; 95% CI 1.04-1.08) and corticosteroids (IRR=1.44; 95% CI 1.36-1.53) were significant predictors. In 556 persons with schizophrenia and hip fracture...... (matched to 1:3 to schizophrenia controls without hip fracture), antipsychotic polypharmacy predicted hip fracture. Analyses among antipsychotic monotherapy patients showed no differential effect of individual antipsychotics. A dose-response relationship of hip fracture and lifetime antipsychotics...

Association between mitochondrial DNA variations and schizophrenia in the northern Chinese Han population.

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Xu, Feng-Ling; Ding, Mei; Yao, Jun; Shi, Zhang-Sen; Wu, Xue; Zhang, Jing-Jing; Pang, Hao; Xing, Jia-Xin; Xuan, Jin-Feng; Wang, Bao-Jie

2017-01-01

To determine whether mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variations are associated with schizophrenia, 313 patients with schizophrenia and 326 unaffected participants of the northern Chinese Han population were included in a prospective study. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) including C5178A, A10398G, G13708A, and C13928G were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Hypervariable regions I and II (HVSI and HVSII) were analyzed by sequencing. The results showed that the 4 SNPs and 11 haplotypes, composed of the 4 SNPs, did not differ significantly between patient and control groups. No significant association between haplogroups and the risk of schizophrenia was ascertained after Bonferroni correction. Drawing a conclusion, there was no evidence of an association between mtDNA (the 4 SNPs and the control region) and schizophrenia in the northern Chinese Han population.

Drama therapy for schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses.

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Ruddy, R A; Dent-Brown, K

2007-01-24

drama interventions and inpatient care in the other included studies. There were no significant findings about the value of drama interventions for keeping inpatients engaged in treatment. Due to poor reporting very little data from the five studies could be used and there were no conclusive findings about the harms or benefits of drama therapy for inpatients with schizophrenia. Randomised studies are possible in this field. The use of drama therapy for schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like illnesses should continue to be under evaluation as its benefits, or harms, are unclear.

Decreased DNA Methylation in the Shati/Nat8l Promoter in Both Patients with Schizophrenia and a Methamphetamine-Induced Murine Model of Schizophrenia-Like Phenotype.

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Kyosuke Uno

Full Text Available The number of patients with schizophrenia has increased over the past decade. Previously, many studies have been performed to establish its diagnostic criteria, prophylactic methods, and effective therapies. In this study, we analyzed whether the ratios of DNA methylation in CpG islands of the Shati/Nat8l is decreased in model mice of schizophrenia-like phenotype using genomic DNA collected from brain regions and peripheral blood, since the mouse model of schizophrenia-like phenotype, mice treated repeatedly with methamphetamine showed increase of Shati/Nat8l mRNA expression in our previous experiment. The ratios of Shati/Nat8l CpG island methylation were significantly decreased in both the nucleus accumbens and the peripheral blood of model mice compared with those of control mice. We also investigated Shati/Nat8l methylation in the blood of patients with schizophrenia. We found that Shati/Nat8l CpG island methylation ratios were lower in the patients with schizophrenia than in the healthy controls, which is consistent with our findings in the mice model. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show similar alterations in methylation status of a particular genomic DNA site in both the brain and peripheral blood of mice. Furthermore, the same phenomenon was observed in corresponding human genomic sequences of the DNA extracted from the peripheral blood of patients with schizophrenia. Based on our findings, DNA methylation profiles of the CpG island of Shati/Nat8l might be a diagnostic biomarker of schizophrenia.

STUDY OF SUICIDE ATTEMPTS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

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Jagadeesan Madras Sundararajan

2016-07-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is a major mental illness whose sufferers have been found to have lesser longevity than general population. The most common cause for premature death in schizophrenia is suicide. There are very few Indian studies on suicide in persons suffering from schizophrenia. OBJECTIVES The objectives were to study the frequency of suicide attempt in schizophrenia to compare and study the clinical and sociodemographic profile of suicide attempters and non-attempters in schizophrenia and to analyse and study the various risk factors of suicide attempts in persons suffering from schizophrenia. METHODS A sample of 100 consecutive patients attending review OPD of a government tertiary care hospital in Chennai were selected. Those who had a diagnosis of schizophrenia were screened for past suicide attempts. They were divided into two groups as suicide attempters and non-attempters and analysed using the SAPS (Scale for Assessment of Positive Symptoms, SANS (Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms, Calgary depression scale, and Beck’s suicide intent scale. RESULTS People suffering from schizophrenia are at a high risk for making suicidal attempts (27% especially when the illness is acute and severe in early stages when accompanied by depressive symptoms. Demographic profile such as age, sex, education, occupation, socio-economic status, marital status, and family type were not significantly related to suicide attempts. Family history of suicide was a significant factor in patients with suicide attempts. Majority of the attempts were of medium-to-high intent, hanging being the commonest method, and were attributed to most commonly delusions and depressive symptoms.

Attention/vigilance in schizophrenia: performance results from a large multi-site study of the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS).

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Nuechterlein, Keith H; Green, Michael F; Calkins, Monica E; Greenwood, Tiffany A; Gur, Raquel E; Gur, Ruben C; Lazzeroni, Laura C; Light, Gregory A; Radant, Allen D; Seidman, Larry J; Siever, Larry J; Silverman, Jeremy M; Sprock, Joyce; Stone, William S; Sugar, Catherine A; Swerdlow, Neal R; Tsuang, Debby W; Tsuang, Ming T; Turetsky, Bruce I; Braff, David L

2015-04-01

Attention/vigilance impairments are present in individuals with schizophrenia across psychotic and remitted states and in their first-degree relatives. An important question is whether deficits in attention/vigilance can be consistently and reliably measured across sites varying in many participant demographic, clinical, and functional characteristics, as needed for large-scale genetic studies of endophenotypes. We examined Continuous Performance Test (CPT) data from phase 2 of the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS-2), the largest-scale assessment of cognitive and psychophysiological endophenotypes relevant to schizophrenia. The CPT data from 2251 participants from five sites were examined. A perceptual-load vigilance task (the Degraded Stimulus CPT or DS-CPT) and a memory-load vigilance task (CPT-Identical Pairs or CPT-IP) were utilized. Schizophrenia patients performed more poorly than healthy comparison subjects (HCS) across sites, despite significant site differences in participant age, sex, education, and racial distribution. Patient-HCS differences in signal/noise discrimination (d') in the DS-CPT varied significantly across sites, but averaged a medium effect size. CPT-IP performance showed large patient-HCS differences across sites. Poor CPT performance was independent of or weakly correlated with symptom severity, but was significantly associated with lower educational achievement and functional capacity. Current smoking was associated with poorer CPT-IP d'. Patients taking both atypical and typical antipsychotic medication performed more poorly than those on no or atypical antipsychotic medications, likely reflecting their greater severity of illness. We conclude that CPT deficits in schizophrenia can be reliably detected across sites, are relatively independent of current symptom severity, and are related to functional capacity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Grey matter, an endophenotype for schizophrenia? A voxel-based morphometry study in siblings of patients with schizophrenia

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van der Velde, Jorien; Gromann, Paula M.; Swart, Marte; de Haan, Lieuwe; Wiersma, Durk; Bruggeman, Richard; Krabbendam, Lydia; Aleman, André

2015-01-01

Background Grey matter, both volume and concentration, has been proposed as an endophenotype for schizophrenia given a number of reports of grey matter abnormalities in relatives of patients with schizophrenia. However, previous studies on grey matter abnormalities in relatives have produced inconsistent results. The aim of the present study was to examine grey matter differences between controls and siblings of patients with schizophrenia and to examine whether the age, genetic loading or subclinical psychotic symptoms of selected individuals could explain the previously reported inconsistencies. Methods We compared the grey matter volume and grey matter concentration of healthy siblings of patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls matched for age, sex and education using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Furthermore, we selected subsamples based on age (< 30 yr), genetic loading and subclinical psychotic symptoms to examine whether this would lead to different results. Results We included 89 siblings and 69 controls in our study. The results showed that siblings and controls did not differ significantly on grey matter volume or concentration. Furthermore, specifically selecting participants based on age, genetic loading or subclinical psychotic symptoms did not alter these findings. Limitations The main limitation was that subdividing the sample resulted in smaller samples for the subanalyses. Furthermore, we used MRI data from 2 different scanner sites. Conclusion These results indicate that grey matter measured through VBM might not be a suitable endophenotype for schizophrenia. PMID:25768029

Schizophrenia: a review of neuropharmacology.

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Lyne, J; Kelly, B D; O'Connor, W T

2004-01-01

The last few decades have seen significant advances in our understanding of the neurochemical basis of schizophrenia. To describe the neurotransmitter systems and nerve circuits implicated in schizophrenia; to compare the neuropharmacology of typical and atypical anti-psychotic agents; and to describe recent developments in the pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia. Relevant pharmacological, neurophysiological and psychiatric literature was examined and reviewed. Schizophrenia is associated with abnormalities of multiple neurotransmitter systems, including dopamine, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamate. Typical and atypical antipsychotic agents differ in their receptor-binding affinities, which are related to their differing side-effect profiles. Novel therapeutic strategies include normalisation of synaptic dopamine or serotonin levels, serotonin receptor antagonism and modulation of cerebral protein synthesis. The ideal treatment for schizophrenia may not be a single pharmacological agent but several agents that match the different expressions of the illness, in combination with psycho-social interventions.

Memantine enhances the effect of olanzapine in patients with schizophrenia: A randomized, placebo-controlled study

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Ahmad Fakhri

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Glutamate dysregulation may be involved in the neuropathology of schizophrenia. Memantine, a drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease, acts as a partial uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist. The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of memantine as an adjunctive treatment to olanzapine in patients with schizophrenia. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, patients with schizophrenia according to DSM-IV clinical criteria were selected. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either memantine (week 1:10 mg/day; weeks 2-6:20 mg/day plus olanzapine (15-20 mg/day or olanzapine plus placebo. At baseline, no statistically significant difference regarding the mean total PANSS scores between treatment groups was found. Results showed that memantine significantly improved the positive and negative PANSS score in patients maintained on olanzapine after six weeks compared to olanzapine alone (P<0.001. Furthermore, female patients showed significantly better response than males, especially in positive PANSS score. No significant changes in extrapyramidal symptoms were observed.These findings indicate that olanzapine efficacy might be augmented with memantine. Furthermore, this effect is more remarkable in female patients with schizophrenia.

Prevalence of dental caries in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia

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Đorđević Vladan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background/Aim. It is considered that over 450 million people worldwide suffer from some form of mental disorder. Previous studies in other countries have shown that schizophrenia is among the most frequent. Oral health is significant for general health and should not be separated from mental health. Studies in other countries have shown an increased incidence of carious and extracted teeth, and less incidence of filled teeth in this group of psychiatric patients. The aim of this study was to establish condition of the existing teeth, to determine the prevalence of caries and to consider possible risk factors that contribute to the current oral health status of hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. Methods. The study comprised 190 patients with schizophrenia, hospitalized at the Clinic for Psychiatric Disorders “Dr. Laza Lazarević” in Belgrade, and 190 mentally healthy patients at the Clinic for Periodontology and Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dental Medicine in Belgrade. The decayed, missing, filled (DMF index, sociodemographic and economic characteristics were registered in both groups, as well as characteristics of the primary disease of hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. Results. The value of DMF index (representing the sum of carious, extracted and filled teeth, in the hospitalized patients with schizophrenia was 18.57 ± 7.07 and 12.47 ± 5.64 in the healthy group (p = 0.000. The structure of the DMF index in the study group showed that caries and extracted teeth dominated with 88.1%; in the control group, filled teeth dominated with 55.6%, which was a statistically significant difference for all the three observed variables. Conclusion. Hospitalized patients with schizophrenia had twice as many caries and extracted teeth, and five time less filled teeth than healthy people. The patient’s age and taking antiparkinsonics were established as predictors of the increased DMF index in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia.

Impaired reward responsiveness in schizophrenia.

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Taylor, Nicholas; Hollis, Jeffrey P; Corcoran, Sarah; Gross, Robin; Cuthbert, Bruce; Swails, Lisette W; Duncan, Erica

2018-03-08

Anhedonia is a core negative symptom of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia patients report largely intact pleasure in consuming rewards, but have impairments in generating motivated behavior to pursue rewards, and show reduced fMRI activation of the reward pathway during presentation of rewarded stimuli. A computer based task measuring the development of a response bias in favor of rewarded stimuli permits assessment of reward-induced motivation. We hypothesized that subjects with schizophrenia would be impaired on this task. 58 schizophrenia subjects (SCZ) and 52 healthy controls (CON) were studied with a signal detection task to assess reward responsiveness. In multiple trials over three blocks subjects were asked to correctly identify two stimuli that were paired with unequal chance of monetary reward. The critical outcome variable was response bias, the development of a greater percent correct identification of the stimulus that was rewarded more often. An ANOVA on response bias with Block as a repeated-measures factor and Diagnosis as a between-group factor indicated that SCZ subjects achieved a lower bias to rewarded stimuli than CON subjects (F(1,105)=8.82, p=0.004, η 2 =0.078). Post hoc tests indicated that SCZ subjects had significantly impaired bias in Block 1 (p=0.002) and Block 2 (p=0.05), indicating that SCZ were slower to achieve normal levels of bias during the session. SCZ subjects were slower to develop response bias to rewarded stimuli than CON subjects. This finding is consonant with the hypothesis that people with schizophrenia have a blunted capacity to modify behavior in response to reward. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

IFNGR2 genetic polymorphism associated with sex-specific paranoid schizophrenia risk.

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Jemli, Achraf; Inoubli, Oumaima; Trifa, Fatma; Mechri, Anouar; Zaafrane, Ferid; Gaha, Lotfi; Jrad, Besma Bel Hadj

2017-01-01

Considering current scientific evidence about the significant role of chronic low grade inflammation in the physiopathology of schizophrenia, it has been hypothesized that changes in pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interferon gamma may have a significant role in the predisposition to schizophrenia. This study focuses on identifying whether the functional polymorphism of interferon gamma receptor 2 (IFNGR2) is a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. This study was conducted by the RFLP-PCR on a Tunisian population composed of 225 patients with different sub-types of schizophrenia and 166 controls. The IFNGR2 (Q64R) polymorphism analysis showed higher frequencies of minor homozygous genotype (RR) and allele (R) in all patients compared to controls (21.8% vs 10.2%; p = .006, OR = 2.54) and (44% vs 34.9%; p = .01; OR = 1.46), respectively. This correlation was confirmed only for males. This study also noted a significant increase of the mutated homozygous (RR) genotype and (R) allele frequencies of IFNGR2 in paranoid schizophrenics compared to controls (31.4% vs 10.2%; p = .001; OR = 3.34 and 47.2% vs 34.9%; p = .009; OR = 1.66, respectively). This increase remains significant after using binary logistic regression to eliminate confounding factors such as age and sex. Additionally, carriers of RR genotype have significant lower scores on the Scale of Assessment of Positive (SAPS) and negative (SANS) symptoms comparatively to the carrier of the QQ + QR genotypes, suggesting that the R recessive allele carriers could have milder symptoms. The IFNGR2Q64R polymorphism is correlated with male sex and paranoid schizophrenia. It is suggested that a chronic neuroinflammation may predispose to the paranoid schizophrenia development in men.

Facial emotion perception in Chinese patients with schizophrenia and non-psychotic first-degree relatives.

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Li, Huijie; Chan, Raymond C K; Zhao, Qing; Hong, Xiaohong; Gong, Qi-Yong

2010-03-17

Although there is a consensus that patients with schizophrenia have certain deficits in perceiving and expressing facial emotions, previous studies of facial emotion perception in schizophrenia do not present consistent results. The objective of this study was to explore facial emotion perception deficits in Chinese patients with schizophrenia and their non-psychotic first-degree relatives. Sixty-nine patients with schizophrenia, 56 of their first-degree relatives (33 parents and 23 siblings), and 92 healthy controls (67 younger healthy controls matched to the patients and siblings, and 25 older healthy controls matched to the parents) completed a set of facial emotion perception tasks, including facial emotion discrimination, identification, intensity, valence, and corresponding face identification tasks. The results demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia performed significantly worse than their siblings and younger healthy controls in accuracy in a variety of facial emotion perception tasks, whereas the siblings of the patients performed as well as the corresponding younger healthy controls in all of the facial emotion perception tasks. Patients with schizophrenia also showed significantly reduced speed than younger healthy controls, while siblings of patients did not demonstrate significant differences with both patients and younger healthy controls in speed. Meanwhile, we also found that parents of the schizophrenia patients performed significantly worse than the corresponding older healthy controls in accuracy in terms of facial emotion identification, valence, and the composite index of the facial discrimination, identification, intensity and valence tasks. Moreover, no significant differences were found between the parents of patients and older healthy controls in speed after controlling the years of education and IQ. Taken together, the results suggest that facial emotion perception deficits may serve as potential endophenotypes for schizophrenia

Systematic Prioritization and Integrative Analysis of Copy Number Variations in Schizophrenia Reveal Key Schizophrenia Susceptibility Genes

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Luo, Xiongjian; Huang, Liang; Han, Leng; Luo, Zhenwu; Hu, Fang; Tieu, Roger; Gan, Lin

2014-01-01

Schizophrenia is a common mental disorder with high heritability and strong genetic heterogeneity. Common disease-common variants hypothesis predicts that schizophrenia is attributable in part to common genetic variants. However, recent studies have clearly demonstrated that copy number variations (CNVs) also play pivotal roles in schizophrenia susceptibility and explain a proportion of missing heritability. Though numerous CNVs have been identified, many of the regions affected by CNVs show poor overlapping among different studies, and it is not known whether the genes disrupted by CNVs contribute to the risk of schizophrenia. By using cumulative scoring, we systematically prioritized the genes affected by CNVs in schizophrenia. We identified 8 top genes that are frequently disrupted by CNVs, including NRXN1, CHRNA7, BCL9, CYFIP1, GJA8, NDE1, SNAP29, and GJA5. Integration of genes affected by CNVs with known schizophrenia susceptibility genes (from previous genetic linkage and association studies) reveals that many genes disrupted by CNVs are also associated with schizophrenia. Further protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis indicates that protein products of genes affected by CNVs frequently interact with known schizophrenia-associated proteins. Finally, systematic integration of CNVs prioritization data with genetic association and PPI data identifies key schizophrenia candidate genes. Our results provide a global overview of genes impacted by CNVs in schizophrenia and reveal a densely interconnected molecular network of de novo CNVs in schizophrenia. Though the prioritized top genes represent promising schizophrenia risk genes, further work with different prioritization methods and independent samples is needed to confirm these findings. Nevertheless, the identified key candidate genes may have important roles in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, and further functional characterization of these genes may provide pivotal targets for future therapeutics and

Breastfeeding and risk of schizophrenia in the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort

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Sørensen, Holger Jelling; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Reinisch, J M

2005-01-01

) and 5170 (76%) had been breastfed longer. Maternal schizophrenia, parental social status, single mother status and gender were included as covariates in a multiple regression analysis of the effect of early weaning on the risk of hospitalization with schizophrenia. RESULTS: The sample comprised 93 cases......OBJECTIVE: The aim was to study whether early weaning from breastfeeding may be associated with increased risk of schizophrenia. METHOD: The current sample comprises 6841 individuals from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort of whom 1671 (24%) had been breastfed for 2 weeks or less (early weaning...... of schizophrenia (1.4%). Maternal schizophrenia was the strongest risk factor and a significant association between single mother status and elevated offspring risk of schizophrenia was also observed. Early weaning was significantly related to later schizophrenia in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses (adjusted...

Loss aversion in schizophrenia.

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Trémeau, Fabien; Brady, Melissa; Saccente, Erica; Moreno, Alexis; Epstein, Henry; Citrome, Leslie; Malaspina, Dolores; Javitt, Daniel

2008-08-01

Loss aversion in decision-making refers to a higher sensitivity to losses than to gains. Loss aversion is conceived as an affective interference in cognitive processes such as judgment and decision-making. Loss aversion in non-risky choices has not been studied in schizophrenia. Forty-two individuals with schizophrenia and 42 non-patient control subjects, matched by gender and age, were randomized to two different scenarios (a buying scenario and a selling scenario). Subjects were asked to evaluate the price of a decorated mug. Schizophrenia subjects were re-tested four weeks later with the other scenario. Contrary to non-patient controls, schizophrenia subjects did not show loss aversion. In the schizophrenia group, absence of loss aversion was correlated with age, duration of illness, number of months in State hospitals, and poorer performance in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, but not with current psychopathology and two domains of emotional experience. Absence of loss aversion in schizophrenia represents a deficit in the processing of emotional information during decision-making. It can be interpreted as a lack of integration between the emotional and the cognitive systems, or to a more diffuse and de-differentiated impact of emotional information on decision-making. Future studies should bring more clarity to this question.

Reducing cardiovascular risk factors in non-selected outpatients with schizophrenia.

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Hansen, Mette Vinther; Hjorth, Peter; Kristiansen, Christina Blanner; Vandborg, Kirsten; Gustafsson, Lea Nørgaard; Munk-Jørgensen, Povl

2016-06-01

Cardiovascular diseases are the most common causes of premature death in patients with schizophrenia. We aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk factors in non-selected outpatients with schizophrenia using methods proven effective in short-term trials. Furthermore, we examined whether any baseline characteristics were associated with positive outcomes. All outpatients treated for schizophrenia at two Danish hospitals were included in this 1-year follow-up study. The patients were offered health interventions both individually and in groups. Weight, waist circumference, blood glucose, serum lipids, and information on smoking and alcohol were obtained. On average, small significant increases in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumferences were observed while small non-significant improvements in other cardiovascular risk factors were seen. Patients with high baseline BMI and patients with duration of treated illness beyond 2 years had significantly better intervention outcomes. Our results show that it was difficult to improve physical health in a group of non-selected patients with schizophrenia as part of routine care. The patients were not easily motivated to participate in the interventions, and it was difficult to monitor the recommended metabolic risk measures in the patient group. Future research should focus on simple strategies in health promotion that can be integrated into routine care. © The Author(s) 2016.

Predictors of early stable symptomatic remission after an exacerbation of schizophrenia: the significance of symptoms, neuropsychological performance and cognitive biases.

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Andreou, Christina; Roesch-Ely, Daniela; Veckenstedt, Ruth; Bohn, Francesca; Aghotor, Julia; Köther, Ulf; Pfueller, Ute; Moritz, Steffen

2013-12-30

Neuropsychological deficits and severity of initial psychopathology have been repeatedly associated with poor symptomatic outcomes in schizophrenia. The role of higher-order cognitive biases on symptomatic outcomes of the disorder has not yet been investigated. The present study aimed to assess the contribution of cognitive biases, psychopathology and neuropsychological deficits on the probability of achieving early symptomatic remission after a psychotic episode in patients with schizophrenia. Participants were 79 patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder undergoing an acute psychotic episode, and 25 healthy controls. According to psychopathology assessments, patients were split into those who had achieved remission after an average follow-up interval of 7 months, and those who had not (NR). Patients who achieved remission exhibited higher premorbid IQ and better performance on the TMT-B, as well as lower baseline positive, disorganized and distress symptoms than NR patients. TMT-B performance and positive symptoms at baseline were the best predictors of remission. Cognitive biases and negative symptoms were not associated with later remission. The findings highlight the significance of initial symptom severity for at least short-term symptomatic outcomes and, thus, the importance of adequate symptomatic treatment and prevention of psychotic outbreaks in patients. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alterations of white matter integrity related to the season of birth in schizophrenia: a DTI study.

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Stéphanie Giezendanner

Full Text Available In schizophrenia there is a consistent epidemiological finding of a birth excess in winter and spring. Season of birth is thought to act as a proxy indicator for harmful environmental factors during foetal maturation. There is evidence that prenatal exposure to harmful environmental factors may trigger pathologic processes in the neurodevelopment, which subsequently increase the risk of schizophrenia. Since brain white matter alterations have repeatedly been found in schizophrenia, the objective of this study was to investigate whether white matter integrity was related to the season of birth in patients with schizophrenia. Thirty-four patients with schizophrenia and 33 healthy controls underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Differences in the fractional anisotropy maps of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls born in different seasons were analysed with tract-based spatial statistics. A significant main effect of season of birth and an interaction of group and season of birth showed that patients born in summer had significantly lower fractional anisotropy in widespread white matter regions than those born in the remainder of the year. Additionally, later age of schizophrenia onset was found in patients born in winter months. The current findings indicate a relationship of season of birth and white matter alterations in schizophrenia and consequently support the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of early pathological mechanisms in schizophrenia.

Treatment patterns for schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia among Medicaid patients.

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Olfson, Mark; Marcus, Steven C; Wan, George J

2009-02-01

This study compared background characteristics, pharmacologic treatment, and service use of adults treated for schizoaffective disorder and adults treated for schizophrenia. Medicaid claims data from two states were analyzed with a focus on adults treated for schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia. Patient groups were compared regarding demographic characteristics, pharmacologic treatment, and health service use during 180 days before and after a claim for either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. A larger proportion of patients were treated for schizophrenia (N=38,760; 70.1%) than for schizoaffective disorder (N=16,570; 29.9%). During the 180 days before the index diagnosis claim, significantly more patients with schizoaffective disorder than those with schizophrenia were treated for depressive disorder (19.6% versus 11.4%, pschizoaffective disorder, 87.3%; schizophrenia, 87.0%), although patients with schizoaffective disorder were significantly more likely than patients with schizophrenia to receive antidepressants (61.7% versus 44.0%, pschizoaffective disorder were also significantly more likely than patients with schizophrenia to receive psychotherapy (23.4% versus 13.0%, pSchizoaffective disorder is commonly diagnosed among Medicaid beneficiaries. These patients often receive complex pharmacologic regimens, and many also receive treatment for mood disorders. Differences in service use patterns between schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia argue for separate consideration of their health care needs.

Polymorphisms of XRCC4 are involved in reduced colorectal cancer risk in Chinese schizophrenia patients

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Li Tao

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Genetic factors related to the regulation of apoptosis in schizophrenia patients may be involved in a reduced vulnerability to cancer. XRCC4 is one of the potential candidate genes associated with schizophrenia which might induce colorectal cancer resistance. Methods To examine the genetic association between colorectal cancer and schizophrenia, we analyzed five SNPs (rs6452526, rs2662238, rs963248, rs35268, rs2386275 covering ~205.7 kb in the region of XRCC4. Results We observed that two of the five genetic polymorphisms showed statistically significant differences between 312 colorectal cancer subjects without schizophrenia and 270 schizophrenia subjects (rs6452536, p = 0.004, OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.44-0.86; rs35268, p = 0.028, OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.05-2.26. Moreover, the haplotype which combined all five markers was the most significant, giving a global p = 0.0005. Conclusions Our data firstly indicate that XRCC4 may be a potential protective gene towards schizophrenia, conferring reduced susceptibility to colorectal cancer in the Han Chinese population.

Reading Emotions from Body Movement: A Generalized Impairment in Schizophrenia.

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Vaskinn, Anja; Sundet, Kjetil; Østefjells, Tiril; Nymo, Katharina; Melle, Ingrid; Ueland, Torill

2015-01-01

Body language reading is a social cognitive process with importance for successful maneuvering of social situations. In this study, we investigated body language reading as assessed with human point-light displays in participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (n = 84) compared to healthy control participants (n = 84), aiming to answer three questions: (1) whether persons with a diagnosis of schizophrenia have poorer body language reading abilities than healthy persons; (2) whether some emotions are easier to read from body language than others, and if this is the same for individuals with schizophrenia and healthy individuals, and (3) whether there are sex differences in body language reading in participants with schizophrenia and healthy participants. A fourth research aim concerned associations of body language reading with symptoms and functioning in participants with schizophrenia. Scores on the body language reading measure was first standardized using a separate sample of healthy control participants (n = 101). Further results showed that persons with schizophrenia had impaired body language reading ability compared to healthy persons. A significant effect of emotion indicated that some emotions (happiness, neutral) were easier to recognize and this was so for both individuals with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. There were no sex differences for either diagnostic group. Body language reading ability was not associated with symptoms or functioning. In conclusion; schizophrenia was characterized by a global impairment in body language reading that was present for all emotions and across sex.

Reading emotions from body movement: a generalized impairment in schizophrenia

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Anja eVaskinn

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Body language reading is a social cognitive process with importance for successful maneuvering of social situations. In this study, we investigated body language reading as assessed with human point-light displays in participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (n = 84 compared to healthy control participants (n = 84, aiming to answer three questions: 1 whether persons with a diagnosis of schizophrenia have poorer body language reading abilities than healthy persons; 2 whether some emotions are easier to read from body language than others, and if this is the same for individuals with schizophrenia and healthy individuals, and 3 whether there are sex differences in body language reading in participants with schizophrenia and healthy participants. A fourth research aim concerned associations of body language reading with symptoms and functioning in participants with schizophrenia. Scores on the body language reading measure was first standardized using a separate sample of healthy control participants (n = 101. Further results showed that persons with schizophrenia had impaired body language reading ability compared to healthy persons. A significant effect of emotion indicated that some emotions (happiness, neutral were easier to recognize and this was so for both individuals with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. There were no sex differences for either diagnostic group. Body language reading ability was not associated with symptoms or functioning. In conclusion; schizophrenia was characterized by a global impairment in body language reading that was present for all emotions and across sex.

Let-7, mir-98 and mir-183 as biomarkers for cancer and schizophrenia [corrected].

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Emmanouil Rizos

Full Text Available Recent evidence supports a role of microRNAs in cancer and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, through their regulatory role on the expression of multiple genes. The rather rare co-morbidity of cancer and schizophrenia is an old hypothesis which needs further research on microRNAs as molecules that might exert their oncosuppressive or oncogenic activity in the context of their role in psychiatric disorders. The expression pattern of a variety of different microRNAs was investigated in patients (N = 6 suffering from schizophrenia termed control, patients with a solid tumor (N = 10 and patients with both schizophrenia and tumor (N = 8. miRNA profiling was performed on whole blood samples using the miRCURY LNA microRNA Array technology (6th & 7th generation. A subset of 3 microRNAs showed a statistically significant differential expression between the control and the study groups. Specifically, significant down-regulation of the let-7p-5p, miR-98-5p and of miR-183-5p in the study groups (tumor alone and tumorand schizophrenia was observed (p<0.05. The results of the present study showed that let-7, miR-98 and miR-183 may play an important oncosuppressive role through their regulatory impact in gene expression irrespective of the presence of schizophrenia, although a larger sample size is required to validate these results. Nevertheless, further studies are warranted in order to highlight a possible role of these and other micro-RNAs in the molecular pathways of schizophrenia.

Interventions to reduce weight gain in schizophrenia.

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Faulkner, G; Cohn, T; Remington, G

2007-01-24

Weight gain is common for people with schizophrenia and this has serious implications for health and well being. To determine the effects of both pharmacological (excluding medication switching) and non pharmacological strategies for reducing or preventing weight gain in people with schizophrenia. We searched key databases and the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's trials register (April 2006), reference sections within relevant papers, hand searched key journals, and contacted the first author of each relevant study and other experts to collect further information. We included all clinical randomised controlled trials comparing any pharmacological or non pharmacological intervention for weight gain (diet and exercise counselling) with standard care or other treatments for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses. We reliably selected, quality assessed and extracted data from studies. As weight is a continuous outcome measurement, weighted mean differences (WMD) of the change from baseline were calculated. The primary outcome measure was weight loss. Twenty-three randomised controlled trials met the inclusion criteria for this review. Five trials assessed a cognitive/behavioural intervention and eighteen assessed a pharmacological adjunct. In terms of prevention, two cognitive/behavioural trials showed significant treatment effect (mean weight change) at end of treatment (n=104, 2 RCTs, WMD -3.38 kg CI -4.2 to -2.0). Pharmacological adjunct treatments were significant with a modest prevention of weight gain (n=274, 6 RCTs, WMD - 1.16 kg CI -1.9 to -0.4). In terms of treatments for weight loss, we found significantly greater weight reduction in the cognitive behavioural intervention group (n=129, 3 RCTs, WMD -1.69 kg CI -2.8 to -0.6) compared with standard care. Modest weight loss can be achieved with selective pharmacological and non pharmacological interventions. However, interpretation is limited by the small number of studies, small sample size

Expression of schizophrenia biomarkers in extraocular muscles from patients with strabismus: an explanation for the link between exotropia and schizophrenia?

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Andrea B. Agarwal

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Recent studies have implicated exotropia as a risk factor for schizophrenia. We determined whether schizophrenia biomarkers have abnormal levels of expression in extraocular muscles from patients with strabismus and explored whether differences in gene expression between medial and lateral rectus muscles may explain the specific association of schizophrenia with exotropia but not esotropia. Samples from horizontal extraocular muscles were obtained during strabismus surgery and compared with age- and muscle type-matched normal muscles from organ donors. We used PCR arrays to identify differences in gene expression among 417 signaling molecules. We then focused on established schizophrenia-related growth factors, cytokines, and regulators of the extracellular matrix. Among 36 genes with significantly altered gene expression in dysfunctional horizontal rectus muscles, over one third were schizophrenia-related: CTGF, CXCR4, IL1B, IL10RA, MIF, MMP2, NPY1R, NRG1, NTRK2, SERPINA3, TIMP1, TIMP2, and TNF (adjusted p value ≤ 0.016667. By PCR array, expression of three of these genes was significantly different in medial rectus muscles, while eleven were significantly altered in lateral rectus muscles. Comparing baseline levels between muscle types, three schizophrenia-related genes (NPY1R, NTRK2, TIMP2 had lower levels of expression in medial rectus muscles. Despite the surprisingly large number of schizophrenia-related genes with altered gene expression levels in dysfunctional muscles, the lack of specificity for medial rectus muscles undermines a model of shared, region-specific gene expression abnormalities between exotropia and schizophrenia, but rather suggests consideration of the alternative model: that exotropia-induced aberrant early visual experiences may enable and/or contribute as a causative factor to the development of schizophrenia.

Genetic evidence for the association between the early growth response 3 (EGR3 gene and schizophrenia.

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Rui Zhang

Full Text Available Recently, two genome scan meta-analysis studies have found strong evidence for the association of loci on chromosome 8p with schizophrenia. The early growth response 3 (EGR3 gene located in chromosome 8p21.3 was also found to be involved in the etiology of schizophrenia. However, subsequent studies failed to replicate this finding. To investigate the genetic role of EGR3 in Chinese patients, we genotyped four SNPs (average interval ∼2.3 kb in the chromosome region of EGR3 in 470 Chinese schizophrenia patients and 480 healthy control subjects. The SNP rs35201266 (located in intron 1 of EGR3 showed significant differences between cases and controls in both genotype frequency distribution (P = 0.016 and allele frequency distribution (P = 0.009. Analysis of the haplotype rs35201266-rs3750192 provided significant evidence for association with schizophrenia (P = 0.0012; a significant difference was found for the common haplotype AG (P = 0.0005. Furthermore, significant associations were also found in several other two-, and three-SNP tests of haplotype analyses. The meta-analysis revealed a statistically significant association between rs35201266 and schizophrenia (P = 0.0001. In summary, our study supports the association of EGR3 with schizophrenia in our Han Chinese sample, and further functional exploration of the EGR3 gene will contribute to the molecular basis for the complex network underlying schizophrenia pathogenesis.

Symptomatology and social inference: a theory of mind study of schizophrenia and psychotic affective disorder.

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Marjoram, Dominic; Gardner, Clare; Burns, Jonathan; Miller, Patrick; Lawrie, Stephen M; Johnstone, Eve C

2005-11-01

There is evidence that certain patients with schizophrenia have deficits in theory of mind (ToM) capabilities. It is, however, unclear whether these are symptom or diagnosis-specific. A ToM hinting task was given to 15 patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia, 15 patients with affective disorder and 15 healthy controls. Severity of the current psychopathology was measured using the Krawiecka standardised scale of psychotic symptoms (Krawiecka, Goldberg, & Vaughan, 1977); IQ was estimated via the Ammons and Ammons Quick Test (Ammons & Ammons, 1962). The group with schizophrenia performed significantly worse than the affective and control groups. Poor performance on the hinting task was found to be significantly related to the presence of positive symptoms (instead of negative ones) and specifically related to delusions and hallucinations. These findings remained when covariance for potentially confounding variables was applied. Individuals with high levels of delusions and hallucinations performed significantly worse on this ToM task, regardless of diagnosis, implying ToM impairment is not exclusive to schizophrenia but is evident in other forms of psychosis. Between-group analyses showed the schizophrenia group had a significantly poorer performance on this task than the others.

Stigma, schizophrenia and the media: exploring changes in the reporting of schizophrenia in major U.S. newspapers.

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Vahabzadeh, Arshya; Wittenauer, Justine; Carr, Erika

2011-11-01

Newspaper media are a major source of information about mental illness in the United States. Previous research has shown that some printed material has been both negative and stigmatizing, which can have a detrimental impact on individuals with mental illnesses. Such perceptions represented in the media may cause those with mental illnesses to internalize a negative and stigmatizing stereotype and hinder the public's understanding of mental illness. In recent years, advocacy groups have increased their efforts to combat stigmatization of those with mental illnesses. This study focused specifically on the use of stigmatizing language concerning schizophrenia in U.S. newspapers. Because advocacy to decrease stigmatization of mental illness has increased in recent years, this study compared media depictions of schizophrenia in 2000 and 2010 to determine if there had been a reduction in reporting of dangerousness and perpetration of crime by people with schizophrenia or in stigmatizing language. All articles published in five high-circulation newspapers from diverse urban geographical regions between January 1 and June 1 in 2000 and 2010 that contained the words "schizophrenia" or "schizophrenic" were reviewed. Articles were categorized under the categories of education, incidental reference, medical and pharmaceutical news, metaphorical use, charity, obituary, medically inappropriate, and human interest. Human interest articles were further subcategorized into advocacy, crimes committed by people with schizophrenia, crimes committed against those suffering from schizophrenia, and issues related to poor mental health care. There was a statistically significant decrease in reporting of crime committed by people with schizophrenia in 2010 compared with 2000. However, no significant difference was found in metaphorical usage of the terms schizophrenia and schizophrenic between 2000 and 2010.

The relationship between insight and subjective experience in schizophrenia

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Kako Y

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Yuki Kako, Koki Ito, Naoki Hashimoto, Kuniyoshi Toyoshima, Yusuke Shimizu, Nobuyuki Mitsui, Yutaka Fujii, Teruaki Tanaka, Ichiro Kusumi Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan Objectives: To examine the relationship between level of insight and various subjective experiences for patients with schizophrenia.Materials and methods: Seventy-four patients with schizophrenia who were discharged from our hospital were evaluated. The level of insight into their illness and various subjective experiences were evaluated at discharge. We used the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD for evaluation of insight. In addition, five different rating scales were used to evaluate subjective experiences: Subjective Experience of Deficits in Schizophrenia (SEDS, Subjective Well-being under Neuroleptic drug treatment Short form (SWNS, Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI, and the Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-30.Results: The SWNS and the scores for awareness of mental disorder and awareness of the social consequences of mental disorder on SUMD showed a weak positive correlation. The DAI-30 showed a significant negative correlation with most general items on SUMD and a negative correlation between the subscale scores for the awareness and attribution of past symptoms. SEDS, SWNS, SQLS, and the BDI significantly correlated with the subscale scores for awareness of current symptoms on SUMD, and weakly correlated with the subscale scores for attribution of current negative symptoms.Conclusion: Awareness of subjective distress was related to awareness of having a mental disorder. Feeling subjective distress was related to awareness of current symptoms, as well as to the ability to attribute current negative symptoms to a mental disorder. Positive attitudes toward medication correlated with better general insight into the illness. Keywords: schizophrenia, insight

Effect of aripiprazole on mismatch negativity (MMN in schizophrenia.

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Zhenhe Zhou

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Cognitive deficits are considered core symptoms of the schizophrenia. Cognitive function has been found to be a better predictor of functional outcome than symptom levels. Changed mismatch negativity (MMN reflects abnormalities of early auditory processing in schizophrenia. Up to now, no studies for the effects of aripiprazole on MMN in schizophrenia have been reported. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Subjects included 26 patients with schizophrenia, and 26 controls. Psychopathology was rated in patients with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS at baseline, after 4- and 8-week treatments with aripiprazole. Auditory stimuli for ERP consisted of 100 millisecond/1000 Hz standards, intermixed with 100 millisecond/1500 Hz frequency deviants and 250 millisecond/1000 Hz duration deviants. EEG was recorded at Fz. BESA 5.1.8 was used to perform data analysis. MMN waveforms were obtained by subtracting waveforms elicited by standards from waveforms elicited by frequency- or duration-deviant stimuli. Aripiprazole decreased all PANSS. Patients showed smaller mean amplitudes of frequency and duration MMN at baseline than did controls. A repeated measure ANOVA with sessions (i.e., baseline, 4- and 8-week treatments and MMN type (frequency vs. duration as within-subject factors revealed no significant MMN type or MMN type × session main effect for MMN amplitudes. Session main effect was significant. LSD tests demonstrated significant differences between MMN amplitudes at 8 weeks and those at both baseline and 4 weeks. There was significant negative correlation between changes in amplitudes of frequency and duration MMN and changes in PANSS total scores at baseline and follow-up periods. CONCLUSIONS: Aripiprazole improved the amplitudes of MMN. MMN offers objective evidence that treatment with the aripiprazole may ameliorate preattentive deficits in schizophrenia.

Frontal-striatum dysfunction during reward processing: Relationships to amotivation in schizophrenia.

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Chung, Yu Sun; Barch, Deanna M

2016-04-01

Schizophrenia is characterized by deficits of context processing, thought to be related to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) impairment. Despite emerging evidence suggesting a crucial role of the DLPFC in integrating reward and goal information, we do not know whether individuals with schizophrenia can represent and integrate reward-related context information to modulate cognitive control. To address this question, 36 individuals with schizophrenia (n = 29) or schizoaffective disorder (n = 7) and 27 healthy controls performed a variant of a response conflict task (Padmala & Pessoa, 2011) during fMRI scanning, in both baseline and reward conditions, with monetary incentives on some reward trials. We used a mixed state-item design that allowed us to examine both sustained and transient reward effects on cognitive control. Different from predictions about impaired DLPFC function in schizophrenia, we found an intact pattern of increased sustained DLPFC activity during reward versus baseline blocks in individuals with schizophrenia at a group level but blunted sustained activations in the putamen. Contrary to our predictions, individuals with schizophrenia showed blunted cue-related activations in several regions of the basal ganglia responding to reward-predicting cues. Importantly, as predicted, individual differences in anhedonia/amotivation symptoms severity were significantly associated with reduced sustained DLPFC activation in the same region that showed overall increased activity as a function of reward. These results suggest that individual differences in motivational impairments in schizophrenia may be related to dysfunction of the DLPFC and striatum in motivationally salient situations. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Schizophrenia patients differentiation based on MR vascular perfusion and volumetric imaging

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Spanier, A. B.; Joskowicz, L.; Moshel, S.; Israeli, D.

