Positive and Negative Symptoms and the Thematic Organisation of Schizophrenic Speech

1984 ◽  
Vol 144 (6) ◽  
pp. 611-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidelinde A. Allen

SummaryThis study questions the prevailing view that schizophrenic delusions, hallucinations and incoherence of speech (positive symptoms) reflect loss of cognitive control and that flattening of affect and poverty of speech (negative symptoms) reflect restriction of cognitive processing.The prevailing view was examined by analysing the thematic organisation of speech produced by 18 patients describing pictures. Results showed that (a) positive and negative symptom schizophrenics did not differ in the control and restriction of thematic speech organisation; (b) speech disordered schizophrenics, positive as well as negative, showed cognitive restriction, by producing fewer inferential ideas than non-speech disordered schizophrenics.The wider implications of these results are discussed, particularly the implications of (b) for the notion of concreteness in schizophrenia.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy D. Vanes ◽  
Elias Mouchlianitis ◽  
Krisna Patel ◽  
Erica Barry ◽  
Katie Wong ◽  
...  

Abstract Psychotic illness is associated with cognitive control deficits and abnormal recruitment of neural circuits subserving cognitive control. It is unclear to what extent this dysfunction underlies the development and/or maintenance of positive and negative symptoms typically observed in schizophrenia. In this study we compared fMRI activation on a standard Stroop task and its relationship with positive and negative symptoms in early psychosis (EP, N = 88) and chronic schizophrenia (CHR-SZ, N = 38) patients. CHR-SZ patients showed reduced frontal, striatal, and parietal activation across incongruent and congruent trials compared to EP patients. Higher positive symptom severity was associated with reduced activation across both trial types in supplementary motor area (SMA), middle temporal gyrus and cerebellum in EP, but not CHR-SZ patients. Higher negative symptom severity was associated with reduced cerebellar activation in EP, but not in CHR-SZ patients. A negative correlation between negative symptoms and activation in SMA and precentral gyrus was observed in EP patients and in CHR-SZ patients. The results suggest that the neural substrate of positive symptoms changes with illness chronicity, and that cognitive control related neural circuits may be most relevant in the initial development phase of positive symptoms. These findings also highlight a changing role for the cerebellum in the development and later maintenance of both positive and negative symptoms.


1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 787-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidelinde A. Allen

SynopsisThe present study examined a prominent symptom subtype conception of the psychopathology of schizophrenia. It analysed the presumed dichotomy between hallucinations, delusions and formal thought disorder as positive symptoms and flattening of affect and poverty of speech as negative symptoms, and tested predictions concerning the nature of the mediating processes of positive and negative symptoms. Four different analyses were applied to the transcripts of speech produced by 9 normals, 10 chronic schizophrenics with only positive symptoms of whom 7 had incoherence of speech, and 9 chronic schizophrenics with only negative symptoms of whom 4 had poverty of speech. The conception of the nature of the mediating processes of positive and negative symptoms was not supported by the results. Further, a clear dichotomy between positive and negative symptom groups was not shown to exist, because positive speech disorder and negative speech disorder did not follow the presupposed dichotomy. Thus, contrary to existing conceptions of speech disorder in schizophrenia, both positive and negative speech disorder are marked by poverty of thought, as measured by the production of fewer and shorter ideas and lower speech variability.


1990 ◽  
Vol 157 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Mortimer ◽  
C. E. Lund ◽  
P. J. McKenna

Two studies are reported. In the first, of 62 schizophrenic patients, no correlation between negative symptom scores (rated blindly) and any measure of positive symptoms was found. This independence was confirmed by factor and cluster analyses, which left the question of a third ‘disorganisation’ class of schizophrenic symptoms open. In the second study, of 80 patients, formal thought disorder separated unequivocally into ‘positive formal thought disorder’ and ‘alogia’ syndromes on the basis of correlations with positive and negative symptoms. Catatonic motor disorder also showed evidence of a corresponding positive: negative division, although this only emerged when severity or chronicity of illness was controlled for. Cognitive impairment showed a broad range of affiliations and its particular correlation with negative symptoms was perhaps artefactual.


