Association of Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia Assessed by the BNSS and SNS Scales With Neuropsychological Performance: A Gender Effect

Objective: The relationship between negative symptoms and neurocognitive performance in schizophrenia is well documented, but the mechanism of these connections remains unclear. The study aims to measure the relationship between the results on the new scales for the assessment of negative symptoms such as Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) and Self-evaluation of Negative Symptoms (SNS), and the results of some neurocognition tests. The second aim is to assess a possible gender effect on these associations.Methods: The study included 80 patients (40 men, 40 women) with schizophrenia, aged 19–63 (mean 38 years), during the improvement period (total PANSS score <80, unchanged pharmacological treatment in the last 3 weeks). They were assessed using the BNSS, SNS, Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scales, and the tests for neuropsychological performance such as the Trail Making Test (TMT-A, TMT-B), Stroop Color-Word Interference Test, Verbal fluency tests (VFT), Category fluency test (CFT), and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST).Results: Male patients obtained higher scores than females on some PANSS and BNSS items. No gender differences were observed for the SNS scale. Female patients scored better in the PSP and CFT. In male patients, a significant positive correlation between the intensity of negative symptoms measured by the BNSS and the results of PSP with the Trail Making Test was observed. In female patients, we found a positive correlation between the results of BNSS and PSP with the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test.Conclusion: The obtained results confirm the relationship between negative symptoms and neurocognition in schizophrenia patients. However, in male and female patients such association was observed for different cognitive domains. Further research is needed to explain the nature of these differences.

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Neuropsychological Correlates of Hazard Perception in Older Adults

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617715001253 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 332-340 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Katalina McInerney ◽

Julie Suhr

Keyword(s):

Executive Functioning ◽

Block Design ◽

Driving Ability ◽

Neuropsychological Performance ◽

Trail Making Test ◽

Hazard Perception ◽

Neuropsychological Correlates ◽

Trail Making ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

AbstractObjectives: Hazard perception, the ability to identify and react to hazards while driving, is of growing importance in driving research, given its strong relationship to real word driving variables. Furthermore, although poor hazard perception is associated with novice drivers, recent research suggests that it declines with advanced age. In the present study, we examined the neuropsychological correlates of hazard perception in a healthy older adult sample. Methods: A total of 68 adults age 60 and older who showed no signs of dementia and were active drivers completed a battery of neuropsychological tests as well as a hazard perception task. Tests included the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, Wechsler Test of Adult Reading, Trail Making Test, Block Design, Useful Field of View, and the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Color Word Interference Test. Results: Hazard perception errors were related to visuospatial/constructional skills, processing speed, memory, and executive functioning skills, with a battery of tests across these domains accounting for 36.7% of the variance in hazard perception errors. Executive functioning, particularly Trail Making Test part B, emerged as a strong predictor of hazard perception ability. Conclusions: Consistent with prior work showing the relationship of neuropsychological performance to other measures of driving ability, neuropsychological performance was associated with hazard perception skill. Future studies should examine the relationship of neuropsychological changes in adults who are showing driving impairment and/or cognitive changes associated with Mild Cognitive Impairment or dementia. (JINS, 2015, 21, 332–340)

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Neurocognitive deficits in clinical polymorphism of schizophrenia: typology, expression and syndromal overlaps

Bulletin of Siberian Medicine ◽

10.20538/1682-0363-2019-2-107-118 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 107-118 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. N. Kornetov ◽

E. G. Kornetova ◽

A. V. Golenkova ◽

S. M. Kozlova ◽

M. B. Arzhanik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Deficits ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Visual Memory ◽

Color Word ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Trail Making Test ◽

Neurocognitive Deficits ◽

Benton Visual Retention Test ◽

Interference Test ◽

Trail Making

Objective. The authors tried to identify the typology, severity and overlap of neurocognitive deficits with positive/negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Materials and methods. Fifty patients aged 22–55 years (25 women (50%) and 25 men (50%)) with schizophrenia diagnosed according to ICD-10 were examined. The average age was 38.0 ± 4.8 years, the average age of onset was 23 ± 3.2 years, the average disease duration was 15 ± 3.7 years. The patients were examined using battery tests to quantify their cognitive functions: Trail Making Test A&B; Stroop Color Word Interference Test; Verbal Fluency; Benton Visual Retention Test; 10 words learning; WAIS Digit Symbol Test; and WAIS Trail Making Test. The evaluation of cognitive deficits was carried out using z-scales. Association of neurocognitive deficits with other schizophrenia symptoms was also estimated using PANSS. The control group that was formed on the basis of the cognitive sphere parameters included 50 healthy volunteers. Statistical processing was carried out using the Mann–Whitney U test, k-means clustering, and the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. Results. The patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals had significant differences in the second part of the Stroop Color Word Interference Test, both parts of the Verbal Fluency, average score of Benton Visual Retention Test, 10 words learning basedon 5 reiterations, WAIS Digit Symbol Test and WAIS Trail Making Test with p < 0.05; in the Trail Making Test B with p < 0.01. The cognitive sampling profile was determined and compared with the PANSS scores. The significant predominance (p < 0.05) of the symptoms across all scales was found with impaired attention, visual memory, performance function, and/or orientation/coordination, as opposed to the other manifestations of cognitive deficits. Conclusion. Neurocognitive deficits form syndromal overlaps with positive and negative schizophrenia syndromes, and the presence of attention, visual memory, performance and orientation / coordination disturbances is associated with the severity of schizophrenia in general.

