Clinical correlates of anhedonia and perceptual aberration in first-episode patients with schizophrenia and affective disorder.

Examined the association between scales measuring physical anhedonia, social anhedonia, and perceptual aberration and premorbid functioning, clinical state, and current level of adjustment in 91 psychotic Ss. The patients were examined at the onset of their 1st psychotic episode and again 18 mo later. For patients with schizophrenia, anhedonia was significantly related to premorbid functioning. No association was found between the scales and clinical state or level of adjustment at intake or follow-up. In affective disorder patients, no correlation was found between premorbid functioning (a stable characteristic) and scale scores, but moderately large correlations emerged between the scales and clinical state and level of adjustment at both assessment times. These results suggest that schizophrenic and affective disorder patients endorse items on these scales for different reasons. The authors hypothesize that for patients with schizophrenia the scales assess enduring personality characteristics, whereas for the affective disordered patients they assess clinical condition at the time of testing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antisaccade task performance in questionnaire-identified schizotypes

Individuals who scored high on Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation Scales (Per-Mag; n = 90), the Social Anhedonia Scale (SocAnh; n = 39), and control participants (n = 89) were administered saccadic refixation (prosaccade) and saccadic suppression (antisaccade) tasks. Eye movements were scored in terms of error rates and latency. None of the groups differed in terms of their performance on the prosaccade task. Both the Per-Mag (p < 0.01) and SocAnh (p < 0.05) groups exceeded the controls in terms of mean antisaccade errors. The high-risk groups did not differ from each other. Eighteen of the Per-Mag individuals and 10 of the SocAnh individuals displayed deviant antisaccade performance. These findings are particularly interesting in light of suggestive evidence that antisaccade task deficits may serve as a marker of susceptibility to schizophrenia. It is hypothesized that the individuals who scored aberrantly on the Chapman scales and displayed antisaccade performance deficits are most likely to be at risk for the development of psychosis.     

Modal attention asymmetry in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

This cross-sectional study examined modal attention asymmetries in patients with schizophrenia (n?=?47) and bipolar disorder (n?=?42), as contrasted to a matched-sample comparison group of normal participants (n?=?89). A test of continuous auditory and visual attention was the primary measure. The data were analyzed from 2 experimental conditions: simple modal responses (auditory and visual) and modal switching responses (ipsimodal and cross-modal switching). In the simple modal condition, patients with schizophrenia demonstrated a visual over auditory asymmetry; patients with bipolar disorder showed no differences. In modal switching conditions, however, patients with bipolar disorder displayed a significant auditory over visual asymmetry. No main effect was detected between medications and attention functioning. Results are discussed in light of differentiating these 2 populations on the basis of modal specificity of attention functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bipolar affective disorder minus left prefrontal cortex equals schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: An investigation of the relationship between bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia, following a severe head injury and removal of the left prefrontal cortex. METHOD: A single case report. RESULTS: An individual with past history of bipolar affective disorder suffered traumatic damages to the left prefrontal cortex with a second lesion in the left temporal lobe. The patient developed typical schizophrenia nine months later. The relevance of his brain lesions in determining the schizophrenic symptoms is discussed. CONCLUSION: We propose that the specific pattern of brain injury in this patient was sufficient to change the phenotype from bipolar affective disorder to schizophrenia.     

Systematic screening for mutations in the human serotonin 1F receptor gene in patients with bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia

We determined the relative minimal inhibitory and minimal amoebicidal concentrations of chlorhexidine digluconate and polyhexamethylene biguanide for four species of Acanthamoeba. The amoebae were grown in peptone-glucose-yeast extract broth for 72 h in tissue culture flasks. Either washed trophozoites (approximately 10(5)) or cysts (approximately 10(5)) were incubated in the enrichment broth in 96 well microtiter trays. Antimicrobial concentrations of the biguanides were determined from microscopic examinations of methylene blue uptake and from subcultures. In general, killing was time dependent. Minimal amoebicidal concentrations at 24 h ranged from 50 to 100 mg/ml and to as low as 25 mg/ml by 72 h. Trophozoites were killed more rapidly than cysts. Both biguanides had similar levels of activity. A synergistic combination of chlorhexidine and polyhexamethylene biguanide (total concentration 25 mg/ml) was most evident for A. castellanii and A. polyphaga. Cysts of A. culbertsoni and A. hatchetti stained more rapidly after exposure to the combination of biguanides than to the single biguanides, but there were no statistically significant differences in the final numbers of dead or stained cysts after exposure to the combination or to the single biguanides.     