2015-03-01

Candecomp/Parafac Decomposition (CPD) has emerged as a framework for modeling N-way arrays (higher-order matrices). CPD is naturally well suited for the analysis of data sets comprised of observations of a function of multiple discrete indices. In this study we evaluate the prospects of using CPD for modeling MRI brain properties (i.e. brain volume and gray-level) for schizophrenia diagnosis. Taking into account that 3D imaging data consists of millions of pixels per patient, the diagnosis of a schizophrenia patient based on pixel analysis constitutes a methodological challenge (e.g. multiple comparison problem). We show that the CPD could potentially be used as a dimensionality redaction method and as a discriminator between schizophrenia patients and match control, using the gradient of pre- and post Gd-T1-weighted MRI data, which is strongly correlated with cerebral blood perfusion. Our approach was tested on 68 MRI scans: 40 first-episode schizophrenia patients and 28 matched controls. The CPD subject's scores exhibit statistically significant result (P schizophrenia with MRI, the results suggest that the CPD could potentially be used to discriminate between schizophrenia patients and matched control. In addition, the CPD model suggests for brain regions that might exhibit abnormalities in schizophrenia patients for future research.

Schizophrenia and chromosomal deletions

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Lindsay, E.A.; Baldini, A. [Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (United States); Morris, M. A. [Univ. of Geneva School of Medicine, NY (United States)] [and others

1995-06-01

Recent genetic linkage analysis studies have suggested the presence of a schizophrenia locus on the chromosomal region 22q11-q13. Schizophrenia has also been frequently observed in patients affected with velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS), a disorder frequently associated with deletions within 22q11.1. It has been hypothesized that psychosis in VCFS may be due to deletion of the catechol-o-methyl transferase gene. Prompted by these observations, we screened for 22q11 deletions in a population of 100 schizophrenics selected from the Maryland Epidemiological Sample. Our results show that there are schizophrenic patients carrying a deletion of 22q11.1 and a mild VCFS phenotype that might remain unrecognized. These findings should encourage a search for a schizophrenia-susceptibility gene within the deleted region and alert those in clinical practice to the possible presence of a mild VCFS phenotype associated with schizophrenia. 9 refs.

Impaired coherence of life narratives of patients with schizophrenia.

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Allé, Mélissa C; Potheegadoo, Jevita; Köber, Christin; Schneider, Priscille; Coutelle, Romain; Habermas, Tilmann; Danion, Jean-Marie; Berna, Fabrice

2015-08-10

Self-narratives of patients have received increasing interest in schizophrenia since they offer unique material to study patients' subjective experience related to their illness, in particular the alteration of self that accompanies schizophrenia. In this study, we investigated the life narratives and the ability to integrate and bind memories of personal events into a coherent narrative in 27 patients with schizophrenia and 26 controls. Four aspects of life narratives were analyzed: coherence with cultural concept of biography, temporal coherence, causal-motivational coherence and thematic coherence. Results showed that in patients cultural biographical knowledge is preserved, whereas temporal coherence is partially impaired. Furthermore, causal-motivational and thematic coherence are significantly impaired: patients have difficulties explaining how events have modeled their identity, and integrating different events along thematic lines. Impairment of global causal-motivational and thematic coherence was significantly correlated with patients' executive dysfunction, suggesting that cognitive impairment observed in patients could affect their ability to construct a coherent narrative of their life by binding important events to their self. This study provides new understanding of the cognitive deficits underlying self-disorders in patients with schizophrenia. Our findings suggest the potential usefulness of developing new therapeutic interventions to improve autobiographical reasoning skills.

Emotional intelligence and non-social cognition in schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder.

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Frajo-Apor, B; Kemmler, G; Pardeller, S; Plass, T; Mühlbacher, M; Welte, A-S; Fleischhacker, W W; Hofer, A

2017-01-01

The different patterns of Emotional Intelligence (EI) deficits in schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder are are not yet well understood. This study compares EI levels among these groups and highlights the potential impact of non-social cognition on EI. Fifty-eight schizophrenia and 60 bipolar outpatients were investigated using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). Analyses of covariance were performed with adjustment for the BACS composite score. Compared to bipolar subjects, schizophrenia patients showed significantly lower levels in both EI and non-social cognition. After adjustment for the BACS composite score, the difference in EI was lost. The mediation analysis revealed that differences between schizophrenia and bipolar patients in strategic EI are almost fully attributable to the mediating effect of non-social cognition. Our findings suggest that in both schizophrenia and bipolar patients EI is strongly influenced by non-social cognitive functioning. This has to be taken into account when interpreting MSCEIT data in comparative studies in serious mental illness and emphasizes the importance of cognitive remediation.

Word and nonword repetition in patients with Schizophrenia

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Alireza Farnam

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The assessment of the verbal repetition is important in the study of acquired language disorders and neuropsychology. It is helpful in differential diagnosis of aphasia subtypes, auditory breakdowns, and working memory (WM performance. Though different linguistic disorders have been identified in patients with schizophrenia, very little is known about their verbal repetition ability. Methods: The present study was conducted in the inpatient ward of Razi Psychiatric Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran, during the year 2013. Participants were: 30 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia during the maintenance phase of treatment and 30 healthy people as control group. They were asked to repeat 15 words and 15 nonwords immediately. The stimuli were 1, 2, and 3 syllabic in Turkish language. Any incorrect repetition scored 1 and correct repetitions scored 0. Lexicalization errors were compared between groups too. Results: Both groups repeated words better than nonwords. Patients showed lower ability to repeat nonwords than controls, especially in 3 syllabics. There was no significant difference in the repetition of words between groups though it was better in controls. Patients with schizophrenia made more errors in both words and nonwords and lexicalization errors were twice more. Conclusion: Lower ability to repeat nonwords (than words in patients with schizophrenia may show the involvement of phonological loop of WM. More lexicalization errors may take place because of dis-inhibition.

The Role of Inflammation in Schizophrenia

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Norbert eMüller

2015-10-01

Full Text Available AbstractHigh levels of pro-inflammatory substances such as cytokines have been described in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenia patients. Animal models of schizophrenia show that under certain conditions an immune disturbance during early life, such as an infection-triggered immune activation, might trigger lifelong increased immune reactivity. A large epidemiological study clearly demonstrated that severe infections and autoimmune disorders are risk factors for schizophrenia. Genetic studies have shown a strong signal for schizophrenia on chromosome 6p22.1, in a region related to the human leucocyte antigen (HLA system and other immune functions. Another line of evidence demonstrates that chronic (disstress is associated with immune activation. The vulnerability-stress-inflammation model of schizophrenia includes the contribution of stress on the basis of increased genetic vulnerability for the pathogenesis

Parental psychiatric hospitalisation and offspring schizophrenia

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Sørensen, Holger J; Mortensen, Erik L; Reinisch, June M

2009-01-01

The risk of schizophrenia has been linked with a family history of schizophrenia and less strongly with other psychiatric disorders in family members. Using data from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort and from the Danish Psychiatric Case Register, we studied the relationship between offspring risk...... of schizophrenia and a range of psychotic and non-psychotic psychiatric diagnoses in parents. Psychiatric admission data after 1969 were available for 7047 cohort members born between 1959 and 1961, and for 7006 mothers and 6993 fathers. Univariate analysis showed that neurosis, alcohol and substance dependence...... in both parents were associated with elevated risk of offspring schizophrenia; in addition, maternal schizophrenia, affective disorder and personality disorder were associated with elevated risk. Controlling for parental age, parental social status, and parental psychiatric co-diagnosis, offspring risk...

Brain structure in schizophrenia vs. psychotic bipolar I disorder: A VBM study.

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Nenadic, Igor; Maitra, Raka; Langbein, Kerstin; Dietzek, Maren; Lorenz, Carsten; Smesny, Stefan; Reichenbach, Jürgen R; Sauer, Heinrich; Gaser, Christian

2015-07-01

While schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have been assumed to share phenotypic and genotypic features, there is also evidence for overlapping brain structural correlates, although it is unclear whether these relate to shared psychotic features. In this study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM8) in 34 schizophrenia patients, 17 euthymic bipolar I disorder patients (with a history of psychotic symptoms), and 34 healthy controls. Our results indicate that compared to healthy controls schizophrenia patients show grey matter deficits (pright dorsolateral prefrontal, as well as bilaterally in ventrolateral prefrontal and insular cortical areas, thalamus (bilaterally), left superior temporal cortex, and minor medial parietal and parietooccipital areas. Comparing schizophrenia vs. bipolar I patients (pleft dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and left cerebellum. Compared to healthy controls, the deficits in bipolar I patients only reached significance at prights reserved.

Schizophrenia and vitamin D related genes could have been subject to latitude-driven adaptation.

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Amato, Roberto; Pinelli, Michele; Monticelli, Antonella; Miele, Gennaro; Cocozza, Sergio

2010-11-11

Many natural phenomena are directly or indirectly related to latitude. Living at different latitudes, indeed, has its consequences with being exposed to different climates, diets, light/dark cycles, etc. In humans, one of the best known examples of genetic traits following a latitudinal gradient is skin pigmentation. Nevertheless, also several diseases show latitudinal clinals such as hypertension, cancer, dismetabolic conditions, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and many more. We investigated, for the first time on a wide genomic scale, the latitude-driven adaptation phenomena. In particular, we selected a set of genes showing signs of latitude-dependent population differentiation. The biological characterization of these genes showed enrichment for neural-related processes. In light of this, we investigated whether genes associated to neuropsychiatric diseases were enriched by Latitude-Related Genes (LRGs). We found a strong enrichment of LRGs in the set of genes associated to schizophrenia. In an attempt to try to explain this possible link between latitude and schizophrenia, we investigated their associations with vitamin D. We found in a set of vitamin D related genes a significant enrichment of both LRGs and of genes involved in schizophrenia. Our results suggest a latitude-driven adaptation for both schizophrenia and vitamin D related genes. In addition we confirm, at a molecular level, the link between schizophrenia and vitamin D. Finally, we discuss a model in which schizophrenia is, at least partly, a maladaptive by-product of latitude dependent adaptive changes in vitamin D metabolism.

Amusia and protolanguage impairments in schizophrenia.

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Kantrowitz, J T; Scaramello, N; Jakubovitz, A; Lehrfeld, J M; Laukka, P; Elfenbein, H A; Silipo, G; Javitt, D C

2014-10-01

Both language and music are thought to have evolved from a musical protolanguage that communicated social information, including emotion. Individuals with perceptual music disorders (amusia) show deficits in auditory emotion recognition (AER). Although auditory perceptual deficits have been studied in schizophrenia, their relationship with musical/protolinguistic competence has not previously been assessed. Musical ability was assessed in 31 schizophrenia/schizo-affective patients and 44 healthy controls using the Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA). AER was assessed using a novel battery in which actors provided portrayals of five separate emotions. The Disorganization factor of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used as a proxy for language/thought disorder and the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used to assess cognition. Highly significant deficits were seen between patients and controls across auditory tasks (p amusia and intact music-perceiving groups, which remained significant after controlling for group status and education. Correlations with AER were specific to the melody domain, and correlations between protolanguage (melody domain) and language were independent of overall cognition. This is the first study to document a specific relationship between amusia, AER and thought disorder, suggesting a shared linguistic/protolinguistic impairment. Once amusia was considered, other cognitive factors were no longer significant predictors of AER, suggesting that musical ability in general and melodic discrimination ability in particular may be crucial targets for treatment development and cognitive remediation in schizophrenia.

Association of the IFN-γ (+874A/T) Genetic Polymorphism with Paranoid Schizophrenia in Tunisian Population.

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Jemli, Achraf; Eshili, Awatef; Trifa, Fatma; Mechri, Anouar; Zaafrane, Ferid; Gaha, Lotfi; Juckel, George; Tensaout, Besma Bel Hadj Jrad

2017-02-01

Since growing evidence suggests a significant role of chronic low-grade inflammation in the physiopathology of schizophrenia, we have hypothesized that functional genetic variant of the IFN gamma (IFN-γ; +874A/T; rs2430561) gene may be involved in the predisposition to schizophrenia. This research is based on a case-control study which aims to identify whether polymorphism of the IFN-γ gene is a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. The RFLP-PCR genotyping of the IFN-γ gene was conducted on a Tunisian population composed of 218 patients and 162 controls. The IFN-γ (+874A/T) polymorphism analysis showed higher frequencies of minor homozygous genotype (TT) and allele (T) in all patients compared with controls (11.5 vs. 4.9%; p = 0.03, OR = 2.64 and 30.7 vs. 24.1%, p = 0.04, OR = 1.4, respectively). This correlation was confirmed for male but not for female patients. Also, the T allele was significantly more common among patients with paranoid schizophrenia when compared with controls (25.8 vs. 4.9%, p = 0.0001; OR = 6.7). Using the binary regression analysis to eliminate confounding factors as age and sex, only this last association remained significant (p = 0.03; OR = 1.76, CI = 1.05-2.93). In conclusion, our results showed a significant association between +874A/T polymorphism of IFN-γ and paranoid schizophrenia, suggesting that this single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) or another at proximity could predispose to paranoid schizophrenia. Since the minor allele of this polymorphism was correlated with an increased expression of their product, our study validates the hypothesis of excessive pro-inflammatory cytokine in the physiopathology of paranoid schizophrenia.

Association of gliadin antibodies, HLA alleles, and schizophrenia in Cuban population patients

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José A. Galván

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Several lines of evidence have suggested an interesting link between gluten ingestion and schizophrenia. For example, increased levels of gliadin and transglutaminase antibodies have been observed in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: To verify these observations we compared the prevalence of gliadin and transglutaminse antibodies, as well as the presence of the HLA alleles, HLA DQA1*0501-DQB1*02 (DQ2 and HLA-DQA1*0301-DQB1*0302 (DQ8, among patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. A total of 108 patients with schizophrenia and 60 healthy controls were evaluated. Gliadin antibodies were determined by a visual semiquantitative assay and tissue transglutaminase antibodies were determined both by one-step immunochromatografic assay and ELISA. HLA typing was performed by PCR amplification using sequence-specific primers for each allele. Results: We found a strong association between the presence of gliadin antibodies and schizophrenia (OR 3.488; 95% CI, 1.43-8.44. However, tissue transglutaminase antibodies were not detected in either group neither by immunochromatograpic or ELISA. No significant association was found for the DQ2 or DQ8 heterodimer and the disease, but a significant positive association between schizophrenia and HLA alleles DQA1*0301 and DQB1*02 was present (OR = 2.80; 95% CI, 1.27-6.17, and OR = 2.37, 95% CI, 1.24-4.53, respectively. Conclusions: The present study showed that the presence of gliadin antibodies was not correlated with the presence of HLA DQA1*0301 or DQB1*02 alleles within the group of patients with schizophrenia. Our study replicates the findings that anti-gliadin antibodies are associated with schizophrenia but also suggests that the presence of these antibodies and the HLA alleles DQB1*02 and DQA1*0301 are independently associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia.

Whole-genome sequencing of monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia indicates multiple genetic risk factors for schizophrenia

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Jinsong Tang; Fan He; Fengyu Zhang; Yin Yao Shugart; Chunyu Liu; Yanqing Tang; Raymond C.K.Chan; Chuan-Yue Wang; Yong-Gang Yao; Xiaogang Chen; Yu Fan; Hong Li; Qun Xiang; Deng-Feng Zhang; Zongchang Li; Ying He; Yanhui Liao; Ya Wang

2017-01-01

Schizophrenia is a common disorder with a high heritability,but its genetic architecture is still elusive.We implemented whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis of 8 families with monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia to assess potential association of de novo mutations (DNMs) or inherited variants with susceptibility to schizophrenia.Eight non-synonymous DNMs (including one splicing site) were identified and shared by twins,which were either located in previously reported schizophrenia risk genes (p.V24689I mutation in TTN,p.S2506T mutation in GCN1L1,IVS3+1G ＞ T in DOCK1) or had a benign to damaging effect according to in silico prediction analysis.By searching the inherited rare damaging or loss-of-function (LOF) variants and common susceptible alleles from three classes of schizophrenia candidate genes,we were able to distill genetic alterations in several schizophrenia risk genes,including GAD1,PLXNA2,RELN and FEZ1.Four inherited copy number variations (CNVs;including a large deletion at 16p13.11) implicated for schizophrenia were identified in four families,respectively.Most of families carried both missense DNMs and inherited risk variants,which might suggest that DNMs,inherited rare damaging variants and common risk alleles together conferred to schizophrenia susceptibility.Our results support that schizophrenia is caused by a combination of multiple genetic factors,with each DNM/variant showing a relatively small effect size.

Stimulus-dependent effects on right ear advantage in schizophrenia

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Smucny J

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Jason Smucny,1,3 Korey Wylie,3 Jason Tregellas1–31Neuroscience Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 2Research Science, Denver VA Medical, Center, 3Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USABackground: When presented with different sounds in each ear (dichotic listening, healthy subjects typically show a preference for stimuli heard in the right ear, an effect termed "right ear advantage". Previous studies examining right ear advantage in schizophrenia have been inconsistent, showing either decreased or increased advantage relative to comparison subjects. Given evidence for enhanced semantic processing in schizophrenia, some of this inconsistency may be due to the type of stimuli presented (words or syllables. The present study examined right ear advantage in patients and controls using both words and syllables as stimuli.Methods: Right ear advantage was compared between 20 patients with schizophrenia and 17 healthy controls. Two versions of the task were used, ie, a consonant-vowel pairing task and a fused rhymed words task.Results: A significant group × task interaction was observed. Relative to healthy controls, patients showed a greater difference on the syllable-based task compared with the word-based task. The number of distractors marked during the syllable-based task was inversely correlated with score on the Global Assessment of Function Scale.Conclusion: The findings are consistent with a left hemisphere dysfunction in schizophrenia, but also suggest that differences may be stimulus-specific, with a relative sparing of the deficit in the context of word stimuli. Performance may be related to measures of social, occupational, and psychological function.Keywords: schizophrenia, right ear advantage, dichotic, distraction

Inflammation in Patients with Schizophrenia: the Therapeutic Benefits of Risperidone Plus Add-On Dextromethorphan

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Chen, Shiou-Lan; Lee, Sheng-Yu; Chang, Yun-Hsuan; Chen, Shih-Heng; Chu, Chun-Hsieh; Tzeng, Nian-Sheng; Lee, I-Hui; Chen, Po-See; Yeh, Tzung Lieh; Huang, San-Yuan; Yang, Yen-Kuang; Lu, Ru-Band; Hong, Jau-Shyong

2013-01-01

Objectives Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation contributes to the etiology and progression of schizophrenia. Molecules that initiate inflammation, such as virus- and toxin-induced cytokines, are implicated in neuronal degeneration and schizophrenia-like behavior. Using therapeutic agents with anti-inflammatory or neurotrophic effects may be beneficial for treating schizophrenia. Methods One hundred healthy controls and 95 Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia were tested in this double-blind study. Their PANSS scores, plasma interleukin (IL)-1β, TNF-α and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels were measured before and after pharmacological treatment. Results Pretreatment, plasma levels of IL-1β and TNF-α were significantly higher in patients with schizophrenia than in controls, but plasma BDNF levels were significantly lower. Patients were treated with the atypical antipsychotic risperidone (Risp) only or with Risp+add-on dextromethorphan (DM). PANSS scores and plasma IL-1β levels significantly decreased, but plasma TNF-α and BDNF levels significantly increased after 11 weeks of Risp treatment. Patients in the Risp+DM group showed a greater and earlier reduction of symptoms than did those in the Risp-only group. Moreover, Risp+DM treatment attenuated Risp-induced plasma increases in TNF-α. Conclusion Patients with schizophrenia had a high level of peripheral inflammation and a low level of peripheral BDNF. Long-term Risp treatment attenuated inflammation and potentiated the neurotrophic function but also produced a certain degree of toxicity. Risp+DM was more beneficial and less toxic than Risp-only treatment. PMID:22730040

Relationship between insight and theory of mind in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.

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Bora, Emre

2017-12-01

Poor insight in schizophrenia has been associated with executive dysfunction and deficits in general cognitive ability. The overall outcome of available neurocognitive studies suggests that there is a significant but modest relationship between cognitive deficits and poor insight in schizophrenia. However, social cognitive abilities, particularly, theory of mind (ToM), might also play a role in poor insight in schizophrenia. A novel meta-analysis of the relationship between ToM and insight in schizophrenia was conducted. Current meta-analysis included 16 studies including 1085 patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. There was a significant association between ToM and clinical insight (r=0.28, CI=0.20-0.36). By contrast, there was no significant relationship between ToM and cognitive insight. Current findings suggest that there is a small but significant relationship between ToM and clinical insight in schizophrenia. ToM impairment is one of the factors contributing to poor insight in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Paranoid Schizophrenia versus Schizoaffective Disorder: Neuropsychological Aspects.

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Leposavić, Ljubica; Leposavić, Ivana; Šaula-Marojević, Bijana; Gavrilović, Predrag

2015-01-01

Neuropsychological aspects of paranoid schizophrenia have still not been examined enough.These disorders are usually not studied separately, but are included in the studies about schizophrenic patients with positive symptoms. Despite the fact that schizophrenia represents a heterogeneous group of mental disorders, usually it is not separated from schizoaffective disorder in neuropsychological researches. The essence of this research is to evaluate cognitive functioning of patients with paranoid schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder by applying neuropsychological tests. The research included 91 subjects, right handed, from 30 to 53 years old, who were classified into three groups: inpatients with paranoid schizophrenia in remission (n=31), inpatients with schizoaffective disorder in remission (n=30) and healthy subjects (n=30). Both groups of patients showed poorer achievements than healthy subjects in most of the applied tests. Patients with schizoaffective disorder showed global loss of intellectual efficiency, executive dysfunction and compromised visual-construction organization. Patients with paranoid schizophrenia expressed partial loss of intellectual efficiency with verbal IQ and executive functions preserved. In the remission phase, patients with paranoid schizophrenia expressed cognitive disorders in moderate degree, but when it comes to patients with schizoaffective disorder, more massive cognitive, deficits were registered.

Adjunctive raloxifene treatment improves attention and memory in men and women with schizophrenia.

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Weickert, T W; Weinberg, D; Lenroot, R; Catts, S V; Wells, R; Vercammen, A; O'Donnell, M; Galletly, C; Liu, D; Balzan, R; Short, B; Pellen, D; Curtis, J; Carr, V J; Kulkarni, J; Schofield, P R; Weickert, C S

2015-06-01

There is increasing clinical and molecular evidence for the role of hormones and specifically estrogen and its receptor in schizophrenia. A selective estrogen receptor modulator, raloxifene, stimulates estrogen-like activity in brain and can improve cognition in older adults. The present study tested the extent to which adjunctive raloxifene treatment improved cognition and reduced symptoms in young to middle-age men and women with schizophrenia. Ninety-eight patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited into a dual-site, thirteen-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of adjunctive raloxifene treatment in addition to their usual antipsychotic medications. Symptom severity and cognition in the domains of working memory, attention/processing speed, language and verbal memory were assessed at baseline, 6 and 13 weeks. Analyses of the initial 6-week phase of the study using a parallel groups design (with 39 patients receiving placebo and 40 receiving raloxifene) revealed that participants receiving adjunctive raloxifene treatment showed significant improvement relative to placebo in memory and attention/processing speed. There was no reduction in symptom severity with treatment compared with placebo. There were significant carryover effects, suggesting some cognitive benefits are sustained even after raloxifene withdrawal. Analysis of the 13-week crossover data revealed significant improvement with raloxifene only in attention/processing speed. This is the first study to show that daily, oral adjunctive raloxifene treatment at 120 mg per day has beneficial effects on attention/processing speed and memory for both men and women with schizophrenia. Thus, raloxifene may be useful as an adjunctive treatment for cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.

Rethinking schizophrenia.

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Insel, Thomas R

2010-11-11

How will we view schizophrenia in 2030? Schizophrenia today is a chronic, frequently disabling mental disorder that affects about one per cent of the world's population. After a century of studying schizophrenia, the cause of the disorder remains unknown. Treatments, especially pharmacological treatments, have been in wide use for nearly half a century, yet there is little evidence that these treatments have substantially improved outcomes for most people with schizophrenia. These current unsatisfactory outcomes may change as we approach schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental disorder with psychosis as a late, potentially preventable stage of the illness. This 'rethinking' of schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental disorder, which is profoundly different from the way we have seen this illness for the past century, yields new hope for prevention and cure over the next two decades.

Exploring cognitive complaints in schizophrenia: the subjective scale to investigate cognition in schizophrenia.

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Stip, E; Caron, J; Renaud, S; Pampoulova, T; Lecomte, Y

2003-01-01

While it has become commonplace to test the various components of memory in schizophrenia with paper-and-pencil or in-lab tasks, very little data exist on the subjective complaints of patients regarding their memory. Few instruments have been designed to collect systematically the complaints of patients with schizophrenia. We present a work in progress on the Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Schizophrenia (SSTICS), a 21-item, Likert-type scale that is simple and easy to use. It allows a quantitative approach to the subjective and cognitive dimensions of schizophrenia. Stip constructed the scale based on a questionnaire covering several cognitive domains: memory (working memory, explicit long-term memory), attention (divided, distractibility, alertness, sustained), language, and praxia. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the SSTICS in a population of 114 French-speaking patients in Montreal. Patients were recruited in the community and assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and the Extrapyramidal Symptoms Rating Scale (ESRS). Cognition was measured using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) (long-term memory), Controlled Oral Word Association Test (verbal fluency), and Trails A and B. Preliminary analyses showed very good internal consistency for the global score (alpha=0.88), and alphas varying from 0.57 to 0.72 for the subscales. Stability over time was very good. The principal components analysis accounted for a multiple structure. Correlations between subjective scores and objective cognitive assessment were significant for several domains. Validation of the SSTICS needs to be completed through further exploration of the factorial structure and testing of the English version.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Expression in Individuals With Schizophrenia and Healthy Aging: Testing the Accelerated Aging Hypothesis of Schizophrenia.

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Islam, Farhana; Mulsant, Benoit H; Voineskos, Aristotle N; Rajji, Tarek K

2017-07-01

Schizophrenia has been hypothesized to be a syndrome of accelerated aging. Brain plasticity is vulnerable to the normal aging process and affected in schizophrenia: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important neuroplasticity molecule. The present review explores the accelerated aging hypothesis of schizophrenia by comparing changes in BDNF expression in schizophrenia with aging-associated changes. Individuals with schizophrenia show patterns of increased overall mortality, metabolic abnormalities, and cognitive decline normally observed later in life in the healthy population. An overall decrease is observed in BDNF expression in schizophrenia compared to healthy controls and in older individuals compared to a younger cohort. There is a marked decrease in BDNF levels in the frontal regions and in the periphery among older individuals and those with schizophrenia; however, data for BDNF expression in the occipital, parietal, and temporal cortices and the hippocampus is inconclusive. Accelerated aging hypothesis is supported based on frontal regions and peripheral studies; however, further studies are needed in other brain regions.

Laterality and mental disorders in the postgenomic age--A closer look at schizophrenia and language lateralization.

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Ocklenburg, Sebastian; Güntürkün, Onur; Hugdahl, Kenneth; Hirnstein, Marco

2015-12-01

Most people are right-handed and show left-hemispheric language lateralization, but a minority exhibits left-handedness and right-hemispheric language lateralization. This atypical laterality pattern is observed significantly more often in schizophrenia patients than in the general population, which led several authors to conclude that there is a genetic link between laterality and schizophrenia. It has even been suggested that a failure in the lateralization process, orchestrated by genes, could be the primary cause of schizophrenia. However, the molecular genetic evidence for a link between laterality and schizophrenia is weak. Recent genetic evidence indicates that schizophrenia is not a single disorder but a group of heritable disorders caused by different genotypic networks leading to distinct clinical symptoms. To uncover the link between schizophrenia and laterality we therefore suggest a paradigm shift where genetics are not mapped on schizophrenia as a whole but on discrete schizophrenia symptoms. In addition, we provide a critical evaluation of current theories on the genetic link between schizophrenia and brain asymmetry. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Decision-making and schizophrenia].

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Adida, M; Maurel, M; Kaladjian, A; Fakra, E; Lazerges, P; Da Fonseca, D; Belzeaux, R; Cermolacce, M; Azorin, J-M

2011-12-01

Abnormalities involving the prefrontal cortex (PFC) have long been postulated to underpin the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Investigations of PFC integrity have focused mainly on the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) and abnormalities in this region have been extensively documented. However, defects in schizophrenia may extend to other prefrontal regions, including the ventromedial PFC (VMPFC), and evidence of VMPFC abnormalities comes from neuropathological, structural and functional studies. Patients with acquired brain injury to the VMPFC display profound disruption of social behaviour and poor judgment in their personal lives. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) was developed to assess decision-making in these neurological cases : it presents a series of 100 choices from four card decks that differ in the distribution of rewarding and punishing outcomes. Whilst healthy volunteers gradually develop a preference for the two "safe" decks over the course of the task, patients with VMPFC lesions maintain a preference for the two "risky" decks which are associated with high reinforcement in the short term, but significant long-term debt. Interestingly, damage to VMPFC may cause both poor performance on the IGT and lack of insight concerning the acquired personality modification. Recently, our group reported a trait-related decisionmaking impairment in the three phases of bipolar disorder. In a PET study, VMPFC dysfunction was shown in bipolar manic patients impaired on a decision-making task and an association between decision-making cognition and lack of insight was described in mania. A quantitative association between grey matter volume of VMPFC and memory impairment was previously reported in schizophrenia. Research suggests that lack of insight is a prevalent feature in schizophrenia patients, like auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, and disorganized speech and thinking. Because schizophrenia is associated with significant social or occupational

Population-specific haplotype association of the postsynaptic density gene DLG4 with schizophrenia, in family-based association studies.

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Shabeesh Balan

Full Text Available The post-synaptic density (PSD of glutamatergic synapses harbors a multitude of proteins critical for maintaining synaptic dynamics. Alteration of protein expression levels in this matrix is a marked phenomenon of neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, where cognitive functions are impaired. To investigate the genetic relationship of genes expressed in the PSD with schizophrenia, a family-based association analysis of genetic variants in PSD genes such as DLG4, DLG1, PICK1 and MDM2, was performed, using Japanese samples (124 pedigrees, n = 376 subjects. Results showed a significant association of the rs17203281 variant from the DLG4 gene, with preferential transmission of the C allele (p = 0.02, although significance disappeared after correction for multiple testing. Replication analysis of this variant, found no association in a Chinese schizophrenia cohort (293 pedigrees, n = 1163 subjects or in a Japanese case-control sample (n = 4182 subjects. The DLG4 expression levels between postmortem brain samples from schizophrenia patients showed no significant changes from controls. Interestingly, a five marker haplotype in DLG4, involving rs2242449, rs17203281, rs390200, rs222853 and rs222837, was enriched in a population specific manner, where the sequences A-C-C-C-A and G-C-C-C-A accumulated in Japanese (p = 0.0009 and Chinese (p = 0.0007 schizophrenia pedigree samples, respectively. However, this could not be replicated in case-control samples. None of the variants in other examined candidate genes showed any significant association in these samples. The current study highlights a putative role for DLG4 in schizophrenia pathogenesis, evidenced by haplotype association, and warrants further dense screening for variants within these haplotypes.

Autoimmune diseases and infections as risk factors for schizophrenia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benros, Michael E; Mortensen, Preben B; Eaton, William W

2012-01-01

Immunological hypotheses have become increasingly prominent when studying the etiology of schizophrenia. Autoimmune diseases, and especially the number of infections requiring hospitalization, have been identified as significant risk factors for schizophrenia in a dose-response relationship, whic...... diseases and infections should be considered in the treatment of individuals with schizophrenia symptoms, and further research is needed of the immune system's possible contributing pathogenic factors in the etiology of schizophrenia....

Neuropsychological Impairments in Schizophrenia and Psychotic Bipolar Disorder: Findings from the Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) Study

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Hill, S. Kristian; Reilly, James L.; Keefe, Richard S.E.; Gold, James M.; Bishop, Jeffrey R.; Gershon, Elliot S.; Tamminga, Carol A.; Pearlson, Godfrey D.; Keshavan, Matcheri S.; Sweeney, John A.

2017-01-01

Objective Familial neuropsychological deficits are well established in schizophrenia but remain less well characterized in other psychotic disorders. This study from the Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) consortium 1) compares cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychosis, 2) tests a continuum model of cognitive dysfunction in psychotic disorders, 3) reports familiality of cognitive impairments across psychotic disorders, and 4) evaluates cognitive impairment among nonpsychotic relatives with and without cluster A personality traits. Method Participants included probands with schizophrenia (N=293), psychotic bipolar disorder (N=227), schizoaffective disorder (manic, N=110; depressed, N=55), their first-degree relatives (N=316, N=259, N=133, and N=64, respectively), and healthy comparison subjects (N=295). All participants completed the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) neuropsychological battery. Results Cognitive impairments among psychotic probands, compared to healthy comparison subjects, were progressively greater from bipolar disorder (z=−0.77) to schizoaffective disorder (manic z=−1.08; depressed z=−1.25) to schizophrenia (z=−1.42). Profiles across subtests of the BACS were similar across disorders. Familiality of deficits was significant and comparable in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Of particular interest were similar levels of neuropsychological deficits in relatives with elevated cluster A personality traits across proband diagnoses. Nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenia probands without these personality traits exhibited significant cognitive impairments, while relatives of bipolar probands did not. Conclusions Robust cognitive deficits are present and familial in schizophrenia and psychotic bipolar disorder. Severity of cognitive impairments across psychotic disorders was consistent with a continuum model, in which more prominent affective features and less

Genome-wide expression in veterans with schizophrenia further validates the immune hypothesis for schizophrenia.

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Fries, Gabriel R; Dimitrov, Dimitre H; Lee, Shuko; Braida, Nicole; Yantis, Jesse; Honaker, Craig; Cuellar, Joe; Walss-Bass, Consuelo

2018-02-01

This study aimed to test whether a dysregulation of gene expression may be the underlying cause of previously reported elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines in veterans with schizophrenia. We performed a genome-wide expression analysis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from veterans with schizophrenia and controls, and our results show that 167 genes and putative loci were differently expressed between groups. These genes were enriched primarily for pathways related to inflammatory mechanisms and formed networks related to cell death and survival, immune cell trafficking, among others, which is in line with previous reports and further validates the inflammatory hypothesis of schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rethinking Schizophrenia

OpenAIRE

Insel, Thomas R.

2010-01-01

How will we view schizophrenia in 2030? Schizophrenia today is a chronic, frequently disabling mental disorder that affects about one per cent of the world's population. After a century of studying schizophrenia, the cause of the disorder remains unknown. Treatments, especially pharmacological treatments, have been in wide use for nearly half a century, yet there is little evidence that these treatments have substantially improved outcomes for most people with schizophrenia. These current uns...

Whole-genome sequencing of monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia indicates multiple genetic risk factors for schizophrenia.

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Tang, Jinsong; Fan, Yu; Li, Hong; Xiang, Qun; Zhang, Deng-Feng; Li, Zongchang; He, Ying; Liao, Yanhui; Wang, Ya; He, Fan; Zhang, Fengyu; Shugart, Yin Yao; Liu, Chunyu; Tang, Yanqing; Chan, Raymond C K; Wang, Chuan-Yue; Yao, Yong-Gang; Chen, Xiaogang

2017-06-20

Schizophrenia is a common disorder with a high heritability, but its genetic architecture is still elusive. We implemented whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis of 8 families with monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia to assess potential association of de novo mutations (DNMs) or inherited variants with susceptibility to schizophrenia. Eight non-synonymous DNMs (including one splicing site) were identified and shared by twins, which were either located in previously reported schizophrenia risk genes (p.V24689I mutation in TTN, p.S2506T mutation in GCN1L1, IVS3+1G > T in DOCK1) or had a benign to damaging effect according to in silico prediction analysis. By searching the inherited rare damaging or loss-of-function (LOF) variants and common susceptible alleles from three classes of schizophrenia candidate genes, we were able to distill genetic alterations in several schizophrenia risk genes, including GAD1, PLXNA2, RELN and FEZ1. Four inherited copy number variations (CNVs; including a large deletion at 16p13.11) implicated for schizophrenia were identified in four families, respectively. Most of families carried both missense DNMs and inherited risk variants, which might suggest that DNMs, inherited rare damaging variants and common risk alleles together conferred to schizophrenia susceptibility. Our results support that schizophrenia is caused by a combination of multiple genetic factors, with each DNM/variant showing a relatively small effect size. Copyright © 2017 Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Genetics Society of China. All rights reserved.

Schizophrenia.

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Kahn, René S; Sommer, Iris E; Murray, Robin M; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Weinberger, Daniel R; Cannon, Tyrone D; O'Donovan, Michael; Correll, Christoph U; Kane, John M; van Os, Jim; Insel, Thomas R

2015-11-12

Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder with a heterogeneous genetic and neurobiological background that influences early brain development, and is expressed as a combination of psychotic symptoms - such as hallucinations, delusions and disorganization - and motivational and cognitive dysfunctions. The mean lifetime prevalence of the disorder is just below 1%, but large regional differences in prevalence rates are evident owing to disparities in urbanicity and patterns of immigration. Although gross brain pathology is not a characteristic of schizophrenia, the disorder involves subtle pathological changes in specific neural cell populations and in cell-cell communication. Schizophrenia, as a cognitive and behavioural disorder, is ultimately about how the brain processes information. Indeed, neuroimaging studies have shown that information processing is functionally abnormal in patients with first-episode and chronic schizophrenia. Although pharmacological treatments for schizophrenia can relieve psychotic symptoms, such drugs generally do not lead to substantial improvements in social, cognitive and occupational functioning. Psychosocial interventions such as cognitive-behavioural therapy, cognitive remediation and supported education and employment have added treatment value, but are inconsistently applied. Given that schizophrenia starts many years before a diagnosis is typically made, the identification of individuals at risk and those in the early phases of the disorder, and the exploration of preventive approaches are crucial.

Life satisfaction and happiness among young adults with schizophrenia.

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Fervaha, Gagan; Agid, Ofer; Takeuchi, Hiroyoshi; Foussias, George; Remington, Gary

2016-08-30

People with schizophrenia often experience persistent symptoms and impairments in community functioning; however, despite this, many individuals with the illness report high levels of well-being. We explored the level of subjective well-being in a sample of relatively young outpatients with schizophrenia and matched healthy controls. Seventy-five outpatients with schizophrenia and 72 demographically matched healthy controls, aged 18-35 years, participated in the present study. Subjective well-being was defined as a combination of happiness and satisfaction with life, each of which were measured using validated instruments. Symptom severity, insight, and cognition were also evaluated. People with schizophrenia endorsed significantly lower levels of subjective well-being than healthy controls although, there was substantial overlap in scores, and many participants with schizophrenia endorsed a high level of well-being. Both depressive symptoms and motivational deficits demonstrated significant independent predictive value for determining level of well-being. At a group level, the mean level of happiness and life satisfaction was lower among people with schizophrenia than healthy comparison participants. However, despite this mean difference, there exists marked overlap in individual scores between those with and without schizophrenia, demonstrating that many young people with schizophrenia do, in fact, endorse high levels of subjective well-being. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impaired strategic decision making in schizophrenia.

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Kim, Hyojin; Lee, Daeyeol; Shin, Young-Min; Chey, Jeanyung

2007-11-14

Adaptive decision making in dynamic social settings requires frequent re-evaluation of choice outcomes and revision of strategies. This requires an array of multiple cognitive abilities, such as working memory and response inhibition. Thus, the disruption of such abilities in schizophrenia can have significant implications for social dysfunctions in affected patients. In the present study, 20 schizophrenia patients and 20 control subjects completed two computerized binary decision-making tasks. In the first task, the participants played a competitive zero-sum game against a computer in which the predictable choice behavior was penalized and the optimal strategy was to choose the two targets stochastically. In the second task, the expected payoffs of the two targets were fixed and unaffected by the subject's choices, so the optimal strategy was to choose the target with the higher expected payoff exclusively. The schizophrenia patients earned significantly less money during the first task, even though their overall choice probabilities were not significantly different from the control subjects. This was mostly because patients were impaired in integrating the outcomes of their previous choices appropriately in order to maintain the optimal strategy. During the second task, the choices of patients and control subjects displayed more similar patterns. This study elucidated the specific components in strategic decision making that are impaired in schizophrenia. The deficit, which can be characterized as strategic stiffness, may have implications for the poor social adjustment in schizophrenia patients.

Testosterone is inversely related to brain activity during emotional inhibition in schizophrenia.

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Ans Vercammen

Full Text Available Sex steroids affect cognitive function as well as emotion processing and regulation. They may also play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. However, the effects of sex steroids on cognition and emotion-related brain activation in schizophrenia are poorly understood. Our aim was to determine the extent to which circulating testosterone relates to brain activation in men with schizophrenia compared to healthy men during cognitive-emotional processing. We assessed brain activation in 18 men with schizophrenia and 22 age-matched healthy men during an emotional go/no-go task using fMRI and measured total serum testosterone levels on the same morning. We performed an ROI analysis to assess the relationship between serum testosterone and brain activation, focusing on cortical regions involved the emotional go/no-go task. Slower RT and reduced accuracy was observed when participants responded to neutral stimuli, while inhibiting responses to negative stimuli. Healthy men showed a robust increase in activation of the middle frontal gyrus when inhibiting responses to negative stimuli, but there was no significant association between activation and serum testosterone level in healthy men. Men with schizophrenia showed a less pronounced increase in activation when inhibiting responses to negative stimuli; however, they did show a strong inverse association between serum testosterone level and activation of the bilateral middle frontal gyrus and left insula. Additionally, increased accuracy during inhibition of response to negative words was associated with both higher serum testosterone levels and decreased activation of the middle frontal gyrus in men with schizophrenia only. We conclude that endogenous hormone levels, even within the normal range, may play an enhanced modulatory role in determining the neural and behavioural response during cognitive-emotional processing in schizophrenia.

Dominance of objects over context in a mediotemporal lobe model of schizophrenia.

