J. E. Marques-Carneiro, Julien Krieg, C. Duval, T. Schwitzer, A. Giersch
{"title":"Paradoxical Sensitivity to Sub-threshold Asynchronies in Schizophrenia: A Behavioral and EEG Approach","authors":"J. E. Marques-Carneiro, Julien Krieg, C. Duval, T. Schwitzer, A. Giersch","doi":"10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAB011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAB011","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The flow of consciousness is disrupted and disorganized in schizophrenia. We explore the hypothesis that this disruption is related to asynchronies not being predicted in advance and standing out instead of being integrated in the flow of events. We recorded EEG continuously during a simultaneity/asynchrony discrimination task, in which subjects decide whether 2 squares are shown simultaneously or with an asynchrony (asynchronies were between 24 and 96 ms). Behavioral data was obtained in 32 patients with schizophrenia and 27 matched controls, and EEG was recorded in a subset of 17 patients vs 15 controls. Two results suggested a lack of asynchrony prediction in patients. Behavioral difficulties at detecting asynchronies increased in patients with schizophrenia relative to controls after a detection of simultaneity, and this effect was correlated with clinical disorganization. Desynchronization of alpha activity observed before the beginning of a trial was larger after asynchronous than simultaneous responses in controls, but not in patients. EEG signals additionally suggested abnormal sensitivity to short asynchronies in patients. The amplitude of early signals around 180 ms after the first square abnormally increased in patients for short asynchronies relative to perfect simultaneity, whereas EEG signals at parietal regions decreased in amplitude in patients relative to controls, in the 400–600 ms interval after the first square. These results reinforce the hypothesis of time prediction and sequencing impairments at the sub-second level and may provide an explanation for the disruption of the patients’ consciousness flow.","PeriodicalId":21348,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Bulletin Open","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79867915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jeremy D. Levit, Jorge Valderrama, Penelope Georgakopoulos, Aa-Gpc Brooklyn, Stella Kim Hansen, M. Salisu, A. Fanous, T. Bigdeli, J. Knowles, C. Pato, M. Pato, C. Pato, M. Pato
{"title":"Childhood Trauma and Psychotic Symptomatology in Ethnic Minorities With Schizophrenia","authors":"Jeremy D. Levit, Jorge Valderrama, Penelope Georgakopoulos, Aa-Gpc Brooklyn, Stella Kim Hansen, M. Salisu, A. Fanous, T. Bigdeli, J. Knowles, C. Pato, M. Pato, C. Pato, M. Pato","doi":"10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAA068","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAA068","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In response to recent findings implicating trauma in the phenomenology of psychosis, this study explored interactions between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive symptoms of psychosis in an understudied patient population, comprising individuals of African and Latino ancestry. Endorsement of ACEs was compared between 90 schizophrenia cases and 240 nonpsychotic controls, matched for ethnicity, gender, and age. Relative to controls, cases reported significantly greater exposure to physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, witnessing domestic violence, and household member incarceration. Analyses further evaluated associations between ACEs and subtypes of hallucinations, delusions, and subjective thought disorder. Among female cases, the number of hallucinatory symptoms present increased with increasing ACE score. Hallucinatory symptoms further correlated with individual ACE items. For instance, third-person voices were more common among women exposed to childhood physical and emotional abuse. Interestingly, among women, grandiose delusions were negatively related to sexual abuse, perhaps reflecting the deleterious effects of sexual trauma on the development of a positive self-concept. Among male cases, no positive relationships with hallucinations were observed, but several delusional symptoms were correlated with childhood trauma experiences. The most statistically powerful ACE associations, in both males and females, were observed with experiences of thought broadcasting. This article further advocates for the consideration of ethnicity and gender as factors influencing trauma exposures and their clinical manifestations.","PeriodicalId":21348,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Bulletin Open","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90508877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Inpatient Treatment of People With Schizophrenia: Quantifying Clinical Change Using the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales","authors":"B. Lay, P. Roser, W. Kawohl","doi":"10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab030","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Schizophrenia can require hospital inpatient care in crisis periods or times of severe symptoms, although the length of hospital stays has been considerably reduced in the last few decades. Evidence on individual outcomes under routine psychiatric practice conditions is sparse. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of inpatient treatment in patients with schizophrenia using the reliable and clinically significant change approach. We used routinely collected Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) data to assess the extent to which and the areas where symptomatic and functional improvement was achieved. Data from 1783 schizophrenia patients admitted to a large psychiatric centre in Switzerland were examined.