The self and schizophrenia: a cognitive approach

2003 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Nieznanski

The aim of the study was to explore the basic features of self-schema in persons with schizophrenia. Thirty two schizophrenic patients and 32 normal controls were asked to select personality trait words from a check-list that described themselves, themselves as they were five years ago, and what most people are like. Compared with the control group, participants from the experimental group chose significantly more adjectives that were common to descriptions of self and others, and significantly less that were common to self and past-self descriptions. These results suggest that schizophrenic patients experience their personality as changing over time much more than do healthy subjects. Moreover, their self-representation seems to be less differentiated from others-representation and less clearly defined than in normal subjects.

Author(s):  
Tamkeen Fatima ◽  
Farah Zeb ◽  
A. Dar Farooq

Background: CYP2D6 is to be considered the most pronounced gene in pharmacegenetic field which is involved in metabolizing ~25% of all clinically used neuroleptic drugs and other antidepressants. We designed a study to evaluate differential expression of CYP2D6*4 and CYP2D6*10 variants which are very prevalent in Asian countries and exhibit variation in drug metabolizing ability that affect therapeutic responses. Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the genotypic frequencies of CYP2D6 *1 (normal metabolizer), *4 (poor metabolizer) and *10 (intermediate metabolizer) variants among schizophrenic subjects and compared with control group from a sub-set of Karachi population. Method: Genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA ) was extracted and amplified with CYP2D6*4 and *10 primers using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and digested by Bacillus stereothermophilus (BstN1) and Hemophilus parahemolyticus (Hph1) restriction enzymes. The digested bands were identified as wild type or mutants and their genotypic frequencies were estimated statistically by Hardy-Weinberg equation (HWE) and analyzed further under non-parametric Chi-square test. Results: The results mentioned the frequencies of CYP2D6*1 wild allele (57%) which produces functional enzyme in normal subjects but CYP2D6*4 variant (9%) that produces non-functional enzyme and CYP2D6*10 allele (70%) produces altered enzyme with reduced activity that was most prevalent in schizophrenic patients. Conclusion : Genotyping of CYP2D6 alleles among schizophrenic patients indicated prevalence of *4 and *10 variants in Karachi population producing non-functional and reduced functional drugs metabolizing enzymes respectively that increases the incurability rate of schizophrenia. Therefore, CYP2D6 gene screening program should be conducted routinely in clinical practice to help clinicians to prescribing appropriate doses according to patient’s genotype and minimize the sufferings of schizophrenia. Discussion: In last, drug response is a complex phenomenon that is dependent on genetic and environmental factors. CYP2D6 polymorphism may un-cured the schizophrenia due to improper drug metabolism and protein-proteins interaction that may alter the antipsychotic drugs metabolism among patients with variable drug resposes. Gene testing system need to establish for analyzing maximum patient’s genotypes predicted with poor metabolizer, intermediate metabolizer and ultrarapid metabolizer for the adjustment of antipsychotic drugs.


1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne B. Sereno ◽  
Philip S. Holzman

Saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements were recorded in three groups of subjects: a schizophrenic group, a non-schizophrenic psychotic patient comparison group, and a normal control group. Schizophrenic subjects demonstrated a greater decrease in saccadic response time than did normal controls in a gap task (when the fixation point was turned off 150 msec before the target appeared). The psychiatric comparison subjects did not differ from normal controls. Further, only schizophrenic subjects demonstrated a relation between smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movement performance, such that subjects with impaired smooth pursuit showed a larger decrease in saccadic response time in the gap task. The relation between performance on the gap task and quality of smooth pursuit and its relevance for a prefrontal deficit hypothesis of schizophrenia are discussed.


1980 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-375
Author(s):  
Milton Turbiner ◽  
Robert M. Derman

This study was designed to assess the discriminative capacity of a visual-searching task for brain damage, as described by Goldstein and Kyc (1978) , for 10 hospitalized male, brain-damaged patients, 10 hospitalized male schizophrenic patients, and 10 normal subjects in a control group, all of whom were approximately 65 yr. old. The derived data indicated, at a statistically significant level, that the visual-searching task was effective in successfully classifying 80% of the brain-damaged sample when compared to the schizophrenic patients and discriminating 90% of the brain-damaged patients from normal subjects.