Temporal discounting of rewards in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ) often show decision-making deficits in everyday circumstances. A failure to appropriately weigh immediate versus future consequences of choices may contribute to these deficits. We used the delay discounting task in individuals with BD or SZ to investigate their temporal decision making. Twenty-two individuals with BD, 21 individuals with SZ, and 30 healthy individuals completed the delay discounting task along with neuropsychological measures of working memory and cognitive function. Both BD and SZ groups discounted delayed rewards more steeply than did the healthy group even after controlling for current substance use, age, gender, and employment. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that discounting rate was associated with both diagnostic group and working memory or intelligence scores. In each group, working memory or intelligence scores negatively correlated with discounting rate. The results suggest that (a) both BD and SZ groups value smaller, immediate rewards more than larger, delayed rewards compared with the healthy group and (b) working memory or intelligence is related to temporal decision making in individuals with BD or SZ as well as in healthy individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Premorbid adjustment and affective expression in schizophrenia.

Randomly selected 2 samples composed of 25 process and 25 reactive schizophrenics. There were no significant differences among the groups either in mean age or education. Mmpi deviation scores were obtained for each s by subtracting s's mean clinical scale score from each of the 9 mmpi clinical scales. Reactive ss had significantly (p     

Primary affective disorder: Thought disorder in depression.

To investigate the occurrence of 1 type of thought disorder in depression, here defined as impairment in abstractive performance, 65 hospitalized depressed patients and 49 normal controls were compared on the Category Test (CT). 36 patients had been diagnosed as bipolar and 29 as unipolar. Analysis of covariance indicated that the depressed groups had significantly more errors than the control group on the CT, suggesting that severely depressed patients show the type of thought disorder defined in this study. No significant differences were found, however, between the CT scores of the unipolar and bipolar groups. The possibility that some features of the depressed state can be described as cerebral dysfunction is discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rapid tryptophan depletion in drug-free depressed patients with seasonal affective disorder

The authors of a large number of Norwegian detective stories, particularly from the first part of this century, are occupied with neurologists and neurobiological problems. A survey of this literature shows. One Norwegian neurologist has written four detective stories. Not one single neurologist can be found as a detective hero. On the other hand there are numerous examples of the neurologist as a criminal or even a murderer. Neurological symptoms and signs (mostly functional pareses and epileptic fits) are used to construct the plot in other novels. The most striking finding is a detective story where the criminal is a neurobiologist, the plot is based on neurobiology and the author discusses neurological phenomena throughout the entire book.     

Neutralization of affective concepts in schizophrenia.

Reports experimental data from schizophrenic and nonpsychotic Ss which provide reasonably strong support for the hypothesis that invalidation of affective judgments of schizophrenics leads them to neutralize their judgments. Data suggest that neutralization may be an important phenomenon in schizophrenic conceptual processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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

Objective: 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. Method: 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. Results: We found significant main effects of sex for neuropsychological tests (p     

Visuospatial priming and Stroop performance in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder.

Two laboratory measures of competitive information processing were studied in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and normal control participants to assess the effects of priming and interfering information on response latency or speed. In the visuospatial priming (VSP) task, key press latency is facilitated or inhibited, depending on the spatial location of a priming cue. In the Stroop task, participants name the ink color of printed words that have an interfering semantic value. OCD participants displayed significantly slowed baseline response latency and increased facilitory priming scores in the VSP task, with no significant difference in VSP inhibition compared with control participants. Higher interference cost in the Stroop task was also observed in OCD participants. Clinical associations between VSP and Stroop performance and specific OCD symptoms were examined. Increased VSP facilitation was most pronounced in OCD participants who reported a history of violent images, tics, just right obsessions, or checking compulsions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social desirability and bipolar affective disorder.

Investigated whether the conforming and conventional attitudes of 30 bipolar depressed inpatients were coping mechanisms for their depressions. These Ss were compared on several measures (including the MMPI D and Si scales) to 29 unipolar depressed inpatients. Results show that the 2 groups were significantly different on all 5 of the measures used. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive-behavioral factors in seasonal affective disorder.

To longitudinally examine cognitive-behavioral correlates of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the authors assessed women with a history of SAD and nondepressed, matched controls across fall, winter, and summer. SAD history participants reported more automatic negative thoughts throughout the year than controls and demonstrated a progression from decreased activity enjoyment during fall to reduced activity frequency during winter. Ruminative response style, measured in fall, predicted symptom severity during the winter. Across assessments, SAD history women endorsed greater depressive affect in response to low light intensity stimuli than to bright or ambiguous intensity stimuli, but less depressed mood to bright light stimuli than controls. These results suggest that the cognitive-behavioral factors related to nonseasonal depression may play a role in SAD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrophysical evidence reveals affective evaluation deficits early in stimulus processing in patients with panic disorder.

