Sensorimotor Gating and Attitudes Related to Schizotypal Proneness

2001 ◽  
Vol 88 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1035-1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almut I. Weike ◽  
Alfons O. Hamm ◽  
Dieter Vaitl
Keyword(s):  
Prepulse Inhibition ◽  
Sensorimotor Gating ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Eyeblink Response ◽  
Startle Eyeblink ◽  
Psychosis Proneness ◽  
Gating Mechanism ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Information Processing Deficits

The magnitude of the startle eyeblink response is diminished when the startle-eliciting probe is shortly preceded by another stimulus. This so called prepulse inhibition is interpreted as an automatic sensorimotor gating mechanism. There is substantial support for prepulse inhibition deficits in subjects suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders and in psychosis-prone normals as well. Thus, prepulse inhibition deficits may reflect vulnerability on the hypothesized psychopathological continuum from “normal” to “schizophrenia.” The present experiment investigated the amount of prepulse inhibition in a sample selected for “belief in extraordinary phenomena,” an attitude related to measures of psychosis-proneness. Believers and skeptics were tested in an acoustic prepulse-inhibition paradigm. As expected, presentation of prepulses clearly diminished magnitude of startle response, with greatest inhibition effects gained by lead intervals of 60 and 120 msec. Patterns of response were identical for believers and skeptics, i.e., attitude towards extraordinary phenomena did not seem to be related to functional information-processing deficits as has been observed in psychosis-prone normals.

Cognitive and Prepulse Inhibition Deficits in Psychometrically High Schizotypal Subjects in the General Population: Relevance to Schizophrenia Research

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella G. Giakoumaki
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
General Population ◽  
Prepulse Inhibition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Attention And Memory ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Schizotypal Personality ◽  
Psychosis Proneness ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractSchizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder share common clinical profiles, neurobiological and genetic substrates along with Prepulse Inhibition and cognitive deficits; among those, executive, attention, and memory dysfunctions are more consistent. Schizotypy is considered to be a non-specific “psychosis-proneness,” and understanding the relationship between schizotypal traits and cognitive function in the general population is a promising approach for endophenotypic research in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In this review, findings for executive function, attention, memory, and Prepulse Inhibition impairments in psychometrically defined schizotypal subjects have been summarized and compared to schizophrenia patients and their unaffected first-degree relatives. Cognitive flexibility, sustained attention, working memory, and Prepulse Inhibition impairments were consistently reported in high schizotypal subjects in accordance to schizophrenia patients. Genetic studies assessing the effects of various candidate gene polymorphisms in schizotypal traits and cognitive function are promising, further supporting a polygenic mode of inheritance. The implications of the findings, methodological issues, and suggestions for future research are discussed. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1–14)

scholarly journals Perspective-taking abilities in the balance between autism tendencies and psychosis proneness

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1808) ◽  
pp. 20150563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad M. Abu-Akel ◽  
Stephen J. Wood ◽  
Peter C. Hansen ◽  
Ian A. Apperly
Keyword(s):  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Normal Variation ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Psychosis Proneness ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Co Morbidity ◽  
Brain Theory ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Opposing Effects

Difficulties with the ability to appreciate the perspective of others (mentalizing) is central to both autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. While the disorders are diagnostically independent, they can co-occur in the same individual. The effect of such co-morbidity is hypothesized to worsen mentalizing abilities. The recent influential ‘diametric brain theory’, however, suggests that the disorders are etiologically and phenotypically diametrical, predicting opposing effects on one's mentalizing abilities. To test these contrasting hypotheses, we evaluated the effect of psychosis and autism tendencies on the perspective-taking (PT) abilities of 201 neurotypical adults, on the assumption that autism tendencies and psychosis proneness are heritable dimensions of normal variation. We show that while both autism tendencies and psychosis proneness induce PT errors, their interaction reduced these errors. Our study is, to our knowledge, the first to observe that co-occurring autistic and psychotic traits can exert opposing influences on performance, producing a normalizing effect possibly by way of their diametrical effects on socio-cognitive abilities. This advances the notion that some individuals may, to some extent, be buffered against developing either illness or present fewer symptoms owing to a balanced expression of autistic and psychosis liability.

