scholarly journals EEG Microstate Differences in Medicated vs. Medication-Naïve First-Episode Psychosis Patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amatya J. Mackintosh ◽  
Stefan Borgwardt ◽  
Erich Studerus ◽  
Anita Riecher-Rössler ◽  
Renate de Bock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antipsychotic Medication ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Chronic Schizophrenia ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Medication Effects ◽  
Class B ◽  
Eeg Recordings

There has been considerable interest in the role of synchronous brain activity abnormalities in the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders and their relevance for treatment; one index of such activity are EEG resting-state microstates. These reflect electric field configurations of the brain that persist over 60–120 ms time periods. A set of quasi-stable microstates classes A, B, C, and D have been repeatedly identified across healthy participants. Changes in microstate parameters coverage, duration and occurrence have been found in medication-naïve as well as medicated patients with psychotic disorders compared to healthy controls. However, to date, only two studies have directly compared antipsychotic medication effects on EEG microstates either pre- vs. post-treatment or between medicated and unmedicated chronic schizophrenia patients. The aim of this study was therefore to directly compare EEG resting-state microstates between medicated and medication-naïve (untreated) first-episode (FEP) psychosis patients (mFEP vs. uFEP). We used 19-channel clinical EEG recordings to compare temporal parameters of four prototypical microstate classes (A–D) within an overall sample of 47 patients (mFEP n = 17; uFEP n = 30). The results demonstrated significant decreases of microstate class A and significant increases of microstate class B in mFEP compared to uFEP. No significant differences between groups were found for microstate classes C and D. Further studies are needed to replicate these results in longitudinal designs that assess antipsychotic medication effects on neural networks at the onset of the disorder and over time during illness progression. As treatment response and compliance in FEP patients are relatively low, such studies could contribute to better understand treatment outcomes and ultimately improve treatment strategies.

scholarly journals Conditional Entropy: A Potential Digital Marker for Stress

Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 286
Author(s):  
Soheil Keshmiri
Keyword(s):  
Resting State ◽  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Solution Concept ◽  
Conditional Entropy ◽  
K Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Substantial Progress ◽  
Eeg Recordings ◽  
The Brain

Recent decades have witnessed a substantial progress in the utilization of brain activity for the identification of stress digital markers. In particular, the success of entropic measures for this purpose is very appealing, considering (1) their suitability for capturing both linear and non-linear characteristics of brain activity recordings and (2) their direct association with the brain signal variability. These findings rely on external stimuli to induce the brain stress response. On the other hand, research suggests that the use of different types of experimentally induced psychological and physical stressors could potentially yield differential impacts on the brain response to stress and therefore should be dissociated from more general patterns. The present study takes a step toward addressing this issue by introducing conditional entropy (CE) as a potential electroencephalography (EEG)-based resting-state digital marker of stress. For this purpose, we use the resting-state multi-channel EEG recordings of 20 individuals whose responses to stress-related questionnaires show significantly higher and lower level of stress. Through the application of representational similarity analysis (RSA) and K-nearest-neighbor (KNN) classification, we verify the potential that the use of CE can offer to the solution concept of finding an effective digital marker for stress.

An fMRI study of face encoding and recognition in first-episode schizophrenia

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anantha P. P. Anilkumar ◽  
Veena Kumari ◽  
Ravi Mehrotra ◽  
Ingrid Aasen ◽  
Martina T. Mitterschiffthaler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Face Recognition ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Chronic Schizophrenia ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
On Line ◽  
First Episode Schizophrenia

Background:Schizophrenia has been associated with limited abilities to interact effectively in social situations. Face perception and ability to recognise familiar faces are critical for social interaction. Patients with chronic schizophrenia are known to show impaired face recognition. Studying first-episode (FE) patients allows the exclusion of confounding effects of chronicity, medication and institutionalisation in this deficit.Objective:To determine brain (dys)functions during a face encoding and recognition paradigm in FE schizophrenia.Methods:Thirteen antipsychotic-naïve FE schizophrenia patients and 13 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a face encoding and recognition paradigm. Behavioural responses were recorded on line.Results:Patients recognised significantly fewer of previously presented faces than the controls (p = 0.008). At the neural level, both groups activated a network of regions including the fusiform area, occipital, temporal and frontal regions. In brain activity, the two groups did not differ in any region during encoding or recognition conditions (p > 0.05, corrected or uncorrected).Conclusions:Our findings show impaired face recognition without a significant alteration of related brain activity in FE schizophrenia patients. It is possible that neural changes become more strongly evident with progression of the illness, and manifest themselves as behavioural impairments during the early course.