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Lucia M Talamini

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A large body of evidence suggests impaired context processing in schizophrenia. Here we propose that this impairment arises from defective integration of mediotemporal 'what' and 'where' routes, carrying object and spatial information to the hippocampus. METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS: We have previously shown, in a mediotemporal lobe (MTL model, that the abnormal connectivity between MTL regions observed in schizophrenia can explain the episodic memory deficits associated with the disorder. Here we show that the same neuropathology leads to several context processing deficits observed in patients with schizophrenia: 1 failure to choose subordinate stimuli over dominant ones when the former fit the context, 2 decreased contextual constraints in memory retrieval, as reflected in increased false alarm rates and 3 impaired retrieval of contextual information in source monitoring. Model analyses show that these deficits occur because the 'schizophrenic MTL' forms fragmented episodic representations, in which objects are overrepresented at the expense of spatial contextual information. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: These findings highlight the importance of MTL neuropathology in schizophrenia, demonstrating that it may underlie a broad spectrum of deficits, including context processing and memory impairments. It is argued that these processing deficits may contribute to central schizophrenia symptoms such as contextually inappropriate behavior, associative abnormalities, conversational drift, concreteness and delusions.

Genome-wide association study of schizophrenia in Japanese population.

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Kazuo Yamada

Full Text Available Schizophrenia is a devastating neuropsychiatric disorder with genetically complex traits. Genetic variants should explain a considerable portion of the risk for schizophrenia, and genome-wide association study (GWAS is a potentially powerful tool for identifying the risk variants that underlie the disease. Here, we report the results of a three-stage analysis of three independent cohorts consisting of a total of 2,535 samples from Japanese and Chinese populations for searching schizophrenia susceptibility genes using a GWAS approach. Firstly, we examined 115,770 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs in 120 patient-parents trio samples from Japanese schizophrenia pedigrees. In stage II, we evaluated 1,632 SNPs (1,159 SNPs of p<0.01 and 473 SNPs of p<0.05 that located in previously reported linkage regions. The second sample consisted of 1,012 case-control samples of Japanese origin. The most significant p value was obtained for the SNP in the ELAVL2 [(embryonic lethal, abnormal vision, Drosophila-like 2] gene located on 9p21.3 (p = 0.00087. In stage III, we scrutinized the ELAVL2 gene by genotyping gene-centric tagSNPs in the third sample set of 293 family samples (1,163 individuals of Chinese descent and the SNP in the gene showed a nominal association with schizophrenia in Chinese population (p = 0.026. The current data in Asian population would be helpful for deciphering ethnic diversity of schizophrenia etiology.

Theory of mind deficits for processing counterfactual information in persons with chronic schizophrenia.

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Kern, R S; Green, M F; Fiske, A P; Kee, K S; Lee, J; Sergi, M J; Horan, W P; Subotnik, K L; Sugar, C A; Nuechterlein, K H

2009-04-01

Interpersonal communication problems are common among persons with schizophrenia and may be linked, in part, to deficits in theory of mind (ToM), the ability to accurately perceive the attitudes, beliefs and intentions of others. Particular difficulties might be expected in the processing of counterfactual information such as sarcasm or lies. The present study included 50 schizophrenia or schizo-affective out-patients and 44 demographically comparable healthy adults who were administered Part III of The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT; a measure assessing comprehension of sarcasm versus lies) as well as measures of positive and negative symptoms and community functioning. TASIT data were analyzed using a 2 (group: patients versus healthy adults) x 2 (condition: sarcasm versus lie) repeated-measures ANOVA. The results show significant effects for group, condition, and the group x condition interaction. Compared to controls, patients performed significantly worse on sarcasm but not lie scenes. Within-group contrasts showed that patients performed significantly worse on sarcasm versus lie scenes; controls performed comparably on both. In patients, performance on TASIT showed a significant correlation with positive, but not negative, symptoms. The group and interaction effects remained significant when rerun with a subset of patients with low-level positive symptoms. The findings for a relationship between TASIT performance and community functioning were essentially negative. The findings replicate a prior demonstration of difficulty in the comprehension of sarcasm using a different test, but are not consistent with previous studies showing global ToM deficits in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia and vitamin D related genes could have been subject to latitude-driven adaptation

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Monticelli Antonella

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many natural phenomena are directly or indirectly related to latitude. Living at different latitudes, indeed, has its consequences with being exposed to different climates, diets, light/dark cycles, etc. In humans, one of the best known examples of genetic traits following a latitudinal gradient is skin pigmentation. Nevertheless, also several diseases show latitudinal clinals such as hypertension, cancer, dismetabolic conditions, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and many more. Results We investigated, for the first time on a wide genomic scale, the latitude-driven adaptation phenomena. In particular, we selected a set of genes showing signs of latitude-dependent population differentiation. The biological characterization of these genes showed enrichment for neural-related processes. In light of this, we investigated whether genes associated to neuropsychiatric diseases were enriched by Latitude-Related Genes (LRGs. We found a strong enrichment of LRGs in the set of genes associated to schizophrenia. In an attempt to try to explain this possible link between latitude and schizophrenia, we investigated their associations with vitamin D. We found in a set of vitamin D related genes a significant enrichment of both LRGs and of genes involved in schizophrenia. Conclusions Our results suggest a latitude-driven adaptation for both schizophrenia and vitamin D related genes. In addition we confirm, at a molecular level, the link between schizophrenia and vitamin D. Finally, we discuss a model in which schizophrenia is, at least partly, a maladaptive by-product of latitude dependent adaptive changes in vitamin D metabolism.

Wellness within illness: happiness in schizophrenia.

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Palmer, Barton W; Martin, Averria Sirkin; Depp, Colin A; Glorioso, Danielle K; Jeste, Dilip V

2014-10-01

Schizophrenia is typically a chronic disorder and among the most severe forms of serious mental illnesses in terms of adverse impact on quality of life. Yet, there have been suggestions that some people with schizophrenia can experience an overall sense of happiness in their lives. We investigated happiness among 72 outpatients with non-remitted chronic schizophrenia with a mean duration of illness of 24.4 years, and 64 healthy comparison subjects (HCs). Despite continued treatment with antipsychotic medications, the individuals with schizophrenia manifested a mild to moderate level of psychopathology. People with schizophrenia reported lower mean levels of happiness than HCs, but there was substantial heterogeneity within the schizophrenia group. Level of happiness in persons with schizophrenia was significantly correlated with higher mental health-related quality of life, and several positive psychosocial factors (lower perceived stress, and higher levels of resilience, optimism, and personal mastery). However, level of happiness was not related to sociodemographic characteristics, duration of illness, severity of positive or negative symptoms, physical function, medical comorbidity, or cognitive functioning. Except for an absence of an association with resilience, the pattern of correlations of happiness with other variables seen among HCs was similar to that in individuals with schizophrenia. Although happiness may be harder to achieve in the context of a serious mental illness, it nonetheless appears to be a viable treatment goal in schizophrenia. Psychotherapies targeting positive coping factors such as resilience, optimism, and personal mastery warrant further investigation. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Object versus spatial visual mental imagery in patients with schizophrenia

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Aleman, André; de Haan, Edward H.F.; Kahn, René S.

2005-01-01

Objective Recent research has revealed a larger impairment of object perceptual discrimination than of spatial perceptual discrimination in patients with schizophrenia. It has been suggested that mental imagery may share processing systems with perception. We investigated whether patients with schizophrenia would show greater impairment regarding object imagery than spatial imagery. Methods Forty-four patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy control subjects were tested on a task of object visual mental imagery and on a task of spatial visual mental imagery. Both tasks included a condition in which no imagery was needed for adequate performance, but which was in other respects identical to the imagery condition. This allowed us to adjust for nonspecific differences in individual performance. Results The results revealed a significant difference between patients and controls on the object imagery task (F1,63 = 11.8, p = 0.001) but not on the spatial imagery task (F1,63 = 0.14, p = 0.71). To test for a differential effect, we conducted a 2 (patients v. controls) х 2 (object task v. spatial task) analysis of variance. The interaction term was statistically significant (F1,62 = 5.2, p = 0.026). Conclusions Our findings suggest a differential dysfunction of systems mediating object and spatial visual mental imagery in schizophrenia. PMID:15644999

Inhibition of return is not impaired but masked by increased facilitation in schizophrenia patients.

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Kalogeropoulou, Fenia; Woodruff, Peter W R; Vivas, Ana B

2015-01-01

When attention is attracted to an irrelevant location, performance on a subsequent target is hindered at that location in relation to novel, not previously attended, locations. This phenomenon is known as inhibition of return (IOR). Previous research has shown that IOR is not observed, or its onset is delayed, in schizophrenia patients. In the present study, the authors tested the hypothesis that IOR may be intact but masked by increased facilitation in schizophrenia patients. To test this hypothesis, they used a procedure that usually reduces or eliminates the early facilitation. In the first experiment, the authors used the typical single-cue IOR task in the group of healthy adults (N = 28) and in a group of schizophrenia patients (N = 32). In the second experiment, they manipulated cue-target discriminability by presenting spatially overlapping cues and targets where the cues were more intense than the targets. In Experiment 1, they did not find significant IOR effects in the group of schizophrenia patients, even with cue-target intervals as long as 3,200 ms. However, in Experiment 2, IOR effects were significant at the 350- and 450-ms cue-target intervals for healthy and patients, respectively. This is the first study that shows that schizophrenia patients can actually show inhibitory effects very similar to healthy controls, even when no help is provided to shift their attention away from the irrelevant location. The authors suggest that inhibition is intact in schizophrenia patients, but it is usually masked by increased facilitation. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Pathway analyses implicate glial cells in schizophrenia.

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Laramie E Duncan

Full Text Available The quest to understand the neurobiology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is ongoing with multiple lines of evidence indicating abnormalities of glia, mitochondria, and glutamate in both disorders. Despite high heritability estimates of 81% for schizophrenia and 75% for bipolar disorder, compelling links between findings from neurobiological studies, and findings from large-scale genetic analyses, are only beginning to emerge.Ten publically available gene sets (pathways related to glia, mitochondria, and glutamate were tested for association to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder using MAGENTA as the primary analysis method. To determine the robustness of associations, secondary analyses were performed with: ALIGATOR, INRICH, and Set Screen. Data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC were used for all analyses. There were 1,068,286 SNP-level p-values for schizophrenia (9,394 cases/12,462 controls, and 2,088,878 SNP-level p-values for bipolar disorder (7,481 cases/9,250 controls.The Glia-Oligodendrocyte pathway was associated with schizophrenia, after correction for multiple tests, according to primary analysis (MAGENTA p = 0.0005, 75% requirement for individual gene significance and also achieved nominal levels of significance with INRICH (p = 0.0057 and ALIGATOR (p = 0.022. For bipolar disorder, Set Screen yielded nominally and method-wide significant associations to all three glial pathways, with strongest association to the Glia-Astrocyte pathway (p = 0.002.Consistent with findings of white matter abnormalities in schizophrenia by other methods of study, the Glia-Oligodendrocyte pathway was associated with schizophrenia in our genomic study. These findings suggest that the abnormalities of myelination observed in schizophrenia are at least in part due to inherited factors, contrasted with the alternative of purely environmental causes (e.g. medication effects or lifestyle. While not the primary purpose of our study

Impulsivity, aggression and suicide risk among male schizophrenia patients.

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Iancu, Iulian; Bodner, Ehud; Roitman, Suzana; Piccone Sapir, Anna; Poreh, Amir; Kotler, Moshe

2010-01-01

Impulsivity has been shown to be a major variable in the etiology of suicide and aggression, but has not been researched as much in the schizophrenic population, which is characterized by serious suicide and aggression risks. 68 male schizophrenia patients responded to a battery of measures including the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the impulsivity control scale (IS), the Suicide Risk Scale (SRS) and the Overt Aggression Scale. We divided our subjects into those who received scores above and below the median on the IS. The high-impulsivity group had higher present and past rates of suicidal ideation and showed a trend for more lifetime suicidal attempts than the low-impulsivity group. The impulsivity score correlated positively with the SRS score and with some of the scores of the PANSS (the positive symptoms score, the general psychopathology score and the total score). A multiple regression analysis revealed that an older age, higher levels of aggression, high impulsivity and an elevated score on the general psychopathology subscale of the PANSS contributed positively and significantly to the explained variance of the SRS. Our study supports the contention that high impulsivity in schizophrenia patients is significant in the etiology of suicide in schizophrenia. However, the relationship between impulsivity and aggression in schizophrenia patients, and also the amelioration of impulsivity by pharmacological interventions, require further study. Copyright (c) 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Counterfactual Reasoning in Non-psychotic First-Degree Relatives of People with Schizophrenia

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Auria eAlbacete

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Counterfactual thinking (CFT is a type of conditional reasoning that enables the generation of mental simulations of alternatives to past factual events. Previous research has found this cognitive feature to be disrupted in schizophrenia. At the same time, the study of cognitive deficits in unaffected relatives of people with schizophrenia has significantly increased, supporting its potential endophenotypic role in this disorder. Using an exploratory approach, the current study examined CFT for the first time in a sample of non-psychotic first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients (N=43, in comparison with schizophrenia patients (N=54 and healthy controls (N=44. A series of tests that assessed the causal order effect in CFT and the ability to generate counterfactual thoughts and counterfactually derive inferences using the Counterfactual Inference Test was completed. Associations with variables of basic and social cognition, levels of schizotypy and psychotic-like experiences in addition to clinical and sociodemographic characteristics were also explored. Findings showed that first-degree relatives generated a lower number of counterfactual thoughts than controls, and were more adept at counterfactually deriving inferences, specifically in the scenarios related to regret and to judgements of avoidance in an unusual situation. No other significant results were found. These preliminary findings suggest that non-psychotic first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients show a subtle disruption of global counterfactual thinking compared with what is normally expected in the general population. Because of the potential impact of such deficits, new treatments targeting CFT improvement might be considered in future management strategies.

Sex differences in neuropsychological performance and social functioning in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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Vaskinn, Anja; Sundet, Kjetil; Simonsen, Carmen; Hellvin, Tone; Melle, Ingrid; Andreassen, Ole A

2011-07-01

To investigate sex differences in neurocognition and social functioning in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and the possible role of sex as a moderator of this relationship. Participants with schizophrenia (60 women/94 men), bipolar I disorder (55 women/51 men), and healthy controls (158 women/182 men) were assessed with an extensive neuropsychological test battery and a social functioning questionnaire. We found significant main effects of sex for neuropsychological tests (p neuropsychological tests (except attention and working memory). Both clinical groups performed below healthy controls for all neuropsychological tests (except attention). Post hoc comparisons of persons with schizophrenia and healthy controls yielded significant interaction effects (p neuropsychological tests (California Verbal Learning Test II [CVLT-II], Color-Word Interference, and Interference/Switching), with men with schizophrenia being disproportionally disadvantaged compared with their female counterparts. Regression analyses investigating sex as a moderator between neurocognition and social functioning showed that neurocognition predicted social functioning in schizophrenia, whereas sex predicted social functioning in healthy controls. Sex was not a moderator in any of the three groups. This study is the first to find neurocognitive sex differences for bipolar disorder and replicated previous findings for schizophrenia. The data did not support the hypothesis that sex is a moderator between neurocognition and social functioning. Clinical implications include the use of different cognitive remediation strategies based on sex. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

Genetics, Cognition and Neurobiology of Schizotypal Personality: A Review of the Overlap with Schizophrenia

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Ulrich eEttinger

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Schizotypy refers to a set of temporally stable traits that are observed in the general population and that resemble the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia. Here, we review evidence from studies on genetics, cognition, perception, motor and oculomotor control, brain structure, brain function and psychopharmacology in schizotypy. We specifically focused on identifying areas of overlap between schizotypy and schizophrenia. Evidence was corroborated that significant overlap exists between the two, covering the behavioural, brain structural and functional as well molecular levels. In particular, several studies showed that individuals with high levels of schizotypal traits exhibit alterations in neurocognitive task performance and underlying brain function similar to the deficits seen in patients with schizophrenia. Studies of brain structure have shown both volume reductions and increases in schizotypy, pointing to schizophrenia-like deficits as well as possible protective or compensatory mechanisms. Experimental pharmacological studies have shown that high levels of schizotypy are associated with (i enhanced dopaminergic response in striatum following administration of amphetamine and (ii improvement of cognitive performance following administration of antipsychotic compounds. Together, this body of work suggests that schizotypy shows overlap with schizophrenia across multiple behavioural and neurobiological domains, suggesting that the study of schizotypal traits may be useful in improving our understanding of the aetiology of schizophrenia.

LORETA current source density for duration mismatch negativity and neuropsychological assessment in early schizophrenia.

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Tomohiro Miyanishi

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Patients with schizophrenia elicit cognitive decline from the early phase of the illness. Mismatch negativity (MMN has been shown to be associated with cognitive function. We investigated the current source density of duration mismatch negativity (dMMN, by using low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA, and neuropsychological performance in subjects with early schizophrenia. METHODS: Data were obtained from 20 patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder, and 20 healthy control (HC subjects. An auditory odd-ball paradigm was used to measure dMMN. Neuropsychological performance was evaluated by the brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia Japanese version (BACS-J. RESULTS: Patients showed smaller dMMN amplitudes than those in the HC subjects. LORETA current density for dMMN was significantly lower in patients compared to HC subjects, especially in the temporal lobes. dMMN current density in the frontal lobe was positively correlated with working memory performance in patients. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to identify brain regions showing smaller dMMN current density in early schizophrenia. Further, poor working memory was associated with decreased dMMN current density in patients. These results are likely to help understand the neural basis for cognitive impairment of schizophrenia.

Reliability and validity of the CogState battery Chinese language version in schizophrenia.

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Na Zhong

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia is a core symptom of this disease. The computerized CogState Battery (CSB has been used to detect seven of the most common cognitive domains in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the CSB (CSB-C, in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Sixty Chinese patients with schizophrenia and 58 age, sex, and education matched healthy controls were enrolled. All subjects completed the CSB-C and the Repeated Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS. To examine the test-retest reliability of CSB-C, we tested 33 healthy controls twice, at a one month interval. The Cronbach α value of CSB-C in patients was 0.81. The test-retest correlation coefficients of the Two Back Task, Gronton Maze Learning Task, Social Emotional Cognition Task, and Continuous Paired Association Learning Task were between 0.39 and 0.62 (p<0.01 in healthy controls. The composite scores and all subscores for the CSB-C in patients were significantly (p<0.01 lower than those of healthy controls. Furthermore, composite scores for patients on the RBANS were also significantly lower than those of healthy controls. Interestingly, there was a positive correlation (r = 0.544, p<0.001 between the composite scores on CSB-C and RBANS for patients. Additionally, in the attention and memory cognitive domains, corresponding subsets from the two batteries correlated significantly (p<0.05. Moreover, factor analysis showed a two-factor model, consisting of speed, memory and reasoning. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The CSB-C shows good reliability and validity in measuring the broad cognitive domains of schizophrenia in affected Chinese patients. Therefore, the CSB-C can be used as a cognitive battery, to assess the therapeutic effects of potential cognitive-enhancing agents in this cohort.

Paranoid schizophrenia versus schizoaffective disorder: Neuropsychological aspects

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Leposavić Ljubica

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Neuropsychological aspects of paranoid schizophrenia have still not been examined enough. These disorders are usually not studied separately, but are included in the studies about schizophrenic patients with positive symptoms. Despite the fact that schizophrenia represents a heterogeneous group of mental disorders, usually it is not separated from schizoaffective disorder in neuropsychological researches. Objective. The essence of this research is to evaluate cognitive functioning of patients with paranoid schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder by applying neuropsychological tests. Methods. The research included 91 subjects, right handed, from 30 to 53 years old, who were classified into three groups: inpatients with paranoid schizophrenia in remission (n=31, inpatients with schizoaffective disorder in remission (n=30 and healthy subjects (n=30. Results. Both groups of patients showed poorer achievements than healthy subjects in most of the applied tests. Patients with schizoaffective disorder showed global loss of intellectual efficiency, executive dysfunction and compromised visual-construction organization. Patients with paranoid schizophrenia expressed partial loss of intellectual efficiency with verbal IQ and executive functions preserved. Conclusion. In the remission phase, patients with paranoid schizophrenia expressed cognitive disorders in moderate degree, but when it comes to patients with schizoaffective disorder, more massive cognitive deficits were registered.

Interventions to reduce weight gain in schizophrenia

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Faulkner, Guy; Cohn, Tony; Remington, Gary

2014-01-01

Background Weight gain is common for people with schizophrenia and this has serious implications for health and well being. Objectives To determine the effects of both pharmacological (excluding medication switching) and non pharmacological strategies for reducing or preventing weight gain in people with schizophrenia. Search methods We searched key databases and the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group’s trials register (April 2006), reference sections within relevant papers, hand searched key journals, and contacted the first author of each relevant study and other experts to collect further information. Selection criteria We included all clinical randomised controlled trials comparing any pharmacological or non pharmacological intervention for weight gain (diet and exercise counselling) with standard care or other treatments for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses. Data collection and analysis We reliably selected, quality assessed and extracted data from studies. As weight is a continuous outcome measurement, weighted mean differences (WMD) of the change from baseline were calculated. The primary outcome measure was weight loss. Main results Twenty-three randomised controlled trials met the inclusion criteria for this review. Five trials assessed a cognitive/behavioural intervention and eighteen assessed a pharmacological adjunct. In terms of prevention, two cognitive/behavioural trials showed significant treatment effect (mean weight change) at end of treatment (n=104, 2 RCTs, WMD −3.38 kg CI −4.2 to −2.0). Pharmacological adjunct treatments were significant with a modest prevention of weight gain (n=274, 6 RCTs, WMD − 1.16 kg CI −1.9 to −0.4). In terms of treatments for weight loss, we found significantly greater weight reduction in the cognitive behavioural intervention group (n=129, 3 RCTs, WMD −1.69 kg CI −2.8 to −0.6) compared with standard care. Authors’ conclusions Modest weight loss can be achieved with selective

Effects of VRK2 (rs2312147 on white matter connectivity in patients with schizophrenia.

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Hoyoung Sohn

Full Text Available Recent genome-wide association studies of schizophrenia reported a novel risk variant, rs2312147 at vaccinia-related kinase 2 gene (VRK2, in multiple Asian and European samples. However, its effect on the brain structure in schizophrenia is little known. We analyzed the brain structure of 36 schizophrenia patients and 18 healthy subjects with regard to rs2312147 genotype groups. Brain magnetic resonance scans for gray matter (GM and white matter (WM analysis, and genotype analysis for VRK2 rs2312147, were conducted. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Digit Symbol Test were assessed for schizophrenia patients. There was no significant difference in either GM volume or WM connectivity with regard to rs2312147 genotype in healthy subjects. In contrast, we found significant differences in the WM connectivity between rs2312147 CC and CT/TT genotype groups of schizophrenia patients. The related brain areas included the splenium of corpus callosum, the left occipital lobe WM, the internal capsule (left anterior limb and right retrolenticular part, the bilateral temporal lobe WM, the left fornix/stria terminalis, the left cingulate gyrus WM, and the left parietal lobe WM. Voxelwise correlation analysis revealed that the Digit Symbol Test scores (age corrected correlated with the fractional anisotropy in WM tracts that previously showed significant group differences between the CT/TT and CC genotypes in the rs2312147 CT/TT genotype group, while no significant correlation was found in the CC genotype group. Our data may provide evidence for the effect of VRK2 on WM connectivity in patients with schizophrenia.

Emotion recognition in Chinese people with schizophrenia.

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Chan, Chetwyn C H; Wong, Raymond; Wang, Kai; Lee, Tatia M C

2008-01-15

This study examined whether people with paranoid or nonparanoid schizophrenia would show emotion-recognition deficits, both facial and prosodic. Furthermore, this study examined the neuropsychological predictors of emotion-recognition ability in people with schizophrenia. Participants comprised 86 people, of whom: 43 were people diagnosed with schizophrenia and 43 were controls. The 43 clinical participants were placed in either the paranoid group (n=19) or the nonparanoid group (n=24). Each participant was administered the Facial Emotion Recognition task and the Prosodic Recognition task, together with other neuropsychological measures of attention and visual perception. People suffering from nonparanoid schizophrenia were found to have deficits in both facial and prosodic emotion recognition, after correction for the differences in the intelligence and depression scores between the two groups. Furthermore, spatial perception was observed to be the best predictor of facial emotion identification in individuals with nonparanoid schizophrenia, whereas attentional processing control predicted both prosodic emotion identification and discrimination in nonparanoid schizophrenia patients. Our findings suggest that patients with schizophrenia in remission may still suffer from impairment of certain aspects of emotion recognition.

Conflict adaptation in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.

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Abrahamse, Elger; Ruitenberg, Marit; Boddewyn, Sarah; Oreel, Edith; de Schryver, Maarten; Morrens, Manuel; van Dijck, Jean-Philippe

2017-11-01

Cognitive control impairments may contribute strongly to the overall cognitive deficits observed in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. In the current study we explore a specific cognitive control function referred to as conflict adaptation. Previous studies on conflict adaptation in schizophrenia showed equivocal results, and, moreover, were plagued by confounded research designs. Here we assessed for the first time conflict adaptation in schizophrenia with a design that avoided the major confounds of feature integration and stimulus-response contingency learning. Sixteen patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and sixteen healthy, matched controls performed a vocal Stroop task to determine the congruency sequence effect - a marker of conflict adaptation. A reliable congruency sequence effect was observed for both healthy controls and patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. These findings indicate that schizophrenia is not necessarily accompanied by impaired conflict adaptation. As schizophrenia has been related to abnormal functioning in core conflict adaptation areas such as anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, further research is required to better understand the precise impact of such abnormal brain functioning at the behavioral level. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Epidemiological study of schizophrenia in the Chernobyl exclusion zone personnel

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Loganovsky, K.N.; Nyagu, A.I.

1997-01-01

Nakane and Ohta (1986) revealed very high (6 %) prevalence rate of schizophrenia in A-bomb survivors. The goal of this study was the epidemiological investigation of schizophrenia in the Chernobyl exclusion zone personnel on the base of 10-years follow up study and analysis of the psychiatric archives (1986-1996). As a result the register of schizophrenia spectrum disorders has been created, including 65 staff members. According to both ICD-9 and ICD-10 criteria there were 48 patients with schizophrenia. It has been revealed a statistically significant increase of the schizophrenia percentage amongst all psychoses in the Chernobyl exclusion zone personnel in comparison with the general Ukrainian population. It has been established that among 48 cases of schizophrenia there were 39 (81.2 %) of schizophrenia onset occurred in the zone. Since 1990 a significant increase (more than 4 times: 5.4 per 10,000 in the zone and 1.1 per 10,000 in Ukraine) in schizophrenia incidence has been taking place among the irradiated population of the exclusion zone in comparison with the general population. Our data testify to possibility of radiation-induced schizophrenia onset, which seem to be like stochastic effects of ionizing radiation. The mechanisms of these effects realization are the subject of further investigations. (author)

Investigation of cigarette smoking among male schizophrenia patients.

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Jundong Jiang

Full Text Available Male schizophrenia patients are known to have a heavier smoking pattern compared with the general population. However, the mechanism for this association is not known, though hypothesis that smoking could alleviate symptomatology of schizophrenia and reduce side effects of antipsychotics has been suggested. The aims of this study were to validate the heavier smoking pattern among male schizophrenia patients and to investigate the possible mechanisms for the association. To enhance the reliability of the study, we recruited two large independent samples with 604 and 535 male Chinese schizophrenia patients, and compared their smoking pattern with that of 535 healthy male controls recruited from general population. Validated multiple indicators and multiple causes structure equation model and regression models were used to investigate the association of smoking with factors of schizophrenia symptomatology and with the usage of antipsychotics and their extra-pyramidal side effects (EPS. Schizophrenia patients had significantly heavier smoking pattern compared with healthy controls in our sample (42.4% vs. 16.8%, p<0.001 for current smoking prevalence; 23.5% vs. 43.3%, p<0.001 for smoking cessation rate; 24.5% vs. 3.0%, p<0.001 for heavy smoker proportion. Their smoking status was also found to be consistently and significantly associated with reduced negative factor scores for schizophrenia symptomatology (β = -0.123, p = 0.051 for sample-A; β = -0.103, p = 0.035 for sample-B; β = -0.082, p = 0.017 for the combined sample. However, no significant association was found between smoking and antipsychotics usage or risk of EPS. These results support that smoking is associated with improved negative symptoms, which could account for the heavier smoking pattern among schizophrenia patients.

Family Matters: imaging the vulnerability for schizophrenia

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Leeuw, M. de

2015-01-01

Schizophrenia is a highly heritable psychiatric disorder that is characterized by impairments in the fronto-striatal network underlying cognitive deficits. Subjects who are at increased familial risk such as siblings and offspring of schizophrenia patients, also show cognitive impairments

Diffusion tensor imaging of cingulum bundle and corpus callosum in schizophrenia vs. bipolar disorder.

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Nenadić, Igor; Hoof, Anna; Dietzek, Maren; Langbein, Kerstin; Reichenbach, Jürgen R; Sauer, Heinrich; Güllmar, Daniel

2017-08-30

Both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder show abnormalities of white matter, as seen in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analyses of major brain fibre bundles. While studies in each of the two conditions have indicated possible overlap in anatomical location, there are few direct comparisons between the disorders. Also, it is unclear whether phenotypically similar subgroups (e.g. patients with bipolar disorder and psychotic features) might share white matter pathologies or be rather similar. Using region-of-interest (ROI) analysis of white matter with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 3 T, we analysed fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the corpus callosum and cingulum bundle in 33 schizophrenia patients, 17 euthymic (previously psychotic) bipolar disorder patients, and 36 healthy controls. ANOVA analysis showed significant main effects of group for RD and ADC (both elevated in schizophrenia). Across the corpus callosum ROIs, there was not group effect on FA, but for RD (elevated in schizophrenia, lower in bipolar disorder) and ADC (higher in schizophrenia, intermediate in bipolar disorder). Our findings show similarities and difference (some gradual) across regions of the two major fibre tracts implicated in these disorders, which would be consistent with a neurobiological overlap of similar clinical phenotypes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hemispheric dominance during the mental rotation task in patients with schizophrenia.

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Chen, Jiu; Yang, Laiqi; Zhao, Jin; Li, Lanlan; Liu, Guangxiong; Ma, Wentao; Zhang, Yan; Wu, Xingqu; Deng, Zihe; Tuo, Ran

2012-04-01

Mental rotation is a spatial representation conversion capability using an imagined object and either object or self-rotation. This capability is impaired in schizophrenia. To provide a more detailed assessment of impaired cognitive functioning in schizophrenia by comparing the electrophysiological profiles of patients with schizophrenia and controls while completing a mental rotation task using both normally-oriented images and mirror images. This electroencephalographic study compared error rates, reaction times and the topographic map of event-related potentials in 32 participants with schizophrenia and 29 healthy controls during mental rotation tasks involving both normal images and mirror images. Among controls the mean error rate and the mean reaction time for normal images and mirror images were not significantly different but in the patient group the mean (sd) error rate was higher for mirror images than for normal images (42% [6%] vs. 32% [9%], t=2.64, p=0.031) and the mean reaction time was longer for mirror images than for normal images (587 [11] ms vs. 571 [18] ms, t=2.83, p=0.028). The amplitude of the P500 component at Pz (parietal area), Cz (central area), P3 (left parietal area) and P4 (right parietal area) were significantly lower in the patient group than in the control group for both normal images and mirror images. In both groups the P500 for both the normal and mirror images was significantly higher in the right parietal area (P4) compared with left parietal area (P3). The mental rotation abilities of patients with schizophrenia for both normally-oriented images and mirror images are impaired. Patients with schizophrenia show a diminished left cerebral contribution to the mental rotation task, a more rapid response time, and a differential response to normal images versus mirror images not seen in healthy controls. Specific topographic characteristics of the EEG during mental rotation tasks are potential biomarkers for schizophrenia.

The (CTGn polymorphism in the NOTCH4 gene is not associated with schizophrenia in Japanese individuals

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Okubo Takehito

2001-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The human NOTCH4 gene is a candidate gene for schizophrenia due to its chromosomal location and neurobiological roles. In a British linkage study, NOTCH4 gene polymorphisms were highly associated with schizophrenia. In a Japanese case-control association study, however, these polymorphisms did not show significant associations with schizophrenia. We conducted a case-control study with Japanese subjects to explore an association between the triplet repeat polymorphism in the NOTCH4 gene and schizophrenia, including subtypes of schizophrenia, longitudinal disease course characteristics, and a positive family history for psychoses. Methods We examined the (CTGn repeat polymorphism in the NOTCH4 gene among 100 healthy Japanese individuals and 102 patients with schizophrenia (22 paranoid, 38 disorganized, 29 residual, 64 episodic, 31 continuous, 42 with prominent negative symptoms, and 46 with positive family histories using a polymerase chain reaction-based, single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis. Results Five different alleles consisting of 6, 9, 10, 11, and 13 repeats of CTG (Leu in patients with schizophrenia, and 4 alleles consisting of 6, 9, 10, and 11 repeats in controls were found. No significant differences in genotype or allele frequencies of repeat numbers were found between controls and patients. In addition, there were no associations between the polymorphism and schizophrenia subtypes, longitudinal disease course characteristics, or positive family history of the patients. Conclusions Our data suggest a lack of association between the NOTCH4 gene triplet repeat polymorphism and schizophrenia in Japanese individuals.

Possible association between interleukin-1β gene and schizophrenia in a Japanese population.

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Sasayama, Daimei; Hori, Hiroaki; Teraishi, Toshiya; Hattori, Kotaro; Ota, Miho; Iijima, Yoshimi; Tatsumi, Masahiko; Higuchi, Teruhiko; Amano, Naoji; Kunugi, Hiroshi

2011-08-16

Several lines of evidence have implicated the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) in the etiology of schizophrenia. Although a number of genetic association studies have been reported, very few have systematically examined gene-wide tagging polymorphisms. A total of 533 patients with schizophrenia (302 males: mean age ± standard deviation 43.4 ± 13.0 years; 233 females; mean age 44.8 ± 15.3 years) and 1136 healthy controls (388 males: mean age 44.6 ± 17.3 years; 748 females; 46.3 ± 15.6 years) were recruited for this study. All subjects were biologically unrelated Japanese individuals. Five tagging polymorphisms of IL-1β gene (rs2853550, rs1143634, rs1143633, rs1143630, rs16944) were examined for association with schizophrenia. Significant difference in allele distribution was found between patients with schizophrenia and controls for rs1143633 (P = 0.0089). When the analysis was performed separately in each gender, significant difference between patients and controls in allele distribution of rs1143633 was observed in females (P = 0.0073). A trend towards association was also found between rs16944 and female patients with schizophrenia (P = 0.032). The present study shows the first evidence that the IL-1β gene polymorphism rs1143633 is associated with schizophrenia susceptibility in a Japanese population. The results suggest the possibility that the influence of IL-1β gene variations on susceptibility to schizophrenia may be greater in females than in males. Findings of the present study provide further support for the role of IL-1β in the etiology of schizophrenia.

Possible association between Interleukin-1beta gene and schizophrenia in a Japanese population

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Sasayama Daimei

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Several lines of evidence have implicated the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1β in the etiology of schizophrenia. Although a number of genetic association studies have been reported, very few have systematically examined gene-wide tagging polymorphisms. Methods A total of 533 patients with schizophrenia (302 males: mean age ± standard deviation 43.4 ± 13.0 years; 233 females; mean age 44.8 ± 15.3 years and 1136 healthy controls (388 males: mean age 44.6 ± 17.3 years; 748 females; 46.3 ± 15.6 years were recruited for this study. All subjects were biologically unrelated Japanese individuals. Five tagging polymorphisms of IL-1β gene (rs2853550, rs1143634, rs1143633, rs1143630, rs16944 were examined for association with schizophrenia. Results Significant difference in allele distribution was found between patients with schizophrenia and controls for rs1143633 (P = 0.0089. When the analysis was performed separately in each gender, significant difference between patients and controls in allele distribution of rs1143633 was observed in females (P = 0.0073. A trend towards association was also found between rs16944 and female patients with schizophrenia (P = 0.032. Conclusions The present study shows the first evidence that the IL-1β gene polymorphism rs1143633 is associated with schizophrenia susceptibility in a Japanese population. The results suggest the possibility that the influence of IL-1β gene variations on susceptibility to schizophrenia may be greater in females than in males. Findings of the present study provide further support for the role of IL-1β in the etiology of schizophrenia.

Possible association between Interleukin-1beta gene and schizophrenia in a Japanese population

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Several lines of evidence have implicated the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) in the etiology of schizophrenia. Although a number of genetic association studies have been reported, very few have systematically examined gene-wide tagging polymorphisms. Methods A total of 533 patients with schizophrenia (302 males: mean age ± standard deviation 43.4 ± 13.0 years; 233 females; mean age 44.8 ± 15.3 years) and 1136 healthy controls (388 males: mean age 44.6 ± 17.3 years; 748 females; 46.3 ± 15.6 years) were recruited for this study. All subjects were biologically unrelated Japanese individuals. Five tagging polymorphisms of IL-1β gene (rs2853550, rs1143634, rs1143633, rs1143630, rs16944) were examined for association with schizophrenia. Results Significant difference in allele distribution was found between patients with schizophrenia and controls for rs1143633 (P = 0.0089). When the analysis was performed separately in each gender, significant difference between patients and controls in allele distribution of rs1143633 was observed in females (P = 0.0073). A trend towards association was also found between rs16944 and female patients with schizophrenia (P = 0.032). Conclusions The present study shows the first evidence that the IL-1β gene polymorphism rs1143633 is associated with schizophrenia susceptibility in a Japanese population. The results suggest the possibility that the influence of IL-1β gene variations on susceptibility to schizophrenia may be greater in females than in males. Findings of the present study provide further support for the role of IL-1β in the etiology of schizophrenia. PMID:21843369

Brodmann area analysis of white matter anisotropy and age in schizophrenia.

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Schneiderman, Jason S; Hazlett, Erin A; Chu, King-Wai; Zhang, Jane; Goodman, Chelain R; Newmark, Randall E; Torosjan, Yuliya; Canfield, Emily L; Entis, Jonathan; Mitropoulou, Vivian; Tang, Cheuk Y; Friedman, Joseph; Buchsbaum, Monte S

2011-08-01

Diffusion tensor and structural MRI images were acquired on ninety-six patients with schizophrenia (69 men and 27 women) between the ages of 18 and 79 (mean=39.83, SD=15.16 DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia according to the Comprehensive Assessment of Symptoms and History). The patients reported a mean age of onset of 23 years (range=13-38, SD=6). Patients were divided into an acute subgroup (duration ≤3 years, n=25), and a chronic subgroup (duration >3 years, n=64). Ninety-three mentally normal comparison subjects were recruited; 55 men and 38 women between the ages of 18 and 82 (mean=35.77, SD=18.12). The MRI images were segmented by Brodmann area, and the fractional anisotropy (FA) for the white matter within each Brodmann area was calculated. The FA in white matter was decreased in patients with schizophrenia broadly across the entire brain, but to a greater extent in white matter underneath frontal, temporal and cingulate cortical areas. Both normals and patients with schizophrenia showed a decrease in anisotropy with age but patients with schizophrenia showed a significantly greater rate of decrease in FA in Brodmann area 10 bilaterally, 11 in the left hemisphere and 34 in the right hemisphere. When the effect of age was removed, patients ill more than three years showed lower anisotropy in frontal motor and cingulate white matter in comparison to acute patients ill three years or less, consistent with an ongoing progression of the illness. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Iris structure and minor physical anomalies in schizophrenia.

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Trixler, Dániel; Tényi, Tamás

2017-10-01

This study compared five human iris characteristics and minor physical anomalies (MPAs) between patients with schizophrenia (n = 32) and controls (n = 31). Correlations between iris characteristics and MPAs were expected, due to their same ectodermic origin. Iris macro photos were taken and quantified in five categories mentioned before. MPAs were also examined in both groups. Our results show significant differences in the frequency of pigment dots of the iris and total number of MPAs between groups. Other significant differences were found in the extension of concentric furrows, as they were more common in healthy subjects, while Wolfflin nodules occurred significantly more often in patients with schizophrenia. Expected difference in Fuch's crypts could not be observed between groups. Light eye color was positively correlated to pigment dots and Wolfflin nodules, and negatively correlated with concentric furrows. Dark eye color showed positive correlation with concentric furrows, and negative correlation with pigment dots and concentric furrows. A gender effect could also been observed: male individuals showed moderate positive correlations between pigment dots and total MPAs frequency, while this couldn't be observed in the female group. Our findings suggest possible connections between iris characteristics and MPAs, where males are more prone to deviations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOBACCO DEPENDENCE AND SCHIZOPHRENIA

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Wayan Widhidewi

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Tobacco dependence in schizophrenia patients is a problem that got more concern, withfew treatment options. Peoples with schizophrenia have a prevalence rate of cigarettesmoking two until four times higher than the general population. Consequently, patientsalso have a lower smoking quit rate than the general population. Tobacco dependence inthis population may complicate symptoms and also has adverse physiological effects onpatients. Besides that, patients with schizophrenia tend to smoke more heavily thansmokers in general population. This can increased smoking-related morbidity andmortality and impose a significant financial burden on patients. Recent studiesdemonstrated that patients with schizophrenia smoke before the onset of the illness andalso start smoking earlier than the average population. Patients become psychotic earlierthan patients who do not smoke, and require higher dose of anti-psychotic medications.

Childhood body mass index and risk of schizophrenia in relation to childhood age, sex and age of first contact with schizophrenia.

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Sørensen, H J; Gamborg, M; Sørensen, T I A; Baker, J L; Mortensen, E L

2016-04-01

Childhood leanness is associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia, but the effects of gender, age at anthropometric measurements and age at first diagnosis on this relationship are unclear. The present study aimed at elucidating these associations. Population-based cohort study with childhood anthropometric measures obtained annually from the age of 7 to 13 years in 253,353 Danes born 1930-1976 and followed to 31 December 2010. During this period, 4936 were registered with schizophrenia. The associations of childhood BMI with risk of schizophrenia were estimated with Cox regression models. Childhood BMI was significantly inversely associated with risk of schizophrenia, however with different patterns among boys and girls. In boys, childhood BMI had an inverse non-linear association with schizophrenia risk dependent on age at diagnosis; in particular, a surprisingly strong association was found between leanness and later onset of schizophrenia. In girls, the risk of schizophrenia decreased linearly with increasing BMI z-score (HR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.88-0.98). In both boys and girls, birth weight was inversely associated with later risk. In girls, but not in boys, birth weight appeared to significantly modify the associations; there was a somewhat stronger inverse association in the lowest birth weight category. Birth weight as well as childhood BMI at ages 7 through 13 years is associated with risk of schizophrenia in both genders, but with a particular high risk of late-onset in lean boys irrespective of birth weight, and in lean girls with low birth weight. If replicated, these observations may inform preventive efforts build on schizophrenia trajectories rooted in early life. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Neural mechanisms of mismatch negativity dysfunction in schizophrenia.

