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N McConaghy

Publications and source records attributed to N McConaghy.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Event-related potential indices of semantic processing in schizophrenia.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while schizophrenic patients and healthy controls read congruous and incongruous sentences in anticipation of a memory test. The schizophrenic group performed more poorly in both recognition memory and cued recall tests. The two groups did not differ in the amplitude of the N400 component of the ERP but the difference between the ERPs to congruous and incongruous sentences persisted longer in the schizophrenic sample. The schizophrenic sample also showed reduced parietal positivity and a reduced effect of congruity on the late positive component that follows N400. Within the schizophrenic sample, measures of attentional impairment and positive thought disorder were correlated with mean amplitude of both the N400 and the subsequent positivity. The results imply that the structure and spread of activation within semantic memory is not impaired in schizophrenia. Rather, impairments appear to lie in processes required to integrate activated information with the current context.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Event-related potentials and repetition priming in young, middle-aged and elderly normal subjects.

Although the structure of semantic memory appears to be unaffected with increasing age, there is evidence that older adults are less efficient at accessing stored memory representations. Aging also results in a decline in the ability to use contextual information effectively, suggesting a deficit in episodic memory processes. The present experiment examines the effects of age on memory retrieval of stored representations and the use of contextual information. Event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded to immediate and delayed word repetition during a lexical decision task. Three groups of subjects were tested: young (mean = 27.3 years), middle (mean = 46.7 years) and old (mean = 67.4 years). Behavioral facilitation due to repetition did not significantly differ across groups. With increasing age, the ERP waveform showed a positive shift which began around 300-400 ms post-stimulus and was apparent across all stimulus types and response conditions. This positive shift may reflect an age-related decrease in cortical excitation. Although the onset of the ERP repetition effect was not affected by age, its duration for both immediate and delayed repetition was significantly prolonged. In the light of recent models of ERP word repetition effects, these results suggest that processes related to accessing stored representations in memory are unaffected by age. The extended duration of the repetition effect and the increase in the magnitude of the effect of delayed repetition with age suggest that aging affects processes related to the retrieval and use of contextual information in integrating a stimulus with its context.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

P300 indexes thought disorder in schizophrenics, but allusive thinking in normal subjects.

Loosening of thinking as assessed by the Object Sorting Test (OST) has been found in a percentage of normal subjects but in a higher percentage of schizophrenics, and is familially transmitted in both groups. Loosening of thinking in normal subjects is not associated with evidence of impaired function or increased psychopathology, and in recognition of this, it was termed allusive thinking rather than thought disorder. Both OST-assessed loosening and concreteness of thinking were found to be present independently in a high percentage of schizophrenics, so that both were considered to contribute to schizophrenic thought disorder. The presence of OST-assessed loosening in schizophrenics would, therefore, be predicted to correlate partially rather than totally with measures of schizophrenic thought disorder. It has been suggested that OST-assessed loosening in normal subjects is due to a genetically determined reduction in strength of an inhibitory process that limits the spread of activation of semantic associations and results in a predisposition to schizophrenia. The brain event-related potential P300, which is, in part, under genetic control, may index this inhibitory process. Therefore, it was predicted that in normal subjects, P300 would correlate with OST-assessed loosening of associations. If schizophrenic thought disorder is due to a further weakening of this inhibitory process, it can be predicted that P300 in schizophrenics correlates only weakly with OST-assessed loosening of thinking, but more strongly with schizophrenic thought disorder. In a study in which P300 was elicited using a difficult selective attention task with 15 unmedicated schizophrenics and 22 healthy subjects, all three predictions were supported.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Allusive thinking in parents of schizophrenics. Meta-analysis.

