Association of deficits in smell identification, social and basic cognition in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, their first-degree relatives and matched healthy controls

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1458-1458
Author(s):  
N. Mossaheb ◽  
M. Schloegelhofer ◽  
R.M. Kaufmann ◽  
T. Aninilkumparambil ◽  
A. Gold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Expressed Emotion ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Female Age ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Smell Identification

IntroductionAssociations between smell identification deficits (SID) and impairments in basic cognitive domains have been shown in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders.ObjectivesWe analyzed social and basic cognitive deficits and SID.AimsTo assess differences in affective decision making tasks in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, their 1st degree relatives and healthy controls. Methods: We examined 51 patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (49% female, age 33.1 years, SD 11), 21 first-degree relatives (61.9% female, age 49.5 years, SD 17.6, one affected, others non-affected) and 51 matched healthy controls (49% female, age 33 years, SD 12.1). Psychopathology was evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Subjects were administered the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), the Facially Expressed Emotion Labelling (FEEL) test, the spatial span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) and the Mehrfachwahl-Wortschatz Test (MWT-B).ResultsPatients, controls and 1st degree relatives differed in age (p = 0.000), WMS-R (p = 0.000) and FEEL scores (p = 0.007). In healthy controls, patients and 1st degree relatives FEEL correlated with age (p = 0.005, p = 0.003, p = 0.004, respectively). In patients FEEL also correlated with MWT-B (p = 0.000), UPSIT (p = 0.000) and PANSS negative scores (p = 0.016); furthermore, UPSIT correlated with MWT-B (p = 0.001). In 1st degree relatives age correlated with WMS-R (p = 0.04) and FEEL (p = 0.004), both of which inter-correlated (p = 0.006).ConclusionWe found that SID, basic and social cognition, i.e. affective decision-making processes, inter-correlate in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and are partly under the influence of negative symptoms. Some of these relationships can also be seen in 1st degree relatives of patients.

Sex-related differences in smell identification in patients with schizophrenia, their first-degree relatives and matched healthy controls

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1416-1416
Author(s):  
R.M. Kaufmann ◽  
N. Mossaheb ◽  
M. Schlögelhofer ◽  
T. Aninilkumparambil ◽  
A. Gold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Syndrome Scale ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
The University ◽  
Negative Syndrome ◽  
Smell Identification

IntroductionSex-related differences in smell identification have been shown in healthy subjects, however, in patients with schizophrenia these findings are still controversial.ObjectivesWe analyzed sex-related differences with respect to smell identification in patients with schizophrenia, their first-degree relatives and healthy controls.AimsTo assess possible sex-related differences in smell identification.MethodsThe sample consisted of 51 patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (49% female; mean age 33.1 years; SD: 11), 21 first-degree relatives (61.9% female, age 49.5 years, SD 17.6, one affected, others non-affected) ; mean age 49.5 years; SD: 17.6) and 51 matched healthy controls (49% female; mean age 33 years; SD: 12.1). The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) were used to assess psychopathology and diagnosis, respectively. The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), a standardized, multiple- and forced-choice scratch- and sniff test consisting of 40 items, was administered to all subjects.ResultsWe found no significant differences in smell identification between the three groups (p = 0.182). Also, the female and male subgroups did not differ significantly in smell identification (p = 0.105, p = 0.387, respectively). The mean UPSIT scores were 34.4 (SD: 4.1) for healthy women (males: 33.2; SD: 3.5), 32.0 (SD: 5.1) for women with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (males: 32.5; SD: 4.4), and 34.5 (SD: 2.6) for female first-degree relatives (males: 30.5; SD: 2.8).ConclusionWe found neither significant differences in smell identification in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, their first-degree relatives or healthy controls, nor sex-related differences.