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Lee, M; Sehatpour, P; Hoptman, M J; Lakatos, P; Dias, E C; Kantrowitz, J T; Martinez, A M; Javitt, D C

2017-11-01

Schizophrenia is associated with cognitive deficits that reflect impaired cortical information processing. Mismatch negativity (MMN) indexes pre-attentive information processing dysfunction at the level of primary auditory cortex. This study investigates mechanisms underlying MMN impairments in schizophrenia using event-related potential, event-related spectral decomposition (ERSP) and resting state functional connectivity (rsfcMRI) approaches. For this study, MMN data to frequency, intensity and duration-deviants were analyzed from 69 schizophrenia patients and 38 healthy controls. rsfcMRI was obtained from a subsample of 38 patients and 23 controls. As expected, schizophrenia patients showed highly significant, large effect size (P=0.0004, d=1.0) deficits in MMN generation across deviant types. In ERSP analyses, responses to deviants occurred primarily the theta (4-7 Hz) frequency range consistent with distributed corticocortical processing, whereas responses to standards occurred primarily in alpha (8-12 Hz) range consistent with known frequencies of thalamocortical activation. Independent deficits in schizophrenia were observed in both the theta response to deviants (P=0.021) and the alpha-response to standards (P=0.003). At the single-trial level, differential patterns of response were observed for frequency vs duration/intensity deviants, along with At the network level, MMN deficits engaged canonical somatomotor, ventral attention and default networks, with a differential pattern of engagement across deviant types (Pschizophrenia. In addition, differences in ERSP and rsfcMRI profiles across deviant types suggest potential differential engagement of underlying generator mechanisms.

Identification of vulnerability among first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia.

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Solanki, R K; Swami, M K; Singh, P; Gupta, S

2012-09-01

To evaluate the status of schizotypy, neurological soft signs, and cognitive functions as vulnerability markers for schizophrenia and to investigate the potential value of their combination for early identification of people at high risk for schizophrenia. A cross-sectional study was conducted. Subjects were drawn from first-degree relatives of inpatients and outpatients with schizophrenia (n = 50). Controls (n = 30) were recruited by word-of-mouth from hospital staff and attendants of hospitalised patients. Subjects who met inclusion criteria on screening were subjected to selected measures for assessment, including Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Version, the Cambridge Neurological Inventory, digit span test, paired associate learning test, and visuospatial working memory matrix. Statistical analysis was completed using the independent t test and significance (p value), as well as calculation of effect size (Cohen's d). Discriminant function analysis was used to determine the effect of combining assessment measures. First-degree relatives showed higher schizotypy scores (Cohen's d = 0.88) and neurological soft signs (Cohen's d = 1.55). They scored significantly worse on all neurocognitive measures (Cohen's d = -1.27). Discriminant function analysis showed that Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Version, neurological soft signs, and total cognitive index (the sum of weighted scores on individual cognitive scales) in combination better discriminated between the first-degree relative and control groups (Wilks' λ = 0.54). Use of multiple vulnerability markers could enhance the specificity of measures used to determine risk for schizophrenia.

Altered Cerebral Blood Flow Covariance Network in Schizophrenia.

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Liu, Feng; Zhuo, Chuanjun; Yu, Chunshui

2016-01-01

Many studies have shown abnormal cerebral blood flow (CBF) in schizophrenia; however, it remains unclear how topological properties of CBF network are altered in this disorder. Here, arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI was employed to measure resting-state CBF in 96 schizophrenia patients and 91 healthy controls. CBF covariance network of each group was constructed by calculating across-subject CBF covariance between 90 brain regions. Graph theory was used to compare intergroup differences in global and nodal topological measures of the network. Both schizophrenia patients and healthy controls had small-world topology in CBF covariance networks, implying an optimal balance between functional segregation and integration. Compared with healthy controls, schizophrenia patients showed reduced small-worldness, normalized clustering coefficient and local efficiency of the network, suggesting a shift toward randomized network topology in schizophrenia. Furthermore, schizophrenia patients exhibited altered nodal centrality in the perceptual-, affective-, language-, and spatial-related regions, indicating functional disturbance of these systems in schizophrenia. This study demonstrated for the first time that schizophrenia patients have disrupted topological properties in CBF covariance network, which provides a new perspective (efficiency of blood flow distribution between brain regions) for understanding neural mechanisms of schizophrenia.

Disrupted Olfactory Integration in Schizophrenia: Functional Connectivity Study.

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Kiparizoska, Sara; Ikuta, Toshikazu

2017-09-01

Evidence for olfactory dysfunction in schizophrenia has been firmly established. However, in the typical understanding of schizophrenia, olfaction is not recognized to contribute to or interact with the illness. Despite the solid presence of olfactory dysfunction in schizophrenia, its relation to the rest of the illness remains largely unclear. Here, we aimed to examine functional connectivity of the olfactory bulb, olfactory tract, and piriform cortices and isolate the network that would account for the altered olfaction in schizophrenia. We examined the functional connectivity of these specific olfactory regions in order to isolate other brain regions associated with olfactory processing in schizophrenia. Using the resting state functional MRI data from the Center for Biomedical Research Excellence in Brain Function and Mental Illness, we compared 84 patients of schizophrenia and 90 individuals without schizophrenia. The schizophrenia group showed disconnectivity between the anterior piriform cortex and the nucleus accumbens, between the posterior piriform cortex and the middle frontal gyrus, and between the olfactory tract and the visual cortices. The current results suggest functional disconnectivity of olfactory regions in schizophrenia, which may account for olfactory dysfunction and disrupted integration with other sensory modalities in schizophrenia. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.

Dissociation and psychosis in dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia.

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Laddis, Andreas; Dell, Paul F

2012-01-01

Dissociative symptoms, first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia, and delusions were assessed in 40 schizophrenia patients and 40 dissociative identity disorder (DID) patients with the Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation (MID). Schizophrenia patients were diagnosed with the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV Axis I Disorders; DID patients were diagnosed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders-Revised. DID patients obtained significantly (a) higher dissociation scores; (b) higher passive-influence scores (first-rank symptoms); and (c) higher scores on scales that measure child voices, angry voices, persecutory voices, voices arguing, and voices commenting. Schizophrenia patients obtained significantly higher delusion scores than did DID patients. What is odd is that the dissociation scores of schizophrenia patients were unrelated to their reports of childhood maltreatment. Multiple regression analyses indicated that 81% of the variance in DID patients' dissociation scores was predicted by the MID's Ego-Alien Experiences Scale, whereas 92% of the variance in schizophrenia patients' dissociation scores was predicted by the MID's Voices Scale. We propose that schizophrenia patients' responses to the MID do not index the same pathology as do the responses of DID patients. We argue that neither phenomenological definitions of dissociation nor the current generation of dissociation instruments (which are uniformly phenomenological in nature) can distinguish between the dissociative phenomena of DID and what we suspect are just the dissociation-like phenomena of schizophrenia.

No association between polymorphisms in the DDC gene and paranoid schizophrenia in a northern Chinese population.

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Zhang, Boyu; Jia, Yanbin; Yuan, Yanbo; Yu, Xin; Xu, Qi; Shen, Yucun; Shen, Yan

2004-09-01

Several lines of evidence suggest that dysfunctions of neurotransmitters are associated with schizophrenia. DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) is an enzyme involved directly in the synthesis of dopamine and serotonin, and indirectly in the synthesis of noradrenaline. Therefore, the DDC gene can be considered a candidate gene for schizophrenia. We performed an association study between three single nucleotide polymorphisms in the DDC gene and paranoid schizophrenia. However, in our study no significant differences were found in the genotype distributions and allele frequencies between 80 paranoid schizophrenics and 108 controls for any of the polymorphisms. Neither did the haplotypes of the single nucleotide polymorphisms show any association with paranoid schizophrenia. Therefore, we conclude that the polymorphisms studied do not play a major role in paranoid schizophrenia pathogenesis in the population investigated.

Temperament and personal character relationship with symptoms of schizophrenia disorder

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Abbas Abolghasemi

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Knowledge is limited concerning the role of temperament and character factors on schizophrenia. Recent studies suggest that dimensions of temperament and character influence symptoms and functions in schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between temperament and character with positive and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.Methods: The research sample consisted of 100 men which were randomly selected from schizophrenia patients with positive and negative symptoms at Razi hospital in Tabriz. Temperament and character inventory and positive and negative symptoms scale were used for data collection. Data was analyzed using t-test and discriminate analyses. Results: The research findings showed that patients with schizophrenia with negative symptoms had higher levels of self– transcendence and harm avoidance. However, patients with schizophrenia with positive symptoms had higher levels of cooperativeness. The results of discriminate analysis showed that explained 37 percent of variance of self– transcendence, harm avoidance and cooperativeness for only function between groups of schizophrenia with positive and negative symptoms. Discriminate function obtained was classified correctly by stepwise method 68.3 percent schizophrenia with positive and negative symptoms.Conclusion: It can be concluded that self– transcendence, harm avoidance and cooperativeness discriminated the patients with schizophrenia with positive and negative symptoms. The study confirmed important implications about intensity of symptomology and early intervention for patients with schizophrenia.

Alterations of the occipital lobe in schizophrenia.

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Tohid, Hassaan; Faizan, Muhammad; Faizan, Uzma

2015-07-01

The relationship of the occipital lobe of the brain with schizophrenia is not commonly studied; however, this topic is considered an essential subject matter among clinicians and scientists. We conducted this systematic review to elaborate the relationship in depth. We found that most schizophrenic patients show normal occipital anatomy and physiology, a minority showed dwindled values, and some demonstrated augmented function and structure. The findings are laborious to incorporate within single disease models that present the involvement of the occipital lobe in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia progresses clinically in the mid-twenties and thirties and its prognosis is inadequate. Changes in the volume, the gray matter, and the white matter in the occipital lobe are quite evident; however, the mechanism behind this involvement is not yet fully understood. Therefore, we recommend further research to explore the occipital lobe functions and volumes across the different stages of schizophrenia.

Alterations of the occipital lobe in schizophrenia

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Tohid, Hassaan; Faizan, Muhammad; Faizan, Uzma

2015-01-01

The relationship of the occipital lobe of the brain with schizophrenia is not commonly studied; however, this topic is considered an essential subject matter among clinicians and scientists. We conducted this systematic review to elaborate the relationship in depth. We found that most schizophrenic patients show normal occipital anatomy and physiology, a minority showed dwindled values, and some demonstrated augmented function and structure. The findings are laborious to incorporate within single disease models that present the involvement of the occipital lobe in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia progresses clinically in the mid-twenties and thirties and its prognosis is inadequate. Changes in the volume, the gray matter, and the white matter in the occipital lobe are quite evident; however, the mechanism behind this involvement is not yet fully understood. Therefore, we recommend further research to explore the occipital lobe functions and volumes across the different stages of schizophrenia. PMID:26166588

The management of schizophrenia: focus on extended-release quetiapine fumarate

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Peuskens J

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Joseph Peuskens Universitair Psychiatrisch Centrum KU Leuven, Campus St Jozef Kortenberg, Kortenberg, Belgium Abstract: Effective management of schizophrenia remains a significant clinical challenge. While antipsychotic medications have proven efficacy in this disease, there remains an opportunity to further improve symptom control and long-term relapse prevention. Also, a number of factors, including tolerability and complex dosing regimens, can result in nonadherence to medication. Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic with proven efficacy and an established tolerability profile in schizophrenia. The once-daily extended-release formulation (quetiapine XR offers a simplified dosing regimen and titration schedule. Short-term clinical studies have shown that quetiapine XR (400–800 mg/d is efficacious in the acute treatment of schizophrenia, while a long-term study has shown that quetiapine XR was significantly more effective than placebo at preventing relapse. Furthermore, an investigation in which stable patients switched from the immediate-release formulation (quetiapine IR to quetiapine XR showed that quetiapine XR is generally well tolerated and has no loss of efficacy compared with quetiapine IR. In patients who experienced insufficient efficacy or poor tolerability on their previous antipsychotic, switching to quetiapine XR significantly improved efficacy compared with the previous treatment. In conclusion, quetiapine XR is an effective and generally well tolerated treatment for schizophrenia. Furthermore, once-daily dosing may improve patient adherence, which may impact positively on patient outcomes. Keywords: adherence, atypical antipsychotics, adverse events

Decreased functional connectivity in schizophrenia: The relationship between social functioning, social cognition and graph theoretical network measures.

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Erdeniz, Burak; Serin, Emin; İbadi, Yelda; Taş, Cumhur

2017-12-30

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder in which abnormalities in brain connectivity and social functioning play a central role. The aim of this study is to explore small-world network properties, and understand their relationship with social functioning and social cognition in the context of schizophrenia, by testing functional connectivity differences in network properties and its relation to clinical behavioral measures. Resting-state fMRI time series data were acquired from 23 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 23 healthy volunteers. The results revealed that patients with schizophrenia show significantly decreased connectivity between a range of brain regions, particularly involving connections among the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral putamen and left amygdala. Furthermore, topological properties of functional brain networks in patients with schizophrenia were characterized by reduced path length compared to healthy controls; however, no significant difference was found for clustering coefficient, local efficiency or global efficiency. Additionally, we found that nodal efficiency of the amygdala and the putamen were significantly correlated with the independence-performance subscale of social functioning scale (SFC), and Reading the Mind in the Eyes test; however, the correlations do not survive correction for multiple comparison. The current results help to clarify the relationship between social functioning deficits and topological brain measures in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fewer but heavier caffeine consumers in schizophrenia: a case-control study.

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Gurpegui, Manuel; Aguilar, M Carmen; Martínez-Ortega, José M; Jurado, Dolores; Diaz, Francisco J; Quintana, Hernando M; de Leon, Jose

2006-09-01

According to the literature, there is an association between schizophrenia and caffeine consumption, but it is not clear whether schizophrenia is associated with either higher prevalence of daily caffeine intake or the amount consumed. In this study we compared our previously published schizophrenia patients (n=250) with a control sample (n=290) after controlling for demographic variables and tobacco and alcohol consumption. Current caffeine intake was less frequent in schizophrenia patients (59%, 147/250) than in controls (70%, 204/290). In the multivariate analyses, caffeine intake was less frequent at an older age and in schizophrenia patients, and more frequent in smokers and alcohol users. Among caffeine consumers, heavy caffeine intake (> or =200 mg/day) was significantly associated with schizophrenia (64%, 94/147 in schizophrenia versus 36%, 73/204 in controls), as well as older age and smoking. Daily amount of caffeine intake and smoked cigarettes correlated significantly in the schizophrenia group but not in the control group; the correlation of caffeine intake with nicotine dependence was low and non-significant in both groups. The association between current smoking and heavy caffeine intake may be partly explained by a pharmacokinetic effect: tobacco smoke compounds induce caffeine metabolism by the cytochrome P450 1A2. Although schizophrenia by itself may be associated with heavy caffeine intake in caffeine users, part of this association was explained by the association between schizophrenia and smoking. The relationship between caffeine and alcohol intake appeared to be more complex; alcohol and caffeine use were significantly associated, but within caffeine users alcohol was associated with less frequent heavy caffeine consumption among smokers. In future studies, the measurement of plasma caffeine levels will help both to better define heavy caffeine intake and to control for smoking pharmacokinetic effects.

Prefrontal activity and impaired memory encoding strategies in schizophrenia.

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Guimond, Synthia; Hawco, Colin; Lepage, Martin

2017-08-01

Schizophrenia patients have significant memory difficulties that have far-reaching implications in their daily life. These impairments are partly attributed to an inability to self-initiate effective memory encoding strategies, but its core neurobiological correlates remain unknown. The current study addresses this critical gap in our knowledge of episodic memory impairments in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia patients (n = 35) and healthy controls (n = 23) underwent a Semantic Encoding Memory Task (SEMT) during an fMRI scan. Brain activity was examined for conditions where participants were a) prompted to use semantic encoding strategies, or b) not prompted but required to self-initiate such strategies. When prompted to use semantic encoding strategies, schizophrenia patients exhibited similar recognition performance and brain activity as healthy controls. However, when required to self-initiate these strategies, patients had significant reduced recognition performance and brain activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, as well as in the left temporal gyrus, left superior parietal lobule, and cerebellum. When patients were divided based on performance on the SEMT, the subgroup with more severe deficits in self-initiation also showed greater reduction in left dorsolateral prefrontal activity. These results suggest that impaired self-initiation of elaborative encoding strategies is a driving feature of memory deficits in schizophrenia. We also identified the neural correlates of impaired self-initiation of semantic encoding strategies, in which a failure to activate the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex plays a key role. These findings provide important new targets in the development of novel treatments aiming to improve memory and ultimately patients' outcome. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Low dietary intake of n-3 fatty acids, niacin, folate, and vitamin C in Korean patients with schizophrenia and the development of dietary guidelines for schizophrenia.

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Kim, Eun Jin; Lim, So Young; Lee, Hee Jae; Lee, Ju-Yeon; Choi, Seunggi; Kim, Seon-Young; Kim, Jae-Min; Shin, Il-Seon; Yoon, Jin-Sang; Yang, Soo Jin; Kim, Sung-Wan

2017-09-01

Inappropriate dietary intake and poor nutritional status are reported to be associated with metabolic syndrome and psychopathology in patients with schizophrenia. We hypothesized that inappropriate dietary habits and insufficient dietary intake of specific nutrients are associated with schizophrenia. To test the hypothesis, we assessed the dietary habits and nutritional intake of patients with schizophrenia and then developed suitable dietary guidelines. In total, 140 subjects (73 controls and 67 patients with schizophrenia from community mental health centers) were included, and dietary intakes were analyzed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. As a result, the proportion of overweight or obese patients was significantly higher in schizophrenia subjects (64.2%) compared with control subjects (39.7%) (P=.004). The male schizophrenia patients had significantly lower dietary intakes of protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), vitamin K, niacin, folate, and vitamin C than the male control subjects. In all multiple logistic regression models, subjects with the "low" dietary intake of protein, n-3 PUFAs, niacin, folate, and vitamin C had a significantly higher odds ratios for schizophrenia compared with those with the "high" dietary intake category of each nutrient. Therefore, maintenance of a healthy body weight and sufficient dietary intake of protein, PUFAs, niacin, folate, and vitamin C are recommended for Korean patients with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The association between season of birth, age at onset, and clozapine use in schizophrenia.

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Kim, J S; Park, C M; Choi, J A; Park, E; Tchoe, H J; Choi, M; Suh, J K; Kim, Y H; Won, S H; Chung, Y C; Bae, K Y; Lee, S K; Park, S C; Lee, S H

2017-11-01

This study aimed to determine whether the rate of clozapine use, an indicator of refractoriness in schizophrenia, is associated with the season of birth and age at onset in patients with schizophrenia based on nationwide data. Patients with schizophrenia (n = 114 749) who received prescriptions for antipsychotic medication between 2008 and 2014 were retrospectively identified from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. The study population was divided into three groups based on their age at the onset of schizophrenia (early, middle, and late onset). We assessed differences in the month of birth between patients and the general population. In addition, the cumulative clozapine use was calculated. Compared to the late-onset schizophrenia group, the early- and middle-onset groups showed a higher probability of birth during the winter season. In addition, the early-onset group showed the highest cumulative clozapine use rate. In the middle-onset group, the initiation of clozapine use was significantly earlier for patients born in winter compared to those born in summer. Our results indicate that the age at onset is an important factor in predicting the prognosis of schizophrenia patients. The season of birth also affects the prognosis, but with less robustness. Specifically, it appears that early disease onset and winter birth might be associated with poor outcomes in Korean patients with schizophrenia. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Ultrastructural Alterations of Von Economo Neurons in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Schizophrenia.

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Krause, Martin; Theiss, Carsten; Brüne, Martin

2017-11-01

Von Economo neurons (VENs) are large bipolar projection neurons mainly located in layer Vb of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and anterior insula. Both regions are involved in cognitive and emotional procedures and are functionally and anatomically altered in schizophrenia. Although the detailed function of VEN remains unclear, it has been suggested that these neurons are involved in the pathomechanism of schizophrenia. Here, we were interested in the question whether or not the VEN of schizophrenia patients would show abnormalities at the ultrastructural level. Accordingly, we examined the amount of lysosomal aggregations of the VEN in post-mortem tissue of patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and psychologically unaffected individuals, and compared the findings with aggregations in adjacent pyramidal cells in layer Vb of the ACC. VEN of patients with schizophrenia, and to a lesser degree individuals with bipolar disorder contained significantly more lysosomal aggregations compared with tissue from unaffected controls. Specifically, the larger amount of lysosomal aggregations in schizophrenia seemed to be selective for VEN, with no differences occurring in pyramidal cells. These findings may indicate that the VEN of schizophrenia patients are selectively vulnerable to neuronal damage. Anat Rec, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Anat Rec, 300:2017-2024, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The influence of encoding strategy on episodic memory and cortical activity in schizophrenia.

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Bonner-Jackson, Aaron; Haut, Kristen; Csernansky, John G; Barch, Deanna M

2005-07-01

Recent work suggests that episodic memory deficits in schizophrenia may be related to disturbances of encoding or retrieval. Schizophrenia patients appear to benefit from instruction in episodic memory strategies. We tested the hypothesis that providing effective encoding strategies to schizophrenia patients enhances encoding-related brain activity and recognition performance. Seventeen schizophrenia patients and 26 healthy comparison subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans while performing incidental encoding tasks of words and faces. Subjects were required to make either deep (abstract/concrete) or shallow (alphabetization) judgments for words and deep (gender) judgments for faces, followed by subsequent recognition tests. Schizophrenia and comparison subjects recognized significantly more words encoded deeply than shallowly, activated regions in inferior frontal cortex (Brodmann area 45/47) typically associated with deep and successful encoding of words, and showed greater left frontal activation for the processing of words compared with faces. However, during deep encoding and material-specific processing (words vs. faces), participants with schizophrenia activated regions not activated by control subjects, including several in prefrontal cortex. Our findings suggest that a deficit in use of effective strategies influences episodic memory performance in schizophrenia and that abnormalities in functional brain activation persist even when such strategies are applied.

Functioning in early and late stages of schizophrenia

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Leonardo Gazzi Costa

2014-12-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia is frequently associated with a debilitating course and prominent impairment in social and occupational functioning. Although the criteria for classification into stages have not been defined in the literature, illness duration and functioning seem to be good candidates.OBJECTIVE:To compare functioning of patients with schizophrenia at different stages of the disease (early vs. late and healthy sex- and age-matched controls.METHODS: This double-blinded, case-controlled study included 79 individuals: 23 patients with schizophrenia diagnosed up to 5 years earlier; 19 patients with schizophrenia diagnosed at least 20 years earlier; and healthy matched controls. Diagnoses were established using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV Axis I Disorder. Functioning was assessed using the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST.RESULTS: Patients in the early stage had significantly higher scores than healthy controls in total FAST and in autonomy, occupational functioning, cognitive functioning and interpersonal relationships. Individuals in the late stage had significantly poorer functioning than controls in all domains. The comparison of functioning between the two groups of patients revealed no significant differences, except in occupational functioning, in which late stage patients had a poorer performance.CONCLUSION: Functioning impairment in schizophrenia tends to remain stable despite illness duration. Therefore, functioning should be effectively assessed at an early stage, as illness duration alone may not be the most reliable criterion to stage patients with schizophrenia.

Neurocognition in early-onset schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders.

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Hooper, Stephen R; Giuliano, Anthony J; Youngstrom, Eric A; Breiger, David; Sikich, Linmarie; Frazier, Jean A; Findling, Robert L; McClellan, Jon; Hamer, Robert M; Vitiello, Benedetto; Lieberman, Jeffrey A

2010-01-01

We examined the neuropsychological functioning of youth enrolled in the NIMH funded trial, Treatment of Early-Onset Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (TEOSS). We compared the baseline neuropsychological functioning of youth with schizophrenia (SZ, n = 79) to those with schizoaffective disorder (SA, n = 40), and examined the relationship of different variables of illness severity and adaptive behavior to neuropsychological functioning. Participants ranged in age from 8 to 19 years. Diagnostic status was confirmed via structured interview over multiple time points. Domains of neuropsychological functioning included fine-motor, attention, working memory, problem-solving efficiency, inhibitory control, and social cognition. Other variables included intelligence (IQ), academic achievement skills, adaptive behavior, and different measures of illness severity. The two groups did not differ on IQ or on any of the neuropsychological domains. The SZ group performed significantly lower in spelling. A high proportion of individuals in both groups reflected significant intellectual and academic achievement skill deficits. Significant correlations were found between the neurocognitive domains and both illness severity and adaptive behavior variables. There were few differences between the SZ and SA groups on IQ, achievement, or neuropsychological functioning; however, both groups showed significantly high rates of deficits in IQ and basic academic skills. Correlations of the neurocognitive functions with illness severity and adaptive behavior were small to moderate in magnitude. These findings continue to implicate the importance of neurocognitive functioning as a key area of vulnerability in the study of youth with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Values in First-Episode Schizophrenia.

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Agid, Ofer; Mcdonald, Krysta; Fervaha, Gagan; Littrell, Romie; Thoma, Jessica; Zipursky, Robert B; Foussias, George; Remington, Gary

2015-11-01

Functional impairment continues to represent a major challenge in schizophrenia. Surprisingly, patients with schizophrenia report a level of happiness comparable with control subjects, even in the face of the prominent functional deficits, a finding at odds with evidence indicating a positive relation between happiness and level of functioning. In attempting to reconcile these findings, we chose to examine the issue of values, defined as affectively infused criteria or motivational goals used to select and justify actions, people, and the self, as values are related to both happiness and functioning. Fifty-six first-episode patients in remission and 56 healthy control subjects completed happiness and values measures. Statistical analyses included correlations, analysis of variance, structural equation modelling, and smallest space analysis. Results indicated that patients with schizophrenia placed significantly greater priority on the value dimensions of Tradition (P = 0.02) and Power (P = 0.03), and significantly less priority on Self-direction (P = 0.007) and Stimulation, (P = 0.008). Essentially, people with schizophrenia place more emphasis on the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide in conjunction with a decreased interest in change, which is at odds with the expectations of early adulthood. This value difference could be related to functional deficits. To this point, we have assumed that people hold to the same values that guided them before the illness' onset, but this may not be the case. Our study indicates that values differ in people with schizophrenia, compared with control subjects, even early in the illness and in the face of symptomatic remission.

Decreased expression of Sprouty2 in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a correlation with BDNF expression.

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Anilkumar Pillai

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Current theories on the pathophysiology of schizophrenia suggest altered brain plasticity such as decreased neural proliferation and migration, delayed myelination, and abnormal synaptic modeling, in the brain of subjects with schizophrenia. Though functional alterations in BDNF, which plays important role in neuroplasticity, are implicated in many abnormalities found in schizophrenia, the regulatory mechanism(s involved in the abnormal signaling of BDNF in schizophrenia is not clear. The present study investigated whether Sprouty2, a regulator of growth factor signaling, is abnormally expressed in schizophrenia, and is associated with the changes in BDNF mRNA in this disorder. The potential effect of antipsychotic drugs on Sprouty2 expression was tested in adult rats. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Sprouty2 and BDNF gene expression were analyzed in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex samples from the Stanley Array Collection. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of RNA in 100 individuals (35 with schizophrenia, 31 with bipolar disorder, and 34 psychiatrically normal controls showed significantly decreased expression of Sprouty2 and BDNF in both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Moreover, a significant correlation between these two genes existed in control, schizophrenia and bipolar subjects. Long-term treatment with antipsychotic drugs, haloperidol and olanzapine, showed differential effects on both Sprouty2 and BDNF mRNA and protein levels in the frontal cortex of rats. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrating decreased expression of Sprouty2 associated with changes in BDNF, suggest the possibility that these decreases are secondary to treatment rather than to factors that are significant in the disease process of either schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder. Further exploration of Sprouty2-related signal transduction pathways may be helpful to design novel treatment strategies for these disorders.

Rare Genome-Wide Copy Number Variation and Expression of Schizophrenia in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome.

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Bassett, Anne S; Lowther, Chelsea; Merico, Daniele; Costain, Gregory; Chow, Eva W C; van Amelsvoort, Therese; McDonald-McGinn, Donna; Gur, Raquel E; Swillen, Ann; Van den Bree, Marianne; Murphy, Kieran; Gothelf, Doron; Bearden, Carrie E; Eliez, Stephan; Kates, Wendy; Philip, Nicole; Sashi, Vandana; Campbell, Linda; Vorstman, Jacob; Cubells, Joseph; Repetto, Gabriela M; Simon, Tony; Boot, Erik; Heung, Tracy; Evers, Rens; Vingerhoets, Claudia; van Duin, Esther; Zackai, Elaine; Vergaelen, Elfi; Devriendt, Koen; Vermeesch, Joris R; Owen, Michael; Murphy, Clodagh; Michaelovosky, Elena; Kushan, Leila; Schneider, Maude; Fremont, Wanda; Busa, Tiffany; Hooper, Stephen; McCabe, Kathryn; Duijff, Sasja; Isaev, Karin; Pellecchia, Giovanna; Wei, John; Gazzellone, Matthew J; Scherer, Stephen W; Emanuel, Beverly S; Guo, Tingwei; Morrow, Bernice E; Marshall, Christian R

2017-11-01

Chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is associated with a more than 20-fold increased risk for developing schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to identify additional genetic factors (i.e., "second hits") that may contribute to schizophrenia expression. Through an international consortium, the authors obtained DNA samples from 329 psychiatrically phenotyped subjects with 22q11.2DS. Using a high-resolution microarray platform and established methods to assess copy number variation (CNV), the authors compared the genome-wide burden of rare autosomal CNV, outside of the 22q11.2 deletion region, between two groups: a schizophrenia group and those with no psychotic disorder at age ≥25 years. The authors assessed whether genes overlapped by rare CNVs were overrepresented in functional pathways relevant to schizophrenia. Rare CNVs overlapping one or more protein-coding genes revealed significant between-group differences. For rare exonic duplications, six of 19 gene sets tested were enriched in the schizophrenia group; genes associated with abnormal nervous system phenotypes remained significant in a stepwise logistic regression model and showed significant interactions with 22q11.2 deletion region genes in a connectivity analysis. For rare exonic deletions, the schizophrenia group had, on average, more genes overlapped. The additional rare CNVs implicated known (e.g., GRM7, 15q13.3, 16p12.2) and novel schizophrenia risk genes and loci. The results suggest that additional rare CNVs overlapping genes outside of the 22q11.2 deletion region contribute to schizophrenia risk in 22q11.2DS, supporting a multigenic hypothesis for schizophrenia. The findings have implications for understanding expression of psychotic illness and herald the importance of whole-genome sequencing to appreciate the overall genomic architecture of schizophrenia.

Oscillatory underpinnings of mismatch negativity and their relationship with cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia.

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Muzaffer Kaser

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Impairments in mismatch negativity (MMN generation have been consistently reported in patients with schizophrenia. However, underlying oscillatory activity of MMN deficits in schizophrenia and the relationship with cognitive impairments have not been investigated in detail. Time-frequency power and phase analyses can provide more detailed measures of brain dynamics of MMN deficits in schizophrenia. METHOD: 21 patients with schizophrenia and 21 healthy controls were tested with a roving frequency paradigm to generate MMN. Time-frequency domain power and phase-locking (PL analysis was performed on all trials using short-time Fourier transforms with Hanning window tapering. A comprehensive battery (CANTAB was used to assess neurocognitive functioning. RESULTS: Mean MMN amplitude was significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia (95% CI 0.18 - 0.77. Patients showed significantly lower EEG power (95% CI -1.02 - -0.014 in the ~4-7 Hz frequency range (theta band between 170 and 210 ms. Patients with schizophrenia showed cognitive impairment in multiple domains of CANTAB. However, MMN impairments in amplitude and power were not correlated with clinical measures, medication dose, social functioning or neurocognitive performance. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study suggested that while MMN may be a useful marker to probe NMDA receptor mediated mechanisms and associated impairments in gain control and perceptual changes, it may not be a useful marker in association with clinical or cognitive changes. Trial-by-trial EEG power analysis can be used as a measure of brain dynamics underlying MMN deficits which also can have implications for the use of MMN as a biomarker for drug discovery.

ASD and schizophrenia show distinct developmental profiles in common genetic overlap with population-based social communication difficulties

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St Pourcain, B; Robinson, E B; Anttila, V

2017-01-01

Difficulties in social communication are part of the phenotypic overlap between autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia. Both conditions follow, however, distinct developmental patterns. Symptoms of ASD typically occur during early childhood, whereas most symptoms characteristic......-developing youth (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, N⩽5553, longitudinal assessments at 8, 11, 14 and 17 years) using the Social Communication Disorder Checklist. Data on clinical ASD (PGC-ASD: 5305 cases, 5305 pseudo-controls; iPSYCH-ASD: 7783 cases, 11 359 controls) and schizophrenia (PGC-SCZ2: 34...... 241 cases, 45 604 controls, 1235 trios) were either obtained through the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) or the Danish iPSYCH project. Overlap in genetic influences between ASD and social communication difficulties during development decreased with age, both in the PGC-ASD and the iPSYCH-ASD...

Social cognition and work performance of persons with schizophrenia in a Chinese population.

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Lo, Panmi; Siu, Andrew M H

2015-01-01

Social-cognitive deficits have a significant impact on the community and vocational functioning of persons with schizophrenia. This study aimed to explore the relationship between social-cognitive abilities and vocational functioning in a Chinese population. We recruited 30 outpatients with schizophrenia to participate. We administered the Chinese Social Cognition and Screening Questionnaire (C-SCSQ) to assess Theory of Mind (ToM), attributional bias, and neurocognition; the Facial Expression Identification Test (FEIT) to assess emotion perception (EP) ability, and the Chinese Work Personality Profile (CWPP) to assess work performance in a simulated work setting. ToM showed a significant negative correlation with attributional bias. The neurocognitive measure displayed a significant positive correlation with ToM and EP. The structural equation model was a good fit to the data (CFI=0.91, RMSEA=0.12), and showed that social-cognitive abilities had a significant impact (-0.41) on work performance. Of the four social-cognitive domains, ToM and paranoid attributional style (PAS) contributed significantly to variations in work performance. These results support the theory that social-cognitive abilities have an impact on work performance. ToM has a positive impact whereas PAS has an adverse effect. Persons with schizophrenia present specific deficits in their social-cognitive abilities, which have significant impact on their work performance and employability.

Biological aspects of cannabis consumption in schizophrenia

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Serban Ionela Lacramioara

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Schizophrenia and psychotic disorders are major health issues with particular implications for both the individual and the medical system. Epidemiological data show a more frequent consumption of drugs in schizophrenic patients when compared to the general population. Studies have shown that the abuse of substances is the most common comorbidity associated with schizophrenia. Among illicit substances, cannabis is the most commonly encountered among patients with schizophrenia. Similar clinical features of schizophrenia and cannabis consumption could be explained by some common neurobiological implications. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA receptor stimulation is associated with psychotic-type phenomena and schizophrenia and NMDA receptors are involved in the clinical effects of cannabis consumption. Thus, the CB1 receptors that are spread mainly at the level of the NMDA secretory neurons are activated by tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of cannabis. Moreover, cannabis abuse in association with other factors may contribute in triggering schizophrenia. Therefore, patients diagnosed with schizophrenia that abuse substances such as cannabis could represent a special category of patients that require a complex therapeutic approach, especially considering the multiple problems implicated, such as reduced compliance with treatment, unfavorable evolution and prognosis with multiple relapses and frequent hospitalizations.

Interleukin 1 beta gene and risk of schizophrenia: detailed case-control and family-based studies and an updated meta-analysis.

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Shibuya, Masako; Watanabe, Yuichiro; Nunokawa, Ayako; Egawa, Jun; Kaneko, Naoshi; Igeta, Hirofumi; Someya, Toshiyuki

2014-01-01

Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. To assess whether the IL1B gene confers increased susceptibility to schizophrenia, we conducted case-control and family-based studies and an updated meta-analysis. We tested the association between IL1B and schizophrenia in 1229 case-control and 112 trio samples using 12 markers, including common tagging single nucleotide variations (SNVs) and a rare non-synonymous variation detected by resequencing the coding regions. We also performed a meta-analysis of rs16944 using a total of 8724 case-control and 201 trio samples from 16 independent populations. We found no significant associations between any of the 12 SNVs examined and schizophrenia in either case-control or trio samples. Moreover, our meta-analysis results showed no significant association between the common SNV, rs16944, and schizophrenia. The present study does not support a role for IL1B in schizophrenia susceptibility.

Abnormal GABAergic function and face processing in schizophrenia: A pharmacologic-fMRI study.

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Tso, Ivy F; Fang, Yu; Phan, K Luan; Welsh, Robert C; Taylor, Stephan F

2015-10-01

The involvement of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system in schizophrenia is suggested by postmortem studies and the common use of GABA receptor-potentiating agents in treatment. In a recent study, we used a benzodiazepine challenge to demonstrate abnormal GABAergic function during processing of negative visual stimuli in schizophrenia. This study extended this investigation by mapping GABAergic mechanisms associated with face processing and social appraisal in schizophrenia using a benzodiazepine challenge. Fourteen stable, medicated schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients (SZ) and 13 healthy controls (HC) underwent functional MRI using the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) technique while they performed the Socio-emotional Preference Task (SePT) on emotional face stimuli ("Do you like this face?"). Participants received single-blinded intravenous saline and lorazepam (LRZ) in two separate sessions separated by 1-3weeks. Both SZ and HC recruited medial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate during the SePT, relative to gender identification. A significant drug by group interaction was observed in the medial occipital cortex, such that SZ showed increased BOLD signal to LRZ challenge, while HC showed an expected decrease of signal; the interaction did not vary by task. The altered BOLD response to LRZ challenge in SZ was significantly correlated with increased negative affect across multiple measures. The altered response to LRZ challenge suggests that abnormal face processing and negative affect in SZ are associated with altered GABAergic function in the visual cortex, underscoring the role of impaired visual processing in socio-emotional deficits in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selective, sustained, and shift in attention in patients with diagnoses of schizophrenia.

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Hagh-Shenas, H; Toobai, S; Makaremi, A

2002-12-01

Attentional deficits are a prominent aspect of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. The present study was designed to investigate attention deficit in a group of patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia. According to the segmental set theory suggested by Hogarty and Flesher, three aspects of attention problems, selective, sustained, and shift in attention, were studied. The 30 patients hospitalized on three psychiatric wards at Shiraz and Isfahan and 30 normal healthy subjects matched for age, sex, and years of education were administered a computerized Continuous Performance Test, Stroop Color-word Test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting test. Analysis showed patients performed more poorly than control subjects on measured aspects of attention. The acute/chronic classification did not predict differences in attention scores between subtypes of schizophrenia, while the positive/negative classification did. Paranoid, undifferentiated, and residual groups by subtypes of schizophrenia showed similar performance on the Continuous Performance Test, but were significantly different on errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting test and on reaction time to Stroop stimuli in the incongruent color-word condition. Patients with paranoid diagnosis performed better than other subtypes on these tasks. Present results suggest that the Continuous Performance Test is valuable for differentiating of schizophrenia spectrum disorder, while scores on Stroop and Wisconsin card sorting may have better diagnostic value for differentiating subtypes of the disorder.

Mismatch Negativity in Han Chinese Patients with Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis.

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Xiong, Yanbing; Ll, Xianbin; Zhao, Lei; Wang, Chuanyue

2017-10-25

Previous meta-analysis revealed that mismatch negativity(MMN) amplitude decreased in patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls (Cohen's d, d about 1), leading to the possibility of mismatch negativity being used as a biomarker for schizophrenia. However, it is unknown whether MMN is reliably changed in Chinese patients. It is necessary to carry out a meta-analysis on MMN of Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia. To investigate whether MMN could be used as a biomarker for Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia. A literature search was conducted to identify clinical trials on MMN in Han Chinese schizophrenia patients published before May 8, 2017, by searching the Chinese language databases CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP Data and PubMed. The effects of MMN deficits were evaluated for MMN amplitude by calculating standard mean difference (SMDs) between schizophrenia patient groups and healthy control groups. A total of 11 studies were included in the analysis. The total quality of all the studies were more than 6 as evaluated by Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Meta-analysis of data from these studies had a pooled sample of 432 patients with schizophrenia and 392 healthy controls. There exists significant MMN deficit in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls (Cohen's d =1.004). When studies were excluded due to heterogeneity, the pooled effect size of the MMN differences between the patient group and healthy controls dropped to 0.79 (Cohen's d =0.79). Subgroup analysis showed that MMN amplitude deficits of schizophrenia over three years had the pooled effect size of 0.95, and less than three years had the pooled effect size of 0.77. Publication bias conducted via Egger regression test ( t = 1.83; p = 0.101), suggested that there was no publication bias. The effect size of MMN amplitude between Chinese patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls is consistent with other meta-analyses published on this topic, suggesting that Han Chinese

The Interaction of TXNIP and AFq1 Genes Increases the Susceptibility of Schizophrenia.

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Su, Yousong; Ding, Wenhua; Xing, Mengjuan; Qi, Dake; Li, Zezhi; Cui, Donghong

2017-08-01

Although previous studies showed the reduced risk of cancer in patients with schizophrenia, whether patients with schizophrenia possess genetic factors that also contribute to tumor suppressor is still unknown. In the present study, based on our previous microarray data, we focused on the tumor suppressor genes TXNIP and AF1q, which differentially expressed in patients with schizophrenia. A total of 413 patients and 578 healthy controls were recruited. We found no significant differences in genotype, allele, or haplotype frequencies at the selected five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs2236566 and rs7211 in TXNIP gene; rs10749659, rs2140709, and rs3738481 in AF1q gene) between patients with schizophrenia and controls. However, we found the association between the interaction of TXNIP and AF1q with schizophrenia by using the MDR method followed by traditional statistical analysis. The best gene-gene interaction model identified was a three-locus model TXNIP (rs2236566, rs7211)-AF1q (rs2140709). After traditional statistical analysis, we found the high-risk genotype combination was rs2236566 (GG)-rs7211(CC)-rs2140709(CC) (OR = 1.35 [1.03-1.76]). The low-risk genotype combination was rs2236566 (GT)-rs7211(CC)-rs2140709(CC) (OR = 0.67 [0.49-0.91]). Our finding suggested statistically significant role of interaction of TXNIP and AF1q polymorphisms (TXNIP-rs2236566, TXNIP-rs7211, and AF1q-rs2769605) in schizophrenia susceptibility.

Decreased resting-state interhemispheric coordination in first-episode, drug-naive paranoid schizophrenia.