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Cerebral hemodynamics in schizophrenia during the Trail Making Test: A functional transcranial Doppler sonography study

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.094 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (S1) ◽

pp. S107-S107 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

D. Schuepbach ◽

S. Egger ◽

S.C. Herpertz

Keyword(s):

Transcranial Doppler ◽

Negative Symptoms ◽

Doppler Sonography ◽

Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity ◽

Cerebral Arteries ◽

Transcranial Doppler Sonography ◽

Cerebral Hemodynamics ◽

Trail Making Test ◽

Trail Making ◽

Functional Transcranial Doppler Sonography

IntroductionSchizophrenia is a severe mental disorder, with complex symptoms involving psychosis, negative symptoms and cognitive impairment. The Trail Making Test (TMT) has been widely used to assess attention and executive function. Functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD) of basal cerebral arteries allows monitoring of aberrant cerebral hemodynamics during cognitive tasks in this patient group.ObjectivesWe assessed cerebral hemodynamics in the middle cerebral arteries (MCA) using fTCD while patients with schizophrenia and healthy subjects performed the TMT and a control task.MethodsFifteen patients with chronic schizophrenia and 15 healthy controls performed the TMT-A and -B during fTCD measurements of the MCA. Dependent measures were performance, mean cerebral blood flow velocity (MFV) and the lateralization.ResultsPatients demonstrated an overall decreased speed of solution (P = 0.002), and there was no significant effect of age. They showed a significantly increased flow pattern for the TMT-B (P = 0.005). There were no lateralization differences between diagnostic groups.ConclusionsThere was a performance deficit in patients with schizophrenia for both TMT-A and -B that fits well with results of existing literature. The aberrant hemodynamic response supports the idea that cognitive performance elicits an aberrant cerebral hemodynamic correlate. It adds to the notion that fTCD is a valuable tool to correlate psychological paradigms with brain perfusion in patients with schizophrenia.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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Frequency of HLA-DRB1 Gene Alleles in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis in a Lithuanian Population

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina48010002 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 2

Author(s):

Renata Balnytė ◽

Daiva Rastenytė ◽

Dalia Mickevičienė ◽

Antanas Vaitkus ◽

Erika Skrodenienė ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Chain Reaction ◽

Female Patients ◽

History Of ◽

Male Patients ◽

Polymerase Chain ◽

The Relationship ◽

Control Study

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of HLA-DRB1 alleles on the genetic susceptibility to multiple sclerosis in the Lithuanian population. Material and Methods. A total of 120 patients with multiple sclerosis and 120 unrelated healthy controls were enrolled in this case-control study. Allelic frequencies were compared between the groups. HLA-DRB1 alleles were genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction. Results. HLA-DRB1*15 was present in 55.8% of the patients with multiple sclerosis and 10.0% of the controls (OR, 5.58; 95% CI, 3.19–9.77; P<0.0001). The protective alleles that were found to be more prevalent among the controls compared with the patients with multiple sclerosis were HLADRB1* 01 (26.7% vs. 7.5%, P<0.0001), *03 (17.5% vs. 8.3%, P=0.034), and *16 (11.7% vs. 3.3%, P=0.014). HLA-DRB1*15 was more common among the female patients with multiple sclerosis than among the male patients (68.4% vs. 34.1%; OR, 4.18; 95%, CI 1.90–9.22; P=0.001). The heterozygous inheritance of HLA-DRB1*15 allele was more common in the patients with a history of maternal multiple sclerosis than in those with a history of paternal multiple sclerosis (29.4% vs. 9.8%; P=0.045). Conclusions. HLA-DRB1*15 was found to be associated with multiple sclerosis in the Lithuanian population. This allele was more prevalent among the female patients with multiple sclerosis. Maternal multiple sclerosis was more common than paternal multiple sclerosis, but the relationship with HLA-DRB1*15 allele was not established. HLA-DRB1*01, *03, and *16 appeared to be the protective alleles in this series.