Cognitive Deficits in First Episode Schizophrenia

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
S. Galderisi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Duration Of Untreated Psychosis ◽  
Baseline Evaluation ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
First Episode Schizophrenia

Cognitive deficits are increasingly recognized as key features of schizophrenia, important determinants of poor psychosocial outcome and targets for treatment strategies. The huge literature on the topic made it clear that cognitive impairment is present in the majority of subjects with schizophrenia, is not an epiphenomenon of symptoms, is a risk factor for psychotic disorders and seems to contribute to poor functional outcome more than symptoms. However, relationships of cognitive impairment with symptoms, drug treatment and duration of untreated psychosis remain controversial and studies involving large cohorts of first episode schizophrenia patients are highly needed to address these topics adequately. The European First Episode Schizophrenia Trial collected demographic, clinical, psychosocial and cognitive baseline data in 498 first episode patients with schizophrenia, schizophreniform or schizoaffective disorder, with minimal or no prior exposure to antipsychotics, and in 220 healthy subjects, comparable with patients for age, sex, race and education level of parents. Z scores of the examined cognitive abilities (number of standard deviations below the comparison group means) ranged from -0.88 to -1.73. No association was found between the duration of untreated psychosis and cognitive impairment. Psychopathological dimensions were weakly correlated with cognitive impairment both at baseline evaluation and after six months of treatment.According to EUFEST findings, cognitive impairment in patients with first-episode schizophrenia is moderate/severe, has no association with the duration of untreated psychosis, involves several domains of cognition, and is largely independent from psychopathology.

Change in cannabis use, clinical symptoms and social functioning among patients with first-episode psychosis: a 5-year follow-up study of patients in the OPUS trial

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Clausen ◽  
C. R. Hjorthøj ◽  
A. Thorup ◽  
P. Jeppesen ◽  
L. Petersen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antipsychotic Medication ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
First Episode Psychosis ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Episode Psychosis

BackgroundSeveral studies indicate that cannabis use among patients with psychotic disorders is associated with worse outcome, but only a few studies have controlled for baseline condition and medication.MethodAt 5-year follow-up, interviews were carried out with 314 first-episode psychosis patients included in the OPUS trial. The patients included were in the age range of 18 to 45 years old and 59% were male. Cannabis use was extracted from the Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry. At follow-up, the patients were divided into different groups according to the variable cannabis use: abstainers, stoppers, starters and continuers. Psychotic, negative and disorganized dimensions (ranging from zero to five) were calculated for each of the four groups based on the Schedule for the Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia.ResultsCannabis users were younger (24.6 years v. 27.4 years, p < 0.001) and had a lower level of education. At the 5-year follow-up, users of cannabis had higher scores on the psychotic dimension [difference 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41–1.53, p = 0.001] and lower levels of the Global Assessment of Functioning (difference 8.26, 95% CI 2.13–14.39, p = 0.01). Those who stopped using cannabis between entry and 5-year follow-up had a significantly lower level of psychotic symptoms at 5-year follow-up even after controlling for baseline level of psychotic symptoms and for insufficient antipsychotic medication (adjusted difference in psychotic dimension –1.04, 95% CI –1.77 to –0.31, p = 0.006).ConclusionsContinuous cannabis use was associated with higher levels of psychotic symptoms after 5 years, and this association was only partly explained by insufficient antipsychotic medication.

scholarly journals Dynamics of brain function in chronic pain patients assessed by microstate analysis of resting-state electroencephalography

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth S. May ◽  
Cristina Gil Ávila ◽  
Son Ta Dinh ◽  
Henrik Heitmann ◽  
Vanessa D. Hohn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Eyes Closed ◽  
Eyes Open ◽  
Eeg Recordings ◽  
Microstate Analysis