Romney (J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 178:481-486, 1990) performed a meta-analysis of studies examining psychometrically assessed "thought disorder" in the relatives of schizophrenics. He concluded that thought disorder was more prevalent in the relatives of schizophrenics than control subjects. The present review focuses on only those studies that measured "allusive thinking" using the Lovibond-Rapaport Object Sorting Test in parents of schizophrenics. Even when the meta-analysis included this more limited number of studies, it demonstrated that the parents of schizophrenics were 2.42 times more likely to obtain high scores on the Object Sorting Test, confirming replication of the original McConaghy (J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 22:243-246, 1959) finding. This effect remained significant when the original study was excluded from the meta-analysis. The predictive strength of parental Object Sorting Test score as a familial risk factor for the development of schizophrenia is discussed.

Family↗
PubMed1993

Non-sexist Sexual Experiences Survey and Scale of Attraction to Sexual Aggression.

Sixty-six male and 51 female second year medical students anonymously completed the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) and the Attraction to Sexual Aggression (ASA) Scale, both modified so that women could report behaviours in which they were aggressors, and men, behaviours in which they were victims. Men's aggression scores on the two scales were significantly correlated. As expected, more men than women reported both the likelihood and the experience of being sexual aggressors, although 6% of women reported being so aroused they couldn't stop when their partner didn't want intercourse and 13% of men reported having intercourse against their will. In men sexually coercive behaviours correlated positively with the masculinity scale of the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Fewer female medical students reported experiencing sexually aggressive behaviours compared to US or New Zealand university students; however, the percentage of male students who reported using or threatening to use physical force was in the same range as that of US students. Significant attention to the issue of sexual coercion would appear necessary in the education of medical students.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

P300 and conceptual loosening in normals: an event-related potential correlate of "thought disorder?".

Reduced amplitude of the P300 component of the event-related potential (ERP) has frequently been reported in schizophrenic patients and their first-degree relatives. The present study examined the relationship between this ERP measure of attentional processing and loosening of associations in normal university students (termed "allusive thinking"). Among male subjects, scores reflecting increased conceptual loosening, measured using the Lovibond scoring method for the Goldstein-Scheerer Object Sorting Test (OST), were significantly correlated with smaller P300 amplitude recorded during an auditory target detection task. There was no association between OST score and either performance of the target detection task or self-reported psychopathology. It is suggested that reduced P300 amplitude could reflect altered attentional processing in individuals with a constitutional trait factor of thought disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The relationship between relative's Expressed Emotion and schizophrenic relapse: an Australian replication.

We report a predictive study, carried out in Sydney Australia, investigating the association between the Expressed Emotion (EE) status of the household to which the patient is discharged and schizophrenic relapse. Expressed Emotion was not related to illness severity either at admission or discharge, but was related to variables reflecting chronicity and employment history. There was a significant association between returning to a high EE household and both re-hospitalisation and relapse. The significant association between EE and relapse held only for: patients not on medication, males, and those patients in high contact with their relatives. A discriminant function analysis found that decline in occupational status and the number of critical comments expressed by the relative were the strongest predictors of relapse. The results presented here are consistent with the majority of published reports on EE and relapse and contradict the negative findings of a recently published but smaller study also carried out in Sydney.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The Sydney intervention trial: a controlled trial of relatives' counselling to reduce schizophrenic relapse.

The result of a psychosocial intervention which aimed to reduce schizophrenic relapse through relatives' counselling is presented. Thirty-six schizophrenic patients living in high Expressed Emotion (EE) parental households were randomly allocated to an intervention or control group. The parents of patients allocated to the intervention were offered ten weekly sessions of counselling. The patient was not included in these sessions. Patients in both groups received standard after-care of medication and support. Relapses in the intervention group, although fewer, were not significantly different from the control group. Given the impressive evidence in favour of family interventions in reducing relapse rates in schizophrenic patients possible reasons for this result are discussed. Aspects of the intervention described here, exclusion of the patient, no control over the patients' medication or involvement with their management, short duration of intervention and lack of individual assessment, could explain this finding. This negative result is important in indicating what factors should be included in an effective psychosocial intervention.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Do sex-linked behaviors in children influence relationships with their parents?