2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 514-515
Author(s):  
Tomasz Kleszczewski ◽  
Wiesław Rutkiewicz

AbstractThe authors developed a method of measuring the fractal box dimension of the human eyeball movement.We found a fractal property in schizophrenic subjects (n = 20) and normal controls (n = 20). The value of the fractal box dimension for schizophrenic patients differs from the results obtained in the control group.


2000 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeol-Woong Sung ◽  
Min-Han Lee ◽  
In-Jung Kim ◽  
Dong-Woo Lim ◽  
Ki-Sang Rha ◽  
...  

The nasal cycle in patients with septal deviation was studied by acoustic rhinometric techniques. This study included 24 patients with anteriorly located septal deviations (mean age = 23.5), and 26 normal controls (mean age = 24.7). Data of MCA (minimum cross-sectional area) and NV (nasal volume), collected in 20-minute intervals, were plotted for each subject during 8 hours. Twenty of 24 patients (83%) with septal deviation and 20 of 26 normal subjects (77%) showed at least one complete cycle. Duration of the nasal cycle, which ranged from 100 minutes to 400 minutes, had no statistical difference between the septal deviation group (mean duration of 216 minutes) and the normal control group (mean duration of 227 minutes). The degrees of variation of MCA and NV, defined as Degree of Variation of MCA (%) = 100 (MCAmax – MCAmin)/MCAmax, Degree of Variation of NV (%) = 100 (NVmax – NVmin)/NVmax, which represent the percent change of MCA and NV throughout the study, showed no difference between the wide side and the narrow side, or between the septal deviation group and the normal control group. These findings suggest that the nasal cycle is relatively independent of peripheral anatomic factors for its generation. However, the amplitude of changes of MCA was greater in the wide side, and the sum of both MCAs tended to fluctuate in accordance with the fluctuation of MCA of the wide side. Thus, the nasal cycle seemed to be affected by septal deviation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-257
Author(s):  
JB Khatri ◽  
BK Goit ◽  
A Subedi

An intelligence deficit in schizophrenia is common and is associated with relapse and occupational impairment. The study aims to examine the intelligence quotient of schizophrenic patients and to compare with those of general population. This was a case control study where 30 adult schizophrenic patients between 15 to 45 years were enrolled from the inpatient and outpatient Psychiatry Department of Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal. For control group, 30 normal subjects were enrolled from the general population matched with case group. The intelligence quotients were assessed by Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. The prevalence of intelligence deficit was 76.7% in the schizophrenic patients. The mean intelligence quotient was 84.80 with standard deviation of 6.53 in patients with schizophrenia. The intelligence quotient was average or above average in all the general populations. The mean intelligence quotient was 110.63 with standard deviation of 8.74 in the general population. The study concluded that the schizophrenic patients performed poorer in intelligence quotient than the general population


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Morrison-Stewart ◽  
D. Velikonja ◽  
W. C. Corning ◽  
P. Williamson

SynopsisThirty schizophrenic patients (20 medicated, 10 off medication) were compared with 30 normal controls subjects matched for age, sex, handedness and intelligence. During the performance of a frontal activation task, normal subjects showed increased interhemispheric coherence between anterior brain regions. Schizophrenic patients did not show the same amount of bilateral anterior activation. During the performance of right hemisphere cognitive activation tasks, normal subjects and medicated schizophrenic patients showed significantly reduced bilateral interhemispheric coherence patterns, while the drug-free schizophrenic patients showed a trend towards this same pattern. It is suggested that these findings provide additional evidence for an aberrant functional organization of the brain in schizophrenia.


