"Conceptual area" among pathological groups: A failure to replicate.

The ability of the "conceptual-area" scoring system to differentiate between tuberculous, process schizophrenic, reactive schizophrenic, and brain-damaged patients was tested by administering the Object Sorting Test to 125 hospitalized veterans. The diagnostic groups were equivalent in mean education, intelligence, and length of hospitalization, but the tuberculous and brain-damaged patients averaged 8 yr. older than the schizophrenics. None of the scores differentiated the groups at the .05 level. In discussing these results, it was maintained that, contrary to comment in the literature, "conceptual area" has never conclusively differentiated, in a simultaneous comparison, between nonpsychiatric, brain-damaged, and schizophrenic patients, and may not be appropriate for this purpose. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of the censure-deficit model in schizophrenia, employing the Rodnick-Garmezy visual discrimination task.

This study tested hypotheses derived from the Garmezy and Rodnick censure-deficit theory of schizophrenia. There was no support for the theory with respect to (a) reported child-rearing practices and (b) reactions to cues depicting maternal and paternal dominance. The behavioral findings obtained irrespective of whether the censure was imbedded in the stimulus or combined with verbal censure by the experimenter. This and a series of other disconfirmatory studies are discussed in relation to the validity of the Garmezy and Rodnick formulations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of irregular preparatory intervals on reaction time in schizophrenia.

2 experiments attempted to (a) confirm previous observations that the slope of the negative relationship between reaction time (RT) and the length of the preparatory interval (PI) was steeper in schizophrenic than in normal Ss, and (b) investigate the effects of the PI on one trial on RT to the subsequent trial (PPI). The results show that the curves relating the PI with RT are significantly steeper for the patients even when differences in "baseline" RT level are controlled. Also, the detrimental effects of long PPIs are much greater for the schizophrenics. The data suggest that instead of establishing a generalized preparatory set, the schizophrenic Ss simplify the task by basing their pattern of preparation largely on the just preceding trial. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Cognitive-behavioral therapy for bipolar disorder and Cognitive therapy for delusions, voices, and paranoia.

Reviews the books, Cognitive-behavioral therapy for bipolar disorder by Monica Ramirez Basco and A. John Russo (see record 1996-98072-000) and Cognitive therapy for delusions, voices, and paranoia by Paul Chadwick, Max Birchwood, and Peter Trower (see record 1996-97983-000). The mental health service system is largely based on the oft encountered, often implicit, belief among professionals that, since Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and other severe forms of mental illnesses have been shown to have a biological basis, there is no point in providing psychotherapy for individuals afflicted with these disorders. These two books represent a welcome exception to this situation. While different in many ways, including their treatment goals and many of their theoretical underpinnings, both books represent an attempt to allow the severely mentally ill to benefit from techniques which have been demonstrated to be effective for less severely disturbed populations. Both approaches illustrate ways that the severely mentally ill may be able to be helped through psychosocial intervention, and both acknowledge the importance of client collaboration in treatment, a consideration easy to overlook when the client has a severe mental illness. The books are also similar in that neither one offers sufficient empirical data to support the effectiveness of its approach. The two books reviewed here represent, in the reviewer's opinion, significant contributions to the field of psychotherapy. Even if the clinician takes issue with the techniques presented or with the theoretical assumptions underlying the approaches, he/she should come away with a renewed appreciation of the importance of including the client in treatment planning, even if the client has a severe mental illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of Polyinosinic:Polycytidylic Acid-Induced Maternal Immune Activation and Subsequent Immune Challenge in the Behaviour and Microglial Cell Trajectory in Adult Offspring: A Study of the Neurodevelopmental Model of Schizophrenia

Multiple lines of evidence support the pathogenic role of maternal immune activation (MIA) in the occurrence of the schizophrenia-like disturbances in offspring. While in the brain the homeostatic role of neuron-microglia protein systems is well documented, the participation of the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 and CD200-CD200R dyads in the adverse impact of MIA often goes under-recognized. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the effect of MIA induced by polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C) on the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 and CD200-CD200R axes, microglial trajectory (MhcII, Cd40, iNos, Il-1β, Tnf-α, Il-6, Arg1, Igf-1, Tgf-β and Il-4), and schizophrenia-like behaviour in adult male offspring of Sprague-Dawley rats. Additionally, according to the “two-hit” hypothesis of schizophrenia, we evaluated the influence of acute challenge with Poly I:C in adult prenatally MIA-exposed animals on the above parameters. In the present study, MIA evoked by Poly I:C injection in the late period of gestation led to the appearance of schizophrenia-like disturbances in adult offspring. Our results revealed the deficits manifested as a diminished number of aggressive interactions, presence of depressive-like episodes, and increase of exploratory activity, as well as a dichotomy in the sensorimotor gating in the prepulse inhibition (PPI) test expressed as two behavioural phenotypes (MIA_PPI-low and MIA_PPI-high). Furthermore, in the offspring rats subjected to a prenatal challenge (i.e., MIA) we noticed the lack of modulation of behavioural changes after the additional acute immune stimulus (Poly I:C) in adulthood. The important finding reported in this article is that MIA affects the expression and levels of the neuron-microglia proteins in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of adult offspring. We found that the changes in the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 axis could affect microglial trajectory, including decreased hippocampal mRNA level of MhcII and elevated cortical expression of Igf-1 in the MIA_PPI-high animals and/or could cause the up-regulation of an inflammatory response (Il-6, Tnf-α, iNos) after the “second hit” in both examined brain regions and, at least in part, might differentiate behavioural disturbances in adult offspring. Consequently, the future effort to identify the biological background of these interactions in the Poly I:C-induced MIA model in Sprague-Dawley rats is desirable to unequivocally clarify this issue.     