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The relationship between neuropsychological performance and depression in patients with traumatic brain injury

South African Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1177/0081246316654327 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 47 (2) ◽

pp. 171-183 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Noorjehan Joosub ◽

Nafisa Cassimjee ◽

Annelies Cramer

Keyword(s):

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Verbal Learning ◽

Neuropsychological Performance ◽

Auditory Verbal Learning Test ◽

Symptoms Of Depression ◽

Auditory Verbal Learning ◽

Trail Making ◽

Learning Test ◽

The Relationship

Traumatic brain injury is a multi-faceted condition that affects individuals on physical, cognitive, and emotional levels. The study investigated the relationship between depression and neuropsychological performance in a group with traumatic brain injury. A retrospective review was conducted on 75 participants who completed neuropsychological assessments. Information on clinical characteristics, sociodemographic information, neuropsychological outcomes, and Beck Depression Inventory scores were included in the analysis. Results indicated that 36% of the participants reported experiencing severe symptoms of depression, 28% moderate symptoms of depression, and 36% mild/minimal symptoms of depression. Performance on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test indicated inverse relationships with depression scores suggesting that traumatic brain injury patients with lower depression scores perform better on verbal memory tasks. Similarly, findings for the written and oral versions of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test reflected inverse correlations with depression scores, indicating that lower depression scores are correlated with increased processing speed and capacity. A significant positive association between the time taken to complete the Trail Making Test Trail A and Trail B and depression scores was found, suggesting that higher depression scores in this sample were related to slower performance speed and lower executive performance. When specific clinical and sociodemographic variables were included as covariates in a partial correlational analysis, neuropsychological performance indicators and depression scores remained significant for Symbol Digit Modalities Test (oral and written), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test Retrieval and Recognition trials, and Trail Making Test (Trail B). This study indicates that in a traumatic brain injury cohort, depression levels are significantly associated with specific neuropsychological performance measures. The findings of this study have implications for psychosocial treatment planning after a traumatic brain injury and contribute to our understandings of the inter-relationship between cognition and emotion.

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Neuropsychological performance changes following subthalamic versus pallidal deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and metaanalysis

CNS Spectrums ◽

10.1017/s1092852917000062 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 10-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Ahmed Elgebaly ◽

Mohamed Elfil ◽

Attia Attia ◽

Mayar Magdy ◽

Ahmed Negida

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Deep Brain Stimulation ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Neuropsychological Performance ◽

Trail Making Test ◽

Test Part ◽

Trail Making ◽

Neuropsychological Outcomes ◽

Naming Test ◽

Deep Brain

BackgroundStudies comparing subthalamus (STN) and globus pallidus internus (GPi) deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the management of Parkinson’s disease in terms of neuropsychological performance are scarce and heterogeneous. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and metaanalysis to compare neuropsychological outcomes following STN DBS versus GPi DBS.MethodsA computer literature search of PubMed, the Web of Science, and Cochrane Central was conducted. Records were screened for eligible studies, and data were extracted and synthesized using Review Manager (v. 5.3 for Windows).ResultsSeven studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Of them, four randomized controlled trials (n=345 patients) were pooled in the metaanalysis models. The standardized mean difference (SMD) of change in the Stroop color-naming test favored the GPi DBS group (SMD=–0.31,p=0.009). However, other neuropsychological outcomes did not favor either of the two groups (Stroop word-reading:SMD=–0.21,p=0.08; the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) digits forward:SMD=0.08,p=0.47; Trail Making Test Part A:SMD=–0.05,p=0.65; WAIS–R digit symbol:SMD=–0.16,p=0.29; Trail Making Test Part B:SMD=–0.14,p=0.23; Stroop color–word interference:SMD=–0.16,p=0.18; phonemic verbal fluency: bilateral DBSSMD=–0.04,p=0.73, and unilateral DBSSMD=–0.05,p=0.83; semantic verbal fluency: bilateral DBSSMD=–0.09,p=0.37, and unilateral DBSSMD=–0.29,p=0.22; Boston Naming Test:SMD=–0.11,p=0.33; Beck Depression Inventory: bilateral DBSSMD=0.15,p=0.31, and unilateral DBSSMD=0.36,p=0.11).ConclusionsThere was no statistically significant difference in most of the neuropsychological outcomes. The present evidence does not favor any of the targets in terms of neuropsychological performance.

