Neuropsychological performance in the unaffected twin.
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Diseases in Twins↗
Biomedical subjects
M F Green
Publications and source records attributed to M F Green.
Neuropsychological predictors of skills training for chronic psychiatric patients.
Measures of neuropsychological functioning were examined for their relationship to skills training ability. In a longitudinal design, 16 psychotic inpatients were followed during their involvement in a skills training program. The two training programs (Symptom Management and Medication Management) included daily 2-hour sessions over an 8-month period. Five clinical neuropsychological measures and three laboratory-based information processing measures were administered at baseline. The outcome variables included two measures of skill knowledge/ability and a measure of on-task behavior. Modest correlations were found between outcome measures and three types of predictors: serial verbal learning, susceptibility to distraction, and vigilance. These findings suggest that selected measures of neuropsychological functioning may help to target those cognitive abilities necessary for skill acquisition, and may aid in selecting patients most likely to benefit from skills training.
Activities of Daily Living↗
Deficits in social schemata in schizophrenia.
Several recent studies have examined the manner in which social information is processed in an attempt to better understand the interpersonal functioning deficits of schizophrenia. In this study, the manner in which schizophrenic subjects represent social information, and the relationships between these social representations and measures of information processing, are examined. Specifically, 30 DSM-IIIR patients with schizophrenia and 15 normal controls were assessed on measures of social schema processing, information processing, and symptomatology. Results showed that schizophrenic patients earned significantly lower schema processing scores than the normal comparison group. Schema deficits of the schizophrenic group were significantly associated with recall memory and vigilance. These findings suggest that deficits in the representation of social information provides a unique perspective for understanding the interpersonal dysfunctions of schizophrenia.
Adult↗
Left turning (swivel) in manic patients.
Nineteen bipolar inpatients in manic episodes and 19 normal control subjects were tested on a two-button task which required turning (swiveling) 180 degrees to collect coin-reinforcers. Significantly more right-handed (8/16) manic patients turned left (consistently 16 times to collect reinforcement) than right-handed normal controls (1/15), most of whom turned consistently right 16 times. Right-handed manic patients were also significantly slower with both hands on a motor sequencing task (Pin Test) than the normal controls. Left hemi-spatial preference may be linked to asymmetric striatal dopaminergic activity common to all psychoses.
Adult↗
Whither cognitive-behavioral therapy for schizophrenia?
Clinical studies of cognitive therapy and rehabilitation for persons with schizophrenia have generated promising findings of improvements in patients' cognitive and clinical status. However, the results do not appear to be specific to a particular form of intervention, and long-term evaluations of cognitive therapy, as an element in a comprehensive system of care, need to be conducted for clinical validation. Rehabilitation efforts should be congruent with laboratory findings of specific cognitive deficits, including those that are "vulnerability indicators" and endure beyond symptomatic episodes. With the demonstration that chronic schizophrenic patients can learn a variety of cognitive and behavioral skills through Integrated Psychological Therapy and other psychosocial treatments, the future appears bright for a profusion of new modalities aimed at cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation, especially those that emerge from what is known about information-processing deficits in schizophrenia.
Brain Injuries↗
Mixed handedness and features of schizotypal personality in a nonclinical sample.
Using a nonclinical, noncollege sample, this study set out to confirm and extend previous findings of a relationship between the cognitive-perceptual features of schizotypal personality and mixed handedness using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Based on previous findings of relationships between nondextrality and thought disorder in schizophrenia, it was predicted that the odd speech subscale of the SPQ would have the strongest relationship with mixed handedness. Mixed-handed adults did have significantly higher scores than right-handed and left-handed adults on the cognitive-perceptual factor and its subscale of odd speech. Similar trends were also observed for the cognitive-perceptual subscales of suspiciousness, eccentric behavior, and unusual perceptual experiences. These results support and extend previous findings, and are broadly consistent with the association between thought disorder and nondextrality in schizophrenia.
Adolescent↗
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in schizophrenia: remediation of a stubborn deficit.
OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenic patients typically perform poorly on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, which is a putative index of prefrontal functioning. The authors attempted to remediate the deficits of schizophrenic patients on this measure by giving detailed instructions and monetary reinforcement. METHOD: Forty-six inpatients with chronic schizophrenia and 20 control subjects with other psychiatric illnesses were given the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test under four conditions that varied in monetary reinforcement and level of instructions. The schizophrenic patients were given the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and three information processing measures (the Continuous Performance Test, Span of Apprehension, and Pin Test). RESULTS: Schizophrenic patients performed worse than psychiatric control subjects across most conditions. Monetary reinforcement had little effect on performance, but detailed instructions significantly improved the scores for both groups. When instructions were withdrawn and monetary reinforcement was maintained, both groups continued to show improved performance over baseline. Symptoms were not significantly associated with Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance. One measure (the Pin Test) correlated significantly with performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest the importance of combining motivational with instructional factors for training psychiatric patients in problem solving.
Adult↗
Sustained and selective attention in schizophrenia.
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Adult↗
Patterns of manual dominance in patients with neuroleptic-induced movement disorders.