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Guo, Wenbin; Xiao, Changqing; Liu, Guiying; Wooderson, Sarah C; Zhang, Zhikun; Zhang, Jian; Yu, Liuyu; Liu, Jianrong

2014-01-03

Dysconnectivity hypothesis posits that schizophrenia relates to abnormalities in neuronal connectivity. However, little is known about the alterations of the interhemispheric resting-state functional connectivity (FC) in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. In the present study, we used a newly developed voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method to investigate the interhemispheric FC of the whole brain in patients with paranoid schizophrenia at rest. Forty-nine first-episode, drug-naive patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 50 age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy subjects underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. An automated VMHC approach was used to analyze the data. Patients exhibited lower VMHC than healthy subjects in the precuneus (PCu), the precentral gyrus, the superior temporal gyrus (STG), the middle occipital gyrus (MOG), and the fusiform gyrus/cerebellum lobule VI. No region showed greater VMHC in the patient group than in the control group. Significantly negative correlation was observed between VMHC in the precentral gyrus and the PANSS positive/total scores, and between VMHC in the STG and the PANSS positive/negative/total scores. Our results suggest that interhemispheric resting-state FC of VMHC is reduced in paranoid schizophrenia with clinical implications for psychiatric symptomatology thus further contribute to the dysconnectivity hypothesis of schizophrenia. © 2013.

Genetic underpinnings of left superior temporal gyrus thickness in patients with schizophrenia.

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Wolthusen, Rick P F; Hass, Johanna; Walton, Esther; Turner, Jessica A; Rössner, Veit; Sponheim, Scott R; Ho, Beng-Choon; Holt, Daphne J; Gollub, Randy L; Calhoun, Vince; Ehrlich, Stefan

2015-08-07

Schizophrenia is a highly disabling psychiatric disorder with a heterogeneous phenotypic appearance. We aimed to further the understanding of some of the underlying genetics of schizophrenia, using left superior temporal gyrus (STG) grey matter thickness reduction as an endophenoptype in a genome-wide association (GWA) study. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and genetic data of the Mind Clinical Imaging Consortium (MCIC) study of schizophrenia were used to analyse the interaction effects between 1,067,955 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and disease status on left STG thickness in 126 healthy controls and 113 patients with schizophrenia. We next used a pathway approach to detect underlying pathophysiological pathways that may be related to schizophrenia. No SNP by diagnosis interaction effect reached genome-wide significance (5 × 10 -8 ) in our GWA study, but 10 SNPs reached P-values less than 10 -6 . The most prominent pathways included those involved in insulin, calcium, PI3K-Akt and MAPK signalling. Our strongest findings in the GWA study and pathway analysis point towards an involvement of glucose metabolism in left STG thickness reduction in patients with schizophrenia only. These results are in line with recently published studies, which showed an increased prevalence of psychosis among patients with metabolic syndrome-related illnesses including diabetes.

Comprehensive association analysis of 27 genes from the GABAergic system in Japanese individuals affected with schizophrenia.

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Balan, Shabeesh; Yamada, Kazuo; Iwayama, Yoshimi; Hashimoto, Takanori; Toyota, Tomoko; Shimamoto, Chie; Maekawa, Motoko; Takagai, Shu; Wakuda, Tomoyasu; Kameno, Yosuke; Kurita, Daisuke; Yamada, Kohei; Kikuchi, Mitsuru; Hashimoto, Tasuku; Kanahara, Nobuhisa; Yoshikawa, Takeo

2017-07-01

Involvement of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic system in schizophrenia pathogenesis through disrupted neurodevelopment has been highlighted in numerous studies. However, the function of common genetic variants of this system in determining schizophrenia risk is unknown. We therefore tested the association of 375 tagged SNPs in genes derived from the GABAergic system, such as GABA A receptor subunit genes, and GABA related genes (glutamate decarboxylase genes, GABAergic-marker gene, genes involved in GABA receptor trafficking and scaffolding) in Japanese schizophrenia case-control samples (n=2926; 1415 cases and 1511 controls). We observed nominal association of SNPs in nine GABA A receptor subunit genes and the GPHN gene with schizophrenia, although none survived correction for study-wide multiple testing. Two SNPs located in the GABRA1 gene, rs4263535 (P allele =0.002; uncorrected) and rs1157122 (P allele =0.006; uncorrected) showed top hits, followed by rs723432 (P allele =0.007; uncorrected) in the GPHN gene. All three were significantly associated with schizophrenia and survived gene-wide multiple testing. Haplotypes containing associated variants in GABRA1 but not GPHN were significantly associated with schizophrenia. To conclude, we provided substantiating genetic evidence for the involvement of the GABAergic system in schizophrenia susceptibility. These results warrant further investigations to replicate the association of GABRA1 and GPHN with schizophrenia and to discern the precise mechanisms of disease pathophysiology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Five-Factor Model personality traits in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.

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Ohi, Kazutaka; Shimada, Takamitsu; Nitta, Yusuke; Kihara, Hiroaki; Okubo, Hiroaki; Uehara, Takashi; Kawasaki, Yasuhiro

2016-06-30

Personality is one of important factors in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia because it affects patients' symptoms, cognition and social functioning. Several studies have reported specific personality traits in patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy subjects. However, the results were inconsistent among studies. The NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) measures five personality traits: Neuroticism (N), Extraversion (E), Openness (O), Agreeableness (A) and Conscientiousness (C). Here, we performed a meta-analysis of these personality traits assessed by the NEO-FFI in 460 patients with schizophrenia and 486 healthy subjects from the published literature and investigated possible associations between schizophrenia and these traits. There was no publication bias for any traits. Because we found evidence of significant heterogeneity in all traits among the studies, we applied a random-effect model to perform the meta-analysis. Patients with schizophrenia showed a higher score for N and lower scores for E, O, A and C compared with healthy subjects. The effect sizes of these personality traits ranged from moderate to large. These differences were not affected by possible moderator factors, such as gender distribution and mean age in each study, expect for gender effect for A. These findings suggest that patients with schizophrenia have a different personality profile compared with healthy subjects. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trait and State Positive Emotional Experience in Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis

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Yan, Chao; Cao, Yuan; Zhang, Yang; Song, Li-Ling; Cheung, Eric F. C.; Chan, Raymond C. K.

2012-01-01

Background Prior meta-analyses indicated that people with schizophrenia show impairment in trait hedonic capacity but retain their state hedonic experience (valence) in laboratory-based assessments. Little is known about what is the extent of differences for state positive emotional experience (especially arousal) between people with schizophrenia and healthy controls. It is also not clear whether negative symptoms and gender effect contribute to the variance of positive affect. Methods and Findings The current meta-analysis examined 21 studies assessing state arousal experience, 40 studies measuring state valence experience, and 47studies assessing trait hedonic capacity in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia demonstrated significant impairment in trait hedonic capacity (Cohen’s d = 0.81). However, patients and controls did not statistically differ in state hedonic (valence) as well as exciting (arousal) experience to positive stimuli (Cohen’s d = −0.24 to 0.06). They also reported experiencing relatively robust state aversion and calmness to positive stimuli compared with controls (Cohen’s d = 0.75, 0.56, respectively). Negative symptoms and gender contributed to the variance of findings in positive affect, especially trait hedonic capacity in schizophrenia. Conclusions Our findings suggest that schizophrenia patients have no deficit in state positive emotional experience but impairment in “noncurrent” hedonic capacity, which may be mediated by negative symptoms and gender effect. PMID:22815785

Subjective quality of life and suicidal behavior among Taiwanese schizophrenia patients.

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Kao, Yu-Chen; Liu, Yia-Ping; Cheng, Tsung-Hsing; Chou, Ming-Kuen

2012-04-01

Research of suicidal behavior in individuals with schizophrenia has often suggested that clinical characteristics and symptoms likely influence a patient's suicidal risk. However, there is a lack of research describing the link between patients' subjective quality of life (SQOL) and suicidal behavior in non-Western countries. Therefore, the current study attempts to explore how schizophrenia patients' SQOL and their suicidal behavior are related in a Taiwanese sample. In this study, 102 schizophrenia outpatients were investigated using the Taiwanese World Health Organization Quality of Life Schedule-Brief Version (WHO-QOL-BREF-TW), several Beck-Related symptom rating scales, and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for psychopathology. These patients were also evaluated for suicidal risk using the critical items of the Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI) and lifetime suicide attempts. Statistical analyses, including independent sample t tests, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and logistic stepwise regression models were completed. Compared with the non-suicidal group, suicidal patients had significantly lower scores in SQOL domains. The differences in social domain remained significant after adjusting for depressive symptoms. In multiple logistic regression analyses, level of depressive and psychotic symptoms increased and poor social and psychological SQOL were significant contributors to suicidal behavior. Having removed depressive symptoms from the model, only dissatisfaction with social SQOL was associated with heightened suicidal risk. Schizophrenia is associated with a high suicidal risk, of which depressive and psychotic symptoms are the major correlates. Again, the present study confirms and extends previous research showing that dissatisfied SQOL, particularly dissatisfaction with social relationships, should be considered in the assessment of suicidal risk in outpatients with schizophrenia, even when accounting other possible confounding factor

Modelling approaches - The case of schizophrenia : the case of schizophrenia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heeg, Bart M.S.; Damen, Joep; Buskens, Erik; Caleo, Sue; de Charro, F.; van Hout, B.A.

2008-01-01

Schizophrenia is a chronic disease characterized by periods of relative stability interrupted by acute episodes (or relapses). The course of the disease may vary considerably between patients. Patient histories show considerable inter- and even intra-individual variability. We provide a critical

INSIGHT AND SELF-STIGMA IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA.

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Vidović, Domagoj; Brecić, Petrana; Vilibić, Maja; Jukić, Vlado

2016-03-01

Poor insight and high level of self-stigma are often present among patients with schizophrenia and are related to poorer treatment adherence, poorer social function and rehabilitation, aggressive behavior, higher level of depression, social anxiety, lower quality of life and self-esteem. Reports on a relationship between insight and stigma are controversial. We examined the relationship of the level of insight and self-stigma in a sample of 149 patients with schizophrenia. Insight was measured with the Scale to assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder and self-stigma with the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness. Results showed 88.6% of the patients to have high or moderate insight, with a mean value of 2.73. General insight showed the highest level (2.58) and insight in positive symptoms the lowest level (2.9). The self-stigma score in general was 2.13, with stereotype endorsement being lowest (1.98). According to study results, 77.1% of patients felt minimal or low self-stigma across all subscales, except for stigma resistance subscale. Statistically significant correlation was found between insight and four subscales of self-stigma, while no correlation was found for the stigma resistance subscale only. These results imply the need of individually tailored antistigma and insight promoting programs for patients with schizophrenia.

Delayed Development of Brain Connectivity in Adolescents With Schizophrenia and Their Unaffected Siblings.

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Zalesky, Andrew; Pantelis, Christos; Cropley, Vanessa; Fornito, Alex; Cocchi, Luca; McAdams, Harrison; Clasen, Liv; Greenstein, Deanna; Rapoport, Judith L; Gogtay, Nitin

2015-09-01

Abnormalities in structural brain connectivity have been observed in patients with schizophrenia. Mapping these abnormalities longitudinally and understanding their genetic risk via sibship studies will provide crucial insight into progressive developmental changes associated with schizophrenia. To identify corticocortical connections exhibiting an altered developmental trajectory in adolescents with childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) and to determine whether similar alterations are found in patients' unaffected siblings. Using prospective structural brain magnetic resonance imaging, large-scale corticocortical connectivity was mapped from ages 12 to 24 years in 109 patients with COS (272 images), 86 of their unaffected siblings (184 images), and 102 healthy controls (262 images) over a 20-year period beginning January 1, 1991, through April 30, 2011, as part of the ongoing COS study at the National Institute of Mental Health. Structural connectivity between pairs of cortical regions was estimated using a validated technique based on across-subject covariation in magnetic resonance imaging-derived cortical thickness measurements. Compared with normally developing controls, significant left-hemisphere occipitotemporal deficits in cortical thickness correlations were found in patients with COS as well as their healthy siblings (P siblings normalized by mid-adolescence, whereas patients with COS showed significantly longer maturational delays, with cortical thickness correlations between the left temporal lobe and left occipital cortex not showing evidence of development until early adulthood. The normalization of deficits with age in patients with COS correlated with improvement in symptoms. Compared with controls, left-hemisphere occipitotemporal thickness correlations in a subgroup of patients with high positive symptoms were significantly reduced from age 14 to 18 years (P siblings associated with resilience to developing schizophrenia. These findings indicate

[Linkage analysis of susceptibility loci in 2 target chromosomes in pedigrees with paranoid schizophrenia and undifferentiated schizophrenia].

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Zeng, Li-ping; Hu, Zheng-mao; Mu, Li-li; Mei, Gui-sen; Lu, Xiu-ling; Zheng, Yong-jun; Li, Pei-jian; Zhang, Ying-xue; Pan, Qian; Long, Zhi-gao; Dai, He-ping; Zhang, Zhuo-hua; Xia, Jia-hui; Zhao, Jing-ping; Xia, Kun

2011-06-01

To investigate the relationship of susceptibility loci in chromosomes 1q21-25 and 6p21-25 and schizophrenia subtypes in Chinese population. A genomic scan and parametric and non-parametric analyses were performed on 242 individuals from 36 schizophrenia pedigrees, including 19 paranoid schizophrenia and 17 undifferentiated schizophrenia pedigrees, from Henan province of China using 5 microsatellite markers in the chromosome region 1q21-25 and 8 microsatellite markers in the chromosome region 6p21-25, which were the candidates of previous studies. All affected subjects were diagnosed and typed according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revised (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). All subjects signed informed consent. In chromosome 1, parametric analysis under the dominant inheritance mode of all 36 pedigrees showed that the maximum multi-point heterogeneity Log of odds score method (HLOD) score was 1.33 (α = 0.38). The non-parametric analysis and the single point and multi-point nonparametric linkage (NPL) scores suggested linkage at D1S484, D1S2878, and D1S196. In the 19 paranoid schizophrenias pedigrees, linkage was not observed for any of the 5 markers. In the 17 undifferentiated schizophrenia pedigrees, the multi-point NPL score was 1.60 (P= 0.0367) at D1S484. The single point NPL score was 1.95(P= 0.0145) and the multi-point NPL score was 2.39 (P= 0.0041) at D1S2878. Additionally, the multi-point NPL score was 1.74 (P= 0.0255) at D1S196. These same three loci showed suggestive linkage during the integrative analysis of all 36 pedigrees. In chromosome 6, parametric linkage analysis under the dominant and recessive inheritance and the non-parametric linkage analysis of all 36 pedigrees and the 17 undifferentiated schizophrenia pedigrees, linkage was not observed for any of the 8 markers. In the 19 paranoid schizophrenias pedigrees, parametric analysis showed that under recessive

Structural alterations of the superior temporal gyrus in schizophrenia: Detailed subregional differences.

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Ohi, K; Matsuda, Y; Shimada, T; Yasuyama, T; Oshima, K; Sawai, K; Kihara, H; Nitta, Y; Okubo, H; Uehara, T; Kawasaki, Y

2016-05-01

Reduced gray matter volumes in the superior temporal gyrus (STG) have been reported in patients with schizophrenia. Such volumetric abnormalities might denote alterations in cortical thickness, surface area, local gyrification or all of these factors. The STG can be anatomically divided into five subregions using automatic parcellation in FreeSurfer: lateral aspect of the STG, anterior transverse temporal gyrus of Heschl gyrus (HG), planum polare (PP) of the STG, planum temporale (PT) of the STG and transverse temporal sulcus. We acquired magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 3T scans from 40 age- and sex-matched patients with schizophrenia and 40 healthy subjects, and the scans were automatically processed using FreeSurfer. General linear models were used to assess group differences in regional volumes and detailed thickness, surface area and local gyrification. As expected, patients with schizophrenia had significantly smaller bilateral STG volumes than healthy subjects. Of the five subregions in the STG, patients with schizophrenia showed significantly and marginally reduced volumes in the lateral aspect of the STG and PT of the STG bilaterally compared with healthy subjects. The volumetric alteration in bilateral lateral STG was derived from both the cortical thickness and surface area but not local gyrification. There was no significant laterality of the alteration in the lateral STG between patients and controls and no correlation among the structures and clinical characteristics. These findings suggest that of five anatomical subregions in the STG, the lateral STG is one of the most meaningful regions for brain pathophysiology in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Visualization analysis of author collaborations in schizophrenia research.

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Wu, Ying; Duan, Zhiguang

2015-02-19

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that levies a heavy medical toll and cost burden throughout the world. Scientific collaborations are necessary for progress in psychiatric research. However, there have been few publications on scientific collaborations in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of author collaborations in schizophrenia research. This study used 58,107 records on schizophrenia from 2003 to 2012 which were downloaded from Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI Expanded) via Web of Science. CiteSpace III, an information visualization and analysis software, was used to make a visual analysis. Collaborative author networks within the field of schizophrenia were determined using published documents. We found that external author collaboration networks were more scattered while potential author collaboration networks were more compact. Results from hierarchical clustering analysis showed that the main collaborative field was genetic research in schizophrenia. Based on the results, authors belonging to different institutions and in different countries should be encouraged to collaborate in schizophrenia research. This will help researchers focus their studies on key issues, and allow each other to offer reasonable suggestions for making polices and providing scientific evidence to effectively diagnose, prevent, and cure schizophrenia.

Exploring the psychosis functional connectome: aberrant intrinsic networks in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

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Vince D Calhoun

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Intrinsic functional brain networks (INs are regions showing temporal coherence with one another. These INs are present in the context of a task (as opposed to an undirected task such as rest, albeit modulated to a degree both spatially and temporally. Prominent networks include the default mode, attentional fronto-parietal, executive control, bilateral temporal lobe and motor networks. The characterization of INs has recently gained considerable momentum, however; most previous studies evaluate only a small subset of the intrinsic networks (e.g. default mode. In this paper we use independent component analysis to study INs decomposed from fMRI data collected in a large group of schizophrenia patients, healthy controls, and individuals with bipolar disorder, while performing an auditory oddball task. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder share significant overlap in clinical symptoms, brain characteristics, and risk genes which motivates our goal of identifying whether functional imaging data can differentiate the two disorders. We tested for group differences in properties of all identified intrinsic networks including spatial maps, spectra, and functional network connectivity. A small set of default mode, temporal lobe, and frontal networks with default mode regions appearing to play a key role in all comparisons. Bipolar subjects showed more prominent changes in ventromedial and prefrontal default mode regions whereas schizophrenia patients showed changes in posterior default mode regions. Anti-correlations between left parietal areas and dorsolateral prefrontal cortical areas were different in bipolar and schizophrenia patients and amplitude was significantly different from healthy controls in both patient groups. Patients exhibited similar frequency behavior across multiple networks with decreased low frequency power. In summary, a comprehensive analysis of intrinsic networks reveals a key role for the default mode in both schizophrenia and

Intrinsic and Antipsychotic Drug-Induced Metabolic Dysfunction in Schizophrenia

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Zachary Freyberg

2017-07-01

Full Text Available For decades, there have been observations demonstrating significant metabolic disturbances in people with schizophrenia including clinically relevant weight gain, hypertension, and disturbances in glucose and lipid homeostasis. Many of these findings pre-date the use of antipsychotic drugs (APDs which on their own are also strongly associated with metabolic side effects. The combination of APD-induced metabolic changes and common adverse environmental factors associated with schizophrenia have made it difficult to determine the specific contributions of each to the overall metabolic picture. Data from drug-naïve patients, both from the pre-APD era and more recently, suggest that there may be an intrinsic metabolic risk associated with schizophrenia. Nevertheless, these findings remain controversial due to significant clinical variability in both psychiatric and metabolic symptoms throughout patients' disease courses. Here, we provide an extensive review of classic and more recent literature describing the metabolic phenotype associated with schizophrenia. We also suggest potential mechanistic links between signaling pathways associated with schizophrenia and metabolic dysfunction. We propose that, beyond its symptomatology in the central nervous system, schizophrenia is also characterized by pathophysiology in other organ systems directly related to metabolic control.

A review of schizophrenia research in malaysia.

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Chee, K Y; Salina, A A

2014-08-01

Research in schizophrenia has advanced tremendously. One hundred and seventy five articles related to Schizophrenia were found from a search through a database dedicated to indexing all original data relevant to medicine published in Malaysia between the years 2000-2013. This project aims to examine published research articles, in local and international journals in order to provide a glimpse of the research interest in Malaysia with regards to schizophrenia. Single case study, case series report, reviews and registry reports were not included in this review. Medication trial, unless it concerned a wider scope of psychopharmacology was also excluded from this review. A total of 105 articles were included in this review. Despite numerous genetics studies conducted and published, a definitive conclusion on the aetiology or mechanism underlying schizophrenia remains elusive. The National Mental Health - Schizophrenia Registry (NMHR) proved to be an important platform for many studies and publications. Studies stemmed from NMHR have provided significant insight into the baseline characteristic of patients with schizophrenia, pathway to care, and outcomes of the illness. International and regional collaborations have also encouraged important work involving stigma and discrimination in schizophrenia. Ministry of Health's hospitals (MOH) are the main research sites in the country with regards to schizophrenia research. Numbers of schizophrenia research are still low in relation to the number of universities and hospitals in the country. Some of the weaknesses include duplication of studies, over-emphasising clinical trials and ignoring basic clinical research, and the lack of publications in international and regional journals.

SCHIZOPHRENIA: A REVIEW

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Parle Milind; Sharma Kailash

2013-01-01

Schizophrenia continues to be a mysterious disease fascinating the minds of psychiatrists, pharmacologists and neuroscientists all over the world for more than a century. The crucial welfare of the millions afflicted with schizophrenia is at stake. The cause of schizophrenia is not yet identified. However, it appears from the available reports that schizophrenia results from genetic, occupational and environmental risk factors, which act independently or combine synergistically to develop sch...

Environmental Studies of Schizophrenia Through the Prism of Epigenetics

OpenAIRE

Oh, Gabriel; Petronis, Arturas

2008-01-01

Traditionally, etiological research of schizophrenia has been focused on elucidating predisposing genes and environmental risk factors. While numerous putative environmental hazards have been suggested, inconsistencies and methodological limitations of epidemiological studies have made it difficult to identify even a single exogenous cause of schizophrenia. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that environmental risk factors may not play as much of a significant role in schizophrenia as ...

Exploring self-defining memories in schizophrenia.

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Raffard, Stéphane; D'Argembeau, Arnaud; Lardi, Claudia; Bayard, Sophie; Boulenger, Jean-Philippe; Van Der Linden, Martial

2009-01-01

Previous studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia are impaired in recalling specific events from their personal past. However, the relationship between autobiographical memory impairments and disturbance of the sense of identity in schizophrenia has not been investigated in detail. In this study the authors investigated schizophrenic patients' ability to recall self-defining memories; that is, memories that play an important role in building and maintaining the self-concept. Results showed that patients recalled as many specific self-defining memories as healthy participants. However, patients with schizophrenia exhibited an abnormal reminiscence bump and reported different types of thematic content (i.e., they recalled less memories about past achievements and more memories regarding hospitalisation and stigmatisation of illness). Furthermore, the findings suggest that impairments in extracting meaning from personal memories could represent a core disturbance of autobiographical memory in patients with schizophrenia.

Antisaccade performance in schizophrenia patients, their first-degree biological relatives, and community comparison subjects: data from the COGS study.

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Radant, Allen D; Dobie, Dorcas J; Calkins, Monica E; Olincy, Ann; Braff, David L; Cadenhead, Kristin S; Freedman, Robert; Green, Michael F; Greenwood, Tiffany A; Gur, Raquel E; Gur, Ruben C; Light, Gregory A; Meichle, Sean P; Millard, Steve P; Mintz, Jim; Nuechterlein, Keith H; Schork, Nicholas J; Seidman, Larry J; Siever, Larry J; Silverman, Jeremy M; Stone, William S; Swerdlow, Neal R; Tsuang, Ming T; Turetsky, Bruce I; Tsuang, Debby W

2010-09-01

The antisaccade task is a widely used technique to measure failure of inhibition, an important cause of cognitive and clinical abnormalities found in schizophrenia. Although antisaccade performance, which reflects the ability to inhibit prepotent responses, is a putative schizophrenia endophenotype, researchers have not consistently reported the expected differences between first-degree relatives and comparison groups. Schizophrenia participants (n=219) from the large Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS) sample (n=1078) demonstrated significant deficits on an overlap version of the antisaccade task compared to their first-degree relatives (n=443) and community comparison subjects (CCS; n=416). Although mean antisaccade performance of first-degree relatives was intermediate between schizophrenia participants and CCS, a linear mixed-effects model adjusting for group, site, age, and gender found no significant performance differences between the first-degree relatives and CCS. However, admixture analyses showed that two components best explained the distributions in all three groups, suggesting two distinct doses of an etiological factor. Given the significant heritability of antisaccade performance, the effects of a genetic polymorphism is one possible explanation of our results.

Self-perceived cognitive deficits and their relationship with internalized stigma and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia

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Shin YJ

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Yeon-Jeong Shin,1,2 Yo-Han Joo,1 Jong-Hoon Kim1–3 1Neuroscience Research Institute, 2Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Gachon Advanced Institute for Health Sciences & Technology, 3Department of Psychiatry, Gil Medical Center, Gachon University School of Medicine, Gachon University, Incheon, Republic of Korea Background: We investigated self-perceived cognitive deficits and their relationship with internalized stigma and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia in order to shed light on the clinical correlates of subjective cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.Methods: Seventy outpatients with schizophrenia were evaluated. Patients’ self-perceived cognitive deficits, internalized stigma, and subjective quality of life were assessed using the Scale to Investigate Cognition in Schizophrenia (SSTICS, the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (ISMI, and the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale Revision 4 (SQLS-R4, respectively. Correlation and regression analyses controlling for the severity of symptoms of schizophrenia were performed, and a mediation analysis was conducted to examine the hypothesis that internalized stigma mediates the relationship between self-perceived cognitive deficits and subjective quality of life.Results: Pearson’s partial correlation analysis showed significant correlations among the SSTICS, ISMI, and SQLS-R4 scores (P<0.01. Multiple regression analysis showed that the SSTICS and ISMI scores significantly predicted the SQLS-R4 score (P<0.01. Mediation analysis revealed that the strength of the association between the SSTICS and SQLS-R4 scores decreased from β=0.74 (P<0.01 to β=0.56 (P<0.01, when the ISMI score was statistically controlled. The Sobel test revealed that this difference was significant (P<0.01, indicating that internalized stigma partially mediated the relationship between self-perceived cognitive deficits and quality of life.Conclusion: The present study indicates that self

Aberrant cerebellar connectivity in motor and association networks in schizophrenia

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Ann K. Shinn

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Schizophrenia is a devastating illness characterized by disturbances in multiple domains. The cerebellum is involved in both motor and non-motor functions, and the cognitive dysmetria and dysmetria of thought models propose that abnormalities of the cerebellum may contribute to schizophrenia signs and symptoms. The cerebellum and cerebral cortex are reciprocally connected via a modular, closed-loop network architecture, but few schizophrenia neuroimaging studies have taken into account the topographical and functional heterogeneity of the cerebellum. In this study, using a previously defined 17-network cerebral cortical parcellation system as the basis for our functional connectivity seeds, we systematically investigated connectivity abnormalities within the cerebellum of 44 schizophrenia patients and 28 healthy control participants. We found selective alterations in cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity. Specifically, schizophrenia patients showed decreased cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity in higher level association networks (ventral attention, salience, control, and default mode networks relative to healthy control participants. Schizophrenia patients also showed increased cerebro-cerebellar connectivity in somatomotor and default mode networks, with the latter showing no overlap with the regions found to be hypoconnected within the same default mode network. Finally, we found evidence to suggest that somatomotor and default mode networks may be inappropriately linked in schizophrenia. The relationship of these dysconnectivities to schizophrenia symptoms, such as neurological soft signs and altered sense of agency, is discussed. We conclude that the cerebellum ought to be considered for analysis in all future studies of network abnormalities in SZ, and further suggest the cerebellum as a potential target for further elucidation, and possibly treatment, of the underlying mechanisms and network abnormalities producing symptoms of

Longitudinal volume changes of the pituitary gland in patients with schizotypal disorder and first-episode schizophrenia.

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Takahashi, Tsutomu; Zhou, Shi-Yu; Nakamura, Kazue; Tanino, Ryoichiro; Furuichi, Atsushi; Kido, Mikio; Kawasaki, Yasuhiro; Noguchi, Kyo; Seto, Hikaru; Kurachi, Masayoshi; Suzuki, Michio

2011-01-15

An enlarged volume of the pituitary gland has been reported in the schizophrenia spectrum, possibly reflecting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) hyperactivity. However, it remains largely unknown whether the pituitary size longitudinally changes in the course of the spectrum disorders. In the present study, longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were obtained from 18 patients with first-episode schizophrenia, 13 patients with schizotypal disorder, and 20 healthy controls. The pituitary volume was measured at baseline and follow-up (mean, 2.7 years) scans and was compared across groups. The pituitary volume was larger in the schizophrenia patients than controls at baseline, and both patient groups had significantly larger pituitary volume than controls at follow-up. In a longitudinal comparison, both schizophrenia (3.6%/year) and schizotypal (2.7%/year) patients showed significant pituitary enlargement compared with controls (-1.8%/year). In the schizophrenia patients, greater pituitary enlargement over time was associated with less improvement of delusions and higher scores for thought disorders at the follow-up. These findings suggest that the pituitary gland exhibits ongoing volume changes during the early course of the schizophrenia spectrum as a possible marker of state-related impairments. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Projecting the self into the future in individuals with schizophrenia: a preliminary cross-sectional study.

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Raffard, Stéphane; Bortolon, Catherine; D'Argembeau, Arnaud; Gardes, Jeanne; Gely-Nargeot, Marie-Christine; Capdevielle, Delphine; Van der Linden, Martial

2016-07-01

The ability to project oneself into the future contributes to development and maintenance of a coherent sense of identity. If recent research has revealed that schizophrenia is associated with difficulties envisioning the future, little is known about patients' future self-representations. In this study, 27 participants with schizophrenia and 26 healthy controls were asked to simulate mental representations of plausible and highly significant future events (self-defining future projections, SDFPs) that they anticipate to happen in their personal future. Main results showed that schizophrenia patients had difficulties in reflecting on the broader meaning and implications of imagined future events. In addition, and contrary to our hypothesis, a large majority of SDFPs in schizophrenia patients were positive events, including achievements, relationship, and leisure contents. Interestingly, patients and controls did not differ on the perceived probability that these events will occur in the future. Our results suggest that schizophrenia patients have an exaggerated positive perception of their future selves. Together, these findings lend support to the idea that past and future self-defining representations have both similar and distinct characteristics in schizophrenia.

Genetic Variation in Schizophrenia Liability is Shared With Intellectual Ability and Brain Structure.

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Bohlken, Marc M; Brouwer, Rachel M; Mandl, René C W; Kahn, René S; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E

2016-09-01

Alterations in intellectual ability and brain structure are important genetic markers for schizophrenia liability. How variations in these phenotypes interact with variance in schizophrenia liability due to genetic or environmental factors is an area of active investigation. Studying these genetic markers using a multivariate twin modeling approach can provide novel leads for (genetic) pathways of schizophrenia development. In a sample of 70 twins discordant for schizophrenia and 130 healthy control twins, structural equation modeling was applied to quantify unique contributions of genetic and environmental factors on human brain structure (cortical thickness, cortical surface and global white matter fractional anisotropy [FA]), intellectual ability and schizophrenia liability. In total, up to 28.1% of the genetic variance (22.8% of total variance) in schizophrenia liability was shared with intelligence quotient (IQ), global-FA, cortical thickness, and cortical surface. The strongest contributor was IQ, sharing on average 16.4% of the genetic variance in schizophrenia liability, followed by cortical thickness (6.3%), global-FA (4.7%) and cortical surface (0.5%). Furthermore, we found that up to 57.4% of the variation due to environmental factors (4.6% of total variance) in schizophrenia was shared with IQ (34.2%) and cortical surface (13.4%). Intellectual ability, FA and cortical thickness show significant and independent shared genetic variance with schizophrenia liability. This suggests that measuring brain-imaging phenotypes helps explain genetic variance in schizophrenia liability that is not captured by variation in IQ. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Verbal memory impairments in schizophrenia associated with cortical thinning

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S. Guimond

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Verbal memory (VM represents one of the most affected cognitive domains in schizophrenia. Multiple studies have shown that schizophrenia is associated with cortical abnormalities, but it remains unclear whether these are related to VM impairments. Considering the vast literature demonstrating the role of the frontal cortex, the parahippocampal cortex, and the hippocampus in VM, we examined the cortical thickness/volume of these regions. We used a categorical approach whereby 27 schizophrenia patients with ‘moderate to severe’ VM impairments were compared to 23 patients with ‘low to mild’ VM impairments and 23 healthy controls. A series of between-group vertex-wise GLM on cortical thickness were performed for specific regions of interest defining the parahippocampal gyrus and the frontal cortex. When compared to healthy controls, patients with ‘moderate to severe’ VM impairments revealed significantly thinner cortex in the left frontal lobe, and the parahippocampal gyri. When compared to patients with ‘low to mild’ VM impairments, patients with ‘moderate to severe’ VM impairments showed a trend of thinner cortex in similar regions. Virtually no differences were observed in the frontal area of patients with ‘low to mild’ VM impairments relative to controls. No significant group differences were observed in the hippocampus. Our results indicate that patients with greater VM impairments demonstrate significant cortical thinning in regions known to be important in VM performance. Treating VM deficits in schizophrenia could have a positive effect on the brain; thus, subgroups of patients with more severe VM deficits should be a prioritized target in the development of new cognitive treatments.

Deficient gaze pattern during virtual multiparty conversation in patients with schizophrenia.

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Han, Kiwan; Shin, Jungeun; Yoon, Sang Young; Jang, Dong-Pyo; Kim, Jae-Jin

2014-06-01

Virtual reality has been used to measure abnormal social characteristics, particularly in one-to-one situations. In real life, however, conversations with multiple companions are common and more complicated than two-party conversations. In this study, we explored the features of social behaviors in patients with schizophrenia during virtual multiparty conversations. Twenty-three patients with schizophrenia and 22 healthy controls performed the virtual three-party conversation task, which included leading and aiding avatars, positive- and negative-emotion-laden situations, and listening and speaking phases. Patients showed a significant negative correlation in the listening phase between the amount of gaze on the between-avatar space and reasoning ability, and demonstrated increased gaze on the between-avatar space in the speaking phase that was uncorrelated with attentional ability. These results suggest that patients with schizophrenia have active avoidance of eye contact during three-party conversations. Virtual reality may provide a useful way to measure abnormal social characteristics during multiparty conversations in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pleasure Experience and Emotion Expression in Patients with Schizophrenia

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CHU, Min-yi; LI, Xu; LV, Qin-yu; Yl, Zheng-hui; CHEUNG, Eric F. C.; CHAN, Raymond C. K.

2017-01-01

Background Impairments in emotional experience and expression have been observed in patients with schizophrenia. However, most previous studies have been limited to either emotional experience (especially anhedonia) or expression. Few studies have examined both the experience and expression of emotion in schizophrenia patients at the same time. Aims The present study aimed to examine pleasure experience and emotion expression in patients with schizophrenia. In particular, we specifically examined the relationship between emotion impairments (both pleasure experience and expression) and negative symptoms. Methods One hundred and fifty patients completed the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale and Emotional Expressivity Scale. Results Schizophrenia patients exhibited deficits in experiencing pleasure, but showed intact reported emotion expression. Patients with prominent negative symptoms showed reduced anticipatory pleasure, especially in abstract anticipatory pleasure. Conclusion The present findings suggest that patients with schizophrenia have deficits in pleasure experience, while their abilities to express emotion appear intact. Such deficits are more severe in patients with prominent negative symptoms. PMID:29276350

Structural and psychosocial correlates of birth order anomalies in schizophrenia and homicide.

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Schug, Robert A; Yang, Yaling; Raine, Adrian; Han, Chenbo; Liu, Jianghong

2010-12-01

Birth order--a unique index of both neurodevelopmental and/or psychosocial factors in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorder--remains largely unexplored in violent schizophrenia. We examined whether murderers with schizophrenia would demonstrate birth order anomalies, distinguishing them from both nonviolent schizophrenia patients and murderers without schizophrenia. Self-report birth order, psychosocial history data (i.e., maternal birth age, family size, parental criminality, parental SES), and structural magnetic resonance imaging data were collected from normal controls, nonviolent schizophrenia patients, murderers with schizophrenia, murderers without schizophrenia, and murderers with psychiatric conditions other than schizophrenia at a brain hospital in Nanjing, China. Results indicated that murderers with schizophrenia were characterized by significantly increased (i.e., later) birth order compared with both nonviolent schizophrenia patients and murderers without schizophrenia. Additionally, birth order was negatively correlated with gray matter volume in key frontal subregions for schizophrenic murderers, and was negatively correlated with parental SES. Findings may suggest biological, psychosocial, or interactional trajectories which may lead to a homicidally violent outcome in schizophrenia.

Gastroenterology issues in schizophrenia: why the gut matters.

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Severance, Emily G; Prandovszky, Emese; Castiglione, James; Yolken, Robert H

2015-05-01

Genetic and environmental studies implicate immune pathologies in schizophrenia. The body's largest immune organ is the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Historical associations of GI conditions with mental illnesses predate the introduction of antipsychotics. Current studies of antipsychotic-naïve patients support that gut dysfunction may be inherent to the schizophrenia disease process. Risk factors for schizophrenia (inflammation, food intolerances, Toxoplasma gondii exposure, cellular barrier defects) are part of biological pathways that intersect those operant in the gut. Central to GI function is a homeostatic microbial community, and early reports show that it is disrupted in schizophrenia. Bioactive and toxic products derived from digestion and microbial dysbiosis activate adaptive and innate immunity. Complement C1q, a brain-active systemic immune component, interacts with gut-related schizophrenia risk factors in clinical and experimental animal models. With accumulating evidence supporting newly discovered gut-brain physiological pathways, treatments to ameliorate brain symptoms of schizophrenia should be supplemented with therapies to correct GI dysfunction.

Group and site differences on the California Verbal Learning Test in persons with schizophrenia and their first-degree relatives: findings from the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS).

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Stone, William S; Giuliano, Anthony J; Tsuang, Ming T; Braff, David L; Cadenhead, Kristin S; Calkins, Monica E; Dobie, Dorcas J; Faraone, Stephen V; Freedman, Robert; Green, Michael F; Greenwood, Tiffany A; Gur, Raquel E; Gur, Ruben C; Light, Gregory A; Mintz, Jim; Nuechterlein, Keith H; Olincy, Ann; Radant, Allen D; Roe, Andrea H; Schork, Nicholas J; Siever, Larry J; Silverman, Jeremy M; Swerdlow, Neal R; Thomas, Alison R; Tsuang, Debby W; Turetsky, Bruce I; Seidman, Larry J

2011-05-01

Genetic studies of schizophrenia focus increasingly on putative endophenotypes because their genetic etiology may be simpler than clinical diagnosis. The Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS), a multisite family study, aims to identify the genetic basis of several endophenotypes including verbal declarative memory (VDM), a neurocognitive function that shows robust impairment in schizophrenia. We present data on one type of measure of VDM, the California Verbal Learning Test, Second Edition (CVLT-II), in schizophrenia probands (n=305), their full biological siblings (n=449) and parents (n=232), and in community comparison subjects (CCS; n=509) across seven sites. Probands performed more poorly on each of five CVLT-II measures compared to related sibling and parent groups and CCS. Siblings and parents performed significantly worse than CCS on one measure (Discriminability), but with smaller effect sizes and less impairment than observed previously. The results raise questions about the homogeneity of VDM as an endophenotype, about methodological issues related to sampling, and about psychometric issues that impact the utility of the CVLT for detecting VDM deficits in nonpsychotic relatives of persons with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Risk factors for poor work functioning of persons with schizophrenia in rural China.

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Ran, Mao-Sheng; Chen, Sheying; Chen, Elaina Y; Ran, Bo-Yu; Tang, Cui-Ping; Lin, Fu-Rong; Li, Li; Li, Si-Gan; Mao, Wen-Jun; Hu, Shi-Hui

2011-11-01

The long-term work performance of persons with schizophrenia in the community is unclear. This study examined the status of long-term work functioning and the predictors of poor work status among patients with schizophrenia in a Chinese rural area. A 10-year follow-up investigation (1994-2004) of a cohort (n = 510) of persons with schizophrenia was conducted in Xinjin County, Chengdu, China. Compared with baseline data, work functioning of patients with schizophrenia deteriorated after 10 years. The rates of not working increased significantly from 12.0% in 1994 to 23.0% in 2004. Bivariate analyses showed that the poor work functioning in 2004 was significantly associated with male gender, older age, older age of first onset, higher level of education, longer duration of illness, lower family economic status, lack of caregivers, poor work status in 1994, living in shabby or unstable house, marked symptoms, and higher score on the Social Disability Screening Schedule (SDSS). In multiple logistic regression analyses, higher score of SDSS and poor work status in 1994 were identified as unique predictors of poor work status in 2004. The status of work functioning of persons with schizophrenia decreased over the course of the illness. The risk factors for poor work functioning and specific socio-cultural environment should be considered in planning community mental health services and rehabilitation for these patients.

Influence of empathetic pain processing on cognition in schizophrenia.

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Hu, Kesong; Lijffijt, Marijn; Beauchaine, Theodore P; Fan, Zhiwei; Shi, Hui; He, Shuchang

2015-10-01

Deficits in both empathy and cognition have been reported widely in patients with schizophrenia. However, little is known about how these deficits interact among such patients. In the present study, we used pain portraying pictures preceding a color-word Stroop task to investigate the effect of empathetic pain observation on cognition among patients with schizophrenia. Twenty patients with schizophrenia and twenty healthy controls were included. The control group showed increased Stroop facilitation and decreased interference during the empathetic pain condition compared with the non-empathetic condition. Although patients with schizophrenia exhibited deficits in cognition, they demonstrated a similar empathy effect to controls on Stroop facilitation, but a somewhat larger empathy effect on Stroop interference (a more decreased effect). In particular, the groups did not differ in either automatic or controlled processing during the non-empathetic condition, suggesting general rather than specific cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Together, we interpret our findings in terms of two opposing effects of empathy on cognition in schizophrenia, with possible neuromodulatory mechanism. Whereas prior studies showed empathy to be impaired, our outcomes indicate that at least some components of empathetic pain processing are preserved in such patients.

Comparison of Plasma Neurosteroid and Prolactin Levels in Patients with Schizophrenia and Healthy Individuals

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Forough Riahi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background. The present study aimed to compare plasma levels of cortisol, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA, and prolactin in patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. Method. A total of 100 patients with schizophrenia disorder (69 men and 31 women and 190 healthy individuals (94 men and 96 women participated in this cross-sectional study. They were tested for hormone levels and completed demographic questionnaires. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA and one-way analysis of variance. Results. Serum testosterone level was significantly higher in men with schizophrenia than in healthy men. Women with schizophrenia had a significantly higher level of testosterone and lower level of prolactin compared to healthy women. There were no significant differences in hormone levels across various subtypes of schizophrenia. No significant differences also were observed in hormones levels in patients with first-episode schizophrenia disorder compared to those in patients with recurrent episodes. Conclusion. This study indicated that abnormal testosterone and prolactin levels might be associated with pathophysiology of schizophrenia disorder.