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T150. SEX DIFFERENCES IN PEOPLE WITH PSYCHOSIS: FINDINGS FROM A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE IN KOSOVO

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbaa029.710 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S288-S288

Author(s):

Manuela Russo ◽

Fitim Uka ◽

Jon Konjufca ◽

Fjolla Ramadani ◽

Dashamir Berxulli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Psychosocial Intervention ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Negative Symptoms ◽

Clinical Presentation ◽

Psychosocial Treatment ◽

Clinical Population ◽

Male And Female ◽

Female Patients ◽

Male Patients

Abstract Background The need for mental health care services is particularly high in low and middle income countries (LMICs) where socio-economic factors have a deep impact on treatment and management of psychosis. Lack of funds and qualified professional represent the main challenge to treatment gap leaving between 36% and 45% of people with psychosis without care for their condition thus having a huge impact at individual and societal level. Although data from epidemiological research show that prevalence of psychosis is equal between sexes, some differences in terms of needs for care might be relevant, particularly in a context that has been affected by dramatic socio-economic and cultural changes. In this study we explore in a representative sample of people with psychosis from Kosovo*, as part of a large multi-country study (EU-funded IMPULSE project), whether demographic, socio-economic and clinical differences exist between male and female patients. Methods Data on demographic, socio-economic characteristics, use of psychosocial treatment and medication was collected; general level of psychopathology and negative symptoms were assessed through the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory and Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms. Male and female patients were compared in terms of demographic, socio-economic and clinical characteristics using Chi-square and independent sample t- test as appropriate. Results The sample (n=103) was composed by 33 female and 70 male patients with psychosis. The two groups did not show any statistically significant difference in age, employment, level of education; however, marital status seems to differ with higher proportion of women being separated (p=0.009). No differences emerged in monthly income, while a trend of significance (p=0.079) suggested that female patients had slightly higher financial benefits than their male counterpart. While there was no difference in terms of psychiatric diagnosis, higher depressive (p=0.017) and paranoid symptoms (at trend level, p=0.054) were reported by females patients. There were no differences on antipsychotic medication. Attendance of a psychosocial treatment was higher in male than in female patients (80% vs 57.6%; p=0.017) without any difference though in the type of approach. Overall, patients who attended a psychosocial treatment had lower negative symptoms (p<0.001) compared to those who did not. Discussion Female patients with psychosis were found to have a worse clinical presentation compared to male patients, and to have a lower attendance to psychosocial treatment. Regardless of sex, psychosocial treatment seems to be associated to less negative symptomatology. More research is needed to better characterise clinical presentation of people with psychosis in LMICs and to understand whether access to mental health service, particularly psychosocial intervention, is accountable to clinical characteristics or to contextual factors, social and/or economic in nature. Offering psychosocial intervention to this clinical population could alleviate burden of the illness in this clinical population.

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A-109 Examining Relationship of Brain Injury, Anxiety and Workload on Trail Making Test Performances

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology ◽

10.1093/arclin/acab062.127 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 36 (6) ◽

pp. 1158-1158

Author(s):

Kristina E Smith ◽

Daniel W Lopez-Hernandez ◽

Winter Olmos ◽

Pavel Y Litvin ◽

Bethany A Nordberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brain Injury ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Trail Making Test ◽

Future Studies ◽

Trail Making ◽

Severe Tbi ◽

Perceived Workload ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Larger Sample

Abstract Objective Both anxiety and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are both related to poorer Trail Making Test (TMT) performances. TBI survivors exhibit a greater incidence of anxiety in contrast to the general population. We evaluated the relationship between TBI and anxiety on TMT and perceived workload ratings. Method The sample consisted of 39 moderate-to-severe TBI [(21 with normal symptoms of anxiety (NSA) and 18 with abnormal symptoms of anxiety (ASA)] and 51 healthy comparison (HC; 26 NSA and 25 ASA) participants. Results ANCOVA’s, controlling for age, revealed the HC group outperformed the TBI group on TMT part A and TMT part B (TMT-B). An interaction emerged on TMT-B, with TBI-ASA participants outperformed TBI-NSA participants and HC-NSA participants outperformed their counterparts with ASA. Ratings of physical demand and frustration were reported higher in TBI participants compared to the HC participants. Moreover, TBI and anxiety symptoms had interactive effects on NASA-TLX temporal demand and frustration ratings, were TBI-ASA participants reported higher scores in contrast to TBI-NSA. Lastly, an interaction emerged with HC participants with ASA reporting better performances in contrast to HC-NSA. Conclusions As expected, TBI participants did worse on both TMT tasks. Next, we found that TBI-ASA participants impacted their TMT-B performance and their perceived workload (i.e., frustration, temporal demand) more than TBI-NSA participants. In the future, studies with a larger sample size should examine if anxiety influences TMT performance and perceived workload in person with mild TBI.

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