Niacin sensitivity in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, their 1st Degree Relatives and Healthy Controls

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1501-1501
Author(s):  
M. Schloegelhofer ◽  
N. Mossaheb ◽  
R. Kaufmann ◽  
T. Aninilkumparambil ◽  
A. Gold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phospholipid Metabolism ◽  
Skin Tests ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Syndrome Scale ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Negative Syndrome

IntroductionSchizophrenia has often been associated with a reduced skin flush response to niacin. Blunted response suggests potential disturbance in phospholipid metabolism.ObjectivesWe performed niacin skin tests in patients with schizophrenia, their first-degree relatives and healthy controls.AimsTo examine possible differences in skin flush response to niacin.MethodsWe examined 51 patients (female 49%, age 33.1 years, SD 11), with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, 51 matched healthy controls (female 49%, age 33 years, SD 12.1), and 21 first-degree relatives (female 61,9%, age 49,5 years, SD 17,6, one affected, others non-affected). The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Mini International Neuropsychiatrie Interview were used to assess psychopathology and diagnosis, respectively. The non-invasive niacin skin flush test was used to assess vasodilatative reaction to four different concentrations of niacin on the forearms of subjects.ResultsWe found no differences in total scores on the niacin skin flush test between the three groups (p = 0.774). Mean scores were 60.27 (SD 14.2) in healthy controls, 58.84 (SD 10.2) in patients and 58.48 (SD 9.4) in first-degree relatives.ConclusionContrary to our expectations we did not find a significantly blunted niacin skin flush reaction in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders compared to healthy controls or 1st degree relatives.

scholarly journals T62. A COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF MOTIVATIONAL DEFICITS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA SPECTRUM DISORDERS

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S255-S255
Author(s):  
James Waltz ◽  
Dennis Hernaus ◽  
Robert Wilson ◽  
Elliot Brown ◽  
Michael Frank ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Psychotic Illness ◽  
Learning Rates ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Probabilistic Reversal Learning

Abstract Background We have found that measures of reinforcement learning (RL) performance correlate with negative symptoms severity in adult schizophrenia patients as well as in adolescents and young adults seeking psychiatric services. Most of these tasks assess reinforcement learning in stable environments, however. In unstable, or volatile environments, adaptive learning and decision making depend on the ability to use one’s own uncertainty to modulate attention to feedback. In stable RL environments, parameters called learning rates (signified by ⍺) capture the impact of prediction errors on changes in association strength with each subject having a single learning rate for a given kind of prediction error (positive and negative, e.g.). In volatile environments, learning rates might be more appropriately modeled as dynamic, modulated by uncertainty. Furthermore, uncertainty is known to guide what is called “the explore/exploit trade-off” – the threshold for choosing more informative options potentially at the expense of options with higher expected value. Methods We have examined the contribution of uncertainty processing to the emergence of negative symptoms in people along the schizophrenia spectrum, in several ways. First, in conjunction with fMRI, we administered 26 patients with schizophrenia (PSZ) and 23 healthy volunteers (HV) a 3-choice version of a probabilistic reversal learning task that required participants to resolve uncertainty and determine the new best option after sudden, sporadic contingency shifts. Second, we assessed the role of uncertainty in driving decision making under ambiguity, using two distinct tasks in cohorts of schizophrenia patients and healthy volunteers. Motivational symptoms were assessed in PSZ using the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), from which we computed scores for Avolition/Role-Functioning, Anhedonia/Asociality, and an Avolition/Anhedonia/Asociality (AAA) factor. Results In the context of the 3-choice version of a probabilistic reversal learning task, we found that SZ patients with more severe anhedonia and avolition show a reduced ability to dynamically modulate learning rates in a volatile environment. A follow-up psychophysiological interaction analysis revealed decreased dmPFC-VS connectivity concurrent with learning rate modulation, most prominently in individuals with the most severe motivational deficits. Finally, in the context of decision making under ambiguity, we have found that SZ patients with more severe anhedonia and avolition, as measured by the SANS, show a reduced tendency to explore contingences in the service of reducing uncertainty. Furthermore, we found that mean negative symptom scores correlated negatively with change in information weight, a model-based measure of directed exploration. Discussion These results indicate that multiple potential mechanisms underlie motivational deficits in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, including processes related to the ability to flexibly modulate learning and decision making according to one’s level of certainty about contingencies in the environment. That is, beyond deficits in reward-seeking behavior, a reduced ability to use uncertainty to modulate learning rates and a reduced tendency to engage in information-seeking behavior may make substantial contributions to negative symptoms in people with psychotic illness and people at risk for psychotic illness. The ability to dynamically value actions in terms of both prospective reward and information is likely to contribute deficits in motivation across diagnoses.