scholarly journals Schizotypy and brain structure: a voxel-based morphometry study

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 1423-1431 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Modinos ◽  
A. Mechelli ◽  
J. Ormel ◽  
N. A. Groenewold ◽  
A. Aleman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Chronic Schizophrenia ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Voxel Based Morphometry ◽  
Schizotypal Personality ◽  
Psychosis Proneness ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

BackgroundSchizotypy is conceptualized as a subclinical manifestation of the same underlying biological factors that give rise to schizophrenia and other schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Individuals with psychometric schizotypy (PS) experience subthreshold psychotic signs and can be psychometrically identified among the general population. Previous research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has shown gray-matter volume (GMV) abnormalities in chronic schizophrenia, in subjects with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) and in individuals with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). However, to date, no studies have investigated the neuroanatomical correlates of PS.MethodSix hundred first- and second-year university students completed the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), a self-report instrument on psychosis proneness measuring attenuated positive psychotic experiences. A total of 38 subjects with high and low PS were identified and subsequently scanned with MRI. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was applied to examine GMV differences between subjects with high and low positive PS.ResultsSubjects with high positive PS showed larger global volumes compared to subjects with low PS, and larger regional volumes in the medial posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the precuneus. There were no regions where GMV was greater in low than in high positive PS subjects.ConclusionsThese regions, the PCC and precuneus, have also been sites of volumetric differences in MRI studies of ARMS subjects and schizophrenia, suggesting that psychotic or psychotic-like experiences may have common neuroanatomical correlates across schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Screening Adolescents for Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Cornblatt ◽  
M. Obuchowski ◽  
S. Roberts ◽  
S. Pollack ◽  
L. Erienmeyer-Kimling
Keyword(s):  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Sleep and cognition in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review protocol.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Carruthers ◽  
Gemma Brunetti ◽  
Susan Rossell
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Systematic Review Protocol ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Review Protocol ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Sleep And Cognition ◽  
The Relationship

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are chronic and debilitating mental illnesses characterised by both cognitive impairments and sleep deficits. In this systematic review protocol, we outline an approach to examine the available literature investigating the relationship between sleep and cognition in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

scholarly journals Randomised controlled trial of Compensatory Cognitive Training and a Computerised Cognitive Remediation programme

Trials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Dark ◽  
Ellie Newman ◽  
Victoria Gore-Jones ◽  
Veronica De Monte ◽  
Marta I. Garrido ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
Outcome Measures ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Cognitive Interventions ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Randomised Controlled

Abstract Background Compensation and adaptation therapies have been developed to improve community functioning via improving neurocognitive abilities in people with schizophrenia. Various modes of delivering compensation and adaptation therapies have been found to be effective. The aim of this trial is to compare two different cognitive interventions, Compensatory Cognitive Training (CCT) and Computerised Interactive Remediation of Cognition–Training for Schizophrenia (CIRCuiTS). The trial also aims to identify if mismatch negativity (MMN) can predict an individual’s response to the compensation and adaptation programmes. Methods This study will use a randomised, controlled trial of two cognitive interventions to compare the impact of these programmes on measures of neurocognition and function. One hundred clinically stable patients aged between 18 and 65 years with a diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder will be recruited. Participants will be randomised to either the CCT or the CIRCuiTS therapy groups. The outcome measures are neurocognition (BACS), subjective sense of cognitive impairment (SSTICS), social functioning (SFS), and MMN (measured by EEG) in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Discussion This trial will determine whether different approaches to addressing the cognitive deficits found in schizophrenia spectrum disorders are of comparable benefit using the outcome measures chosen. This has implications for services where cost and lack of computer technology limit the implementation and dissemination of interventions to address cognitive impairment in routine practice. The trial will contribute to the emerging evidence of MMN as a predictor of response to cognitive interventions. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12618000161224. Registered on 2 February 2018. Protocol version: 4.0, 18 June 2018.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document