Cognitive and neurobiological accounts of clinical anxiety and depression were examined via event-related brain potentials (ERPs) recorded from patients with panic disorder and healthy controls as they performed an old/new recognition memory task with emotionally negative and neutral words. The emotive connotation of words systematically influenced control subjects'--but not patients'--ERP effects at prefrontal sites in a latency range (–300-500 ms) generally assumed to reflect greater contribution of automatic than controlled memory processes. This provides evidence for dysfunctional inhibitory modulation of affective information processing in panic disorder. The ERP effects after 700 ms, however, suggest that some patients may adopt conscious strategies to minimize the impact of these early processing abnormalities on overt behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropsychological profiles in bipolar affective disorder and complex partial seizure disorder.

Compared neuropsychological profiles of bipolar patients, complex partial seizure disorder patients, and normal controls. Complex partial seizure patients performed worse than bipolar patients or normal controls in 1 of 5 neuropsychological domains examined in an ANOVA (focusing-execution) and on delayed verbal recall; they performed worse than bipolar patients in the verbal domain. Bipolar patients performed worse than normal controls in focusing-execution and showed clinical elevation on 1 scale of the MMPI. The data suggest both similarities and differences in the neuropsychological profiles of patients with bipolar affective disorder and patients with complex partial seizure disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disturbances of affective prosody in patients with schizophrenia; a cross sectional study

The solutions of nine alpha, omega-bis(3-alkyl(aryl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-1,2,4-triazol-5-on-4-yl) alkanes were titrated with tetrabutylammoniumhydroxide (TBAH) in methanol, using potentiometric methods. The half neutralization potentials values were found for all cases. Potentiometric titration curves of compounds in methanol with 0.03 M TBAH are similar to those of weak acids obtained in aqueous media with strong bases. Methanol is found to be a suitable medium for the weakly acidic compounds titrated since they are poorly dissolved in other organic solvents. A comparison among the compounds having the same alkyl chains between the two ring systems has shown that basicity increases and acidity decreases as the size of alkyl chains increases. However, the compound with a substituted phenyl group was found to be the most acidic one among the examined compounds indicating that phenyl group donates ring electrons less effectively to the system. This can be attributed to the stability of the benzene ring.     

Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in people with schizophrenia.

This study evaluated the hypothesis that trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity would be positively associated with schizophrenia symptoms. Forty-seven clients with schizophrenia were assessed for schizophrenia severity and for lifetime trauma history and PTSD symptoms in 2 independent symptom interviews; 35 (74%) participants reported at least 1 event in which there was threat of harm or life threat and subjective distress, and 6 (13%) had current PTSD. Trauma across the life span was associated with greater severity of PTSD. Within the total sample, PTSD symptoms were associated with greater emotional distress, but not with schizophrenia-specific symptoms. Distress among clients with schizophrenia and PTSD suggests the need for routine assessment of PTSD and development of PTSD interventions in this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive automatic cognition in major affective disorder.

This article reports 2 studies assessing the clinical validity of the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ–P). In the 1st study, clinically depressed inpatients showed reliably lower ATQ–P scores than a nondepressed control group. In the 2nd study, the specificity of the ATQ–P to emotional distress was evaluated by examining responses in a chronic pain sample. Results indicated that depressed but not nondepressed pain patients had significantly lower scores on the ATQ–P than health control Ss. On the basis of these data, the ATQ–P appears to be an appropriate measure for assessing positive cognition in psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patients with schizophrenia demonstrate dissociation between affective experience and motivated behavior.

Self-reported emotional experience does not differ between patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals, suggesting that the anhedonia in schizophrenia instead reflects decoupling of affect from motivated behavior. In 2 behavioral conditions, participants with schizophrenia and healthy participants were able to prolong or decrease exposure to stimuli while stimuli were present or alter the likelihood of future exposure to stimuli on the basis of internal representations. They also provided self-reports of affective experience. Patients showed weaker correspondence between behavior and ratings than did comparison participants. The effect was amplified when patients responded on the basis of internal rather than evoked stimulus representations. These data suggest that the motivational deficits in schizophrenia reflect problems in the ability to translate experience into action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)