1972 ◽  
Vol 120 (555) ◽  
pp. 173-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Payne ◽  
D. V. Hawks ◽  
D. Friedlander ◽  
D. S. Hart

Cameron (1938, 1939) suggested that schizophrenic thought disorder is largely the result of overinclusive thinking, which he defined as the inability to preserve conceptual boundaries. Payne, Matussek and George (1959) developed a battery of objective measures of overinclusive thinking, which they found differentiated between an acute schizophrenic and a neurotic control group. Payne and Hewlett (1960) found that a battery of tests of overinclusive thinking intercorrelated as expected. They were able to obtain a factor score from their overinclusion test battery which differentiated a group of acute schizophrenic patients from control groups of depressives, neurotics and normal subjects. Payne and Friedlander (1962), on the basis of this factorial study, suggested a short battery of three measures of overinclusive thinking consisting of the number of ‘Non-A’ or unusual responses to the Object Classification Test (Payne, 1962), the average number of words used in explaining the Benjamin Proverbs given under special 'stress free’ instructions, and the average number of objects classified together in the ‘handing over’ section of the Goldstein-Scheerer Object Sorting Test. This standard test battery has been the operational definition of overinclusive thinking in a number of studies. Only one study of the reliability of this test battery appears to have been carried out. Hawks and Payne (1971) report the correlations obtained from a group of 54 psychiatric inpatients who were retested after a 4-day interval. The test-retest correlation coefficient (uncorrected) obtained from the Combined Transformed score (Payne and Friedlander, 1962) was 0 · 87. The reliabilities of the individual tests ranged from 0·77 to 0·86.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 417
Author(s):  
Jung Geun Park ◽  
Bo Young Hong ◽  
Hae-Yeon Park ◽  
Yeun Jie Yoo ◽  
Mi-Jeong Yoon ◽  
...  

A stroke may be followed by central post-stroke pain (CPSP), which is characterized by chronic neuropathic pain. The exact mechanism has not yet been fully uncovered. We investigated alterations in the white matters in patients with CPSP, compared with stroke patients without CPSP and normal controls. Our retrospective cross-sectional, case-control study participants were assigned to three groups: CPSP (stroke patients with CPSP (n = 17)); stroke control (stroke patients without CPSP (n = 26)); and normal control (normal subjects (n = 34)). The investigation of white matter for CPSP was focused on the values of fiber numbers (FN) and fractional anisotrophy (FA) for spinothalamic tract (STT), anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), superior thalamic radiation (STR) and posterior thalamic radiation (PTR), and corticospinal tract (CST) was measured. The FA for the STT and STR of the CPSP group were lower than those for the stroke control and normal control groups. The FA of CST and ATR did not differ between the CPSP and stroke groups, but both differed from the normal control. The FA of PTR in the stroke control group differed from the normal control group, but not from the CPSP group. The FN of CST, STT, ATR, and STR for the CPSP and stroke control groups did not differ from each other, but both differed from those of normal controls. FN of PTR did not differ between the CPSP and normal control groups. The alterations in the spinothalamic tract and superior thalamic radiation after stroke would play a role in the pathogenesis of CPSP.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 238-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos I. M. Egger ◽  
Marian Gringhuis ◽  
Marinus A. Breteler ◽  
Hubert R. A. De Mey ◽  
Ellen Wingbermühle ◽  
...  

Objective:Psychometric research in the field of alcohol dependence has concentrated on identifying certain (personality) characteristics (i.e. typologies). This paper is aimed to identify such typologies and studies the relation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and Cloninger’s temperament-character inventory (TCI).Method:To find MMPI-2 scales associated with maximization of group differences between 222 DSM-IV alcohol dependent inpatients and a control group of 222 normal subjects, discriminant analysis was used. In addition, a cluster analysis was performed with these scales, and the MMPI-2 mean scale values of the resulting patient clusters were examined for their TCI-correlates.Results:The discriminant analyses showed several MMPI-2 scales that could clearly distinguish between alcohol-dependent patients and the normal controls. Cluster analysis resulted in semantically different MMPI-2 profiles implying qualitatively different groups of patients. When related to TCI scales, these differences revealed harm avoidance, self-directedness, and persistence, amongst others, as important elements in the description of the clusters.Conclusion:Evidence for the validity of MMPI-2 constructs as well as those of the TCI in the assessment of alcohol-dependent patients was provided.


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