To explore the association between patterns of manual dominance and extrapyramidal symptoms we examined 32 chronic schizophrenic inpatients at Camarillo State Hospital for signs of tardive dyskinesia (TD) and neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism (NIP) using clinical rating scales (Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale and Columbia Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale) and specialized electromechanical instruments. Manual dominance was assessed using an eight-item hand preference demonstration test. Patients were divided into dextral (consistent use of right hand) and nondextral (any use of the left hand) groups. Dextrals showed a higher prevalence of TD than nondextrals on clinical rating measures (p less than 0.01). Orofacial ultrasound measures of TD revealed a similar association between TD and handedness. The two handedness groups did not differ on either the clinical or electromechanical measures of NIP. Interestingly, 28 of the 32 patients showed greater left than right facial movement. It is hypothesized that patients with more standard patterns of manual dominance may be at higher risk for TD than those with atypical patterns.
Adult↗
Signal detection analysis of short-term recall in schizophrenia.
Unlike many traditional performance measures, signal detection indices of sensitivity are free of response biases. Signal detection and traditional indices of performance were obtained from a short-term recall task during distractor and neutral conditions for schizophrenic patients and normal subjects. Items in each condition had been matched previously for difficulty and consistency to determine whether diminished recall during distraction represented a true differential deficit. Results showed similar patterns for both types of indices: normal subjects performed better than patients across both conditions, patients recalled less after presentation of a distractor than during a neutral condition, and normal subjects showed no performance decrement between the two conditions. These findings demonstrated that the differential deficit was due to changes in schizophrenic patients' sensitivity to stimulus items, not response biases.
Adult↗
Teaching the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test to schizophrenic patients.
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Frontal Lobe↗
A critical appraisal of the use of free flaps in primary reconstruction of combined scalp and calvarial cancer defects.
Eleven patients had scalp tumours with full thickness calvarial invasion excised and reconstructed with free flap transfer as a primary procedure. Latissimus dorsi or radial forearm flaps were used, with split rib calvarial reconstruction. One flap was lost peroperatively and another necrosed at 8 days following pedicle compression against an acrylic "skull". Only six patients presently survive, two being treated for recurrence. Long-term follow-up indicates that poor prognostic factors are advanced local invasion, squamous or anaplastic tumours, and advanced age. However, palliative treatment has a role.
Aged↗
Subvocal activity and auditory hallucinations: clues for behavioral treatments?
Several investigators have suggested that schizophrenic patients may show an increase in subvocal speech (as measured by electromyographic [EMG] activity) during auditory hallucinations (AH), and that the subvocal activity might be antecedent to the hallucinatory experience. The possible relationship between AH and subvocal activity guided the present approach to studying behavioral interventions for AH. Duration of AH and EMG activity were recorded from 20 frequently hallucinating schizophrenic patients under baseline and experimental conditions. Three conditions were designed to interfere with activity of the speech musculature and two were imposed as controls. The data concerning the temporal relationship between EMG activity and self-report of hallucinations were inconclusive. However, one of the experimental conditions (humming a single note softly) reduced the self-report of hallucinations by 59 percent. This condition also increased EMG amplitude over baseline levels. Possible explanations for the effect of humming on hallucinations are discussed.
Adult↗
The temporal relationship between depressive and psychotic symptoms in recent-onset schizophrenia.
The authors examined the temporal relationship between onset of depressive and psychotic symptoms in 27 patients with recent-onset schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder. Ratings on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale were collected every 2 weeks for at least 1 year to specify onset of relapse or exacerbation. Six time periods were defined in relation to onset of psychotic symptoms, and the number of depressive periods was determined for each time period. Onset of depressive periods was concurrent with onset of psychosis more often than expected but was not associated with any other time period. The authors found no distinctive postpsychotic pattern of onset for depression.
Adolescent↗
Auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: does humming help?
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Adult↗
Delayed lymphocoele following neck dissection.
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Aged↗
Is there atypical handedness in schizophrenia?
Ninety-three schizophrenic patients and 105 normal controls were tested in a single session on an 8-item repeat-administration handedness test. The schizophrenic group, in contrast to the normal controls, showed a shift in the distribution away from right-handedness, which was due to an increase in the proportion of mixed-handers. Additional analyses revealed that the increase in mixed-handedness was largely due to an increase of within-item variability in the schizophrenic group, which we refer to as ambiguous handedness. Nearly 20% of the schizophrenic patients were inconsistent on 3 or more items compared with 3.8% of the normal controls. This increased incidence of atypical handedness is discussed within the context of disorders of attention and neurodevelopment.
Adult↗
Minor physical anomalies in schizophrenia.
This study was conducted to investigate the value of using physical anomalies (PAs) to evaluate early prenatal injury in schizophrenia. PAs are minor abnormalities in development of the head, hands, and feet that are presumably associated with insult during the first trimester. Sixty-seven schizophrenic inpatients and 88 normal controls were evaluated for PAs. The schizophrenic patients showed significantly more anomalies than the controls. The difference remained significant even when patients were compared to controls of low socioeconomic status. Both male and female patients showed a high incidence of mouth abnormalities, and female patients showed a high incidence of abnormalities in head circumference. Patients with early age of onset (less than or equal to 18 years) had more physical anomalies than did later onset patients. This relationship was most noticeable for males. Physical anomalies were not associated with deficits on measures of vigilance, selective attention, or orientation.
Adult↗