Impact of antipsychotic medication on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) effects in schizophrenia patients.

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Agarwal, Sri Mahavir; Bose, Anushree; Shivakumar, Venkataram; Narayanaswamy, Janardhanan C; Chhabra, Harleen; Kalmady, Sunil V; Varambally, Shivarama; Nitsche, Michael A; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan; Gangadhar, Bangalore N

2016-01-30

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has generated interest as a treatment modality for schizophrenia. Dopamine, a critical pathogenetic link in schizophrenia, is also known to influence tDCS effects. We evaluated the influence of antipsychotic drug type (as defined by dopamine D2 receptor affinity) on the impact of tDCS in schizophrenia. DSM-IV-TR-diagnosed schizophrenia patients [N=36] with persistent auditory hallucinations despite adequate antipsychotic treatment were administered add-on tDCS. Patients were divided into three groups based on the antipsychotic's affinity to D2 receptors. An auditory hallucinations score (AHS) was measured using the auditory hallucinations subscale of the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS). Add-on tDCS resulted in a significant reduction inAHS. Antipsychotic drug type had a significant effect on AHS reduction. Patients treated with high affinity antipsychotics showed significantly lesser improvement compared to patients on low affinity antipsychotics or a mixture of the two. Furthermore, a significant sex-by-group interaction occurred; type of medication had an impact on tDCS effects only in women. Improvement differences could be due to the larger availability of the dopamine receptor system in patients taking antipsychotics with low D2 affinity. Sex-specific differences suggest potential estrogen-mediated effects. This study reports a first-time observation on the clinical utility of antipsychotic drug type in predicting tDCS effects in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

First episode schizophrenia

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with schizophrenia present clinically with psychotic, negative and cognitive ... changes in their emotions, cognition or behaviour which may indicate a ... contribute 80% to the risk of schizophrenia developing. A number of .... Positive symptoms ... Depression ... treatment of first episode schizophrenia is of critical importance.

Neurocognitive recovery of patients with paranoid schizophrenia

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Olena Molchanova

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Background. At present neurocognitive impairment is considered a core feature of schizophrenia. This statement is grounded on cognitive impairment stability, the persistence of cognitive impairment independently of the disease stage and other symptoms of schizophrenia. The relevance of the search for cognitive remediation methods is determined by the influence of cognitive functioning on the functional outcome in patients with schizophrenia. In order to solve this problem, scientists are actively investigating such direction in the treatment of patients with this psychopathology as «neurocognitive therapy» or neurocognitive training. Objective.To evaluate the effectiveness of neurocognitive training in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Methods and materials. The patients who matched inclusion criteria were assessed on Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS, Personal and Social Performance scale (PSP, neuropsychological tests (Trail Making Test part A and B, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Luria test at the baseline, 1st and 6th month. All patients who were included in the study were randomly assigned into two groups. The intervention group (n=40 underwent a standard supportive treatment and neurocognitive training. The control group (n=31 received supportive medication treatment alone. Results. After 1st month, a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups was found both for the overall PANSS score improvement and improvement in several items, which represented the cognitive decline. Total PSP score increased significantly in the intervention group from 41-50 to 51-60 (р=0.0001. In Wisconsin Card Sorting Test the proportion of incorrect answers decreased by 31.4% (р=0.0001, perseverative errors by 20.1% (р=0.042, the number of completed categories increased by 33.5% (р=0.002. Conclusion. The proposed neurocognitive training program showed positive results, which was reflected in a statistically

Association of a miRNA-137 Polymorphism with Schizophrenia in a Southern Chinese Han Population

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Guoda Ma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Both genome wide association study (GWAS and biochemical studies of Caucasian populations indicate a robust association between the miR-137 genetic variant rs1625579 and schizophrenia, but inconsistent results have been reported. To assay the association between this variant and schizophrenia, we genotyped 611 schizophrenic patients from Southern Chinese Han population for the risk single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP rs1625579 using the SNaPshot technique and compared the clinical profiles of different genotypes. Additionally, a meta-analysis was performed using the combined sample groups from five case-control publications and the present study. Both the genotype and allele distributions of the rs1625579 SNP were significantly different between patients and controls (P=0.036 and 0.026, SNP. TT genotype carriers showed slightly lower Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia- (BACS- derived working memory performance than G carriers (15.58 ± 9.56 versus 19.71 ± 8.18, P=0.045. In the meta-analysis, we observed a significant association between rs1625579 and schizophrenia under different genetic models (all P<0.05. The results of our study and meta-analysis provide convincing evidence that rs1625579 is significantly associated with schizophrenia. Furthermore, the miR-137 polymorphism influences the working memory performance of schizophrenic patients in a Chinese Han population.

The effects of symptoms, diagnostic labels, and education in psychiatry on the stigmatization towards schizophrenia: a questionnaire survey among a lay population in Japan

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Asami Matsunaga

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This questionnaire survey was conducted to study the determinants of stigmatization toward schizophrenia in Japan. A total of 1003 persons living in Kumamoto Prefecture (mean age 25.5; SD=14.1 participated in this study through convenience sampling. They read one of four case vignettes about a person with mental illness and answered questions about their attitudes toward the case. Vignettes varied in terms of descriptions of symptoms (schizophrenia vs. depression and presentation of the diagnostic label of schizophrenia (yes or no. A path analysis was performed to examine the effects of symptoms, diagnostic label, experience of education in psychiatry, and demographic features on stigmatizing attitudes. Results showed that schizophrenic symptoms, diagnostic label of schizophrenia, and experience of education in psychiatry were significantly associated with stigmatization toward the case. Interaction terms of these variables did not show significant association with stigmatization. These results highlight the importance of optimizing education techniques about mental illness so as to avoid cultivating stigmatizing attitudes toward schizophrenia.

Genetic variants in long non-coding RNA MIAT contribute to risk of paranoid schizophrenia in a Chinese Han population.

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Rao, Shu-Quan; Hu, Hui-Ling; Ye, Ning; Shen, Yan; Xu, Qi

2015-08-01

The heritability of schizophrenia has been reported to be as high as ~80%, but the contribution of genetic variants identified to this heritability remains to be estimated. Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) are involved in multiple processes critical to normal cellular function and dysfunction of lncRNA MIAT may contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. However, the genetic evidence of lncRNAs involved in schizophrenia has not been documented. Here, we conducted a two-stage association analysis on 8 tag SNPs that cover the whole MIAT locus in two independent Han Chinese schizophrenia case-control cohorts (discovery sample from Shanxi Province: 1093 patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 1180 control subjects; replication cohort from Jilin Province: 1255 cases and 1209 healthy controls). In discovery stage, significant genetic association with paranoid schizophrenia was observed for rs1894720 (χ(2)=74.20, P=7.1E-18), of which minor allele (T) had an OR of 1.70 (95% CI=1.50-1.91). This association was confirmed in the replication cohort (χ(2)=22.66, P=1.9E-06, OR=1.32, 95%CI 1.18-1.49). Besides, a weak genotypic association was detected for rs4274 (χ(2)=4.96, df=2, P=0.03); the AA carriers showed increased disease risk (OR=1.30, 95%CI=1.03-1.64). No significant association was found between any haplotype and paranoid schizophrenia. The present studies showed that lncRNA MIAT was a novel susceptibility gene for paranoid schizophrenia in the Chinese Han population. Considering that most lncRNAs locate in non-coding regions, our result may explain why most susceptibility loci for schizophrenia identified by genome wide association studies were out of coding regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Olfactory identification deficit and its relationship with hedonic traits in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and individuals with schizotypy.

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Zou, Lai-Quan; Zhou, Han-Yu; Lui, Simon S Y; Wang, Yi; Wang, Ya; Gan, Jun; Zhu, Xiong-Zhao; Cheung, Eric F C; Chan, Raymond C K

2018-04-20

Olfactory identification impairments have been consistently found in schizophrenia patients. However, few previous studies have investigated this in first-episode patients. There are also inconsistent findings regarding olfactory identification ability in psychometrically-defined schizotypy individuals. In this study, we directly compared the olfactory identification ability of first-episode schizophrenia patients with schizotypy individuals. The relationship between olfactory identification impairments and hedonic traits was also examined. Thirty-five first-episode schizophrenia patients, 40 schizotypy individuals as defined by the Chapman's Anhedonia Scales and 40 demographically matched controls were recruited. The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test was administered. Hedonic capacity was assessed using the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS). The results showed that both the schizophrenia and schizotypy groups showed poorer olfactory identification ability than controls, and the impairment was significantly correlated with reduced pleasure experiences. Our findings support olfactory identification impairment as a trait marker for schizophrenia. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Approach and withdrawal motivation in schizophrenia: an examination of frontal brain asymmetric activity.

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Horan, William P; Wynn, Jonathan K; Mathis, Ian; Miller, Gregory A; Green, Michael F

2014-01-01

Although motivational disturbances are common in schizophrenia, their neurophysiological and psychological basis is poorly understood. This electroencephalography (EEG) study examined the well-established motivational direction model of asymmetric frontal brain activity in schizophrenia. According to this model, relative left frontal activity in the resting EEG reflects enhanced approach motivation tendencies, whereas relative right frontal activity reflects enhanced withdrawal motivation tendencies. Twenty-five schizophrenia outpatients and 25 healthy controls completed resting EEG assessments of frontal asymmetry in the alpha frequency band (8-12 Hz), as well as a self-report measure of behavioral activation and inhibition system (BIS/BAS) sensitivity. Patients showed an atypical pattern of differences from controls. On the EEG measure patients failed to show the left lateralized activity that was present in controls, suggesting diminished approach motivation. On the self-report measure, patients reported higher BIS sensitivity than controls, which is typically interpreted as heightened withdrawal motivation. EEG asymmetry scores did not significantly correlate with BIS/BAS scores or with clinical symptom ratings among patients. The overall pattern suggests a motivational disturbance in schizophrenia characterized by elements of both diminished approach and elevated withdrawal tendencies.

STUDY OF FACTORS AFFECTING SUICIDE ATTEMPTS IN PERSONS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

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Ottilingam Somasundaram Ravindran

2016-09-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Schizophrenia has been called a ‘Life-shortening disease’, because many sufferers die early than general population and suicide accounts for a significant proportion of those dying prematurely. Suicide attempts in schizophrenia has been an intriguing area of research work for mental health professionals. Indian research on suicide attempts in schizophrenia have been few. OBJECTIVES The objectives were to study the suicidal behaviour in schizophrenia, to compare and study the positive and negative symptoms, depressive symptoms, hopelessness and suicide intent in schizophrenic population with suicide attempt compared to nonattempters, along with socio-demographic parameters. METHODS A sample of 60 consecutive patients attending OPD of a Private tertiary care Hospital in Chennai were selected. Those who had a diagnosis of schizophrenia were screened for the presence of past suicide attempts. They were divided into two groups as suicide attempters and non-attempters, and analysed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS, Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS, Beck’s hopelessness scale (BHS, and Suicide intent scale (SIS. RESULTS Among the disorders schizophrenia is rated the second most common reason for suicide attempts (53.3%, especially when associated with positive symptoms, depressive features and significant hopelessness. Demographic parameters like age, sex, educational status, occupation, economic status, and marital status were not found to be significant factors linked to the suicide attempts, however family history of suicide had a significant association in schizophrenic suicide attempts. Suicidal intent severity was medium to high among most of the attempters; poisoning was the commonest method; and were found to be due to positive symptoms and depressive symptoms in the schizophrenic illness course.

The prevalence and risk factors of stroke in patients with chronic schizophrenia

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Liang Y

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Ying Liang,1 Jian Huang,1 Jingbin Tian,2 Yuanyuan Cao,2 Guoling Zhang,2 Chungang Wang,2 Ying Cao,2 Jianrong Li2 1National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Peking University Sixth Hospital, Institute of Mental Health, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Peking University, 2Changping Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Objective: To investigate the stroke risk and risk factors in patients with chronic schizophrenia.Patients and methods: This study was a large-sample, cross-sectional survey. A total of 363 patients with chronic schizophrenia were selected from the Changping Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Beijing, in August 2014. The patients were divided into either stroke group or control group based on the presence of stroke. Clinical evaluation included positive and negative syndrome scale assessment and a detailed questionnaire to collect the general information and disease-related conditions.Results: The prevalence of stroke was 16.5% (60 cases. Stroke and control groups showed a significant difference in age, sex, smoking, combined medication, doses, negative factor score in positive and negative syndrome scale, body mass index, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure. Multivariate analysis showed that a number of factors are significantly related to stroke, including age, sex, smoking, combined medication, doses, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure.Conclusion: The prevalence of stroke is relatively higher in Chinese patients with chronic schizophrenia. Chronic schizophrenia patients are more likely to suffer from stroke; meanwhile, a number of risk factors were identified, including old age, female sex, smoking history, combined medication with a variety of drugs, high doses, obesity, and high blood pressure. Keywords: schizophrenia, stroke, risk, risk factors

Isn't it ironic? Neural correlates of irony comprehension in schizophrenia.

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Alexander M Rapp

Full Text Available Ironic remarks are frequent in everyday language and represent an important form of social cognition. Increasing evidence indicates a deficit in comprehension in schizophrenia. Several models for defective comprehension have been proposed, including possible roles of the medial prefrontal lobe, default mode network, inferior frontal gyri, mirror neurons, right cerebral hemisphere and a possible mediating role of schizotypal personality traits. We investigated the neural correlates of irony comprehension in schizophrenia by using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. In a prosody-free reading paradigm, 15 female patients with schizophrenia and 15 healthy female controls silently read ironic and literal text vignettes during fMRI. Each text vignette ended in either an ironic (n = 22 or literal (n = 22 statement. Ironic and literal text vignettes were matched for word frequency, length, grammatical complexity, and syntax. After fMRI, the subjects performed an off-line test to detect error rate. In this test, the subjects indicated by button press whether the target sentence has ironic, literal, or meaningless content. Schizotypal personality traits were assessed using the German version of the schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ. Patients with schizophrenia made significantly more errors than did the controls (correct answers, 85.3% vs. 96.3% on a behavioural level. Patients showed attenuated blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD response during irony comprehension mainly in right hemisphere temporal regions (ironic>literal contrast and in posterior medial prefrontal and left anterior insula regions (for ironic>visual baseline, but not for literal>visual baseline. In patients with schizophrenia, the parahippocampal gyrus showed increased activation. Across all subjects, BOLD response in the medial prefrontal area was negatively correlated with the SPQ score. These results highlight the role of the posterior medial

Theory of mind in schizophrenia: exploring neural mechanisms of belief attribution.

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Lee, Junghee; Quintana, Javier; Nori, Poorang; Green, Michael F

2011-01-01

Although previous behavioral studies have shown that schizophrenia patients have impaired theory of mind (ToM), the neural mechanisms associated with this impairment are poorly understood. This study aimed to identify the neural mechanisms of ToM in schizophrenia, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a belief attribution task. In the scanner, 12 schizophrenia patients and 13 healthy control subjects performed the belief attribution task with three conditions: a false belief condition, a false photograph condition, and a simple reading condition. For the false belief versus simple reading conditions, schizophrenia patients showed reduced neural activation in areas including the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) compared with controls. Further, during the false belief versus false photograph conditions, we observed increased activations in the TPJ and the MPFC in healthy controls, but not in schizophrenia patients. For the false photograph versus simple reading condition, both groups showed comparable neural activations. Schizophrenia patients showed reduced task-related activation in the TPJ and the MPFC during the false belief condition compared with controls, but not for the false photograph condition. This pattern suggests that reduced activation in these regions is associated with, and specific to, impaired ToM in schizophrenia.

A mentally retarded patient with schizophrenia.

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Rabia, K; Khoo, Em

2008-01-01

Schizophrenia is one of the most incapacitating forms of mental disorder that runs a chronic and relapsing course. It typically starts in adolescence or early adulthood and can be life-long. It is more common in people with learning disabilities than in the general population. Its prodromal features include depression, anxiety, suspiciousness, social isolation and bizarre behaviour. It may result in significant functional, social and economic impairments. The care of patients with schizophrenia places a considerable burden on all carers including patient's family, health and social services. Treatment includes pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions. In this case report we describe a thirteen-year-old patient with schizophrenia who has a background history of mental retardation.

A MENTALLY RETARDED PATIENT WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

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KHOO EM

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Schizophrenia is one of the most incapacitating forms of mental disorder that runs a chronic and relapsing course. It typically starts in adolescence or early adulthood and can be life-long. It is more common in people with learning disabilities than in the general population. Its prodromal features include depression, anxiety, suspiciousness, social isolation and bizarre behaviour. It may result in significant functional, social and economic impairments. The care of patients with schizophrenia places a considerable burden on all carers including patient’s family, health and social services. Treatment includes pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions. In this case report we describe a thirteen-year-old patient with schizophrenia who has a background history of mental retardation.

Theory of mind and context processing in schizophrenia: the role of cognitive flexibility.

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Champagne-Lavau, Maud; Charest, Anick; Anselmo, Karyne; Rodriguez, Jean-Pierre; Blouin, Guy

2012-12-30

The present study sought to identify whether cognitive flexibility and context processing may impact theory of mind (ToM) ability in schizophrenia. Thirty two patients with schizophrenia and 29 matched healthy participants were tested individually on their ToM ability using a task involving attribution and comprehension of a speaker's ironic intent. This task made it possible to determine whether the degree of incongruity between contextual information and a target sentence has an impact on the attribution of ironic intent to the protagonists of a story. Participants were also assessed on their cognitive flexibility and working memory. The main results revealed that participants with schizophrenia correctly perceived contextual information cueing attribution of ironic intent to the protagonist of the stimulus, but they showed difficulty to correctly integrate this information, performing significantly worse than healthy participants when they attributed mental states. However, some participants with schizophrenia performed like healthy control participants on the ToM task while others did not. A lack of flexibility seems to differentiate the two schizophrenia subgroups thereby obtained, suggesting that cognitive flexibility has an impact on ToM performances in schizophrenia. These difficulties were not associated with clinical symptoms. Such results will have an impact on cognitive remediation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Formal thought disorder in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Yalincetin, Berna; Bora, Emre; Binbay, Tolga; Ulas, Halis; Akdede, Berna Binnur; Alptekin, Koksal

2017-07-01

Historically, formal thought disorder has been considered as one of the distinctive symptoms of schizophrenia. However, research in last few decades suggested that there is a considerable clinical and neurobiological overlap between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BP). We conducted a meta-analysis of studies comparing positive (PTD) and negative formal thought disorder (NTD) in schizophrenia and BP. We included 19 studies comparing 715 schizophrenia and 474 BP patients. In the acute inpatient samples, there was no significant difference in the severity of PTD (d=-0.07, CI=-0.22-0.09) between schizophrenia and BP. In stable patients, schizophrenia was associated with increased PTD compared to BP (d=1.02, CI=0.35-1.70). NTD was significantly more severe (d=0.80, CI=0.52-0.1.08) in schizophrenia compared to BP. Our findings suggest that PTD is a shared feature of both schizophrenia and BP but persistent PTD or NTD can distinguish subgroups of schizophrenia from BP and schizophrenia patients with better clinical outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dysconnection topography in schizophrenia revealed with state-space analysis of EEG.

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Jalili, Mahdi; Lavoie, Suzie; Deppen, Patricia; Meuli, Reto; Do, Kim Q; Cuénod, Michel; Hasler, Martin; De Feo, Oscar; Knyazeva, Maria G

2007-10-24

multivariate synchronization significantly boosts the potential of EEG as an imaging technique compatible with other imaging modalities. Its application to schizophrenia research shows that schizophrenia can be explained within the concept of neural dysconnection across and within large-scale brain networks.

Dysconnection topography in schizophrenia revealed with state-space analysis of EEG.

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Mahdi Jalili

2007-10-01

method of multivariate synchronization significantly boosts the potential of EEG as an imaging technique compatible with other imaging modalities. Its application to schizophrenia research shows that schizophrenia can be explained within the concept of neural dysconnection across and within large-scale brain networks.

The global cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: consistent over decades and around the world.

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Schaefer, Jonathan; Giangrande, Evan; Weinberger, Daniel R; Dickinson, Dwight

2013-10-01

Schizophrenia results in cognitive impairments as well as positive, negative, and disorganized symptomatology. The present study examines the extent to which these cognitive deficits are generalized across domains, potential moderator variables, and whether the pattern of cognitive findings reported in schizophrenia has remained consistent over time and across cultural and geographic variation. Relevant publications from 2006 to 2011 were identified through keyword searches in PubMed and an examination of reference lists. Studies were included if they (1) compared the cognitive performance of adult schizophrenia patients and healthy controls, (2) based schizophrenia diagnoses on contemporary diagnostic criteria, (3) reported information sufficient to permit effect size calculation, (4) were reported in English, and (5) reported data for neuropsychological tests falling into at least 3 distinct cognitive domains. A set of 100 non-overlapping studies was identified, and effect sizes (Hedge's g) were calculated for each cognitive variable. Consistent with earlier analyses, patients with schizophrenia scored significantly lower than controls across all cognitive tests and domains (grand mean effect size, g=-1.03). Patients showed somewhat larger impairments in the domains of processing speed (g=-1.25) and episodic memory (g=-1.23). Our results also showed few inconsistencies when grouped by geographic region. The present study extends findings from 1980 to 2006 of a substantial, generalized cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, demonstrating that this finding has remained robust over time despite changes in assessment instruments and alterations in diagnostic criteria, and that it manifests similarly in different regions of the world despite linguistic and cultural differences. © 2013.

Effort-Based Reinforcement Processing and Functional Connectivity Underlying Amotivation in Medicated Patients with Depression and Schizophrenia.

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Park, Il Ho; Lee, Boung Chul; Kim, Jae-Jin; Kim, Joong Il; Koo, Min-Seung

2017-04-19

Amotivation is a common phenotype of major depressive disorder and schizophrenia, which are clinically distinct disorders. Effective treatment targets and strategies can be discovered by examining the dopaminergic reward network function underlying amotivation between these disorders. We conducted an fMRI study in healthy human participants and medicated patients with depression and schizophrenia using an effort-based reinforcement task. We examined regional activations related to reward type (positive and negative reinforcement), effort level, and their composite value, as well as resting-state functional connectivities within the meso-striatal-prefrontal pathway. We found that integrated reward and effort values of low effort-positive reinforcement and high effort-negative reinforcement were behaviorally anticipated and represented in the putamen and medial orbitofrontal cortex activities. Patients with schizophrenia and depression did not show anticipation-related and work-related reaction time reductions, respectively. Greater amotivation severity correlated with smaller work-related putamen activity changes according to reward type in schizophrenia and effort level in depression. Patients with schizophrenia showed feedback-related putamen hyperactivity of low effort compared with healthy controls and depressed patients. The strength of medial orbitofrontal-striatal functional connectivity predicted work-related reaction time reduction of high effort negative reinforcement in healthy controls and amotivation severity in both patients with schizophrenia and those with depression. Patients with depression showed deficient medial orbitofrontal-striatal functional connectivity compared with healthy controls and patients with schizophrenia. These results indicate that amotivation in depression and schizophrenia involves different pathophysiology in the prefrontal-striatal circuitry. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Amotivation is present in both depression and schizophrenia

Long-term effect of a name change for schizophrenia on reducing stigma.

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Koike, Shinsuke; Yamaguchi, Sosei; Ojio, Yasutaka; Shimada, Takafumi; Watanabe, Kei-ichiro; Ando, Shuntaro

2015-10-01

A name change for schizophrenia was first implemented in Japan for reducing stigma in 2002; however, little is known of its long-term impact. Total 259 students from 20 universities answered an anonymous self-administered questionnaire about their mental health-related experiences, and stigma scales including feasible knowledge and negative stereotypes for four specific diseases, including schizophrenia (old and new names), depression, and diabetes mellitus. We also asked to choose the old and new names of schizophrenia and dementia among ten names for mental and physical illnesses and conditions. The participants had more feasible knowledge and fewer negative stereotypes for the new name of schizophrenia than the old name, but were still significantly worse than for depression and diabetes mellitus (p stereotypes (β = 0.13, p = 0.020). The rate of correct responses for the old and new names of schizophrenia was significantly lower than that of dementia (41 vs. 87%, p media was associated with the recognition of name change for schizophrenia (p = 0.008), which was associated with less feasible knowledge for new name of schizophrenia. The name change of schizophrenia has reduced stigma since 12 years have passed. More effective campaigns, educational curricula, and policy making are needed to reduce stigma toward schizophrenia.

Marital adjustment of patients with substance dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder

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Shital S Muke

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Marital adjustment is considered as a part of social well-being. Disturbed marital relationship can directly affect the disease adjustment and the way they face disease outcomes and complications. It may adversely affect physical health, mental health, the quality-of-life and even economic status of individuals. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the marital adjustment among patients with substance dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of each 30 patients with substance dependence, bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia, diagnosed as per international classification of diseases-10 diagnostic criteria for research with a minimum duration of illness of 1 year were evaluated using marital adjustment questionnaire. The data was analyzed using parametric and non-parametric statistics. Results: Prevalence of poor marital adjustment in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and substance dependence was 60%, 70% and 50% respectively. There was a significant difference on overall marital adjustment among substance dependence and bipolar affective disorder patients. There was no significant difference on overall marital adjustment among patients with substance dependence and schizophrenia as well as among patients with schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder. On marital adjustment domains, schizophrenia patients had significantly poor sexual adjustment than substance dependence patients while bipolar affective disorder patients had significantly poor sexual and social adjustment compared with substance dependence patients. Conclusion: Patients with substance dependence have significant better overall marital adjustment compared with bipolar affective disorder patients. Patients with substance dependence have significantly better social and sexual adjustment than patients with bipolar affective disorder as well as significantly better sexual

Neurocognitive impairment in deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia: a meta-analysis.

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Bora, E; Binnur Akdede, B; Alptekin, K

2017-10-01

Most studies suggested that patients with deficit schizophrenia have more severe impairment compared with patients with non-deficit schizophrenia. However, it is not clear whether deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia are associated with differential neurocognitive profiles. The aim of this meta-analytic review was to compare cognitive performances of deficit and non-deficit patients with each other and with healthy controls. In the current meta-analysis, differences in cognitive abilities between 897 deficit and 1636 non-deficit patients with schizophrenia were examined. Cognitive performances of 899 healthy controls were also compared with 350 patients with deficit and 592 non-deficit schizophrenia. Both deficit (d = 1.04-1.53) and non-deficit (d = 0.68-1.19) schizophrenia were associated with significant deficits in all cognitive domains. Deficit patients underperformed non-deficit patients in all cognitive domains (d = 0.24-0.84) and individual tasks (d = 0.39-0.93). The relationship between deficit syndrome and impairment in olfaction, social cognition, verbal fluency, and speed-based cognitive tasks were relatively stronger. Our findings suggest that there is consistent evidence for a significant relationship between deficit syndrome and more severe cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.

Paternal age related schizophrenia (PARS): Latent subgroups detected by k-means clustering analysis.

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Lee, Hyejoo; Malaspina, Dolores; Ahn, Hongshik; Perrin, Mary; Opler, Mark G; Kleinhaus, Karine; Harlap, Susan; Goetz, Raymond; Antonius, Daniel

2011-05-01

Paternal age related schizophrenia (PARS) has been proposed as a subgroup of schizophrenia with distinct etiology, pathophysiology and symptoms. This study uses a k-means clustering analysis approach to generate hypotheses about differences between PARS and other cases of schizophrenia. We studied PARS (operationally defined as not having any family history of schizophrenia among first and second-degree relatives and fathers' age at birth ≥ 35 years) in a series of schizophrenia cases recruited from a research unit. Data were available on demographic variables, symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale; PANSS), cognitive tests (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised; WAIS-R) and olfaction (University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test; UPSIT). We conducted a series of k-means clustering analyses to identify clusters of cases containing high concentrations of PARS. Two analyses generated clusters with high concentrations of PARS cases. The first analysis (N=136; PARS=34) revealed a cluster containing 83% PARS cases, in which the patients showed a significant discrepancy between verbal and performance intelligence. The mean paternal and maternal ages were 41 and 33, respectively. The second analysis (N=123; PARS=30) revealed a cluster containing 71% PARS cases, of which 93% were females; the mean age of onset of psychosis, at 17.2, was significantly early. These results strengthen the evidence that PARS cases differ from other patients with schizophrenia. Hypothesis-generating findings suggest that features of PARS may include a discrepancy between verbal and performance intelligence, and in females, an early age of onset. These findings provide a rationale for separating these phenotypes from others in future clinical, genetic and pathophysiologic studies of schizophrenia and in considering responses to treatment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Canadian Practice Guidelines for Comprehensive Community Treatment for Schizophrenia and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders.

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Addington, Donald; Anderson, Elizabeth; Kelly, Martina; Lesage, Alain; Summerville, Chris

2017-09-01

The objective of this review is to identify the features and components of a comprehensive system of services for people living with schizophrenia. A comprehensive system was conceived as one that served the full range of people with schizophrenia and was designed with consideration of the incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia. The system should provide access to the full range of evidence-based services, should be recovery oriented, and should provide patient-centred care. A systematic search was conducted for published guidelines for schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The guidelines were rated by at least 2 raters, and recommendations adopted were primarily drawn from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (2014) Guideline on Psychosis and Schizophrenia in adults and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network guidelines on management of schizophrenia. The recommendations adapted for Canada cover the range of services required to provide comprehensive services. Comprehensive services for people with schizophrenia can be organized and delivered to improve the quality of life of people with schizophrenia and their carers. The services need to be organized in a system that provides access to those who need them.

Disturbed functional connectivity of cortical activation during semantic discrimination in patients with schizophrenia and subjects at genetic high-risk.

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Li, Xiaobo; Branch, Craig A; Nierenberg, Jay; Delisi, Lynn E

2010-03-01

Schizophrenia has a strong genetic component that is relevant to the understanding of the pathophysiology of the syndrome. Thus, recent investigations have shifted from studies of diagnosed patients with schizophrenia to examining their unaffected relatives. Previous studies found that during language processing, relatives thought to be at genetic high-risk for the disorder exhibit aberrant functional activation in regions of language processing, specifically in the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area). However, functional connectivity among the regions involved in language pathways is not well understood. In this study, we examined the functional connectivity between a seed located in Broca's area and the remainder of the brain during a visual lexical decision task, in 20 schizophrenia patients, 21 subjects at genetic high risk for the disorder and 21 healthy controls. Both the high-risk subjects and patients showed significantly reduced activation correlations between seed and regions related to visual language processing. Compared to the high-risk subjects, the schizophrenia patients showed even fewer regions that were correlated with the seed regions. These results suggest that there is aberrant functional connectivity within cortical language circuitry in high-risk subjects and patients with schizophrenia. Broca's area, which is one of the important regions for language processing in healthy controls, had a significantly reduced role in the high-risk subjects and patients with schizophrenia. Our findings are consistent with the existence of an underlying biological disturbance that begins in genetically at risk individuals and progresses to a greater extent in those who eventually develop schizophrenia.

Canadian Schizophrenia Guidelines: Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders with Coexisting Substance Use Disorders.

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Crockford, David; Addington, Donald

2017-09-01

Persons with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders frequently have coexisting substance use disorders that require modifications to treatment approaches for best outcomes. The objectives of this review were to identify evidence-based practices best practices that improve outcomes for individuals with schizophrenia and substance used disorders. We reviewed guidelines that were published in the last 5 years and that included systematic reviews or meta-analyses. Most of our recommendations came from 2 publications from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): the 2011 guidance titled Coexisting Severe Mental Illness (Psychosis) and Substance Misuse: Assessment and Management in Healthcare Settings and the 2014 guidance titled Psychosis and Schizophrenia in Adults: Prevention and Management. We placed these recommendations into the Canadian context to create this guideline. Evidence supports the inclusion of individuals with coexisting substance use disorders in first-episode psychosis programs. The programs should integrate psychosis and substance use treatments, emphasizing ongoing monitoring of both substance use and patterns and symptoms. The best outcomes are achieved with combined use of antipsychotic medications and addiction-based psychosocial interventions. However, limited evidence is available to recommend using one antipsychotic medication over another or one psychosocial intervention over another for persons with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders with coexisting substance use disorders. Treating persons who have schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders with coexisting substance use disorders can present clinical challenges, but modifications in practice can help engage and retain people in treatment, where significant improvements over time can be expected.

[Neurophysiological Features of Perception of Emotional Stimuli in Health and in Patients with Paranoid Schizophrenia].

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Arkhipov, A Yu; Strelets, V B

2015-01-01

Cognitive and emotional disorders, as far as is known, are the main syndromes of schizophrenia. Disorders of these functions are mainly determined by the clinical picture, as well as by psychophysiological correlates. The purpose of our study was to identify some psychophysiological factors which cause perceptual and emotional disturbances in patients with schizophrenia. These disorders of mental functions form the first rank (top) syndrome in patients with schizophrenia [1]. The studied patients had acute psychosis with a predominance of paranoid hallucinatory syndrome and did not receive antipsychotic therapy; i.e., the disturbances of sensory perception were most pronounced. The analysis of early component P100 and intermediate one N170 of event related potentials (ERPs) in the control group showed an increased level of excitation in response to emotionally threatening stimuli; the amplitude increased and the latency decreased in all leads. In contrast the analysis of components P100 and N170 in the group of patients with schizophrenia showed the increased latency and decreased amplitude. The obtained data provide evidence of pathological inhibition in the passive perception of emotionally significant stimuli.

Similar verbal memory impairments in schizophrenia and healthy aging. Implications for understanding of neural mechanisms.

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Silver, Henry; Bilker, Warren B

2015-03-30

Memory is impaired in schizophrenia patients but it is not clear whether this is specific to the illness and whether different types of memory (verbal and nonverbal) or memories in different cognitive domains (executive, object recognition) are similarly affected. To study relationships between memory impairments and schizophrenia we compared memory functions in 77 schizophrenia patients, 58 elderly healthy individuals and 41 young healthy individuals. Tests included verbal associative and logical memory and memory in executive and object recognition domains. We compared relationships of memory functions to each other and to other cognitive functions including psychomotor speed and verbal and spatial working memory. Compared to the young healthy group, schizophrenia patients and elderly healthy individuals showed similar severe impairment in logical memory and in the ability to learn new associations (NAL), and similar but less severe impairment in spatial working memory and executive and object memory. Verbal working memory was significantly more impaired in schizophrenia patients than in the healthy elderly. Verbal episodic memory impairment in schizophrenia may share common mechanisms with similar impairment in healthy aging. Impairment in verbal working memory in contrast may reflect mechanisms specific to schizophrenia. Study of verbal explicit memory impairment tapped by the NAL index may advance understanding of abnormal hippocampus dependent mechanisms common to schizophrenia and aging. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Motivation and Social Cognition in Patients with Schizophrenia.

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Fervaha, Gagan; Siddiqui, Ishraq; Foussias, George; Agid, Ofer; Remington, Gary

2015-07-01

Social cognition, referring to one's ability to perceive and process social cues, is an important domain in schizophrenia. Numerous studies have demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia have poorer performance on tests assessing social cognition relative to healthy comparison participants. However, whether variables such as motivation are related to performance on these tests in patients with schizophrenia is unclear. One thousand three-hundred and seventy-eight patients with schizophrenia completed the Facial Emotion Discrimination Task as a measure of emotional processing, a key facet of social cognition. Level of motivation was also evaluated in these patients using a derived measure from the Quality of Life Scale. The relationship between motivation and task performance was examined using bivariate correlations and logistic regression modeling, controlling for the impact of age and overall severity of psychopathology, the latter evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Motivation was positively related to performance on the social cognition test, and this relationship remained significant after controlling for potential confounding variables such as age and illness severity. Social cognition was also related to functioning, and the relationship was mediated by level of motivation. The present study found a significant relationship between motivation and performance on a test of social cognition in a large sample of patients with schizophrenia. These findings suggest that amotivation undermines task performance, or alternatively that poor social cognitive ability impedes motivation. Future studies evaluating social cognition in patients with schizophrenia should concurrently assess for variables such as effort and motivation.

Dreaming and Schizophrenia.

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Stickney, Jeffrey L.

Parallels between dream states and schizophrenia suggest that the study of dreams may offer some information about schizophrenia. A major theoretical assumption of the research on dreaming and schizophrenia is that, in schizophrenics, the dream state intrudes on the awake state creating a dreamlike symptomatology. This theory, called the REM…

Regional cerebral blood flow in schizophrenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanoh, Masayuki

1989-01-01

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured at rest using the 133 Xe inhalation technique in 40 DSM-III-diagnosed schizophrenics (22 males, 18 females: mean age 35.0 years, range 20-49 years) and 31 age-and sex-matched normal controls (16 males, 15 females: mean age 34.3 years, range 21-49 years). The absolute value (AV) and the percent value (PV) of the rCBF in schizophrenics were compared with those in controls. Correlations between rCBF and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores or the performance of Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were examined in schizophrenics. Schizophrenics showed significantly lower AVs in all brain regions examined and a significantly lower PV in the left superior frontal region than controls. The hyperfrontal rCBF distribution which was found in both hemispheres in controls, was absent in the left hemisphere in schizophrenics. In schizophrenics, superior frontal blood flows were significantly negatively correlated with the negative symptom scores of the BPRS but not with the total scores and the positive symptom scores of the BPRS. In schizophrenics, inferior frontal blood flows were significantly correlated with the number of sorting categories achieved. These results indicate that rCBF in schizophrenia is reduced in the whole brain and especially in the left superior frontal region. These findings suggest a frontal lobe dysfunction in schizophrenia. (author)

Premorbid neurocognitive functioning in schizophrenia spectrum disorder

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Sørensen, Holger Jelling; Mortensen, E.L.; Parnas, Josef

2006-01-01

in WISC IQ. Logistic regression analysis controlling for age at examination, gender, and social status yielded a significant, but relatively weak, association between low Coding test score and risk of schizophrenia spectrum disorder. For each unit increase in the Coding raw score, the adjusted odds ratio...... in adolescence, the aim of the present prospective study was to examine whether low scores on Coding is associated with the risk of developing schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The 12 subtests of the WISC were administered to 311 children and adolescents with a mean age of 15.1 years (range: 8 to 20 years......), and the diagnostic assessment (DSM-IIIR) was conducted by senior clinicians 25 years later. The group with schizophrenia spectrum disorder consisted of 84 individuals, and this group obtained significantly lower scores on Coding than nonschizophrenic controls. This difference could not be explained by differences...

Genetic Markers of Human Evolution Are Enriched in Schizophrenia

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Srinivasan, Saurabh; Bettella, Francesco; Mattingsdal, Morten

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Why schizophrenia has accompanied humans throughout our history despite its negative effect on fitness remains an evolutionary enigma. It is proposed that schizophrenia is a by-product of the complex evolution of the human brain and a compromise for humans' language, creative thinking...... and ancillary information on genetic variants. We used information from the evolutionary proxy measure called the Neanderthal selective sweep (NSS) score. RESULTS: Gene loci associated with schizophrenia are significantly (p = 7.30 × 10(-9)) more prevalent in genomic regions that are likely to have undergone...... phenotypes. The false discovery rate conditional on the evolutionary proxy points to 27 candidate schizophrenia susceptibility loci, 12 of which are associated with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders or linked to brain development. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that there is a polygenic overlap...

T100. NICOTINE USE IMPACTS NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS SEVERITY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

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Oliveira, Hianna; Coutinho, Luccas; Higuchi, Cinthia; Noto, Cristiano; Bressan, Rodrigo; Gadelha, Ary

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Nicotine use is higher among patients with schizophrenia (50–98%) than in general population (25–30%). This association can reflect a non-specific liability to substance use or specific effects of tobacco on symptoms severity or side effects. Studies about nicotine use and schizophrenia symptoms dimensions are controversial. Some of them showed a relation between severe nicotine use and higher positive symptoms and others presented a correlation between lower negative symptoms and nicotine use. That is why we aimed to verify whether nicotine use is associated with symptoms dimensions in patients with schizophrenia. Methods Two hundred and seven outpatients were enrolled from the Programa de Esquizofrenia da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (PROESQ/UNIFESP). Schizophrenia diagnosis was confirmed by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I). Dimensional psychopathology was assessed with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence. The PANSS items were grouped in five dimensions: positive, negative, disorganized/cognitive, mood/depression and excitement/hostility. The total score of Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence was the index used for severity in nicotine dependence. We used Wilcoxon-mann- whitney test to compare the means of PANSS dimensions between nicotine users versus non nicotine use. Results The patients mean age was 36.75 (SD 10.648), 69.1% were male, 48.3% reported lifetime tobacco use and 34.3% reported current tobacco use. Lower scores on negative dimension were associated with nicotine use (W = 5642.5, p-value = 0.046, effect size = 0.446). All p-values were corrected by Bonferroni test. Tests that evaluated the relationship between nicotine use and the total PANSS score or other dimensions were not statistically significant. Discussion This study shows that nicotine use impacts negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Increase in hepatic metabolism leading

Novel Immune Response to Gluten in Individuals with Schizophrenia

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Background: A link between celiac disease and schizophrenia, has been speculated for several years. The reported association is based primarily on reports of elevated levels of antibodies to gliadin (a component of gluten). However, the significance of such antibodies in schizophrenia and whethe...

A follow-up MRI study of the fusiform gyrus and middle and inferior temporal gyri in schizophrenia spectrum.

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Takahashi, Tsutomu; Zhou, Shi-Yu; Nakamura, Kazue; Tanino, Ryoichiro; Furuichi, Atsushi; Kido, Mikio; Kawasaki, Yasuhiro; Noguchi, Kyo; Seto, Hikaru; Kurachi, Masayoshi; Suzuki, Michio

2011-12-01

While longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have demonstrated progressive gray matter reduction of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) during the early phases of schizophrenia, it remains largely unknown whether other temporal lobe structures also exhibit similar progressive changes and whether these changes, if present, are specific to schizophrenia among the spectrum disorders. In this longitudinal MRI study, the gray matter volumes of the fusiform, middle temporal, and inferior temporal gyri were measured at baseline and follow-up scans (mean inter-scan interval=2.7 years) in 18 patients with first-episode schizophrenia, 13 patients with schizotypal disorder, and 20 healthy controls. Both schizophrenia and schizotypal patients had a smaller fusiform gyrus than controls bilaterally at both time points, whereas no group difference was found in the middle and inferior temporal gyri. In the longitudinal comparison, the schizophrenia patients showed significant fusiform gyrus reduction (left, -2.6%/year; right, -2.3%/year) compared with schizotypal patients (left: -0.4%/year; right: -0.2%/year) and controls (left: 0.1%/year; right: 0.0%/year). However, the middle and inferior temporal gyri did not exhibit significant progressive gray matter change in all diagnostic groups. In the schizophrenia patients, a higher cumulative dose of antipsychotics during follow-up was significantly correlated with less severe gray matter reduction in the left fusiform gyrus. The annual gray matter loss of the fusiform gyrus did not correlate with that of the STG previously reported in the same subjects. Our findings suggest regional specificity of the progressive gray matter reduction in the temporal lobe structures, which might be specific to overt schizophrenia within the schizophrenia spectrum. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatial serial order processing in schizophrenia.

