Self-esteem moderates affective and psychotic responses to social stress in psychosis: A virtual reality study
This study investigated how self-esteem moderates paranoia, peak subjective distress and stress reactivity of people with different psychosis liability in response to social stressors in virtual reality. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 26, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Alyssa Jongeneel, Roos Pot-Kolder, Jacqueline Counotte, Mark van der Gaag, Wim Veling Source Type: research
Impaired associative inference in the early stage of psychosis
Relational memory is impaired in chronic schizophrenia. It is unclear if similar deficits are already present in the early stage of psychosis. We used the Associative Inference Paradigm to test relational memory ability in the early stage of a non-affective psychotic disorder. Eighty-two early stage psychosis patients and 67 healthy control subjects were trained on 3 sets of 30 paired associates: H-F1 (house paired with face), H-F2 (same house paired with new face), F3-F4 (two new faces). Subjects who reached 80% recall accuracy of the paired associates during training were then tested for their ability to recall the previ...
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 26, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Kristan Armstrong, Suzanne Avery, Jenni U. Blackford, Neil Woodward, Stephan Heckers Source Type: research
Letter to the editors: Reducing stigmatizing attitudes in high school adolescents - a cluster RCT on the effectiveness of a schizophrenia documentary
Public stigma can contribute to the challenges in finances, stable and suitable housing, employment and social relations that people with schizophrenia often experience (Morgan et al., 2017; Harrison and Gill, 2010). Studies in the adult population have demonstrated the effectiveness of contact-based documentaries in reducing social distance and negative emotions towards people with mental illness (Thonon et al., 2016). However, adolescents might be a more susceptible target group for anti-stigma interventions, because stigmatizing attitudes and early symptoms of mental illness often begin to form in childhood and early ad...
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 26, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Jojanneke Bruins, Agna A. Bartels-Velthuis, Jaap van Weeghel, Kim Helmus, Gerdina H.M. Pijnenborg Tags: Letter to the editor Source Type: research
Sensitivity and specificity of hypoactivations and failure of de-activation in schizophrenia
Brain functional changes reported in schizophrenia include reduced prefrontal cortex activation (hypofrontality), increased frontal activation (hyperfrontality) and failure of de-activation in the medial frontal cortex. The relative importance of these changes is unestablished. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 25, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Pilar Salgado-Pineda, Joaquim Radua, Salvador Sarr ó, Amalia Guerrero-Pedraza, Raymond Salvador, Edith Pomarol-Clotet, Peter J. McKenna Source Type: research
Neural correlates of global and specific cognitive deficits in schizophrenia
This study investigated whether volume of the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), hippocampus, and white matter were associated with impairment in specific cognitive domains, including executive functioning, working memory, verbal memory, verbal fluency, processing speed, versus global functioning. The multi-site data used in this study was collected from the Bipolar and Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP), and consisted of 206 healthy controls and 247 individuals with either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 25, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Robert J. Jirsaraie, Julia M. Sheffield, Deanna M. Barch Source Type: research
Improving working memory in schizophrenia: Effects of 1 mA and 2 mA transcranial direct current stimulation to the left DLPFC
Deficits in various cognitive processes, such as working memory, are characteristic for schizophrenia, lowering patients' functioning and quality of life. Recent research suggests that transcranial direct stimulation (tDCS) applied to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) may be a potential therapeutic intervention for cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Here, we examined the effects of online tDCS to the DLPFC on working memory (WM) performance in 40 schizophrenia patients in two separate experiments with a double blind, sham-controlled, cross-over design. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 25, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Irina Papazova, Wolfgang Strube, Benedikt Becker, Bettina Henning, Tobias Schwippel, Andreas J. Fallgatter, Frank Padberg, Ulrich Palm, Peter Falkai, Christian Plewnia, Alkomiet Hasan Source Type: research
The relationship of IQ and emotional processing with insula volume in schizophrenia
The insula is involved in general and social cognition, in particular emotion regulation. Aim of this study is to investigate whether insula volume is associated with Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and emotional processing in schizophrenia patients versus healthy controls (HC). (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 25, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Alice Caldiroli, Massimiliano Buoli, Neeltje E.M. van Haren, Jessica de Nijs, A. Carlo Altamura, Wiepke Cahn Source Type: research
Schizophrenia is associated with an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections: A nationwide population-based cohort study in Taiwan
