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Toomey R, Seidman LJ, Lyons MJ, Faraone SV, Tsuang MT. Poor perception of nonverbal social-emotional cues in relatives of schizophrenic patients. Schizophr Res 1999; 40:121-30. [PMID: 10593452 DOI: 10.1016/s0920-9964(99)00036-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The present study compared nonverbal social perception in relatives of schizophrenic patients (n = 21) with that of normal controls (n= 19). We hypothesized that relatives would display deficits in social perception and we sought to determine the skills that are associated with this deficit. Relatives performed significantly worse than controls on the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity Test (PONS), despite comparable performance on skills hypothesized to be related to nonverbal social perception: visual perception, nonverbal problem solving, facial recognition, facial affect recognition, naming, social judgment, and vigilance. To further explore the relationships among these skills, we calculated correlations between the PONS score and associated skills separately within both the relative and control groups and assessed whether the values of these correlations differed between groups. Correlations that differed significantly indicated a greater association, within relatives, between slower reaction times on vigilance tasks and poor PONS performance. Further research is needed to clarify the nature of this relationship, to better characterize social perception deficits in relatives, and to determine whether these perceptual deficits are part of the genetic diathesis to schizophrenia.
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Tsuang MT, Lyons MJ, Harley RM, Xian H, Eisen S, Goldberg J, True WR, Faraone SV. Genetic and environmental influences on transitions in drug use. Behav Genet 1999; 29:473-9. [PMID: 10857252 DOI: 10.1023/a:1021635223370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Genetic and environmental factors influence drug abuse, but abuse represents the culmination of a sequence of events. Different levels of use may have different determinants and these determinants may differ across drug types. Approximately 3200 male-male twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry were interviewed by telephone. Data were obtained regarding exposure to six categories of illicit drugs, initiation of use, continuation of use, regular usage, and diagnosis of drug abuse/dependence. Genetic, common environmental, and unique environmental influences on transitions of drug involvement, defined as movement from one level of drug use to the next, were investigated. Marijuana had the highest conditional probability for the transition from exposure to use, from use to use more than five times, and from use more than five times to regular use. The rate of transition to regular use of heroin was higher than the rate for amphetamine, cocaine, sedatives, and psychedelics. Cocaine had the highest conditional probability for the transition from regular use to abuse/dependence. Significant genetic influences were observed for a number of transitions in marijuana, amphetamine, and cocaine usage.
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Tsuang MT, Stone WS, Faraone SV. Schizophrenia: a review of genetic studies. Harv Rev Psychiatry 1999; 7:185-207. [PMID: 10579099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/14/2023]
Abstract
Despite the complexities of schizophrenia, notable progress has been achieved in its diagnosis and treatment over the last 25 years. In this article we review the genetic research that provides the foundation for continued advances. One of the bases of our current understanding involves the observation that schizophrenia often runs in families. The development and utilization of stringent, reliable diagnostic criteria, together with the advent of modern family, twin, and adoption paradigms, demonstrate the importance of genetic factors in understanding the familial basis of the disorder. Refinements in diagnostic criteria have also enabled advances in understanding the likely mode--or modes--of genetic transmission of both schizophrenia and related disorders. After reviewing representative studies in these areas, we examine genetic linkage studies and our progress toward identifying the genes that cause schizophrenia. Although consistent results have been difficult to obtain and much work remains to be done, evidence for areas of vulnerability has been converging at particular chromosomal sites (e.g., 6p, 8p, and 22q), allowing for cautious optimism. Finally, we discuss challenges and prospects for the new millennium, including the clinical and ethical implications of genetic investigations.
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Abstract
Behavioral genetic studies provide overwhelming evidence that genes contribute to schizophrenia. Recently, genetic studies have provided promising evidence that schizophrenia genes are linked to several chromosomal locations in affected family members. Despite this progress, individual genes for schizophrenia have yet to be identified. Future progress will depend, in part, on the selection of phenotypes that best reflect effects of etiologic genes. One such phenotype is schizotaxia, a clinically meaningful syndrome that reflects the genetic liability to schizophrenia in nonpsychotic individuals. The potential importance of schizotaxia, or similar concepts, for use in genetic studies, is discussed.