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Fraser, David; Park, Sohee; Clark, Gina; Yohanna, Daniel; Houk, James C

2004-10-01

The aim of this study was to examine serial order processing deficits in 21 schizophrenia patients and 16 age- and education-matched healthy controls. In a spatial serial order working memory task, one to four spatial targets were presented in a randomized sequence. Subjects were required to remember the locations and the order in which the targets were presented. Patients showed a marked deficit in ability to remember the sequences compared with controls. Increasing the number of targets within a sequence resulted in poorer memory performance for both control and schizophrenia subjects, but the effect was much more pronounced in the patients. Targets presented at the end of a long sequence were more vulnerable to memory error in schizophrenia patients. Performance deficits were not attributable to motor errors, but to errors in target choice. The results support the idea that the memory errors seen in schizophrenia patients may be due to saturating the working memory network at relatively low levels of memory load.

Perisylvian GABA levels in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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Atagün, Murat İlhan; Şıkoğlu, Elif Muazzez; Soykan, Çağlar; Serdar Süleyman, Can; Ulusoy-Kaymak, Semra; Çayköylü, Ali; Algın, Oktay; Phillips, Mary Louise; Öngür, Dost; Moore, Constance Mary

2017-01-10

The aim of this study is to measure GABA levels of perisylvian cortices in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients, using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H-MRS). Patients with schizophrenia (n=25), bipolar I disorder (BD-I; n=28) and bipolar II disorder (BD-II; n=20) were compared with healthy controls (n=30). 1 H-MRS data was acquired using a Siemens 3T whole body scanner to quantify right and left perisylvian structures' (including superior temporal lobes) GABA levels. Right perisylvian GABA values differed significantly between groups [χ 2 =9.62, df: 3, p=0.022]. GABA levels were significantly higher in the schizophrenia group compared with the healthy control group (p=0.002). Furthermore, Chlorpromazine equivalent doses of antipsychotics correlated with right hemisphere GABA levels (r 2 =0.68, p=0.006, n=33). GABA levels are elevated in the right hemisphere in patients with schizophrenia in comparison to bipolar disorder and healthy controls. The balance between excitatory and inhibitory controls over the cortical circuits may have direct relationship with GABAergic functions in auditory cortices. In addition, GABA levels may be altered by brain regions of interest, psychotropic medications, and clinical stage in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

MiRNAs of peripheral blood as the biomarker of schizophrenia.

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He, Kuanjun; Guo, Chuang; He, Lin; Shi, Yongyong

2018-01-01

The diagnosis of schizophrenia is currently based on the symptoms and bodily signs rather than on the pathological and physiological markers of the patient. In the search for new molecular targeted therapy medicines, and recurrence of early-warning indicators have become the major focus of contemporary research, because they improve diagnostic accuracy. Biomarkers reflect the physiological, physical and biochemical status of the body, and so have extensive applicability and practical significance. The ascertainment of schizophrenia biomarkers will help diagnose, stratify of disease, and treat of schizophrenia patients. The detection of biomarkers from blood has become a promising area of schizophrenia research. Recently, a series of studies revealed that, MiRNAs play an important role in the genesis of schizophrenia, and their abnormal expressions have the potential to be used as biomarkers of schizophrenia. This article presents and summarizes the value of peripheral blood miRNAs with abnormal expression as the biomarker of schizophrenia.

Risperidone long-acting injection in the treatment of schizophrenia: 24-month results from the electronic Schizophrenia Treatment Adherence Registry in Canada

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Williams R

2014-02-01

. Conclusion: In a routine clinical practice setting, patients switched to RLAI showed significant improvements in clinical outcomes and in global and social functioning, and hospitalization was significantly reduced. The data confirm that RLAI provides effective long-term management of schizophrenia in Canada. Keywords: schizophrenia, Canada, risperidone long-acting injection, e-STAR

Reduced context effects on retrieval in first-episode schizophrenia.

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Lucia M Talamini

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A recent modeling study by the authors predicted that contextual information is poorly integrated into episodic representations in schizophrenia, and that this is a main cause of the retrieval deficits seen in schizophrenia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have tested this prediction in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and matched controls. The benefit from contextual cues in retrieval was strongly reduced in patients. On the other hand, retrieval based on item cues was spared. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that reduced integration of context information into episodic representations is a core deficit in schizophrenia and one of the main causes of episodic memory impairment.

LIFE EVENTS WITH STRESSFUL EFFECT ON PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA ACCORDING TO THE SEX AND AGE.

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Lilia Nikolova

2012-08-01

Full Text Available According to the literature life events with stressful effect are significant both for initiation and progress of the schizophrenia. Having this in mind we set our aim to be investigating the relationship between life events (considered as stressful, sex and age trough questioning 50 patients with paranoid schizophrenia. The results of our study showed presence of correlation between some of the studied life events, assessed as stressful. The analysis of the data revealed that both sex and age are influencing the assessment of the significance of the life events and “increases” their importance both for women and men.

Symptom profiles and parental bonding in homicidal versus non-violent male schizophrenia patients.

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Halmai, Tamás; Tényi, Tamás; Gonda, Xénia

2017-01-30

To compare the intensity and the profile of psychotic symptoms and the characteristics of parental bonding of male schizophrenia patients with a history of homicide and those without a history of violent behaviour. Clinical question - We hypothesized more intense psychotic symptoms, especially positive symptoms as signs of a more severe psychopathology in the background of homicidal behaviour. We also hypothesized a more negatively perceived pattern (less Care more Overprotection) of parental bonding in the case of homicidal schizophrenia patients than in non-violent patients and non-violent healthy controls. Symptom severity and symptom profiles were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale in a group of male schizophrenia patients (n=22) with the history of committed or attempted homicide, and another group (n=19) of male schizophrenia patients without a history of violent behaviour. Care- and Overprotection were assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) in a third group of non-violent healthy controls (n=20), too. Positive, negative and general psychopathology symptoms in the homicidal schizophrenia group were significantly (pOverprotection than violent patients and healthy controls. Homicidal schizophrenia patients showed a pattern similar to the one in the healthy control group. It seems imperative to register intense positive psychotic symptoms as predictive markers for later violent behaviour. In the subgroup of male homicidal schizophrenia patients negatively experienced parental bonding does not appear to be major contributing factor to later homicidal behaviour.

Intact unconscious processing of eye contact in schizophrenia

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Kiley Seymour

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The perception of eye gaze is crucial for social interaction, providing essential information about another person’s goals, intentions, and focus of attention. People with schizophrenia suffer a wide range of social cognitive deficits, including abnormalities in eye gaze perception. For instance, patients have shown an increased bias to misjudge averted gaze as being directed toward them. In this study we probed early unconscious mechanisms of gaze processing in schizophrenia using a technique known as continuous flash suppression. Previous research using this technique to render faces with direct and averted gaze initially invisible reveals that direct eye contact gains privileged access to conscious awareness in healthy adults. We found that patients, as with healthy control subjects, showed the same effect: faces with direct eye gaze became visible significantly faster than faces with averted gaze. This suggests that early unconscious processing of eye gaze is intact in schizophrenia and implies that any misjudgments of gaze direction must manifest at a later conscious stage of gaze processing where deficits and/or biases in attributing mental states to gaze and/or beliefs about being watched may play a role.

Interoception and positive symptoms in Schizophrenia

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Martina Ardizzi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The present study focuses on the multifaceted concept of self-disturbance in schizophrenia, adding knowledge about a not yet investigated aspect, which is the interoceptive accuracy. Starting from the assumption that interoceptive accuracy requires an intact sense of self, which otherwise was proved to be altered in schizophrenia, the aim of the present study was to explore interoceptive accuracy in a group of schizophrenia patients, compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, the possible association between interoceptive accuracy and patients’ positive and negative symptomatology was assessed. To pursue these goals, a group of 23 schizophrenia patients and a group of 23 healthy controls performed a heartbeat perception task. Patients’ symptomatology was assessed by means of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS. Results demonstrated significantly lower interoceptive accuracy in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls. This difference was not accounted for participants’ age, BMI, anxiety levels and heart rate. Furthermore, patients’ illness severity, attention and pharmacological treatment did not influence their interoceptive accuracy levels. Interestingly, a strong positive relation between interoceptive accuracy and positive symptoms severity, especially Grandiosity, was found. The present results demonstrate for the first time that interoceptive accuracy is altered in schizophrenia. Furthermore, they prove a specific association between interoceptive accuracy and positive symptomatology, suggesting that the symptom Grandiosity might be protective against an altered basic sense of self in patients characterized by higher sensibility to their inner bodily sensations.

Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia across age groups: a case-control study.

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Mosiołek, Anna; Gierus, Jacek; Koweszko, Tytus; Szulc, Agata

2016-02-24

The potential dynamics of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia is discussed in the literature of the field. Recent publications suggest modest changes in level of cognitive impairment after first psychotic episode. Present article attempts to explore cognitive differences between patients and controls across age groups and differences between age groups in clinical group. One hundred and twenty-eight hospitalized patients with schizophrenia (64 women and 64 men) and 68 individuals from the control group (32 women and 32 men) aged 18-55 years were examined. The patients were divided into age groups (18-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55). Both groups were examined using Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, Trail Making Test (A and B), Stroop Test, verbal fluency test and Wechsler digit span. Patients with schizophrenia obtained significantly lower scores versus the control group in regard to all the measured cognitive functions (Mann-Whitney U; p age groups, however, statistically important impairment in executive functions (WCST) were present only in "older" groups. Patients with schizophrenia obtained less favourable results than the control group in all age groups. Deficits regarding executive functions do not seem to be at a significant level among the youngest group, whereas they are more noticeable in the group of 46-55-year-olds. Executive functions are significantly lowered in the group aged 36-45 in comparison to the "younger" groups. The level of cognitive functions shows a mild exacerbation in connection with age, whereas cognitive rigidity proved to be related to the number of years spent without hospital treatment.

Prefrontal cortex connectivity dysfunction in performing the Fist–Edge–Palm task in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and non-psychotic first-degree relatives

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Raymond C.K. Chan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Neurological soft signs have been considered one of the promising neurological endophenotypes for schizophrenia. However, most previous studies have employed clinical rating data only. The present study aimed to examine the neurobiological basis of one of the typical motor coordination signs, the Fist–Edge–Palm (FEP task, in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and their non-psychotic first degree relatives. Thirteen patients with first-episode schizophrenia, 14 non-psychotic first-degree relatives and 14 healthy controls were recruited. All of them were instructed to perform the FEP task in a 3 T GE Machine. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI analysis was used to evaluate the functional connectivity between the sensorimotor cortex and frontal regions when participants performed the FEP task compared to simple motor tasks. In the contrast of palm-tapping (PT vs. rest, activation of the left frontal–parietal region was lowest in the schizophrenia group, intermediate in the relative group and highest in the healthy control group. In the contrast of FEP vs. PT, patients with schizophrenia did not show areas of significant activation, while relatives and healthy controls showed significant activation of the left middle frontal gyrus. Moreover, with the increase in task complexity, significant functional connectivity was observed between the sensorimotor cortex and the right frontal gyrus in healthy controls but not in patients with first episode schizophrenia. These findings suggest that activity of the left frontal–parietal and frontal regions may be neurofunctional correlates of neurological soft signs, which in turn may be a potential endophenotype of schizophrenia. Moreover, the right frontal gyrus may play a specific role in the execution of the FEP task in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Functional genomics indicate that schizophrenia may be an adult vascular-ischemic disorder.

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Moises, H W; Wollschläger, D; Binder, H

2015-08-11

In search for the elusive schizophrenia pathway, candidate genes for the disorder from a discovery sample were localized within the energy-delivering and ischemia protection pathway. To test the adult vascular-ischemic (AVIH) and the competing neurodevelopmental hypothesis (NDH), functional genomic analyses of practically all available schizophrenia-associated genes from candidate gene, genome-wide association and postmortem expression studies were performed. Our results indicate a significant overrepresentation of genes involved in vascular function (P < 0.001), vasoregulation (that is, perivascular (P < 0.001) and shear stress (P < 0.01), cerebral ischemia (P < 0.001), neurodevelopment (P < 0.001) and postischemic repair (P < 0.001) among schizophrenia-associated genes from genetic association studies. These findings support both the NDH and the AVIH. The genes from postmortem studies showed an upregulation of vascular-ischemic genes (P = 0.020) combined with downregulated synaptic (P = 0.005) genes, and ND/repair (P = 0.003) genes. Evidence for the AVIH and the NDH is critically discussed. We conclude that schizophrenia is probably a mild adult vascular-ischemic and postischemic repair disorder. Adult postischemic repair involves ND genes for adult neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity, glutamate and increased long-term potentiation of excitatory neurotransmission (i-LTP). Schizophrenia might be caused by the cerebral analog of microvascular angina.

[Cognitive performance in schizophrenia (paranoid vs residual subtype)].

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Dillon, Carol; Taragano, Fernando; Sarasola, Diego; Iturry, Mónica; Serrano, Cecilia; Raczkowski, Amalia; Allegri, Ricardo

2007-01-01

Several studies refer to the relationship between schizophrenia and cognitive dysfunctions. The most frequent disturbances accepted are the deficits in the executive, memory and verbal tests. However, there are few comparative data about the cognitive functioning of the different subtypes of schizophrenia. Analyze and compare the neuropsychological disturbances present in patients with paranoid and residual schizophrenia. Eleven patients with paranoid schizophrenia, eleven patients with residual schizophrenia (DSM-IV criteria), and thirty one normal subjects matched by age, educational level, and general cognitive level (Mini Mental State Examination (Folstein, 1975), were assessed with a semistructured psychiatric examination and an extensive neuropsychological battery. Significant differences were found in memory, language, and executive functions when schizophrenics were compared with normal subjects. Differences in similarities were found between paranoid and residual schizophrenics. Residual schizophrenics had more disturbances in neuropsychological tests in comparison with paranoid schizophrenics. Schizophrenics demonstrated disturbances in memory, language, executive functions and attention. Residual schizophrenics had more impairment in neuropsychological tests than paranoid schizophrenics.

Schizophrenia genetic variants are not associated with intelligence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Van Scheltinga, A.F.T.; Bakker, S.C.; Van Haren, N.E.M.

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is associated with lower pre-morbid intelligence (IQ) in addition to (pre-morbid) cognitive decline. Both schizophrenia and IQ are highly heritable traits. Therefore, we hypothesized that genetic variants associated with schizophrenia, including copy number variants (CNVs......) and a polygenic schizophrenia (risk) score (PSS), may influence intelligence. Method IQ was estimated with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). CNVs were determined from single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data using the QuantiSNP and PennCNV algorithms. For the PSS, odds ratios for genome-wide SNP data...... significantly more genes were disrupted by deletions in schizophrenia patients compared to controls (p = 0.009), there was no effect of CNV measures on IQ. The PSS was associated with disease status (R 2 = 0.055, p = 2.1 × 10-7) and with IQ in the entire sample (R 2 = 0.018, p = 0.0008) but the effect on IQ...

Clozapine for severe ("kraepelinian" schizophrenia: Sustained improvement over 5 years

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Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza

Full Text Available Abstract Clozapine has become a keystone in the treatment of schizophrenia because of its efficacy as an antipsychotic with negligible neuroleptic effects. The long-term stability of its effects, however, is poorly understood, because most studies have probed the usefulness of clozapine over a period of weeks to several months at the most. Knowing whether clozapine's benefits are sustained over the very long-term, i.e., more than 5 years, may be critical for cost-benefit analyses. Objective: To report the results of an open study on the efficacy of clozapine over the very long-term. Methods: Thirty-three adults (26 men with severe (kraepelinian schizophrenia were assessed at regular intervals using a brief neuropsychiatric battery over a 5-year period. Results: A significant improvement was observed between the pre-clozapine and the first "on-clozapine" evaluation. This improvement was paralleled by a remarkable conversion of schizophrenia from "active" (mostly paranoid into "residual" in 70% of all patients. Eight patients became functionally productive to the point of being capable of living an independent life. Roughly one-third of our cases showed no improvement. Conclusions: Clozapine is a safe and effective drug for patients with severe schizophrenia who have failed to improve on other antipsychotic drugs. Clozapine's maximal benefit is established by the end of the first year of treatment and continues unabated for many years thereafter. Clozapine-resistant patients remain a major challenge calling for the discovery of new treatments for schizophrenia.

Motivational deficits and cognitive test performance in schizophrenia.

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Fervaha, Gagan; Zakzanis, Konstantine K; Foussias, George; Graff-Guerrero, Ariel; Agid, Ofer; Remington, Gary

2014-09-01

Motivational and cognitive deficits are core features of schizophrenia, both closely linked with functional outcomes. Although poor effort and decreased motivation are known to affect performance on cognitive tests, the extent of this relationship is unclear in patients with schizophrenia. To evaluate the association between intrinsic motivation and cognitive test performance in patients with schizophrenia. Cross-sectional and 6-month prospective follow-up study performed at 57 sites in the United States, including academic and community medical treatment centers, participating in the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness study. The primary sample included 431 stable patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia currently receiving a stable medication regimen. Cognitive performance and intrinsic motivation were evaluated using a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and a derived measure from the Heinrichs-Carpenter Quality of Life Scale, respectively. Symptom severity and functional status were also assessed. The primary outcome variable was global neurocognition. Individual domains of cognition were also evaluated for their association with motivation. Level of intrinsic motivation was significantly and positively correlated with global cognitive test performance, a relationship that held for each domain of cognition evaluated (correlation range, 0.20-0.34; P motivation and cognitive performance also remained significant after controlling for antipsychotic dose (P motivation during the 6-month follow-up was also found to be significantly related to improvement in global cognitive performance (P motivation and cognitive performance and suggest that test performance is not purely a measure of ability. Future studies assessing cognition in patients with schizophrenia should consider potential moderating variables such as effort and motivation. Implications for the assessment and interpretation of cognitive impairment based on

[Diagnostic process and management of schizophrenia in Spain: the ACEE project].

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Baca Baldomero, E; Leal Cercós, C; Varela, C; Riesgo, Y; Roca, M

2006-01-01

Although schizophrenia has a great impact on the health care, social and family levels, there is little epidemiological information on patients with schizophrenia, its diagnosis and treatment in Spain. The ACEE (Abordaje Clínico de la Esquizofrenia en España; Clinical Approach to Schizophrenia in Spain) study was designed with the primary objective of defining the management of schizophrenia in Spain from the perspective of current clinical practice. ACEE is a descriptive cross-sectional multicenter observational study with data collected in the setting of current clinical practice by means of a specifically designed questionnaire. A total of 1,937 patients have been studied (83% pertaining to the public sector and 17% to private one). Most subjects had paranoid schizophrenia in the stabilization phase, and did not work because of their illness. Most (96%) were receiving antipsychotic treatment and 55% also received some non-drug treatment. Negative symptoms were more frequent than positive symptoms (88% versus 63%). Significant differences were observed for type of patients and diagnostic procedures involved between the public and private health care sectors. The ACEE study shows that schizophrenic patients attending Spanish psychiatric centers are mainly single, non-working males who are living in their family setting. Treatment basically consists of antipsychotics combined with other drugs, and few complementary examinations are performed.

A Cross-sectional, Comparative Study of Insight in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Patients in Remission.

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Ramachandran, Arul Saravanan; Ramanathan, Rajkumar; Praharaj, Samir Kumar; Kanradi, Haridas; Sharma, Podila Satya Venkata Narasimha

2016-01-01

To study insight correlates in schizophrenia and bipolar mood disorder in remission among out-patients attending the Psychiatry Department of a Tertiary Care Hospital. In a cross-sectional, naturalistic study, adult patients with schizophrenia and bipolar mood disorder in remission (n = 80; schizophrenia-40, mania-20, bipolar depression-20) were compared on insight measures and clinical correlates. Scale to Assess the Unawareness of Mental Disorders (SUMD) was used as the main tool to assess current and past measures of insight. Hogan's Drug Attitude Inventory was used to assess the drug attitude and compliance. Positive and Negative Symptom Scale for Schizophrenia, Young's Mania Rating Scale, and HAMD were used to rate psychopathology. Clinical Global Improvement was used as a screening tool for remission. For comparison of the three clinical groups, analysis of variance and Chi-square test were used. In the post-hoc analysis, the Ryan-Einot-Gabriel-Welsch test was used to find the group difference. About 40% in the schizophrenia group were unaware of their mental illness as against none in the bipolar group. The awareness of mental disorder for the current period, the awareness of the achieved effects of medications, and the awareness of social consequence was better in the bipolar group. The drug attitude (compliant positive attitude) increased as the SUMD item scale decreased or in other words, as the insight improved. Insight, both current and retrospect, showed significant differences between the schizophrenia and bipolar patients. Insight is significantly correlated with the observed compliance and drug attitude of the patient groups.

Attitudes of Medical and Pharmacy Students Towards Patients Suffering from Schizophrenia

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Ignjatovic-Ristic Dragana

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Research over the past twenty years has shown that the attitudes of health care workers and students towards people who are suffering from schizophrenia have become more negative. The aim of our study was to investigate the attitudes of medical and pharmacy students towards patients with schizophrenia and explore the differences in attitudes between study groups and students in different years. Materials and methods: Second- and fifth-year medical and pharmacy students from the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of Kragujevac were included in an observational, prospective, cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 113 students from the pharmacy and medical schools who were chosen via random sampling. The students completed a two-part questionnaire. Th e first part contained questions about sociodemographic characteristics, whereas the second part was a translated version of the Mental Illness: Clinician’s Attitudes (MICA v4 scale. Results: There is a statistically significant difference (р<0.05 in the attitudes towards people with schizophrenia between second- and fifth-year medical and pharmacy students (with lower scores in both groups in fifth-year students. Of the total number of students who had lower summed scores on the Likert scale, 51.3% had previously finished medical high school, whereas 28.3% had previously finished regular high school. Conclusion: Our results showed a statistically significant difference in attitudes towards people with schizophrenia between second- and fifth-year students as well as a difference related to previous high school education. This stresses the importance of levels of knowledge about schizophrenia to reducing the stigmatization of patients who suffer from this disorder.

Is there a decline in cognitive functions after combined electroconvulsive therapy and antipsychotic therapy in treatment-refractory schizophrenia?

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Pawełczyk, Agnieszka; Kołodziej-Kowalska, Emilia; Pawełczyk, Tomasz; Rabe-Jabłońska, Jolanta

2015-03-01

An analysis of literature shows that there is still little evidence concerning the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) combined with antipsychotic therapy in a group of treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients. More precisely, its influence on cognitive functions is still equivocal. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of ECT combined with antipsychotic therapy on working memory, attention, and executive functions in a group of treatment-refractory schizophrenia patients. Twenty-seven patients completed the study: 14 men and 13 women, aged 21 to 55 years (mean age, 32.8 years), diagnosed with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Each patient underwent a course of ECT sessions and was treated with antipsychotic medications. Before the ECT and within 3 days after the last ECT session, the participants were assessed with the following neuropsychological tests: Trail Making Test (TMT) and Wisconsin Cart Sorting Test (WCST). There were no significant differences in the TMT and WCST results after combined ECT and antipsychotic therapy in treatment-refractory schizophrenia patients. According to the results of the neuropsychological tests, there was no decline in attention, executive functions, or working memory. The current study shows no significant difference in attention, working memory, or executive functions after treatment with a combination of electroconvulsive and antipsychotic therapy. This suggests that combined electroconvulsive therapy may not have a negative influence on the neuropsychological functioning of patients with treatment resistant schizophrenia.

Quality of life in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: The impact of symptomatic remission and resilience.

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Hofer, A; Mizuno, Y; Wartelsteiner, F; Wolfgang Fleischhacker, W; Frajo-Apor, B; Kemmler, G; Mimura, M; Pardeller, S; Sondermann, C; Suzuki, T; Welte, A; Uchida, H

2017-10-01

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is significantly affected in individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder (BD-I). The current study investigated whether symptomatic remission and resilience might differently impact HRQOL in these patients. Fifty-two patients with schizophrenia and 60 patients suffering from BD-I from outpatient mental health services as well as 77 healthy control subjects from the general community were included into a cross-sectional study. HRQOL and resilience were assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF and the Resilience Scale. In patients, psychopathology was quantified by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale or the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale and the Young Mania Rating Scale, respectively. Notably, both patient groups showed lower HRQOL and resilience compared to control subjects, non-remitted patients indicated lower HRQOL than remitted ones. The effect of remission on HRQOL was significantly larger in patients with BD-I than in those with schizophrenia but did not explain the difference in HRQOL between groups. Resilience predicted HRQOL in all three groups. When accounting for the effect of resilience among remitted patients, only the difference in HRQOL between schizophrenia patients and control subjects was significant. These findings demonstrate the impact of symptomatic remission and resilience on HRQOL of both patients suffering from schizophrenia and BD-I and indicate that these factors are especially relevant for HRQOL of patients with BD-I. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Effects of smoking history on selective attention in schizophrenia.

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Hahn, Constanze; Hahn, Eric; Dettling, Michael; Güntürkün, Onur; Ta, Thi Minh Tam; Neuhaus, Andres H

2012-03-01

Smoking prevalence is highly elevated in schizophrenia compared to the general population and to other psychiatric populations. Evidence suggests that smoking may lead to improvements of schizophrenia-associated attention deficits; however, large-scale studies on this important issue are scarce. We examined whether sustained, selective, and executive attention processes are differentially modulated by long-term nicotine consumption in 104 schizophrenia patients and 104 carefully matched healthy controls. A significant interaction of 'smoking status' × 'diagnostic group' was obtained for the domain of selective attention. Smoking was significantly associated with a detrimental conflict effect in controls, while the opposite effect was revealed for schizophrenia patients. Likewise, a positive correlation between a cumulative measure of nicotine consumption and conflict effect in controls and a negative correlation in patients were found. These results provide evidence for specific directional effects of smoking on conflict processing that critically dissociate with diagnosis. The data supports the self-medication hypothesis of smoking in schizophrenia and suggests selective attention as a specific cognitive domain targeted by nicotine consumption. A potential mechanistic model explaining these findings is discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An fMRI study of facial emotion processing in patients with schizophrenia.

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Gur, Raquel E; McGrath, Claire; Chan, Robin M; Schroeder, Lee; Turner, Travis; Turetsky, Bruce I; Kohler, Christian; Alsop, David; Maldjian, Joseph; Ragland, J Daniel; Gur, Ruben C

2002-12-01

Emotion processing deficits are notable in schizophrenia. The authors evaluated cerebral blood flow response in schizophrenia patients during facial emotion processing to test the hypothesis of diminished limbic activation related to emotional relevance of facial stimuli. Fourteen patients with schizophrenia and 14 matched comparison subjects viewed facial displays of happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust as well as neutral faces. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal changes as the subjects alternated between tasks of discriminating emotional valence (positive versus negative) and age (over 30 versus under 30) of the faces with an interleaved crosshair reference condition. The groups did not differ in performance on either task. For both tasks, healthy participants showed activation in the fusiform gyrus, occipital lobe, and inferior frontal cortex relative to the resting baseline condition. The increase was greater in the amygdala and hippocampus during the emotional valence discrimination task than during the age discrimination task. In the patients with schizophrenia, minimal focal response was observed for all tasks relative to the resting baseline condition. Contrasting patients and comparison subjects on the emotional valence discrimination task revealed voxels in the left amygdala and bilateral hippocampus in which the comparison subjects had significantly greater activation. Failure to activate limbic regions during emotional valence discrimination may explain emotion processing deficits in patients with schizophrenia. While the lack of limbic recruitment did not significantly impair simple valence discrimination performance in this clinically stable group, it may impact performance of more demanding tasks.

Reduced visual surround suppression in schizophrenia shown by measuring contrast detection thresholds

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Ignacio eSerrano-Pedraza

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Visual perception in schizophrenia is attracting a broad interest given the deep knowledge that we have about the visual system in healthy population. In visual science it is known that the visibility of a grating located in the visual periphery is impaired by the presence of a surrounding grating of the same spatial frequency and orientation. Previous studies have suggested abnormal visual surround suppression in patients with schizophrenia. Given that schizophrenia patients have cortical alterations including hypofunction of NMDA receptors and reduced concentration of GABA neurotransmitter, which affect lateral inhibitory connections, then they should perform better than controls in visual suppression tasks. We tested this hypothesis by measuring contrast detection thresholds using a new stimulus configuration. We tested two groups: 21 schizophrenia patients and 24 healthy subjects. Thresholds were obtained using Bayesian staircases in a 4AFC detection task where the target was a grating within a 3 deg Butterworth window that appeared in one of four possible positions at 5 deg eccentricity. We compared three conditions, a target with no surround (NS, b target on top of a surrounding grating of 20 deg diameter and 25% contrast with same spatial frequency and orthogonal orientation (OS, and c target on top of a surrounding grating with parallel (same orientation (PS. Our results show significantly lower thresholds for controls than for patients in NS and OS conditions. We also found significant lower suppression ratios PS/NS in patients. Our results support the hypothesis that inhibitory lateral connections in early visual cortex are impaired in schizophrenia patients.

Effects of the family schizophrenia psychoeducation program for individuals with recent onset schizophrenia in Viet Nam.

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Ngoc, T N; Weiss, B; Trung, L T

2016-08-01

Although psychoeducation has been found effective for improving the life functioning of patients with schizophrenia in high income countries, there have been relatively few studies of schizophrenia psychoeducation adapted for low and middle-income countries (LMIC), particularly in Southeast Asia. The present study assessed effects of the Family Schizophrenia Psychoeducation Program (FSPP) among Vietnamese patients and their families on the patients' (1) quality of life and (2) medication non-compliance, and the family and patients' (3) stigma towards schizophrenia, and (4) consumer satisfaction. This intervention study involved 59 patients, and their families, from the Da Nang Psychiatric Hospital, randomly assigned to treatment (n=30) or control (n=29) conditions. Control subjects received services as usual (antipsychotic medication); treatment group subjects received the FSPP as well. Blind-rater assessments were conducted at T1 immediately after project enrollment (prior to participating in the FSPP) and at T2 six months later. There were significant treatment effects on: (1) quality of life, (2) stigma, (3) medication compliance, and (4) consumer satisfaction, with all effects favoring the treatment group. Effect sizes were moderate to large. This psychoeducation program appears to reduce stigma, improve quality of life and medication compliance, and increase consumer satisfaction of Vietnamese patients with schizophrenia and their families, beyond the effects of antipsychotic medication. It involves relatively little cost, and it may be useful for it or equivalent programs to be implemented in other hospitals in Viet Nam, and potentially other low-income Asian countries to improve the lives of patients with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Schizophrenia-Like Phenotype Inherited by the F2 Generation of a Gestational Disruption Model of Schizophrenia.

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Perez, Stephanie M; Aguilar, David D; Neary, Jennifer L; Carless, Melanie A; Giuffrida, Andrea; Lodge, Daniel J

2016-01-01

Both environmental and genetic factors contribute to schizophrenia; however, the exact etiology of this disorder is not known. Animal models are utilized to better understand the mechanisms associated with neuropsychiatric diseases, including schizophrenia. One of these involves gestational administration of methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) to induce a developmental disruption, which in turn produces a schizophrenia-like phenotype in post-pubertal rats. The mechanisms by which MAM produces this phenotype are not clear; however, we now demonstrate that MAM induces differential DNA methylation, which may be heritable. Here we demonstrate that a subset of both second (F2) and third (F3) filial generations of MAM-treated rats displays a schizophrenia-like phenotype and hypermethylation of the transcription factor, Sp5. Specifically, ventral tegmental area of dopamine neuron activity was examined using electrophysiology as a correlate for the dopamine hyperfunction thought to underlie psychosis in patients. Interestingly, only a subset of F2 and F3 MAM rats exhibited increases in dopamine neuron population activity, indicating that this may be a unique model with a susceptibility to develop a schizophrenia-like phenotype. An increase in dopamine system function in rodent models has been previously associated with decreases in hippocampal GABAergic transmission. In line with these observations, we found a significant correlation between hippocampal parvalbumin expression and dopamine neuron activity in F2 rats. These data therefore provide evidence that offspring born from MAM-treated rats possess a susceptibility to develop aspects of a schizophrenia-like phenotype and may provide a useful tool to investigate gene-environment interactions.

Preliminary study of visual perspective in mental time travel in schizophrenia.

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Wang, Ya; Wang, Yi; Zhao, Qing; Cui, Ji-Fang; Hong, Xiao-Hong; Chan, Raymond Ck

2017-10-01

This study explored specificity and visual perspective of mental time travel in schizophrenia. Fifteen patients with schizophrenia and 18 controls were recruited. Participants were asked to recall or imagine specific events according to cue words. Results showed that schizophrenia patients generated fewer specific events than controls, the recalled events were more specific than imagined events. Schizophrenia adopted less field perspective and more observer perspective than controls. These results suggested that patients with schizophrenia were impaired in mental time travel both in specificity and visual perspective. Further studies are needed to identify the underlying mechanisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetics Home Reference: schizophrenia

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... Share: Email Facebook Twitter Home Health Conditions Schizophrenia Schizophrenia Printable PDF Open All Close All Enable Javascript to view the expand/collapse boxes. Description Schizophrenia is a brain disorder classified as a psychosis, ...

Gender differences in susceptibility to schizophrenia: Potential implication of neurosteroids.

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Huang, Yu-Chi; Hung, Chi-Fa; Lin, Pao-Yen; Lee, Yu; Wu, Chih-Ching; Hsu, Su-Ting; Chen, Chien-Chih; Chong, Mian-Yoon; Lin, Chieh-Hsin; Wang, Liang-Jen

2017-10-01

Past research has indicated gender differences in the clinical characteristics and course of schizophrenia. In this study, we investigated whether gender differences in the manifestation of schizophrenia are correlated with neurosteroids, including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), and pregnenolone. We further explored the potential relationship between the aforementioned neurosteroids and psychopathology. We recruited 65 schizophrenic patients (36 males and 29 females) and 103 healthy control subjects (47 males and 56 females) and obtained blood samples from the subjects in the morning while in a fasting state to determine the serum levels of DHEA, DHEA-S, and pregnenolone. The psychopathology and mood symptoms of patients with schizophrenia were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, respectively. Compared to the male control subjects, male patients with schizophrenia had significantly lower serum levels of DHEA and pregnenolone. In males with schizophrenia, the serum levels of DHEA and DHEA-S were associated with the age of onset and the duration of illness, while pregnenolone levels were associated with general symptoms of the PANSS. However, none of the neurosteroid levels were different between the female patients with schizophrenia and the female controls, and no significant correlation between neurosteroid levels and psychopathology evaluations was found among the schizophrenic females. Neurosteroids, including DHEA, DHEA-S, and pregnenolone, are involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia in male patients, but not in female ones. Therefore, our findings suggest that neurosteroids may be associated with gender differences in susceptibility to schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The phenotypic manifestations of rare CNVs in schizophrenia.

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Merikangas, Alison K; Segurado, Ricardo; Cormican, Paul; Heron, Elizabeth A; Anney, Richard J L; Moore, Susan; Kelleher, Eric; Hargreaves, April; Anderson-Schmidt, Heike; Gill, Michael; Gallagher, Louise; Corvin, Aiden

2014-09-01

There is compelling evidence for the role of copy number variants (CNVs) in schizophrenia susceptibility, and it has been estimated that up to 2-3% of schizophrenia cases may carry rare CNVs. Despite evidence that these events are associated with an increased risk across categorical neurodevelopmental disorders, there is limited understanding of the impact of CNVs on the core features of disorders like schizophrenia. Our objective was to evaluate associations between rare CNVs in differentially brain expressed (BE) genes and the core features and clinical correlates of schizophrenia. The sample included 386 cases of Irish ancestry with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, at least one rare CNV impacting any gene, and a core set of phenotypic measures. Statistically significant associations between deletions in differentially BE genes were found for family history of mental illness (decreased prevalence of all CNVs and deletions, unadjusted and adjusted) and for paternal age (increase in deletions only, unadjusted, among those with later ages at birth of patient). The strong effect of a lack of a family history on BE genes suggests that CNVs may comprise one pathway to schizophrenia, whereas a positive family history could index other genetic mechanisms that increase schizophrenia vulnerability. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation of the association between genome-wide CNVs and risk factors and sub-phenotypic features of schizophrenia beyond cognitive function. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Schizophrenia and Suicide

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Ozlem Cetin

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Suicide is one of the major causes of premature death among patients with schizophrenia. Follow-up studies have estimated that 4-5% of these patients die by suicide. Reducing the high rates of suicide in schizophrenia is possible with understanding of predictive risk factors. Various studies have identified risk factors for suicide in schizophrenia patients. Clinical risk factors include previous suicide attempts, comorbid depression, feelings of hopelessness, concept of insight and substance abuse. Biopsychosocial factors, such as a high intelligence quotient and high level of premorbid functioning, have also been associated with an increased risk of suicide in patients with schizophrenia. The risk of suicide is considered to be highest in the early course of illness. Antipsychotic drugs, in particular clozapine and antidepressants may be helpful in reducing the risk of suicide in schizophrenia.

Listening to Sentences in Noise: Revealing Binaural Hearing Challenges in Patients with Schizophrenia.

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Abdul Wahab, Noor Alaudin; Zakaria, Mohd Normani; Abdul Rahman, Abdul Hamid; Sidek, Dinsuhaimi; Wahab, Suzaily

2017-11-01

The present, case-control, study investigates binaural hearing performance in schizophrenia patients towards sentences presented in quiet and noise. Participants were twenty-one healthy controls and sixteen schizophrenia patients with normal peripheral auditory functions. The binaural hearing was examined in four listening conditions by using the Malay version of hearing in noise test. The syntactically and semantically correct sentences were presented via headphones to the randomly selected subjects. In each condition, the adaptively obtained reception thresholds for speech (RTS) were used to determine RTS noise composite and spatial release from masking. Schizophrenia patients demonstrated significantly higher mean RTS value relative to healthy controls (p=0.018). The large effect size found in three listening conditions, i.e., in quiet (d=1.07), noise right (d=0.88) and noise composite (d=0.90) indicates statistically significant difference between the groups. However, noise front and noise left conditions show medium (d=0.61) and small (d=0.50) effect size respectively. No statistical difference between groups was noted in regards to spatial release from masking on right (p=0.305) and left (p=0.970) ear. The present findings suggest an abnormal unilateral auditory processing in central auditory pathway in schizophrenia patients. Future studies to explore the role of binaural and spatial auditory processing were recommended.

Problem solving skills for schizophrenia.

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Xia, J; Li, Chunbo

2007-04-18

The severe and long-lasting symptoms of schizophrenia are often the cause of severe disability. Environmental stress such as life events and the practical problems people face in their daily can worsen the symptoms of schizophrenia. Deficits in problem solving skills in people with schizophrenia affect their independent and interpersonal functioning and impair their quality of life. As a result, therapies such as problem solving therapy have been developed to improve problem solving skills for people with schizophrenia. To review the effectiveness of problem solving therapy compared with other comparable therapies or routine care for those with schizophrenia. We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register (September 2006), which is based on regular searches of BIOSIS, CENTRAL, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. We inspected references of all identified studies for further trials. We included all clinical randomised trials comparing problem solving therapy with other comparable therapies or routine care. We extracted data independently. For homogenous dichotomous data we calculated random effects, relative risk (RR), 95% confidence intervals (CI) and, where appropriate, numbers needed to treat (NNT) on an intention-to-treat basis. For continuous data, we calculated weighted mean differences (WMD) using a random effects statistical model. We included only three small trials (n=52) that evaluated problem solving versus routine care, coping skills training or non-specific interaction. Inadequate reporting of data rendered many outcomes unusable. We were unable to undertake meta-analysis. Overall results were limited and inconclusive with no significant differences between treatment groups for hospital admission, mental state, behaviour, social skills or leaving the study early. No data were presented for global state, quality of life or satisfaction. We found insufficient evidence to confirm or refute the benefits of problem solving therapy as an additional

Decreased value-sensitivity in schizophrenia.

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Martinelli, Cristina; Rigoli, Francesco; Dolan, Ray J; Shergill, Sukhwinder S

2018-01-01

Pathophysiology in schizophrenia has been linked to aberrant incentive salience, namely the dysfunctional processing of value linked to abnormal dopaminergic activity. In line with this, recent studies showed impaired learning of value in schizophrenia. However, how value is used to guide behaviour independently from learning, as in risky choice, has rarely been examined in this disorder. We studied value-guided choice under risk in patients with schizophrenia and in controls using a task requiring a choice between a certain monetary reward, varying trial-by-trial, and a gamble offering an equal probability of getting double this certain amount or nothing. We observed that patients compared to controls exhibited reduced sensitivity to values, implying that their choices failed to flexibly adapt to the specific values on offer. Moreover, the degree of this value sensitivity inversely correlated with aberrant salience experience, suggesting that the inability to tune choice to value may be a key element of aberrant salience in the illness. Our results help clarify the cognitive mechanisms underlying improper attribution of value in schizophrenia and may thus inform cognitive interventions aimed at reinstating value sensitivity in patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind deficits partly mediate impaired social decision-making in schizophrenia.

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Yang, Liuqing; Li, Peifu; Mao, Haiying; Wang, Huiling; Shu, Chang; Bliksted, Vibeke; Zhou, Yuan

2017-05-05

Using paradigms from game theory, researchers have reported abnormal decision-making in social context in patients with schizophrenia. However, less is known about the underpinnings of the impairment. This study aimed to test whether theory of mind (ToM) deficits and/or neurocognitive dysfunctions mediate impaired social decision-making in patients with schizophrenia. We compared thirty-five patients with schizophrenia to thirty-eight matched healthy controls with regard to social decision-making using the mini Ultimatum Game (mini UG), a paradigm from game theory. Additionally, we assessed ToM using the Theory of Mind Picture Stories Task, a mental state attribution task, and assessed neurocognition using the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. Mediation analyses were performed on the data. In contrast to the behavioral pattern of healthy controls in the mini UG, the patients with schizophrenia significantly accepted more disadvantageous offers and rejected more advantageous offers, and showed reduced sensitivity to the fairness-related context changes in the mini UG. Impaired ToM and neurocognition were also found in the patients. Mediation analyses indicated that ToM but not neurocognition partially mediated the group differences on the disadvantageous and advantageous offers in the mini UG. Patients with schizophrenia exhibited impaired social decision-making. This impairment can be partly explained by their ToM deficits rather than neurocognitive deficits. However, the exact nature of the ToM deficits that mediate impaired social decision-making needs to be identified in future.