scholarly journals Lower- and Higher-Level Social Cognitive Factors Across Individuals With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and Healthy Controls: Relationship With Neurocognition and Functional Outcome

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay D Oliver ◽  
John D Haltigan ◽  
James M Gold ◽  
George Foussias ◽  
Pamela DeRosse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Functional Outcome ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Background Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) often feature social cognitive deficits. However, little work has focused on the factor structure of social cognition, and results have been inconsistent in schizophrenia. This study aimed to elucidate the factor structure of social cognition across people with SSDs and healthy controls. It was hypothesized that a 2-factor model, including lower-level “simulation” and higher-level “mentalizing” factors, would demonstrate the best fit across participants. Methods Participants with SSDs (N = 164) and healthy controls (N = 102) completed social cognitive tasks ranging from emotion recognition to complex mental state inference, as well as clinical and functional outcome, and neurocognitive measures. Structural equation modeling was used to test social cognitive models, models of social cognition and neurocognition, measurement invariance between cases and controls, and relationships with outcome measures. Results A 2-factor (simulation and mentalizing) model fit the social cognitive data best across participants and showed adequate measurement invariance in both SSD and control groups. Patients showed lower simulation and mentalizing scores than controls, but only mentalizing was significantly associated with negative symptoms and functional outcome. Social cognition also mediated the relationship between neurocognition and both negative symptoms and functional outcome. Conclusions These results uniquely indicate that distinct lower- and higher-level aspects of social cognition exist across SSDs and healthy controls. Further, mentalizing may be particularly linked to negative symptoms and functional outcome. This informs future studies of the neural circuitry underlying social cognition and the development of targeted treatment options for improving functional outcome.

scholarly journals T158. NO ALTERATION OF PITUTARY VOLUME IN PATIENTS WITH FIRST-EPISODE SCHIZPHRENIA BUT A TREND OF ENLARGEMENT IN NON-PSYCHOTIC FIRST-DEGREE RELATIVES

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S291-S291
Author(s):  
Min-yi Chu ◽  
Simon S Y Lui ◽  
Karen S Y Hung ◽  
P C Sham ◽  
Henry K F Mak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Duration Of Treatment ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
First Episode Schizophrenia

Abstract Background There is growing evidence suggesting that the abnormal pituitary volume (PV) may be an essential deficit in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and PV may change depending on the stage of the illness. However, previous studies assessing PV in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, especially in ultra-high risk individuals, were confounding. The present study aimed to assess whether there would be alteration of the PV in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and their non-affected first-degree relatives. Methods This study recruited 147 subjects, including subjects with 62 first-episode schizophrenia (31 man, 31 female), 25 non-psychotic first-degree relatives (11 male, 14 female), and 60 healthy controls (30 male, 30 female). All of them underwent a T1 weighted image magnetic resonance imaging using 3T MRI Scanner (Siemens, Germany). All volumes were examined with the 3D-Slicer 4.10.1 (Surgical Planning Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, USA; http://www. slicer.org/). The PV was traced in all coronal slices with well-defied boundaries (such as diaphragma sellae (superiorly), the sphenoid sinus (inferiorly), the cavernous sinuses(bilaterally)). The infundibular stalk was excluded while the bright posterior pituitary was included. All images were tranced manually by a trained rater who was blind to the participants’ group assignment. In a random subset of 24 cases, both the inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient r=0.916, p<0.001) and the intra-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient r=0.924 p<0.001) were high. We conducted MANCOVA with gender, and whole brain volumes (WBV) as covariates to compare the PV among the groups. Results We found no significant differences in gender ratio, age, and WBV (p>0.05) among the three groups, but patients with first-episode schizophrenia showed shorter length of education than healthy controls (p<0.001). As expected, we found that male participants in general (Mean ± SD: 486.85 ± 100.24) exhibited a prominently smaller PV than female participants (Mean ± SD: 562.13 ± 102.90) after controlling for WBV (t=25.087, p<0.001). Findings from MANCOVA analysis showed that although first-episode schizophrenia patients (Mean ± SD: 523.81 ± 116.41) and healthy controls (Mean ± SD: 513.17 ± 103.57) showed no significant difference in PV (F=0.581, p=0.447), there was a trend of statistical significance in their non-psychotic first-degree relatives (Mean ± SD: 557.85 ± 93.58) compared with healthy controls (F=3.334, p=0.072). We also found a negative correlation between the duration of treatment and PV in female schizophrenia patients (r=-0.398, p=0.029), whose mean duration of treatment was 4.71 months (SD=2.18 months). No significant correlation was observed in in male patients. Discussion Our findings found no alteration of PV in first-episode schizophrenia patients but a trend of enlargement was observed in their non-psychotic first-degree relatives. Moreover, female schizophrenia patients with longer duration of treatment exhibited smaller PV. These findings suggested that the enlarged PV might be an early detection signal for individuals with potentially high risk of developing into schizophrenia, and such an enlargement of PV might be responsive to antipsychotic medications.