基于功能连接信息熵的精神分裂症EEG分类研究

为了提高精神分裂症的有效诊断,利用网络功能连接信息熵的方法对51例精神分裂症患者和56例年龄匹配的正常人的脑电信号（Electroencephalogram,EEG）进行了分类。通过采用分频技术、相位同步分析方法、信息熵方法、支持向量机（Support Vector Machine,SVM）分类方法,大幅提高了分类准确率（98.13%）,实现了对精神分裂症的有效诊断。该分类方法主要涉及两阶段：利用分频技术和相位同步分析方法,获得各频段的脑电信号在各个时间点的功能连接矩阵;基于整个时间域上的功能连接计算各频段的信息熵,并将其分别作为功能脑网络的分类特征训练SVM分类器,进而对两组被试分类。分类结果表明,该方法大幅提高了精神分裂症检测的准确率。     

Narrating emotional events in schizophrenia.

Research has indicated that schizophrenia patients report similar amounts of experienced emotion in response to emotional material compared with nonpatients. However, less is known about how schizophrenia patients describe and make sense of their emotional life events. We adopted a narrative approach to investigate schizophrenia patients' renderings of their emotional life experiences. In Study 1, patients' (n = 42) positive and negative narratives were similarly personal, tellable, engaged, and appropriate. However, negative narratives were less grammatically clear than positive narratives, and positive narratives were more likely to involve other people than negative narratives. In Study 2, emotional (positive and negative) narratives were less tellable and detached, yet more linear and social compared with neutral narratives for both schizophrenia patients (n = 24) and healthy controls (n = 19). However, patients' narratives about emotional life events were less appropriate to context and less linear, and patients' narratives, whether emotional or not, were less tellable and more detached compared with controls' narratives. Although schizophrenia patients are capable of recounting life events that trigger different emotions, the telling of these life events is fraught with difficulty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anhedonia as a phenotype for the Val1??Met COMT polymorphism in relatives of patients with schizophrenia.

The Val1??Met polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene has been associated with aspects of schizophrenia that are possibly related to the disorder's pathogenesis. The present study investigated the Val1??Met polymorphism in relation to anhedonia--a construct central to negative schizotypy. Anhedonia and other schizotypal characteristics were assessed in relatives of patients with schizophrenia, relatives of patients with bipolar disorder, and nonpsychiatric controls using the Chapman schizotypy scales and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. Compared with controls, relatives of individuals with schizophrenia had elevated scores on Chapman scales for social anhedonia and physical anhedonia, while relatives of patients with bipolar disorder exhibited only increased scores on the Social Anhedonia Scale. As a group, relatives of patients with schizophrenia who were homozygous for the val allele of the COMT polymorphism showed the highest elevations in self-reported social and physical anhedonia. Associations with the COMT polymorphism were absent in relatives of patients with bipolar disorder and control participants. Findings suggest that anhedonia is manifest in individuals who carry genetic liability for schizophrenia and is associated with the Val1??Met polymorphism of the COMT gene. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive, clinical, and functional characteristics of verbally superior schizophrenia patients.

The existence of small numbers of schizophrenia patients with superior ability in specific cognitive domains is implied by meta-analytic evidence as well as by occasional empirical reports. The authors identified 25 patients with superior (i.e., ≥90th percentile) ability on the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale 3rd edition (Wechsler, 1997). These cognitively advantaged patients were compared with 22 healthy participants performing at the superior level and with 126 schizophrenia patients and 50 healthy participants scoring below the superior range. Verbally superior schizophrenia patients and verbally superior healthy participants had similar cognitive profiles and life skills performance, but diverged markedly in terms of independent "real-world" functioning. Verbally superior patients significantly outperformed more typical patients in other aspects of cognitive performance, life skills, and support requirements. However, severity of positive and negative symptoms was equivalent in the patient groups. Detailed biobehavioral study of cognitively exceptional patients may offer new insights into mechanisms mediating psychotic disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cofilin Signaling in the CNS Physiology and Neurodegeneration

All eukaryotic cells are composed of the cytoskeleton, which plays crucial roles in coordinating diverse cellular functions such as cell division, morphology, migration, macromolecular stabilization, and protein trafficking. The cytoskeleton consists of microtubules, intermediate filaments, and actin filaments. Cofilin, an actin-depolymerizing protein, is indispensable for regulating actin dynamics in the central nervous system (CNS) development and function. Cofilin activities are spatiotemporally orchestrated by numerous extra- and intra-cellular factors. Phosphorylation at Ser-3 by kinases attenuate cofilin’s actin-binding activity. In contrast, dephosphorylation at Ser-3 enhances cofilin-induced actin depolymerization. Cofilin functions are also modulated by various binding partners or reactive oxygen species. Although the mechanism of cofilin-mediated actin dynamics has been known for decades, recent research works are unveiling the profound impacts of cofilin dysregulation in neurodegenerative pathophysiology. For instance, oxidative stress-induced increase in cofilin dephosphorylation is linked to the accumulation of tau tangles and amyloid-beta plaques in Alzheimer’s disease. In Parkinson’s disease, cofilin activation by silencing its upstream kinases increases α-synuclein-fibril entry into the cell. This review describes the molecular mechanism of cofilin-mediated actin dynamics and provides an overview of cofilin’s importance in CNS physiology and pathophysiology.