The Effect of Cognitive Remediation Therapy on Social Skills in Institutionalized Elderly Patients with Schizophrenia.

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Mohammadi, Fatemeh; Momtaz, Yadollah Abolfathi; Motallebi, Seyedeh Ameneh; Boosepasi, Shahnaz

2017-01-01

There are limited scientific investigations on cognitive remediation in elderly patients with schizophrenia. The present study was aimed to examine the efficacy of cognitive remediation therapy on social skills in institutionalized elderly patients with schizophrenia. The study employed a randomized clinical trial. A total of 60 institutionalized elderly patients with schizophrenia from Razi Psychiatric Hospital, Tehran were selected and randomly allocated into two equal groups (control and intervention). The intervention group attended to cognitive remediation therapy for 8 weeks. The Evaluation of Living Skills Scale for psychiatric patients was used for data collection. The Chi Square, independent and paired t-tests using SPSS, version 22, were employed to analyze the data. The mean age of 60 elderly patients participated in the study was 65.25 ± 4.19 years. No significant differences were found between two groups at baseline. However, independent t-tests showed significant differences between the intervention and the control group in social skills after implementation of intervention. Additionally, the results of paired t-tests revealed significant improvements in intervention group on communication skills (t=5.50, psocial skills of elderly patients with schizophrenia. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Elucidating semantic disorganisation from a word comprehension task: do patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder show differential processing of nouns, verbs and adjectives?

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Rossell, Susan L; Batty, Rachel A

2008-07-01

Memory deficits have been reported in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, the precise impact of semantic memory deficits on word comprehension, particularly across grammatical categories, has not been adequately investigated in these disorders. Furthermore, previous studies examining semantic memory have predominantly been designed so that most healthy controls perform at ceiling, questioning the validity of observed differences between patient and control groups. A new word definition task examined word comprehension across grammatical categories, i.e. nouns, verbs and adjectives, and was designed to overcome the ceiling effect. It was administered to 32 schizophrenia patients, 28 bipolar disorder patients and 32 matched healthy controls. Schizophrenia patients had a global impairment on the task but bipolar patients were only impaired on a recognition memory component. Word comprehension, however, across grammatical categories was comparable across groups.

Evidence for anomalous network connectivity during working memory encoding in schizophrenia: an ICA based analysis.

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Shashwath A Meda

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Numerous neuroimaging studies report abnormal regional brain activity during working memory performance in schizophrenia, but few have examined brain network integration as determined by "functional connectivity" analyses.We used independent component analysis (ICA to identify and characterize dysfunctional spatiotemporal networks in schizophrenia engaged during the different stages (encoding and recognition of a Sternberg working memory fMRI paradigm. 37 chronic schizophrenia and 54 healthy age/gender-matched participants performed a modified Sternberg Item Recognition fMRI task. Time series images preprocessed with SPM2 were analyzed using ICA. Schizophrenia patients showed relatively less engagement of several distinct "normal" encoding-related working memory networks compared to controls. These encoding networks comprised 1 left posterior parietal-left dorsal/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate, basal ganglia, 2 right posterior parietal, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and 3 default mode network. In addition, the left fronto-parietal network demonstrated a load-dependent functional response during encoding. Network engagement that differed between groups during recognition comprised the posterior cingulate, cuneus and hippocampus/parahippocampus. As expected, working memory task accuracy differed between groups (p<0.0001 and was associated with degree of network engagement. Functional connectivity within all three encoding-associated functional networks correlated significantly with task accuracy, which further underscores the relevance of abnormal network integration to well-described schizophrenia working memory impairment. No network was significantly associated with task accuracy during the recognition phase.This study extends the results of numerous previous schizophrenia studies that identified isolated dysfunctional brain regions by providing evidence of disrupted schizophrenia functional connectivity using ICA within

Beliefs about schizophrenia and its treatment in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

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Swami, Viren; Furnham, Adrian; Kannan, Kumaraswami; Sinniah, Dhachayani

2008-03-01

Lay beliefs about schizophrenia have been extensively studied in cross-cultural settings, but research on ethnic differences are currently lacking. This study examined beliefs about the manifestations, causes and cures of schizophrenia in a multi-ethnic sample from Malaysia. In this study, 561 Malay, Chinese and Kadazan-Dusun participants rated 72 statements about schizophrenia on a 7-point scale. Results showed that Malaysians tended to favour social-environmental explanations for schizophrenia. There were also ethnic and sex differences in these results. Specifically, Malay participants more strongly agreed that schizophrenia has a social cause, that treatment should affect changes at a societal level, that schizophrenic behaviour is sinful and that mental hospitals do not provide effective treatments. Lay beliefs about schizophrenia may serve different functions for different ethno-cultural groups, which have an influence on help-seeking behaviour.

A Danish Twin Study of Schizophrenia Liability: Investigation from Interviewed Twins for Genetic Links to Affective Psychoses and for Cross-Cohort Comparisons.

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Kläning, Ulla; Trumbetta, Susan L; Gottesman, Irving I; Skytthe, Axel; Kyvik, Kirsten O; Bertelsen, Aksel

2016-03-01

We studied schizophrenia liability in a Danish population-based sample of 44 twin pairs (13 MZ, 31 DZ, SS plus OS) in order to replicate previous twin study findings using contemporary diagnostic criteria, to examine genetic liability shared between schizophrenia and other disorders, and to explore whether variance in schizophrenia liability attributable to environmental factors may have decreased with successive cohorts exposed to improvements in public health. ICD-10 diagnoses were determined by clinical interview. Although the best-fitting, most parsimonious biometric model of schizophrenia liability specified variance attributable to additive genetic and non-shared environmental factors, this model did not differ significantly from a model that also included non-additive genetic factors, consistent with recent interview-based twin studies. Schizophrenia showed strong genetic links to other psychotic disorders but much less so for the broader category of psychiatric disorders in general. We also observed a marginally significant decline in schizophrenia variance attributable to environmental factors over successive Western European cohorts, consistent perhaps with improvements in diagnosis and in prenatal and perinatal care and with a secular decline in the prevalence of schizophrenia in that region.

Differential effects of common variants in SCN2A on general cognitive ability, brain physiology, and messenger RNA expression in schizophrenia cases and control individuals.

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Dickinson, Dwight; Straub, Richard E; Trampush, Joey W; Gao, Yuan; Feng, Ningping; Xie, Bin; Shin, Joo Heon; Lim, Hun Ki; Ursini, Gianluca; Bigos, Kristin L; Kolachana, Bhaskar; Hashimoto, Ryota; Takeda, Masatoshi; Baum, Graham L; Rujescu, Dan; Callicott, Joseph H; Hyde, Thomas M; Berman, Karen F; Kleinman, Joel E; Weinberger, Daniel R

2014-06-01

One approach to understanding the genetic complexity of schizophrenia is to study associated behavioral and biological phenotypes that may be more directly linked to genetic variation. To identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with general cognitive ability (g) in people with schizophrenia and control individuals. Genomewide association study, followed by analyses in unaffected siblings and independent schizophrenia samples, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of brain physiology in vivo, and RNA sequencing in postmortem brain samples. The discovery cohort and unaffected siblings were participants in the National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Brain Disorders Branch schizophrenia genetics studies. Additional schizophrenia cohorts were from psychiatric treatment settings in the United States, Japan, and Germany. The discovery cohort comprised 339 with schizophrenia and 363 community control participants. Follow-up analyses studied 147 unaffected siblings of the schizophrenia cases and independent schizophrenia samples including a total of an additional 668 participants. Imaging analyses included 87 schizophrenia cases and 397 control individuals. Brain tissue samples were available for 64 cases and 61 control individuals. We studied genomewide association with g, by group, in the discovery cohort. We used selected genotypes to test specific associations in unaffected siblings and independent schizophrenia samples. Imaging analyses focused on activation in the prefrontal cortex during working memory. Brain tissue studies yielded messenger RNA expression levels for RefSeq transcripts. The schizophrenia discovery cohort showed genomewide-significant association of g with polymorphisms in sodium channel gene SCN2A, accounting for 10.4% of g variance (rs10174400, P = 9.27 × 10(-10)). Control individuals showed a trend for g/genotype association with reversed allelic directionality. The genotype-by-group interaction was also genomewide

Affect recognition and the quality of mother-infant interaction: understanding parenting difficulties in mothers with schizophrenia.

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Healy, Sarah J; Lewin, Jona; Butler, Stephen; Vaillancourt, Kyla; Seth-Smith, Fiona

2016-02-01

This study investigated the quality of mother-infant interaction and maternal ability to recognise adult affect in three study groups consisting of mothers with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, mothers with depression and healthy controls. Sixty-four mothers were recruited from a Mother and Baby Unit and local children's centres. A 5-min mother-infant interaction was coded on a number of caregiving variables. Affect recognition and discrimination abilities were tested via a series of computerised tasks. Group differences were found both in measures of affect recognition and in the mother-infant interaction. Mothers with schizophrenia showed consistent impairments across most of the parenting measures and all measures of affect recognition and discrimination. Mothers with depression fell between the mothers with schizophrenia and healthy controls on most measures. However, depressed women's parenting was not significantly poorer than controls on any of the measures, and only showed trends for differences with mothers with schizophrenia on a few measures. Regression analyses found impairments in affect recognition and a diagnosis of schizophrenia to predict the occurrence of odd or unusual speech in the mother-infant interaction. Results add to the growing body of knowledge on the mother-infant interaction in mothers with schizophrenia and mothers with depression compared to healthy controls, suggesting a need for parenting interventions aimed at mothers with these conditions. While affect recognition impairments were not found to fully explain differences in parenting among women with schizophrenia, further research is needed to understand the psychopathology of parenting disturbances within this clinical group.

Identifying Gene-Environment Interactions in Schizophrenia

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van Os, Jim; Rutten, Bart P; Myin-Germeys, Inez

2014-01-01

Recent years have seen considerable progress in epidemiological and molecular genetic research into environmental and genetic factors in schizophrenia, but methodological uncertainties remain with regard to validating environmental exposures, and the population risk conferred by individual...... of G × E in schizophrenia. While such investigations are now well underway, new challenges emerge for G × E research from late-breaking evidence that genetic variation and environmental exposures are, to a significant degree, shared across a range of psychiatric disorders, with potential overlap...

[Emotional valence of words in schizophrenia].

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Jalenques, I; Enjolras, J; Izaute, M

2013-06-01

reflected the more neutral emotional valences collected. The results suggested that the emotional valences for the negative words were significantly greater in the patients than is observed in the collected norms (Ppositive words was significantly lower in the patients than in the collected norms (Pwords differed significantly in terms of evaluated emotional valence between patients and young adults. Despite their overall emotional impairments, the patients with schizophrenia had a very similar perception of word valence as controls. This result suggests that the emotional perception of most emotional words is preserved. This research provides data important to consider during rehabilitation. Moreover, this study will make it possible to select stimuli for use in future studies of emotion in patients. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Self-stigma and schizophrenia: a cross-sectional study

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Vrbova K

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Kristyna Vrbova,1 Jan Prasko,1 Michaela Holubova,1,2 Dana Kamaradova,1 Marie Ociskova,1 Marketa Marackova,1 Klara Latalova,1 Ales Grambal,1 Milos Slepecky,3 Marta Zatkova3 1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University in Olomouc, University Hospital Olomouc, Olomouc, 2Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Liberec, Liberec, Czech Republic; 3Department of Psychology Sciences, Faculty of Social Science and Health Care, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra, Slovak Republic Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of self-stigma in schizophrenia and its association with clinical and demographic factors. Patients and methods: A total of 197 outpatients (54.3% females diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder according to International Classification of Diseases – tenth edition participated in the study. The mean age of the patients was 40.10±11.49 years. All individuals completed the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI scale and a demographic questionnaire. The disorder severity was assessed by both a psychiatrist (the objective version of Clinical Global Impression – severity scale [objCGI-S] and the patients (the subjective version of Clinical Global Impression – severity scale [subjCGI-S]. Treatment with antipsychotics stabilized the patients. Results: The overall level of self-stigma measured by the total score of the ISMI was 63.32±13.59. The total score of the ISMI positively correlated with the severity of the disorder measured by the objCGI-S and subjCGI-S. In addition, self-stigma positively correlated with the treatment duration and the number of psychiatric hospitalizations. The backward stepwise regression was applied to identify the most significant factors connected to self-stigma. The regression analysis identified the following regressors as the most relevant to self-stigma: the number of

Imaging dopamine transmission in schizophrenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laruelle, M.

1998-01-01

Over the last ten years, several positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon computerized tomography (SPECT) studies of the dopamine (DA) system in patients with schizophrenia were performed to test the hypothesis that DA hyperactivity is associated with this illness. In this paper are reviewed the results of fifteen brain imaging studies comparing indices of DA function in drug naive or drug free patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls: thirteen studies included measurements of Da D 2 receptor density, two studies compared amphetamine-induced DA release, and two studies measured DOPA decarboxylase activity, an enzyme involved in DA synthesis. It was conducted a meta-analysis of the studies measuring D 2 receptor density parameters, under the assumption that all tracers labeled the same population of D 2 receptors. This analysis revealed that, compared to healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia present a significant but mild elevation of D 2 receptor density parameters and a significant larger variability of these indices. It was found no statistical evidence that studies performed with radiolabeled butyrophenones detected a larger increase in D 2 receptor density parameters than studies performed with other radioligands, such as benzamides. Studies of presynaptic activity revealed an increase in DA transmission response to amphetamine challenge, and an increase in DOPA decarboxylase activity. Together, these data are compatible with both pre- and post-synaptic alterations of DA transmission in schizophrenia. Future studies should aim at a better characterization of these alterations, and at defining their role in the pathophysiology of the illness

Working memory impairment in probands with schizoaffective disorder and first degree relatives of schizophrenia probands extend beyond deficits predicted by generalized neuropsychological impairment.

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Kristian Hill, S; Buchholz, Alison; Amsbaugh, Hayley; Reilly, James L; Rubin, Leah H; Gold, James M; Keefe, Richard S E; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Keshavan, Matcheri S; Tamminga, Carol A; Sweeney, John A

2015-08-01

Working memory impairment is well established in psychotic disorders. However, the relative magnitude, diagnostic specificity, familiality pattern, and degree of independence from generalized cognitive deficits across psychotic disorders remain unclear. Participants from the Bipolar and Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) study included probands with schizophrenia (N=289), psychotic bipolar disorder (N=227), schizoaffective disorder (N=165), their first-degree relatives (N=315, N=259, N=193, respectively), and healthy controls (N=289). All were administered the WMS-III Spatial Span working memory test and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) battery. All proband groups displayed significant deficits for both forward and backward span compared to controls. However, after covarying for generalized cognitive impairments (BACS composite), all proband groups showed a 74% or greater effect size reduction with only schizoaffective probands showing residual backward span deficits compared to controls. Significant familiality was seen in schizophrenia and bipolar pedigrees. In relatives, both forward and backward span deficits were again attenuated after covarying BACS scores and residual backward span deficits were seen in relatives of schizophrenia patients. Overall, both probands and relatives showed a similar pattern of robust working memory deficits that were largely attenuated when controlling for generalized cognitive deficits. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mismatch Negativity in Patients with Schizophrenia

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Aleš Urban

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Cognitive deficit is considered to be a part of core dysfuncions in schizophrenia. It is associated with social impairment and influences the long-term course of the disorder. In addition to neuropsychological methods, event-related potentials can be used to study cognitive functions. In patients with schizophrenia an association was found between amplitude changes in slow negative component of evoked responses and infrequent deviations in a series of uniform stimuli. This amplitude change is known as „mismatch negativity“ (MMN. It is supposed to be independent of the focused attention and effort that otherwise interfere with neuropsychological testing. Recently accumulated knowledge on MMN as a possible preattentive measure of cognition supports its potential significance for neuropsychological assessment. It may be helpful in more precise diagnosis and functional evaluation of schizophrenia.

Association between a disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) single nucleotide polymorphism and schizophrenia in a combined Scandinavian case-control sample

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Saetre, Peter; Agartz, Ingrid; De Franciscis, Alessandra

2008-01-01

Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1), located on chromosome 1q42.1, is linked to rare familial schizophrenia in a large Scottish family. The chromosomal translocation that segregates with the disease results in a truncated protein that impairs neurite outgrowth and proper development...... of the cerebral cortex, suggesting that lost DISC1 function may underlie neurodevelopmental dysfunction in schizophrenia. DISC1 has been associated with schizophrenia in multiple populations, but there is little evidence of convergence across populations. In the present case-control study three Scandinavian...... after correction for multiple testing. However, the minor allele of rs3737597 (frequency 2%) in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR), previously identified as a risk allele in Finnish families, was significantly and consistently associated with the disorder across the three samples, (p-value corrected...

Theory of Mind and social functioning in schizophrenia: correlation with figurative language abnormalities, clinical symptoms and general intelligence.

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Piovan, Cristiano; Gava, Laura; Campeol, Mara

2016-01-01

Over past few decades, studies displayed Theory of Mind (ToM) as a system, including cognitive and affective features, rather than an unitary process. Within domains defining social cognition, ToM stands for the best predictor of poor social functioning in schizophrenia. The current study aimed to explore competence in ToM tasks, in metaphorical and idiomatic language identification tasks and in a conversational rules observance test, as well as relationship with social functioning, in a group of outpatients suffering from schizophrenia. METHODS.: 30 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 24 healthy subjects have been recruited. Both groups underwent TIB as premorbid IQ evaluation, PANSS, Theory of Mind Picture Sequencing Task, a metaphors and idiomatic expressions comprehension test and a conversational test. Social functioning was assessed with PSP. Results.Mean values of premorbid IQ showed no significant difference between patients and control group. In ToM and pragmatic competence tasks, differences between groups resulted in high significance, due to patients' lower performance. A correlation between metaphors and idiomatic expressions comprehension and second order false beliefs was detected. PSP showed a correlation with PANSS and cognitive-ToM, whereas leaving aside affective-ToM. Results showed how people affected with schizophrenia, in stable clinical condition, do have clear impairments in ToM and figurative language comprehension assignments. In our theoretical framework, correlation arisen between cognitive-ToM, pragmatic deficits, clinical status and social functioning level suggests usefulness of rehabilitative interventions to recover metacognitive functions and pragmatic abilities, in order to reduce social disability in schizophrenia.

GABA predicts inhibition of frequency-specific oscillations in schizophrenia.

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Rowland, Laura M; Edden, Richard A E; Kontson, Kimberly; Zhu, He; Barker, Peter B; Hong, L Elliot

2013-01-01

This study is the first to show a relationship between in-vivo brain gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) levels and auditory inhibitory electrophysiological measures in schizophrenia. Results revealed a strong association between GABA levels and gating of the theta-alpha and beta activities in schizophrenia.

Cognitive function in schizophrenia and its association with socio-demographics factors

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Bharti T Talreja

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating psychiatric illness consisting primarily of positive and negative symptoms. However, cognitive deficits in various domains have been consistently replicated in patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and to correlate the same with sociodemographic factors. Materials and Methods: Cognitive function in 100 patients with schizophrenia as per Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM IV-TR criteria attending the psychiatry outpatient department (OPD of Department of Psychiatry, SBKS MIRC was assessed using Addenbrooke′s Cognitive Examination Revised (ACER rating scale and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE and sociodemographic details was obtained using semistructured proforma. Data was analyzed by Chi-square and t-test. Results: About 70% patients of schizophrenia were found to have cognitive dysfunction for attention, concentration, memory, language, and executive function. Positive symptoms were associated with memory (P2 years and belonging to urban habitat showed more cognitive dysfunction. Male patients were associated with impairment in two domains of ACER: Language and memory. Conclusion: The study findings depict that persistent cognitive deficits are seen in patients with schizophrenia. Its correlation with sociodemographic factors showed that patients with >2 years of illness and belonging to urban habitat showed more cognitive dysfunction. Male patients were associated with language and memory impairment. Our study recommends that the neurocognitive impairment should be included in the DSM-V diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia.

Gene-set analysis based on the pharmacological profiles of drugs to identify repurposing opportunities in schizophrenia.

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de Jong, Simone; Vidler, Lewis R; Mokrab, Younes; Collier, David A; Breen, Gerome

2016-08-01

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of novel genetic associations for complex genetic disorders, leading to the identification of potential pharmacological targets for novel drug development. In schizophrenia, 108 conservatively defined loci that meet genome-wide significance have been identified and hundreds of additional sub-threshold associations harbour information on the genetic aetiology of the disorder. In the present study, we used gene-set analysis based on the known binding targets of chemical compounds to identify the 'drug pathways' most strongly associated with schizophrenia-associated genes, with the aim of identifying potential drug repositioning opportunities and clues for novel treatment paradigms, especially in multi-target drug development. We compiled 9389 gene sets (2496 with unique gene content) and interrogated gene-based p-values from the PGC2-SCZ analysis. Although no single drug exceeded experiment wide significance (corrected pneratinib. This is a proof of principle analysis showing the potential utility of GWAS data of schizophrenia for the direct identification of candidate drugs and molecules that show polypharmacy. © The Author(s) 2016.

Smoking in schizophrenia -- all is not biological.

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Srinivasan, T N; Thara, R

2002-07-01

High rate of tobacco smoking reported in schizophrenia has been related to the effect of nicotine on the neurobiology of schizophrenia. Nicotine is said to alleviate psychotic symptoms in some patients. The relationship between smoking and psychiatric status may not be simply a biological one as several sociocultural and economic factors could influence smoking behaviour. In this study in India on 286 urban male outpatients with schizophrenia, only 38% were found to be current smokers. This was significantly more than in other psychiatric patients studied (major affective disorders and non-psychotic disorders) but not medically ill controls and not higher than the rates for the general male population in India. Smokeless use of tobacco was infrequent in the study population. More than half of the patients did not experience any positive effects due to smoking. Lack of economic independence and restrictions imposed by the family appeared to be crucial factors that controlled the prevalence of smoking among schizophrenia patients. As smoking is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality, there is a serious need to review the neurobiological issue of smoking in schizophrenia considering the influence culture and social practices could have upon the behaviour.

Temporal processing deficit leads to impaired multisensory binding in schizophrenia.

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Zvyagintsev, Mikhail; Parisi, Carmen; Mathiak, Klaus

2017-09-01

Schizophrenia has been characterised by neurodevelopmental dysconnectivity resulting in cognitive and perceptual dysmetria. Hence patients with schizophrenia may be impaired to detect the temporal relationship between stimuli in different sensory modalities. However, only a few studies described deficit in perception of temporally asynchronous multisensory stimuli in schizophrenia. We examined the perceptual bias and the processing time of synchronous and delayed sounds in the streaming-bouncing illusion in 16 patients with schizophrenia and a matched control group of 18 participants. Equal for patients and controls, the synchronous sound biased the percept of two moving squares towards bouncing as opposed to the more frequent streaming percept in the condition without sound. In healthy controls, a delay of the sound presentation significantly reduced the bias and led to prolonged processing time whereas patients with schizophrenia did not differentiate between this condition and the condition with synchronous sound. Schizophrenia leads to a prolonged window of simultaneity for audiovisual stimuli. Therefore, temporal processing deficit in schizophrenia can lead to hyperintegration of temporally unmatched multisensory stimuli.

Schizophrenia: What's Arc Got to Do with It?

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Managò, Francesca; Papaleo, Francesco

2017-01-01

Human studies of schizophrenia are now reporting a previously unidentified genetic convergence on postsynaptic signaling complexes such as the activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated (Arc) gene. However, because this evidence is still very recent, the neurobiological implication of Arc in schizophrenia is still scattered and unrecognized. Here, we first review current and developing findings connecting Arc in schizophrenia. We then highlight recent and previous findings from preclinical mouse models that elucidate how Arc genetic modifications might recapitulate schizophrenia-relevant behavioral phenotypes following the novel Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. Building on this, we finally compare and evaluate several lines of evidence demonstrating that Arc genetics can alter both glutamatergic and dopaminergic systems in a very selective way, again consistent with molecular alterations characteristic of schizophrenia. Despite being only initial, accumulating and compelling data are showing that Arc might be one of the primary biological players in schizophrenia. Synaptic plasticity alterations in the genetic architecture of psychiatric disorders might be a rule, not an exception. Thus, we anticipate that additional evidence will soon emerge to clarify the Arc-dependent mechanisms involved in the psychiatric-related dysfunctional behavior.

Patterns of Dysmorphic Features in Schizophrenia

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Scutt, L.E.; Chow, E.W.C.; Weksberg, R.; Honer, W.G.; Bassett, Anne S.

2011-01-01

Congenital dysmorphic features are prevalent in schizophrenia and may reflect underlying neurodevelopmental abnormalities. A cluster analysis approach delineating patterns of dysmorphic features has been used in genetics to classify individuals into more etiologically homogeneous subgroups. In the present study, this approach was applied to schizophrenia, using a sample with a suspected genetic syndrome as a testable model. Subjects (n = 159) with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were ascertained from chronic patient populations (random, n=123) or referred with possible 22q11 deletion syndrome (referred, n = 36). All subjects were evaluated for presence or absence of 70 reliably assessed dysmorphic features, which were used in a three-step cluster analysis. The analysis produced four major clusters with different patterns of dysmorphic features. Significant between-cluster differences were found for rates of 37 dysmorphic features (P dysmorphic features (P = 0.0001), and validating features not used in the cluster analysis: mild mental retardation (P = 0.001) and congenital heart defects (P = 0.002). Two clusters (1 and 4) appeared to represent more developmental subgroups of schizophrenia with elevated rates of dysmorphic features and validating features. Cluster 1 (n = 27) comprised mostly referred subjects. Cluster 4 (n= 18) had a different pattern of dysmorphic features; one subject had a mosaic Turner syndrome variant. Two other clusters had lower rates and patterns of features consistent with those found in previous studies of schizophrenia. Delineating patterns of dysmorphic features may help identify subgroups that could represent neurodevelopmental forms of schizophrenia with more homogeneous origins. PMID:11803519

Increased levels of IL-6 in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with chronic schizophrenia — significance for activation of the kynurenine pathway

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Schwieler, Lilly; Larsson, Markus K.; Skogh, Elisabeth; Kegel, Magdalena E.; Orhan, Funda; Abdelmoaty, Sally; Finn, Anja; Bhat, Maria; Samuelsson, Martin; Lundberg, Kristina; Dahl, Marja-Liisa; Sellgren, Carl; Schuppe-Koistinen, Ina; Svensson, Camilla I.; Erhardt, Sophie; Engberg, Göran

2015-01-01

Background Accumulating evidence indicates that schizophrenia is associated with brain immune activation. While a number of reports suggest increased cytokine levels in patients with schizophrenia, many of these studies have been limited by their focus on peripheral cytokines or confounded by various antipsychotic treatments. Here, well-characterized patients with schizophrenia, all receiving olanzapine treatment, and healthy volunteers were analyzed with regard to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of cytokines. We correlated the CSF cytokine levels to previously analyzed metabolites of the kynurenine (KYN) pathway. Methods We analyzed the CSF from patients and controls using electrochemiluminescence detection with regard to cytokines. Cell culture media from human cortical astrocytes were analyzed for KYN and kynurenic acid (KYNA) using high-pressure liquid chromatography or liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Results We included 23 patients and 37 controls in our study. Patients with schizophrenia had increased CSF levels of interleukin (IL)-6 compared with healthy volunteers. In patients, we also observed a positive correlation between IL-6 and the tryptophan:KYNA ratio, indicating that IL-6 activates the KYN pathway. In line with this, application of IL-6 to cultured human astrocytes increased cell medium concentration of KYNA. Limitations The CSF samples had been frozen and thawed twice before analysis of cytokines. Median age differed between patients and controls. When appropriate, all present analyses were adjusted for age. Conclusion We have shown that IL-6, KYN and KYNA are elevated in patients with chronic schizophrenia, strengthening the idea of brain immune activation in patients with this disease. Our concurrent cell culture and clinical findings suggest that IL-6 induces the KYN pathway, leading to increased production of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist KYNA in patients with schizophrenia. PMID:25455350

Irradiation in adulthood as a new model of schizophrenia.

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Yasuhide Iwata

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies suggest that radiation exposure may be a potential risk factor for schizophrenia in adult humans. Here, we investigated whether adult irradiation in rats caused behavioral abnormalities relevant to schizophrenia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A total dose of 15-Gy irradiation in six fractionations during 3 weeks was exposed to the forebrain including the subventricular zone (SVZ and subgranular zone (SGZ with male rats in the prone position. Behavioral, immunohistochemical, and neurochemical studies were performed three months after fractionated ionizing irradiation. Three months after fractionated ionizing irradiation, the total numbers of BrdU-positive cells in both the SVZ and SGZ zones of irradiated rats were significantly lower than those of control (sham-irradiated rats. Hyperactivity after administration of the dopaminergic agonist methamphetamine, but not the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA receptor antagonist dizocilpine, was significantly enhanced in the irradiated rats although spontaneous locomotion in the irradiated rats was significantly lower than that of controls. Behavioral abnormalities including auditory sensory gating deficits, social interaction deficits, and working memory deficits were observed in the irradiated rats. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The present study suggests that irradiation in adulthood caused behavioral abnormalities relevant to schizophrenia, and that reduction of adult neurogenesis by irradiation may be associated with schizophrenia-like behaviors in rats.

Prevalences of autoimmune diseases in schizophrenia, bipolar I and II disorder, and controls.

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Cremaschi, Laura; Kardell, Mathias; Johansson, Viktoria; Isgren, Anniella; Sellgren, Carl M; Altamura, A Carlo; Hultman, Christina M; Landén, Mikael

2017-12-01

Previous studies on the relationship between autoimmune diseases, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder are mainly based on hospital discharge registers with insufficient coverage of outpatient data. Furthermore, data is scant on the prevalence of autoimmune diseases in bipolar subgroups. Here we estimate the self-reported prevalences of autoimmune diseases in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder type I and II, and controls. Lifetime prevalence of autoimmune diseases was assessed through a structured interview in a sample of 9076 patients (schizophrenia N = 5278, bipolar disorder type I N = 1952, type II N = 1846) and 6485 controls. Comparative analyses were performed using logistic regressions. The prevalence of diabetes type 1 did not differ between groups. Hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism regardless of lithium effects, rheumatoid arthritis, and polymyalgia rheumatica were most common in bipolar disorder. Systemic lupus erythematosus was less common in bipolar disorder than in the other groups. The rate of autoimmune diseases did not differ significantly between bipolar subgroups. We conclude that prevalences of autoimmune diseases show clear differences between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but not between the bipolar subgroups. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Altered cortical processing of motor inhibition in schizophrenia.

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Lindberg, Påvel G; Térémetz, Maxime; Charron, Sylvain; Kebir, Oussama; Saby, Agathe; Bendjemaa, Narjes; Lion, Stéphanie; Crépon, Benoît; Gaillard, Raphaël; Oppenheim, Catherine; Krebs, Marie-Odile; Amado, Isabelle

2016-12-01

Inhibition is considered a key mechanism in schizophrenia. Short-latency intracortical inhibition (SICI) in the motor cortex is reduced in schizophrenia and is considered to reflect locally deficient γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic modulation. However, it remains unclear how SICI is modulated during motor inhibition and how it relates to neural processing in other cortical areas. Here we studied motor inhibition Stop signal task (SST) in stabilized patients with schizophrenia (N = 28), healthy siblings (N = 21) and healthy controls (n = 31) matched in general cognitive status and educational level. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were used to investigate neural correlates of motor inhibition. SST performance was similar in patients and controls. SICI was modulated by the task as expected in healthy controls and siblings but was reduced in patients with schizophrenia during inhibition despite equivalent motor inhibition performance. fMRI showed greater prefrontal and premotor activation during motor inhibition in schizophrenia. Task-related modulation of SICI was higher in subjects who showed less inhibition-related activity in pre-supplementary motor area (SMA) and cingulate motor area. An exploratory genetic analysis of selected markers of inhibition (GABRB2, GAD1, GRM1, and GRM3) did not explain task-related differences in SICI or cortical activation. In conclusion, this multimodal study provides direct evidence of a task-related deficiency in SICI modulation in schizophrenia likely reflecting deficient GABA-A related processing in motor cortex. Compensatory activation of premotor areas may explain similar motor inhibition in patients despite local deficits in intracortical processing. Task-related modulation of SICI may serve as a useful non-invasive GABAergic marker in development of therapeutic strategies in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

First rank symptoms for schizophrenia.

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Soares-Weiser, Karla; Maayan, Nicola; Bergman, Hanna; Davenport, Clare; Kirkham, Amanda J; Grabowski, Sarah; Adams, Clive E

2015-01-25

(5515 were included in the analysis). Studies were conducted from 1974 to 2011, with 80% of the studies conducted in the 1970's, 1980's or 1990's. Most studies did not report study methods sufficiently and many had high applicability concerns. In 20 studies, FRS differentiated schizophrenia from all other diagnoses with a sensitivity of 57% (50.4% to 63.3%), and a specificity of 81.4% (74% to 87.1%) In seven studies, FRS differentiated schizophrenia from non-psychotic mental health disorders with a sensitivity of 61.8% (51.7% to 71%) and a specificity of 94.1% (88% to 97.2%). In sixteen studies, FRS differentiated schizophrenia from other types of psychosis with a sensitivity of 58% (50.3% to 65.3%) and a specificity of 74.7% (65.2% to 82.3%). The synthesis of old studies of limited quality in this review indicates that FRS correctly identifies people with schizophrenia 75% to 95% of the time. The use of FRS to diagnose schizophrenia in triage will incorrectly diagnose around five to 19 people in every 100 who have FRS as having schizophrenia and specialists will not agree with this diagnosis. These people will still merit specialist assessment and help due to the severity of disturbance in their behaviour and mental state. Again, with a sensitivity of FRS of 60%, reliance on FRS to diagnose schizophrenia in triage will not correctly diagnose around 40% of people that specialists will consider to have schizophrenia. Some of these people may experience a delay in getting appropriate treatment. Others, whom specialists will consider to have schizophrenia, could be prematurely discharged from care, if triage relies on the presence of FRS to diagnose schizophrenia. Empathetic, considerate use of FRS as a diagnostic aid - with known limitations - should avoid a good proportion of these errors.We hope that newer tests - to be included in future Cochrane reviews - will show better results. However, symptoms of first rank can still be helpful where newer tests are not available

An Association Between Functional Polymorphisms of the Interleukin 1 Gene Complex and Schizophrenia Using Transmission Disequilibrium Test.

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Kapelski, Pawel; Skibinska, Maria; Maciukiewicz, Malgorzata; Pawlak, Joanna; Dmitrzak-Weglarz, Monika; Szczepankiewicz, Aleksandra; Zaremba, Dorota; Twarowska-Hauser, Joanna

2016-12-01

IL1 gene complex has been implicated in the etiology of schizophrenia. To assess whether IL1 gene complex is associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia in Polish population we conducted family-based study. Functional polymorphisms from IL1A (rs1800587, rs17561, rs11677416), IL1B (rs1143634, rs1143643, rs16944, rs4848306, rs1143623, rs1143633, rs1143627) and IL1RN (rs419598, rs315952, rs9005, rs4251961) genes were genotyped in 143 trio with schizophrenia. Statistical analysis was performed using transmission disequilibrium test. We have found a trend toward an association of rs1143627, rs16944, rs1143623 in IL1B gene with the risk of schizophrenia. Our results show a protective effect of allele T of rs4251961 in IL1RN against schizophrenia. We also performed haplotype analysis of IL1 gene complex and found a trend toward an association with schizophrenia of GAGG haplotype (rs1143627, rs16944, rs1143623, rs4848306) in IL1B gene, haplotypes: TG (rs315952, rs9005) and TT (rs4251961, rs419598) in IL1RN. Haplotype CT (rs4251961, rs419598) in IL1RN was found to be associated with schizophrenia. After correction for multiple testing associations did not reach significance level. Our results might support theory that polymorphisms of interleukin 1 complex genes (rs1143627, rs16944, rs1143623, rs4848306 in IL1B gene and rs4251961, rs419598, rs315952, rs9005 in IL1RN gene) are involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, however, none of the results reach significance level after correction for multiple testing.

Abnormal N400 Semantic Priming Effect May Reflect Psychopathological Processes in Schizophrenia: A Twin Study

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Anuradha Sharma

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. Activation of semantic networks is indexed by the N400 effect. We used a twin study design to investigate whether N400 effect abnormalities reflect genetic/trait liability or are related to psychopathological processes in schizophrenia. Methods. We employed robust linear regression to compare N400 and behavioral priming effects across 36 monozygotic twin pairs (6 pairs concordant for schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder, 11 discordant pairs, and 19 healthy control pairs performing a lexical decision task. Moreover, we examined the correlation between Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS score and the N400 effect and the influence of medication status on this effect. Results. Regression yielded a significant main effect of group on the N400 effect only in the direct priming condition (p=0.003. Indirect condition and behavioral priming effect showed no significant effect of group. Planned contrasts with the control group as a reference group revealed that affected concordant twins had significantly reduced N400 effect compared to controls, and discordant affected twins had a statistical trend for reduced N400 effect compared to controls. The unaffected twins did not differ significantly from the controls. There was a trend for correlation between reduced N400 effect and higher BPRS scores, and the N400 effect did not differ significantly between medicated and unmedicated patients. Conclusions. Reduced N400 effect may reflect disease-specific processes in schizophrenia implicating frontotemporal brain network in schizophrenia pathology.

Medications Used for Cognitive Enhancement in Patients With Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Alzheimer's Disease, and Parkinson's Disease.

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Hsu, Wen-Yu; Lane, Hsien-Yuan; Lin, Chieh-Hsin

2018-01-01

Cognitive impairment, which frequently occurs in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, has a significant impact on the daily lives of both patients and their family. Furthermore, since the medications used for cognitive enhancement have limited efficacy, the issue of cognitive enhancement still remains a clinically unsolved challenge. We reviewed the clinical studies (published between 2007 and 2017) that focused on the efficacy of medications used for enhancing cognition in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and memantine are the standard treatments for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Some studies have reported selective cognitive improvement in patients with schizophrenia following galantamine treatment. Newer antipsychotics, including paliperidone, lurasidone, aripiprazole, ziprasidone, and BL-1020, have also been reported to exert cognitive benefits in patients with schizophrenia. Dopaminergic medications were found to improve language function in patients with Parkinson's disease. However, no beneficial effects on cognitive function were observed with dopamine agonists in patients with schizophrenia. The efficacies of nicotine and its receptor modulators in cognitive improvement remain controversial, with the majority of studies showing that varenicline significantly improved the cognitive function in schizophrenic patients. Several studies have reported that N -methyl-d-aspartate glutamate receptor (NMDAR) enhancers improved the cognitive function in patients with chronic schizophrenia. NMDAR enhancers might also have cognitive benefits in patients with Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease. Raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, has also been demonstrated to have beneficial effects on attention, processing speed, and memory in female patients with schizophrenia. Clinical trials with

Minor physical anomalies and schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a prospective investigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schiffman, Jason; Ekstrøm, Morten; LaBrie, Joseph

2002-01-01

at high risk. RESULTS: Individuals with a high number of minor physical anomalies developed schizophrenia spectrum disorders significantly more often than they developed a no mental illness outcome. Further, individuals with a high number of minor physical anomalies tended to develop schizophrenia......OBJECTIVE: The authors prospectively assessed the relationship between minor physical anomalies identified in childhood and adult psychiatric outcome. METHOD: In 1972, minor physical anomalies were measured in a group of 265 Danish children ages 11-13. The examination was part of a larger study...... investigating early signs of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Many of the subjects had a parent with schizophrenia, leaving them at high risk for developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. In 1991, adult psychiatric outcome data were obtained for 91.3% (N=242) of the original subjects, including 81 who were...

Gene-environment interaction and covariation in schizophrenia: the role of obstetric complications.

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Mittal, Vijay A; Ellman, Lauren M; Cannon, Tyrone D

2008-11-01

While genetic factors account for a significant proportion of liability to schizophrenia, a body of evidence attests to a significant environmental contribution. Understanding the mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors coalesce in influencing schizophrenia is critical for elucidating the pathways underlying psychotic illness and for developing primary prevention strategies. Although obstetric complications (OCs) remain among the most well-documented environmental indicators of risk for schizophrenia, the pathogenic role they play in the etiology of schizophrenia continues to remain poorly understood. A question of major importance is do these factors result from a genetic diathesis to schizophrenia (as in gene-environment covariation), act additively or interactively with predisposing genes for the disorder in influencing disease risk, or independently cause disease onset? In this review, we evaluate 3 classes of OCs commonly related to schizophrenia including hypoxia-associated OCs, maternal infection during pregnancy, and maternal stress during pregnancy. In addition, we discuss several mechanisms by which OCs impact on genetically susceptible brain regions, increasing constitutional vulnerability to neuromaturational events and stressors later in life (ie, adolescence), which may in turn contribute to triggering psychosis.

Postural Stability of Patients with Schizophrenia during Challenging Sensory Conditions: Implication of Sensory Integration for Postural Control.

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Ya-Ling Teng

Full Text Available Postural dysfunctions are prevalent in patients with schizophrenia and affect their daily life and ability to work. In addition, sensory functions and sensory integration that are crucial for postural control are also compromised. This study intended to examine how patients with schizophrenia coordinate multiple sensory systems to maintain postural stability in dynamic sensory conditions. Twenty-nine patients with schizophrenia and 32 control subjects were recruited. Postural stability of the participants was examined in six sensory conditions of different level of congruency of multiple sensory information, which was based on combinations of correct, removed, or conflicting sensory inputs from visual, somatosensory, and vestibular systems. The excursion of the center of pressure was measured by posturography. Equilibrium scores were derived to indicate the range of anterior-posterior (AP postural sway, and sensory ratios were calculated to explore ability to use sensory information to maintain balance. The overall AP postural sway was significantly larger for patients with schizophrenia compared to the controls [patients (69.62±8.99; controls (76.53±7.47; t1,59 = -3.28, p<0.001]. The results of mixed-model ANOVAs showed a significant interaction between the group and sensory conditions [F5,295 = 5.55, p<0.001]. Further analysis indicated that AP postural sway was significantly larger for patients compared to the controls in conditions containing unreliable somatosensory information either with visual deprivation or with conflicting visual information. Sensory ratios were not significantly different between groups, although small and non-significant difference in inefficiency to utilize vestibular information was also noted. No significant correlations were found between postural stability and clinical characteristics. To sum up, patients with schizophrenia showed increased postural sway and a higher rate of falls during challenging sensory

Neurological Soft Signs in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Standardised Assessment and Comparison with Schizophrenia