When relationships are found between parents' and children's behaviors it is usually assumed the parents' behaviors produced those of the children. Forty-four young adult males and 36 young adult females reported the degree to which they showed various sex-linked behaviors and feelings of same versus opposite sex identity in childhood, and adolescence, and currently. These behaviors accounted for up to 57% of the variance of measures of the quality of relationships with parents. In men, opposite-sex-linked behaviors and identity correlated most strongly with current negative parental and particularly paternal relationships. They also correlated strongly with negative paternal relationships in childhood. Some sex-linked behaviors and sex identity items in men correlated positively with maternal overprotection in childhood and adolescence. Correlations between women's sex-linked behaviors and sexual identity items and their parental relationships were weaker but more consistently negative. As in men, opposite-sex-linked behaviors and identity in women correlated most strongly with current negative paternal relationships. The pattern of the associations and the finding that many opposite-sex-linked behaviors in subjects' childhood correlated most strongly with negative parental relationships in early adult life suggest that the parents' feelings could be partly a response to, rather than totally causal of, the subjects' sex-linked behaviors.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The assessment and management of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

This article describes obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and discusses its diagnosis and its management by behavioural therapy combined with antidepressant medication. Patients with OCD experience recurrent distressing thoughts which may lead them to avoid certain situations and to carry out protective rituals. Behavioural treatment is considered specific. The therapist establishes a relationship with the patient by which he or she can be motivated to cease the thoughts and the avoidance and ritual behaviour. The patient's family can play an important role in the therapy. The treatment is usually easier if the patient can accept taking clomipramine. Patients who, despite severe symptoms, are able to carry out their normal activities usually respond well to treatment. Those who cannot tolerate stress and have had to cease most of their normal activities usually do not respond well and require supportive therapy.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1991

A comparison of relapsed and non-relapsed abstinent pathological gamblers following behavioural treatment.

Eighteen pathological gamblers reporting abstinence at a 2-9-year follow-up period were classified into two samples; those reporting complete abstinence, or those abstinent with intermittent relapse episodes. Results indicated that both samples improved significantly on post-treatment psychological and demographic measures, and did not differ from each other. It was concluded that a subgroup of gamblers may experience intermittent brief relapses that are not invariably associated with a continued return to addictive gambling habits. Complete abstinence as a criterion for successful treatment outcome may be too stringent in that it fails to acknowledge the possibility of continued abstinence following brief episodes of relapse.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Control versus abstinence in the treatment of pathological gambling: a two to nine year follow-up.

A structured gambling interview schedule, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale and Beck Depression Inventory were administered to 63 out of 120 pathological gamblers who had 5 years previously completed a behavioural treatment for uncontrollable gambling behaviour. Results indicated that both abstinence and controlled gambling outcomes were associated with continued improvement in self-report and psychological indices of social functioning and psychopathology. Response to treatment was associated with a reduction in arousal levels, anxiety and depression. Uncontrolled gamblers failed to show post-treatment changes on parameters of improvement. It was concluded that abstinence is not the only possible therapeutic outcome in behavioural treatment and further, that controlled gambling is not a temporary response which is followed by a return to continued uncontrollable gambling.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The effect of repeated testing on ERP components during auditory selective attention.

The present study examined long-term repetition effects on human auditory event-related potentials (ERPs). ERPs were recorded from subjects performing the same multidimensional auditory selective attention task on six separate occasions spaced one week apart. The task required subjects to attend to tones that varied along the dimensions of location (L), pitch (P), and duration (D) and to detect prespecified target (L + P + D +) combinations of these attributes. Processing negativity (PN) between 100-400 ms did not change in amplitude or onset latency as a function of repeated experience with the task. In contrast, two measures of "very late" PN were reduced with practice. Specifically, the location effect measured over the 400-700-ms epoch was significant only for Weeks 1 and 2, and the separation of the L + P + D- ERP from other D- ERPs, measured over the 700-1000-ms epoch, was significantly reduced from Week 1 to Week 2. A late negative component (700-1000 ms) elicited by correctly identified targets increased between Weeks 1 and 2, consistent with subjects adopting the strategy of rehearsal of the target itself rather than the L + P + D- standard. P2 amplitude increased significantly for all standards, possibly due to decreased latency jitter in later weeks. N1 latency became significantly shorter over weeks, reflecting either increasing confidence in stimulus discrimination with repeated testing or the overlapping of an unchanging N1 with an increasing P2.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1991

Effects of inter-item lag on word repetition: an event-related potential study.