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Seidman LJ, Faraone SV, Goldstein JM, Goodman JM, Kremen WS, Toomey R, Tourville J, Kennedy D, Makris N, Caviness VS, Tsuang MT. Thalamic and amygdala-hippocampal volume reductions in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia: an MRI-based morphometric analysis. Biol Psychiatry 1999; 46:941-54. [PMID: 10509177 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3223(99)00075-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is characterized by subcortical and cortical brain abnormalities. Evidence indicates that some nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients manifest biobehavioral abnormalities, including brain abnormalities. The goal of this study was to determine whether amygdala-hippocampal and thalamic abnormalities are present in relatives of schizophrenic patients. METHODS Subjects were 28 nonpsychotic, and nonschizotypal, first-degree adult relatives of schizophrenics and 26 normal control subjects. Sixty contiguous 3 mm coronal, T1-weighted 3D magnetic resonance images of the brain were acquired on a 1.5 Tesla magnet. Cortical and subcortical gray and white matter and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were segmented using a semi-automated intensity contour mapping algorithm. Analyses of covariance of the volumes of brain regions, controlling for expected intellectual (i.e., reading) ability and diagnosis, were used to compare groups. RESULTS The main findings were that relatives had significant volume reductions bilaterally in the amygdala-hippocampal region and thalamus compared to control subjects. Marginal differences were noted in the pallidum, putamen, cerebellum, and third and fourth ventricles. CONCLUSIONS Results support the hypothesis that core components of the vulnerability to schizophrenia include structural abnormalities in the thalamus and amygdala-hippocampus. These findings require further work to determine if the abnormalities are an expression of the genetic liability to schizophrenia.
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Herrell R, Goldberg J, True WR, Ramakrishnan V, Lyons M, Eisen S, Tsuang MT. Sexual orientation and suicidality: a co-twin control study in adult men. ARCHIVES OF GENERAL PSYCHIATRY 1999; 56:867-74. [PMID: 10530625 DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.56.10.867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Several recent studies have found a higher lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts in homosexual males compared with heterosexual control subjects or population rates. These studies used either convenience samples, most without controls, or population-based samples in which confounding factors such as depression and substance abuse were not measured. METHODS This study used twins from the population-based Vietnam Era Twin Registry, Hines, Ill. An analytic sample of 103 middle-aged male-male twin pairs from the registry was identified in which one member of the pair reported male sex partners after age 18 years while the other did not. Four lifetime symptoms of suicidality as measured by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule were analyzed: thoughts about death, wanting to die, thoughts about committing suicide, and attempted suicide. A composite measure of reporting at least one suicidality symptom was also assessed. RESULTS Same-gender sexual orientation is significantly associated with each of the suicidality measures. Unadjusted matched-pair odds ratios follow: 2.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 - 4.6) for thoughts about death; 4.4 (95% CI, 1.7 - 11.6) for wanted to die; 4.1 (95% CI, 2.1 - 8.2) for suicidal ideation; 6.5 (95% CI, 1.5 - 28.8) for attempted suicide; and 5.1 (95% CI, 2.4 - 10.9) for any of the suicidal symptoms. After adjustment for substance abuse and depressive symptoms (other than suicidality), all of the suicidality measures remain significantly associated with same-gender sexual orientation except for wanting to die (odds ratio, 2.5 [95% CI, 0.7 - 8.81). CONCLUSIONS The substantially increased lifetime risk of suicidal behaviors in homosexual men is unlikely to be due solely to substance abuse or other psychiatric comorbidity. While the underlying causes of the suicidal behaviors remain unclear, future research needs to address the inadequacies in the measurement of both sexual orientation and suicidality in population-based samples.
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Romeis JC, Waterman B, Scherrer JF, Goldberg J, Eisen SA, Heath AC, Bucholz KK, Slutske WS, Lyons MJ, Tsuang MT, True WR. The impact of sociodemographics, comorbidity and symptom recency on health-related quality of life in alcoholics. JOURNAL OF STUDIES ON ALCOHOL 1999; 60:653-62. [PMID: 10487735 DOI: 10.15288/jsa.1999.60.653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To obtain estimates of the relationship between alcoholism and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in twin pairs discordant for alcohol dependence. METHOD In 1995, 1,258 male-male twin pair members of the Vietnam Era Twin Registry (total Registry N = 7.375 pairs) were administered a modified Medical Outcomes Study 36 Item Short Form (SF-36) and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) to obtain measures of HRQL and a DSM-III-R criteria lifetime diagnosis of alcohol dependence. Mean within pair differences on eight separate SF-36 subscales were calculated for 436 remitted (no alcohol symptoms in the past 5 years) alcohol-dependent discordant twin pairs and for 194 recent (at least one alcohol symptom in the past 5 years) alcohol-dependent discordant pairs before and after adjustment for covariates. Covariates included lifetime physical illness, lifetime psychiatric disorders, lifetime drug dependence, lifetime nicotine dependence, current marital status, current income and severity. RESULTS In the unadjusted analysis remitted alcoholic twins compared to their nonalcoholic co-twins reported significantly lower mean scores for six of eight SF-36 subscales. Recent alcoholic twins, compared to their nonalcoholic co-twins, reported significantly lower mean scores for all of the SF-36 subscales. However, after simultaneous adjustment for all covariates, no SF-36 subscale mean, except "vitality" among recent alcoholic twins, was significantly different between alcoholic twins and their nonalcoholic co-twins. CONCLUSIONS Differences in HRQL between alcoholic and nonalcoholic co-twins is due to covariation from physical and psychiatric problems, drug and nicotine dependence, marital status, income and severity.