Author(s):  
Zohreh Parsamoein ◽  
Shokouh-Alsadat Banijamali ◽  
Gholamreza Sarami forushani

Introduction: The use of rehabilitation treatments along with drug therapy can greatly help in the treatment of schizophrenic patients and their return to society. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Community Re-entry Program on improving insight in people with schizophrenia.Methods: The present study is a pre-test, post-test clinical trial with the statistical population including all patients with schizophrenia admitted to the Tolue rehabilitation center. For this purpose, 40 patients admitted to Tolue Rehabilitation Center who met the inclusion criteria were selected by convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 20) and control (n = 20) groups. The experimental group received a community Re-entry program for sixteen sessions. The groups were tested by Anderson's positive and negative symptoms questionnaire before and after the intervention, after completion and two months later. Data were analyzed using t-test for two independent groups, and covariance analysis by SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL; Version 18 Results: The results showed that patients in experimental group compared to control group after implementation of community Re-entry program on negative symptom scales (P = 0.000), disruption (P = 0.000), excitement (P = 0.000)). Anxiety, depression (P = 0.000), positive symptoms (P = 0.000) and total positive and negative symptoms (P = 0.000) at posttest and follow-up on negative symptom scales (P = 0.000). Significant differences were observed between rupture (P = 0.000), excitement (P = 0.01), anxiety and depression (P = 0.000), positive symptoms (P = 0.000) and total positive and negative symptoms (P = 0.001). (P-value<0/05).Conclusion: Psychosocial interventions improve insight in patients with schizophrenia


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
AiBao Zhou ◽  
Pei Xie ◽  
ChaoChao Pan ◽  
Zhe Tian ◽  
Junwei Xie

We explored differences in performance on the Synthetic House–Tree–Person Test between people with mainly positive symptoms and those with mainly negative symptoms of schizophrenia and, further, aimed to provide a basis for the diagnosis of schizophrenia symptom type. Participants were 58 people receiving treatment for schizophrenia, and we asked them to complete the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, and the Synthetic House–Tree–Person Test. There were significant differences in results on the Synthetic House–Tree–Person Test between the group with positive symptoms, the group with a mix of positive and negative symptoms, and the group with negative symptoms. There were 12 features of participants' drawings, such as big hands, which were correlated with hallucinations and delusions in positive symptoms, and 9 features, such as trees in a landscape, which were correlated with avolition and anhedonia in negative symptoms. Our study results suggest differences in performance on the Synthetic House–Tree–Person Test between these different symptom subtypes of schizophrenia; hence, the features that appear in drawings made during the test may contribute to the diagnosis of symptoms of people with schizophrenia.


1986 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy C. Andreasen ◽  
William M. Grove

SummaryMost investigators concur that schizophrenia is probably a heterogeneous group of disorders that share the common features of psychotic symptoms, partial response to neuroleptics, and a relatively poor outcome. The subdivision of schizophrenia into two subtypes, positive versus negative, has achieved wide acceptance throughout the world during recent years. This distinction has heuristic and theoretical appeal because it unites phenomenology, pathophysiology, and etiology into a single comprehensive hypothesis.In spite of its wide appeal, the distinction has a number of problems. These include the failure to distinguish between symptom syndromes and diseases; failure to deal with the mixed patient; failure to take longitudinal course into account; and failure to address conceptually and methodologically the distinction between positive and negative symptoms.This paper focuses primarily on the conceptual basis for two instruments designed to measure positive and negative symptoms, the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), originally described in 1982. Since their description, these scales have been used in a variety of other centers. These scales are based on the hypothesis that negative symptoms represent a deficit or diminution in normal psychological functions wliile positive symptoms represent an excess or distortion of normal functions. Reliability data are now available from Italy, Spain, and Japan which suggest that these scales can be used reliably in cultural settings outside the United States. The results of these studies are summarized in this paper. In addition, a replication study involving a new sample of 117 schizophrenics collected at the University of Iowa is described. In this second study of the SANS and SAPS, internal consistency is found to be quite high in the SANS. Thus negative symptoms appear to be more internally correlated with one another than are positive symptoms. The implications of this result are discussed. A principal components analysis is used to explore the relationship between positive and negative symptoms. While the study reported in 1982 suggested that positive and negative symptoms are negatively correlated, in the present study they appear to be uncorrelated. Overall, the results suggest that the SANS and SAPS are useful comprehensive instruments for the evaluation of positive and negative symptoms. The relationship between these symptoms and external validators such as cognitive functioning or CT scan abnormalities will be reported in a subsequent investigation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. s247-s248
Author(s):  
E. Ermakov ◽  
L. Smirnova ◽  
L. Sinyanskii ◽  
D. Dobrygina ◽  
A. Semke ◽  
...  