scholarly journals Acoustic speech markers for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: a diagnostic and symptom-recognition tool

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
J. N. de Boer ◽  
A. E. Voppel ◽  
S. G. Brederoo ◽  
H. G. Schnack ◽  
K. P. Truong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Speech Technology ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Background Clinicians routinely use impressions of speech as an element of mental status examination. In schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, descriptions of speech are used to assess the severity of psychotic symptoms. In the current study, we assessed the diagnostic value of acoustic speech parameters in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, as well as its value in recognizing positive and negative symptoms. Methods Speech was obtained from 142 patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and 142 matched controls during a semi-structured interview on neutral topics. Patients were categorized as having predominantly positive or negative symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Acoustic parameters were extracted with OpenSMILE, employing the extended Geneva Acoustic Minimalistic Parameter Set, which includes standardized analyses of pitch (F0), speech quality and pauses. Speech parameters were fed into a random forest algorithm with leave-ten-out cross-validation to assess their value for a schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis, and PANSS subtype recognition. Results The machine-learning speech classifier attained an accuracy of 86.2% in classifying patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and controls on speech parameters alone. Patients with predominantly positive v. negative symptoms could be classified with an accuracy of 74.2%. Conclusions Our results show that automatically extracted speech parameters can be used to accurately classify patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and healthy controls, as well as differentiate between patients with predominantly positive v. negatives symptoms. Thus, the field of speech technology has provided a standardized, powerful tool that has high potential for clinical applications in diagnosis and differentiation, given its ease of comparison and replication across samples.

scholarly journals A Randomized Clinical Trial of Oxytocin or Galantamine in Schizophrenia: Assessing the Impact on Behavioral, Lexical, and Self-Report Indicators of Social Affiliation

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen R Dwyer ◽  
Alexandra M Andrea ◽  
Christina L G Savage ◽  
Ryan D Orth ◽  
LeeAnn Shan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Social Affiliation ◽  
Subjective Responses ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Prior studies examining the impact of oxytocin on negative symptoms in schizophrenia have yielded mixed results. The current study explored whether oxytocin can improve more proximal indicators of social affiliation as indicated by changes in behavior, language and subjective indices of social affiliation among individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders during a role-play designed to elicit affiliative responses. We tested the hypothesis that daily intranasal oxytocin administered for 6 weeks would improve social affiliation as manifested by increased social skill ratings, use of positive, affiliative, and social words, and subjective responses from a previously published randomized controlled trial. Forty outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were randomized to the oxytocin, galantamine, or placebo group and completed affiliative role-plays and self-report questionnaires of affect, reactions to the affiliative confederate, and willingness to interact at baseline and post-treatment. Results demonstrated that oxytocin was not effective at improving behavioral or subjective indicators of social affiliation. This study adds to a growing literature that the prosocial effects of oxytocin in schizophrenia are limited or null.

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