Prior exposure to a word can greatly facilitate performance to subsequent presentations of that word. ERP studies have shown that this facilitation is associated with an attenuation of a negative peak normally occurring around 400 ms poststimulus. Recent studies have interpreted this repetition effect as reflecting either lexical access or episodic memory mechanisms. However, there is now increasing evidence that neither of the above mechanisms alone can fully account for repetition effects. The present experiment recorded ERPs to immediate and delayed word repetition during a lexical decision task in order to investigate the time-course of ERP repetition effects. Immediate repetition was found to produce greater response facilitation than delayed repetition. The ERP waveforms of both immediate and delayed word repetition diverged from that of initial word presentation at approximately 300 ms poststimulus. The waveforms for repeated words separated around 400 ms poststimulus with immediate repetition showing a more rapid resolution of negativity and earlier late positivity than delayed repetition. It is suggested that the negativity may reflect processes involved in the overall activation contributing to word recognition, whereas the late positivity may be related to the repetition of stimulus categorization and decision processes.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Auditory selective attention and event-related potentials in schizophrenia.

Brain ERPs were recorded in ten unmedicated schizophrenic patients and age- and sex-matched healthy controls during a multidimensional listening task. Patients showed a marked reduction in a long-duration attention-related negative ERP component, termed 'processing negativity' (PN), which was elicited by attended stimuli. The amplitude of PN was significantly correlated with SANS and SAPS scores of schizophrenic symptoms. The P300 component was also reduced in amplitude in patients, and was significantly correlated with SANS ratings of negative thought disorder. These findings provide neurophysiological evidence of impairment in the maintenance of selective attention and the cognitive processes associated with target detection among schizophrenic patients. The reduced PN in schizophrenics implicates frontostriatal pathways in the aetiology of attentional deficits in schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Comparison of imaginal desensitisation with other behavioural treatments of pathological gambling. A two- to nine-year follow-up.

Of 120 pathological gamblers randomly allocated to imaginal desensitisation (ID) or to other behavioural procedures (60 to each group, all procedures administered over one week) 63 subjects were contacted two to nine years later. Twenty-six of the 33 who received ID reported control or cessation of gambling compared with 16 of 30 who received other behavioural procedures. This difference was significant, indicating ID had a specific effect additional to that of the other behavioural procedures. It is suggested the other procedures could be regarded as placebos. As the response at a mean of over five years to one week of ID is comparable with that reported to more intensive therapies, after briefer follow-up, it is suggested ID is a cost-effective therapy for pathological gambling, and is worth considering when resources are limited.

Aversive Therapy↗
PubMed1991

Opposite sex behaviours correlate with degree of homosexual feelings in the predominantly heterosexual.

There is extensive evidence that subjects who identify as homosexual show opposite sex-linked behaviours. However no attempt has been made to investigate whether a similar association exists between such behaviours and the presence of homosexual feelings in the predominantly heterosexual. Eighty medical students completed an anonymous questionnaire reporting the ratio of their heterosexual to homosexual feelings and the presence of sex-linked behaviours in their earlier life and currently. As in previous studies correlations between opposite sex behaviours and subjects' degree of homosexual feelings were found in the male subjects. Correlations remained present, though mainly at a weaker level, in the predominantly heterosexual students. It is suggested this evidence of a dimensional relationship between opposite sex-linked behaviours in childhood and degree of homosexual feeling in adulthood renders irrational the classification of such behaviours as a gender identity disorder of childhood when homosexuality in adults is not regarded as a disorder.

Adult↗