In Taiwan, there has been a growing emphasis on physical health screening, health education and improving access to treatment in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ). However, sexual health needs, including screening and prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STI), are neglected in this population. The study aimed to investigate the association between SCZ and the subsequent incident STI and to examine potential risk factors. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 25, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Shih-Fen Chen, Jen-Huai Chiang, Chung-Y Hsu, Yu-Chih Shen Source Type: research
Effects of bilateral prefrontal rTMS on brain activation during social-emotional evaluation in schizophrenia: A double-blind, randomized, exploratory study
This exploratory study reports on the effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) on (prefrontal) brain activity changes during ambiguous emotional evaluation in patients with schizophrenia. Before and after randomly assigned treatment with active and sham rTMS, patients performed the Wall of Faces task during fMRI scanning. fMRI analysis showed that rTMS treatment resulted in reduced activation of striato-fronto-parietal brain areas, while activation increased compared to baseline after sham. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 25, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Edith J. Liemburg, Jozarni J. Dlabac-De Lange, Leonie Bais, Henderikus Knegtering, Andr é Aleman Source Type: research
Adjunct transcranial direct current stimulation improves cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia: A double-blind 12-week study
Cognitive impairment is a common symptom of schizophrenia that has significant effects on quality of life and the activities of daily living. The present study examined the ability of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to improve cognitive function and clinical symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 23, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Dong-Wook Jeon, Do-Un Jung, Sung-Jin Kim, Joo-Cheol Shim, Jung-Joon Moon, Young-Soo Seo, Sung-Soo Jung, Beom-Joo Seo, Jeong-Eun Kim, Minkyung Oh, You-Na Kim Source Type: research
Editorial Board
(Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 23, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research
Clinical highlights in this Issue
Alphs and colleagues used a mechanistic computer model to identify optimal ways to switch from oral antipsychotics to paliperidone palmitate monthly injections (PP1M) in schizophrenia. They observed that starting PP1M one day after the last oral dose or 4 weeks after a last long acting injectable medication was more optimal than a delayed beginning of PP1M after 1week with either a 1- or 2-week overlap with oral paliperidone. Clinicians need to evaluate how optimum efficacy can be rapidly achieved while avoiding potential loss of efficacy and safety concerns. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 23, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: John Torous, Matcheri S. Keshavan Source Type: research
Comparison of the anti-inflammatory effect of aripiprazole and risperidone in 75 drug-na ïve first episode psychosis individuals: A 3 months randomized study
Evidence about the anti-inflammatory properties of antipsychotics has grown. However, no previous studies have compared the immunomodulatory effect of risperidone and aripiprazole. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 23, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Mar ía Juncal-Ruiz, Laura Riesco-Dávila, Víctor Ortiz-García de la Foz, Obdulia Martínez-Garcia, Mariluz Ramírez-Bonilla, Javier Gonzalo Ocejo-Viñals, Juan Carlos Leza, Marcos López-Hoyos, Benedicto Crespo-Facorro Source Type: research
Psychiatric disability as mediator of the neurocognition-functioning link in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: SEM analysis using the Evaluation of Cognitive Processes involved in Disability in Schizophrenia (ECPDS) scale
The functional outcome in schizophrenia spectrum disorders is affected by multiple factors such as cognitive performance and clinical symptoms. Psychiatric disability may be another important determinant of functional outcome. The purpose of this study was to test whether schizophrenia symptoms and psychiatric disability mediated the association between cognition and functioning.Between April 2013 and July 2017, we included 108 community-dwelling adults with stable schizophrenia spectrum disorder in a multicenter study. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 22, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Paul Roux, Mathieu Urbach, Sandrine Fonteneau, Fabrice Berna, Lore Brunel, Delphine Capdevielle, Isabelle Chereau, Julien Dubreucq, Catherine Faget-Agius, Guillaume Fond, Sylvain Leignier, Claire-C écile Perier, Raphaëlle Richieri, Priscille Schneider, Source Type: research
Beneficial and adverse effects of antipsychotic medication on cognitive flexibility are related to COMT genotype in first episode psychosis
This study evaluated the ability to flexibly shift cognitive set and to consistently maintain a new response preference using the Penn Conditional Exclusion Test (PCET). The relationship of performance errors with catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 (Val158Met) genotype (Met carriers vs. Val homozygotes) on test performance before and after antipsychotic treatment in 32 first episode psychosis (FEP) patients was examined. After treatment, patients demonstrated a mixture of beneficial and adverse cognitive outcomes that varied in relation to COMT genotype. (Source: Schizophrenia Research)
Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 22, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Courtney L.M. Nelson, Hayley M. Amsbaugh, James L. Reilly, Cherise Rosen, Robert W. Marvin, Michael E. Ragozzino, Jeffrey R. Bishop, John A. Sweeney, S. Kristian Hill Source Type: research