\u0000 Mean HoNOS total score dropped from 17.9 to 11.7 (effect size 0.8) during treatment; the greatest improvements were achieved regarding symptomatic problems and aggressive, agitated behavior. According to the reliable change index formula, 24.5% of patients were to be considered improved, 73.3% unchanged and 2.2% deteriorated. In total, 56.6% were discharged from the hospital in a subclinical or mild functional state. The degree of individual improvement and time to achieve maximum symptom reduction varied considerably, depending on the patients’ functional state at admission, as did the length of hospital stay (median 28 days). Rates of readmission within 28 days (17.8%) were significantly lower in patients with clinically significant improvement, discharged in better clinical condition. These findings support reconsidering (length of) inpatient treatment within the overall framework of meaningful clinical change and subsequent treatment needs in patients with schizophrenia.","PeriodicalId":21348,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Bulletin Open","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73957115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xingxing Zhu, J. Ward, B. Cullen, D. Lyall, R. Strawbridge, L. Lyall, Danny J. Smith
{"title":"Polygenic Risk for Schizophrenia, Brain Structure and Environmental Risk in UK Biobank","authors":"Xingxing Zhu, J. Ward, B. Cullen, D. Lyall, R. Strawbridge, L. Lyall, Danny J. Smith","doi":"10.1101/2021.04.15.21255587","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.15.21255587","url":null,"abstract":"Schizophrenia is a heritable neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by neuroanatomical changes in the brain but exactly how increased genetic burden for schizophrenia influences brain structure is unknown. Similarly, the impact of environmental risk factors for schizophrenia on brain structure is not fully understood. We investigated how genetic burden for schizophrenia (indexed by a polygenic risk score, PRS-SCZ) was associated with cortical thickness (CT), cortical surface area (SA), cortical volume (CV) and multiple subcortical structures within 18,147 White British ancestry participants from UK Biobank. We also explored whether environmental risk factors for schizophrenia (cannabis use, childhood trauma, low birth weight and Townsend social deprivation index) exacerbated the impact of PRS-SCZ on brain structure. We found that PRS-SCZ was significantly associated with lower CT in the frontal lobe, insula lobe, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and inferior frontal cortex, as well as reduced SA and CV in the supramarginal cortex and superior temporal cortex, but not with differences in subcortical volumes. When models included environmental risk factors as covariates, PRS-SCZ was only associated with lower SA/CV within the supramarginal cortex, superior temporal cortex and inferior frontal cortex. Moreover, no interactions were observed between PRS-SCZ and each of the environmental risk factors on brain structure. Overall, we identified brain structural correlates of PRS-SCZ predominantly within frontal and temporal regions. Some of these associations were independent of environmental risk factors, suggesting that they may represent biomarkers of genetic risk for schizophrenia.","PeriodicalId":21348,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Bulletin Open","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79919940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K. Sadh, U. Mehta, K. Muralidharan, N. Shivashankar, S. Jain
{"title":"Does the Phenomenology of Auditory Hallucinations Differ Across Patients Having Severe Mental Illness With and Without Hearing Impairment?","authors":"K. Sadh, U. Mehta, K. Muralidharan, N. Shivashankar, S. Jain","doi":"10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAB001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAB001","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 We compared the experience of auditory hallucinations, in persons who have normal (HN; N = 20), or impaired hearing (HI; N = 20), while experiencing psychoses. We assessed this experience across 42 domains and observed that irrespective of the hearing status, patients most often heard voices mainly in the language that they had learnt first (χ2 = 5.584; P = .018). However, a few experienced hallucinations in languages they “did not know” (3/20; 15%). The voices were most often attributed to both males and females (35/40; 87.5%). Those with hearing impairment heard voices closer to their ears, a hubbub of voices of crowds talking to them, and “as if” stuck or repetitive; often in the hearing-impaired ear. The hearing-impaired subjects also reported hearing nonverbal auditory hallucinations more frequently (χ2 = 17.625; P = .001), and the voices lacked emotional salience (χ2 = 4.055; P = .044). In contrast, the hallucinations were experienced in elaborate detail by the HN (20/20), while those with HI often heard only simple sentences (14/20, P = 0.05). The intensity of the hallucinatory voices remained the same on closing the affected ear or both of the ears in the HI group as compared to the HN group. Interestingly, the use of hearing aids attenuated the intensity of the hallucinations (6/7; 85%) in those with HI.","PeriodicalId":21348,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Bulletin Open","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82027397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"My Addiction and Breaking Free From My Addiction","authors":"Rudy Tian","doi":"10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab029","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21348,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Bulletin Open","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86779173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Junfang Chen, Kristina Schwarz, Z. Zang, U. Braun, A. Harneit, T. Kremer, Ren Ma, J. Schweiger, C. Moessnang, Lena S. Geiger, Han Cao, F. Degenhardt, M. Nöthen, H. Tost, A. Meyer-Lindenberg, E. Schwarz