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True WR, Heath AC, Scherrer JF, Xian H, Lin N, Eisen SA, Lyons MJ, Goldberg J, Tsuang MT. Interrelationship of genetic and environmental influences on conduct disorder and alcohol and marijuana dependence symptoms. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS 1999; 88:391-7. [PMID: 10402507 DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-8628(19990820)88:4<391::aid-ajmg17>3.0.co;2-l] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Data from the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry were analyzed to explore the degree to which the same genetic and environmental factors contribute to childhood conduct disorder symptoms and to alcohol and marijuana dependence symptoms. Data on conduct disorder and alcohol and marijuana dependence were obtained from administration of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule to 1,856 monozygotic and 1,479 dizygotic male-male twin pair members of the VET Registry. Multivariate genetic models were compared to determine the genetic and environmental influences common and or specific to all three phenotypes. A full model that allowed for common genetic and environmental influences to all three phenotypes gave a good fit to the data, but the best fitting reduced model did not allow for a genetic influence on conduct disorder symptoms. Under the best fitting reduced model, genes explained 44.7% of the variance in risk for alcohol dependence symptoms. The genetic liability for symptoms of marijuana dependence was due to a 36.3% specific contribution and a 7.6% contribution from genes common with alcohol dependence symptoms. Family environmental contributions common to all three phenotypes explained 46.7%, 11.9%, and 21.3% of variance in risk for symptoms of conduct disorder, alcohol dependence, and marijuana dependence, respectively. Common family environmental factors contribute to risk of conduct disorder symptoms and alcohol and marijuana dependence symptoms. Common genetic influences contribute to risk of symptoms of alcohol dependence and marijuana dependence. While our findings suggest genes do not contribute to co-morbid conduct disorder symptoms, comparisons with other twin studies suggest that the role of genes in risk for conduct disorder remains uncertain.
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Rafal S, Tsuang MT, Carpenter WT. A dilemma born of progress: switching from clozapine to a newer antipsychotic. Am J Psychiatry 1999; 156:1086-90. [PMID: 10401457 DOI: 10.1176/ajp.156.7.1086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Tsuang MT, Stone WS, Seidman LJ, Faraone SV, Zimmet S, Wojcik J, Kelleher JP, Green AI. Treatment of nonpsychotic relatives of patients with schizophrenia: four case studies. Biol Psychiatry 1999; 45:1412-8. [PMID: 10356622 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3223(98)00364-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Substantial evidence now shows that the genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia can be manifested clinically in first-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia, even without the full manifestations of the disorder. One pattern of problems observed involves the combination of negative symptoms and neuropsychological deficits. We have investigated whether a low dose of a novel antipsychotic medication, risperidone, could attenuate these clinical problems in non-psychotic, first-degree relatives, and report here findings from our first 4 cases. METHODS Twelve adults who were first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia were evaluated for the presence of negative symptoms and neuropsychological deficits (in attention and working memory, long-term verbal memory and executive functions). Four subjects who met our predetermined criteria, and who did not demonstrate medical contraindications, were enrolled in a 6-week trial of risperidone. Clinical and medical measures were assessed before, during and after treatment. Doses of risperidone started at 0.25 mg and were increased to 1.0-2.0 mg/day. RESULTS These subjects showed substantial reductions in negative symptoms, and one subject showed modest reductions. All four subjects showed substantial improvements on some tests of attention and working memory. Side effects of risperidone were temporary and mainly mild. CONCLUSIONS These initial findings support two conclusions. First, clinical deficits in non-psychotic first-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia are identifiable, and to a significant extent, reversible. Second, risperidone may eventually serve as an effective treatment for people whose lives are impaired by similar or related problems.