AbstractChronic pain is a highly prevalent and severely disabling disease, which is associated with substantial changes of brain function. Such changes have mostly been observed when analyzing static measures of brain activity during the resting-state. However, brain activity varies over time and it is increasingly recognized that the temporal dynamics of brain activity provide behaviorally relevant information in different neuropsychiatric disorders. Here, we therefore investigated whether the temporal dynamics of brain function are altered in chronic pain. To this end, we applied microstate analysis to eyes-open and eyes-closed resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) data of 101 patients suffering from chronic pain and 88 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Microstate analysis describes EEG activity as a sequence of a limited number of topographies termed microstates, which remain stable for tens of milliseconds. Our results revealed that sequences of 5 microstates, labelled with the letters A to E, described resting-state brain activity in both groups and conditions. Bayesian analysis of the temporal characteristics of microstates revealed that microstate D has a less predominant role in patients than in healthy participants. This difference was consistently found in eyes-open and eyes-closed EEG recordings. No evidence for differences in other microstates was found. As microstate D has been previously related to attentional networks and functions, abnormalities of microstate D might relate to dysfunctional attentional processes in chronic pain. These findings add to the understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic pain and might eventually contribute to the development of an EEG-based biomarker of chronic pain.

Cigarette smoking, psychopathology and cognitive function in first-episode drug-naive patients with schizophrenia: a case-control study

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 1651-1660 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Y. Zhang ◽  
D. C. Chen ◽  
M. H. Xiu ◽  
C. N. Haile ◽  
S. C. He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
General Population ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Chronic Schizophrenia ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Positive Symptom ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Drug Naïve

BackgroundAlthough patients with chronic schizophrenia have substantially higher smoking rates than either the general population or patients with other mental illnesses, drug-naive patients with a first episode of schizophrenia have received little systemic study. This study examined smoking rates, the association between smoking and symptom severity and cognitive function in Chinese first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients using cross-sectional and case-control designs.MethodTwo hundred and forty-four drug-naive FES patients and 256 healthy controls matched for gender, age and education completed the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). Patients were also rated on the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS).ResultsThe rate and quantity of smoking were not significantly higher among FES patients compared to the general population. Among patients, smokers scored higher than non-smokers on the total PANSS and the positive symptom subscale scores. There were no significant associations between cognitive function and smoking in either FES patients or healthy controls.ConclusionsIn contrast to studies in patients with chronic schizophrenia, drug-naive FES patients did not smoke more frequently than the general population. Furthermore, patients with psychotic disorders who smoked did not exhibit significant cognitive differences compared with those who did not smoke. However, smoking may have other detrimental effects on physical and mental health, for example on positive symptoms.

Research and treatment strategies in first-episode psychoses: The Pittsburgh experience

1998 ◽  
Vol 172 (S33) ◽  
pp. 60-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. Keshavan ◽  
N. R. Schooler ◽  
J. A. Sweeney ◽  
G. L. Haas ◽  
J. W. Pettegrew
Keyword(s):  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Model ◽  
First Choice ◽  
Imaging And Spectroscopy ◽  
Spectroscopy Studies ◽  
First Episode Schizophrenia ◽  
The Impact

Background Studies of first-episode patients allow investigation of the biological basis of psychotic disorders without the potential confounds of prior treatment and illness chronicity. Prospective studies of this population can clarify the impact of illness course and treatment on neurobiology.Method We summarise preliminary findings from our ongoing magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy studies of first-episode schizophrenia patients being conducted prospectively from index evaluations through a period of two years; during this period, patients were treated with either a conventional antipsychotic such as haloperidol, or the atypical risperidone.Results Baseline neurobiological evaluations in first-episode schizophrenia patients have revealed evidence for structural and functional brain abnormalities consistent with a neurodevelopmental model of this illness. Our preliminary data support the value of risperidone as an antipsychotic drug of first choice among patients with early schizophrenic illness.Conclusions Focused studies of first-episode patients have the potential to unravel pathophysiology of schizophrenic illness. Such knowledge is critical for more effective early detection, intervention and even prevention of this enigmatic disorder.

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