{"title":"Hyper-Coordinated DNA Methylation is Altered in Schizophrenia and Associated with Brain Function","authors":"Junfang Chen, Kristina Schwarz, Z. Zang, U. Braun, A. Harneit, T. Kremer, Ren Ma, J. Schweiger, C. Moessnang, Lena S. Geiger, Han Cao, F. Degenhardt, M. Nöthen, H. Tost, A. Meyer-Lindenberg, E. Schwarz","doi":"10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab036","url":null,"abstract":"DNA methylation is an epigenetic biological process that is emerging as an important mediator of environmental risk effects on the susceptibility of severe illness, such as schizophrenia. DNA methylation shows coordination across biologically-related genes, but it is not known whether the resulting network structure has a mediating effect on illness risk. Here we identified a large gene network with hyper-coordinated DNA methylation in several biological processes that are changed in the brain of patients with schizophrenia, and that are associated with schizophrenia-relevant brain function as well as genetic illness susceptibility. We found that DNA methylation was physiologically coordinated in a reproducible network that comprised 6399 genes and showed a similar architecture in blood and brain. The network was hyper-coordinated in biological processes of core importance for schizophrenia, including synaptic processes that are associated with the strongest common genetic risk variants for schizophrenia. Coordinated methylation in these processes was decreased in brain samples from donors with schizophrenia, and showed an age-dependent association with schizophrenia-relevant brain function. These results support the coordination of DNA methylation as a regulatory principle relevant to schizophrenia that may be sensitive to environmental risk exposure during specific developmental periods and compound genetic illness predisposition.","PeriodicalId":21348,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Bulletin Open","volume":"82 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74526649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reducing Stigma Among College Students Toward People With Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial Grounded on Intergroup Contact Theory","authors":"Siyu Gao, S. Ng","doi":"10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAB008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAB008","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 Public stigma has been shown to have multidimensional negative impacts on people with schizophrenia (PWS). A new 1-day intervention grounded on the intergroup contact theory was developed and implemented in the current study to reduce college students’ stigma toward PWS. We hypothesized that intergroup contact could better alleviate the stigmatizing situation compared with absence of direct contact and different levels of contact may have different functions on stigma reduction.\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 To examine the effectiveness of the intervention, a randomized controlled trial was conducted in Hong Kong with 37 college students participating the intervention. Different levels of contact (zero, moderate, and intimate) with PWS were organized in the intervention group while no direct contact with PWS was introduced in the control group. Participants’ knowledge of schizophrenia, stigmatizing attitudes and social distance toward PWS were measured at pre-, post, 1-month and 3-month after the intervention.\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant changes in all outcome variables in the intervention group with moderate-to-high effect sizes. The results indicated that different levels of contact with PWS had different functions in stigma reduction. Knowledge session without direct contact contributed most to participants’ knowledge improvement, and moderate and intimate level of contact led to an obvious improvement in participants’ stigmatizing attitudes and social distance changes. Also, psychoeducation and direct contact should be combined to tackle with the 3 components of stigma.\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 The current study provided evidence supporting the efficacy of the new intervention based on intergroup contact theory and practical experience for future research design regarding stigma reduction.\u0000","PeriodicalId":21348,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Bulletin Open","volume":"2015 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86869995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The First Episode Psychosis Services Fidelity Scale 1.0: Review and Update","authors":"D. Addington","doi":"10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAB007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/SCHIZBULLOPEN/SGAB007","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The First Episode Psychosis Fidelity Scale, first published in 2016, is based on a list of essential components identified by systematic reviews and an international consensus process. The purpose of this paper was to present the FEPS-FS 1.0 version of the scale, review the results of studies that have examined the scale and provide an up-to-date review of evidence for each component and its rating. The First Episode Psychosis Services Fidelity Scale 1.0 has 35 components, which rate access and quality of health care delivered by early psychosis teams. Twenty-five components rate service components, and 15 components rate team functioning. Each component is rated on a 1–5 scale, and a rating of 4 is satisfactory. The service components describe services received by patients rather than staff activity. The fidelity rater completes ratings based on administrative data, health record review, and interviews. Fidelity raters from two multicenter studies provided feedback on the clarity and precision of component definitions and ratings. When administered by trained raters, the scale demonstrated good to excellent interrater reliability. The selection of components can be adjusted to rate programs serving patients with bipolar disorder or an attenuated psychosis syndrome. The scale can be used to assess and improve the quality of individual programs, compare programs and program networks. Researchers can use the scale as an outcome measure for implementation studies and as a process measure for outcome studies. Future research should focus on demonstrating predictive validity.","PeriodicalId":21348,"journal":{"name":"Schizophrenia Bulletin Open","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80761761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}