Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M F Green

Publications and source records attributed to M F Green.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Minor physical anomalies in schizophrenia patients, bipolar patients, and their siblings.

Minor physical anomalies (MPAs) are believed to reflect abnormalities in fetal neurodevelopment. Several studies have shown that schizophrenia patients have more MPAs than normal controls, but little is known about the meaning of this increased rate of MPAs. The current study first attempted to determine whether the increased MPAs are associated with schizophrenia in particular or with psychosis in general. Second, the study tested whether the patients' siblings also show an increased rate of MPAs by assessing MPAs in schizophrenia patients, bipolar manic patients, the siblings from each group of patients, and normal controls. The schizophrenia patients had significantly more MPAs than normal controls and bipolar patients. The rate of MPAs in bipolar patients did not differ from normal controls. This pattern suggests that MPAs have some degree of specificity to schizophrenia. Both sibling groups had fewer MPAs than the patients, and this difference was significant for the comparison between schizophrenia patients and their siblings. When viewed within a vulnerability-stress model, the results are consistent with the theory that MPAs may reflect early, largely extra-genetic, stressful events.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Repair of giant inguinoscrotal inguinal hernia using marlex mesh and scrotal skin flaps.

A new technique for the repair of giant inguinoscrotal hernia is described. It consists of: reduction of the hernia; repair of the hernial orifices with marlex mesh; creation of a midline anterior wall defect to increase intra-abdominal capacity; covering this defect with marlex mesh; then covering the midline marlex mesh with a rotation flap of inguinoscrotal skin. This technique increases intra-abdominal capacity and allows reduction of the hernia without compromising respiratory function, in patients with chronic airflow limitation, by using skin that would otherwise be discarded.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Information-processing abnormalities as neuropsychological vulnerability indicators for schizophrenia.

Studies of schizophrenic patients in psychotic and clinically remitted states and of biological relatives indicate that subtle anomalies in information processing may be critical components of neuropsychological vulnerability to schizophrenia. We describe a conception of possible abnormalities and several recent strategies to differentiate these possibilities. Within Continuous Performance Test conditions, varying the perceptual load vs. the active, working memory load yields a distinction between a stable vulnerability factor across clinical states and a potential mediating vulnerability factor. Specialized backward masking paradigms offer ways to separate two initial sensory-perceptual processes from attentional shifting processes. Top-down attentional influences on sensorimotor gating allow examination of the role of central executive processes in modulating early sensory processes. Initial results are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Dichotic listening during auditory hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Auditory hallucinations are a serious problem for a large subgroup of psychotic patients who do not respond optimally to neuroleptic medication. It has been hypothesized that hearing imaginary voices involves the same physiological processes as those involved in hearing real voices, but this hypothesis has not been conclusively confirmed. METHOD: In this study a consonant-vowel version of the Dichotic Listening Test was used to assess the functional integration of the left hemisphere in hallucinating and nonhallucinating psychotic patients. The test was administered under three conditions: a nonforced attention condition, a condition in which attention was forced to the left ear, and one in which attention was forced to the right ear. RESULTS: The nonhallucinating patients showed the normal right ear advantage, which indicates a left hemisphere superiority in the processing of linguistic stimuli. In contrast, the hallucinating patients showed no ear advantage. Neither group was able to modify its performance when instructed to attend to either the left or the right ear. A subgroup of patients was tested in both hallucinating and nonhallucinating states, but the ear asymmetry was not noticeably different between these states. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that auditory hallucinations are associated with abnormalities in left hemisphere functioning and that these abnormalities might not be limited to the time of the auditory hallucinations. It is hypothesized that a relatively enduring left hemisphere abnormality may leave some patients at risk for auditory hallucinations.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Cognitive remediation in schizophrenia: is it time yet?

Considerable effort has been directed toward identifying and conceptualizing information-processing deficits in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. The impressive gains in this field have made meaningful contributions to our understanding of the etiology and course of these disorders. This article considers whether the time is ripe to move beyond identification of these deficits to remediation of them. This move is far from a simple matter; it requires careful attention to theoretical frameworks and to the criteria for selecting certain cognitive deficits, among many, for remediation. A sparse and somewhat dated literature suggests that certain types of cognitive remediation, at least when defined in a narrow sense, are feasible with schizophrenic patients. This literature can reasonably justify continuing investigations on a modest scale. Specific questions for further studies include the following. 1) Which cognitive models provide a framework to guide cognitive interventions? 2) Which specific functions or levels of information processing should be targeted by cognitive interventions? 3) Are cognitive interventions effective? 4) Does the remediation of basic cognitive deficits generalize? A major strength of this area of investigation is the testability of the questions. Several research designs are tentatively suggested.

Cognition Disorders↗
PubMed1993

Schizophrenic patients' sensitivity to social cues: the role of abstraction.

OBJECTIVE: Since individuals with schizophrenia often have difficulty with abstract tasks, they should have more problems recognizing abstract social cues (e.g., inferences regarding actors' affect and goals) than concrete cues (e.g., observations of actors' behavior and dialogue). Moreover, recognition of abstract and concrete cues should interact with the level of emotional arousal engendered by the situation; previous research has shown that schizophrenic patients perform better on cue recognition tasks when the situation produces moderate rather than low levels of arousal. METHOD: These hypotheses were tested in 24 patients with schizophrenia diagnosed according to the DSM-III-R criteria and 15 normal comparison subjects. All subjects viewed eight short vignettes of interpersonal situations that produce low and moderate levels of arousal. They then answered questions representing perception of abstract and concrete cues that had been matched for difficulty and consistency. RESULTS: The schizophrenic patients were significantly less sensitive to interpersonal cues than the normal subjects. The patients were also less sensitive to abstract than to concrete social cues, and for them there was a significant interaction between cue abstraction level and situational arousal. Specifically, the schizophrenic subjects performed worse on the abstract cue recognition task for the low-arousal situations. CONCLUSIONS: Findings regarding the social cue recognition patterns of schizophrenic patients could play an important role in the development of valid measures of social cognition for this population.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Prediction of response to haloperidol dose reduction by Span of Apprehension measures for treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients.

Thirteen treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients participated in a haloperidol reduction study. Two of the subjects were unable to tolerate medication reduction. These subjects were comparable to the other patients in terms of initial clinical variables but were outliers on baseline accuracy and reaction time measures from the Span of Apprehension. The results suggest that aspects of basic visual processing and motor response speed may identify patients who require higher neuroleptic doses.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

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↗
PubMed1992

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↗
PubMed1992

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↗
PubMed1992

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↗
PubMed1992

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↗
PubMed1992

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↗
PubMed1991

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↗
PubMed1991

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↗