IntroductionAutoantibodies (Abs) to different neuronal receptors and DNA were detected in the blood of patients with schizophrenia. Abs hydrolyzing DNA were detected in pool of polyclonal autoantibodies in autoimmune and infectious diseases, such catalytic Abs were named abzymes.ObjectivesTo investigate the level of anti-DNA antibodies and DNA-hydrolyzing activity of IgG from the serum of patients with schizophrenia depending on leading clinical symptoms.Aims– To measure the concentration of anti-DNA Abs in serum of patients with leading positive and negative symptoms;– to determine DNA-hydrolyzing activity of IgG.MethodsIn our study, 51 patients were included. The levels of antiDNA Abs were determined using ELISA. DNA-hydrolyzing activity was detected as the level(%) of supercoiled pBluescript DNA transition in circular and linear forms. Statistical analysis was performed in “Statistica 9.0”.ResultsAnti-DNA Abs of patients with schizophrenia not only bind DNA, but quite efficiently hydrolyze the substrate. IgG of patient with schizophrenia were shown to possess DNA hydrolyzing activity. It should be noted that DNAase activity of IgG in patients with schizophrenia with a negative symptoms was significantly higher, than in patients with positive symptoms (Table 1).ConclusionsThe data show a correlation with the level of DNase activity and leading symptoms of patients with schizophrenia.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas M. Mantovani ◽  
Rodrigo Ferretjans ◽  
Iara M. Marçal ◽  
Amanda M. Oliveira ◽  
Fernanda C. Guimarães ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives: To investigate the determinants of family burden in a sample of patients with schizophrenia and their caregivers. Methods: Thirty-one stable patients with schizophrenia and their main caregivers were recruited. Sociodemographic variables were assessed in a semi-structured interview, and positive and negative symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Cognitive performance was assessed with the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS). Levels of burden on caregivers were assessed with the Family Burden Interview Schedule (FBIS). Interactions among variables were analyzed using Pearson correlations and linear regression analysis. Results: Objective and subjective FBIS scores were 1.9 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.5) and 2.4 (SD = 0.6) respectively. Objective burden correlated positively with positive and negative symptoms, and cognitive impairment. Subjective burden correlated positively with positive symptoms and negatively with mean age of disease onset. Positive, negative and cognitive symptoms accounted for 47.6% of the variance of objective burden, with negative symptoms accounting independently for 30.3%. Age of onset, parents as caregivers and positive symptoms accounted for 28% of the variance of subjective burden, with age of onset independently explaining 20.3%. Conclusion: Patients' clinical and sociodemographic variables are important determinants of family burden in schizophrenia. Objective burden is predicted by symptoms, particularly negative ones. Subjective burden is predicted by symptoms and sociodemographic variables, particularly age of disease onset.


1995 ◽  
Vol 166 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-Gwo Hwu ◽  
Happy Tan ◽  
Chu-Chang Chen ◽  
Ling-Ling Yeh

BackgroundThe clinical significance in schizophrenia of positive and negative symptoms at discharge was assessed.MethodOf schizophrenic patients fulfilling DSM–III criteria, 113 were recruited for this study. Personal, social and psychopathological data were collected and all cases were followed up at one and two years after discharge.ResultsThe presence of positive symptoms (64 cases), without concomitant negative symptoms, did not predict the follow-up social function and positive symptom score. Conversely, the presence of negative symptoms (31 cases) predicted worse social functioning (P < 0.05 to P < 0.005) and higher positive symptom scores (P < 0.01) at follow-up using MANOVA. Eighteen cases (15.9%) had neither positive nor negative symptoms and had the best clinical outcome.ConclusionsNegative, but not positive, symptoms assessed at discharge are an important predictor of poor outcome. In addition, negative symptoms may themselves expose a biological vulnerability to the presence of positive symptoms.


1996 ◽  
Vol 168 (6) ◽  
pp. 702-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen Yuen ◽  
Michael P. Caligiuri ◽  
Richard Williams ◽  
Ruth A. Dickson

BackgroundControversy surrounds the relationship between tardive dyskinesia (TD) and symptoms of schizophrenia. While some studies reported that negative symptoms of schizophrenia may be a risk factor for TD, others reported a relationship between TD and positive symptoms.MethodEighty-four patients were studied, of whom 47 met criteria for TD. Clinical and instrumental procedures were used to increase the sensitivity of our assessments of the presence and severity of TD. Stepwise logistic and linear regression procedures were used to identify demographic variables, psychopathology, and motor parameters associated with the presence and severity of TD.ResultsA 3-factor model consisting of age, clinical tremor, and negative symptoms explained 25% of the variance in clinical TD severity. A 6-factor model consisting of female gender, instrumental and clinical measures of parkinsonism, positive, and negative symptoms explained 49% of the variance in severity of instrumentally derived dyskinesia.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the presence of TD may be associated with positive symptoms; that the severity of TD may be related to negative symptoms; and that the relationship between negative symptoms and TD severity may be influenced by the presence of parkinsonism.


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