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Goldstein JM, Goodman JM, Seidman LJ, Kennedy DN, Makris N, Lee H, Tourville J, Caviness VS, Faraone SV, Tsuang MT. Cortical abnormalities in schizophrenia identified by structural magnetic resonance imaging. ARCHIVES OF GENERAL PSYCHIATRY 1999; 56:537-47. [PMID: 10359468 DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.56.6.537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 274] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Relatively few magnetic resonance imaging studies of schizophrenia have investigated the entire cerebral cortex. Most focus on only a few areas within a lobe or an entire lobe. To assess expected regional alterations in cortical volumes, we used a new method to segment the entire neocortex into 48 topographically defined brain regions. We hypothesized, based on previous empirical and theoretical work, that dorsolateral prefrontal and paralimbic cortices would be significantly volumetrically reduced in patients with schizophrenia compared with normal controls. METHODS Twenty-nine patients with DSM-III-R schizophrenia were systematically sampled from 3 public outpatient service networks in the Boston, Mass, area. Healthy subjects, recruited from catchment areas from which the patients were drawn, were screened for psychopathologic disorders and proportionately matched to patients by age, sex, ethnicity, parental socioeconomic status, reading ability, and handedness. Analyses of covariance of the volumes of brain regions, adjusted for age- and sex-corrected head size, were used to compare patients and controls. RESULTS The greatest volumetric reductions and largest effect sizes were in the middle frontal gyrus and paralimbic brain regions, such as the frontomedial and frontoorbital cortices, anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyri, and the insula. In addition, the supramarginal gyrus, which is densely connected to prefrontal and cingulate cortices, was also significantly reduced in patients. Patients also had subtle volumetric increases in other cortical areas with strong reciprocal connections to the paralimbic areas that were volumetrically reduced. CONCLUSION Findings using our methods have implications for understanding brain abnormalities in schizophrenia and suggest the importance of the paralimbic areas and their connections with prefrontal brain regions.
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Slutske WS, True WR, Scherrer JF, Heath AC, Bucholz KK, Eisen SA, Goldberg J, Lyons MJ, Tsuang MT. The heritability of alcoholism symptoms: "indicators of genetic and environmental influence in alcohol-dependent individuals" revisited. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1999; 23:759-69. [PMID: 10371393 DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1999.tb04181.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
There is consistent evidence from twin and adoption studies implicating genetic factors in the etiology of alcoholism, yet few studies have examined the role of genetic influences on individual symptoms of alcoholism. In a previous study of 113 male twins, Johnson et al. (1996a) identified 7 alcoholism symptoms that were more "genetic" and 14 that were more "environmental" (that is, non-genetic) in their etiology by examining symptom concordances among monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. The present study represents an attempt to replicate the results of this previous study and extend them by estimating the contribution of genetic factors to the variation in liability for different alcoholism symptoms. Subjects were 3356 male twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Lifetime histories of alcoholism symptoms were assessed by a structured psychiatric telephone interview. The results of the previous study were not replicated. The correlations between symptom classifications as genetic and non-genetic in the present and previous study were nonsignificant and ranged from -0.27 to 0.11. However, within the present study the correlation between symptom classifications as genetic and non-genetic was statistically significant across random split-half subsamples (r = 0.59); nine alcoholism symptoms were consistently classified as genetic and six symptoms as non-genetic in their etiology. Model-fitting analyses applied to different alcoholism symptoms yielded heritability estimates ranging from 0.03 to 0.53 with broad and overlapping confidence intervals around these estimates, ranging from 0.00 to 0.65. The results of this study highlight the difficulty of identifying more or less heritable phenotypes in twin research, and suggest that it may not be possible to identify specific alcoholism symptoms that are more genetic in their etiology than others. Nevertheless, there appears to be potentially important variation in the relative magnitude of genetic influences for individual alcoholism symptoms, and exploring these differences may lead to further insights into the nosology and etiology of alcohol-related problems.
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Abstract
Target features are clinical or neurobiological characteristics that are expressions of the underlying predisposition to an illness. They comprise a wide range of phenomena, from the classic signs and symptoms of psychopathology to sophisticated measures of brain structure and function. For schizophrenia, many target features have been identified. These include eye tracking dysfunction, attentional impairment, allusive thinking, neurological signs, thought disorder, characteristic auditory evoked potentials, neuropsychological impairment, structural brain abnormalities and functional brain abnormalities. In their most pathological forms, these features are present among many schizophrenic patients, yet it is their presence among their non-psychotic relatives that shows them to be target features. We discuss the theoretical background for target features, present examples and describe how the discovery of target features has implications for schizophrenia research.
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Faraone SV, Seidman LJ, Kremen WS, Toomey R, Pepple JR, Tsuang MT. Neuropsychological functioning among the nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients: a 4-year follow-up study. JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY 1999. [PMID: 10067004 DOI: 10.1037//0021-843x.108.1.176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In a prior study of 54 relatives of patients with schizophrenia and 72 control participants, 3 neuropsychological functions met the criteria for risk indicators of the schizophrenia genotype: executive functioning, memory, and auditory attention. In an assessment of the stability of these findings, the sample was reexamined 4 years after the initial assessment. Three test scores were found to differ between groups (Immediate Verbal Memory, Delayed Verbal Memory, and Dichotic Listening Digits Detected) or to show a significant Group x Gender interaction (immediate and delayed verbal and visual memories). None of the test scores showed Group x Time interactions, suggesting that the discriminating power of the tests was stable over time. Evidence for deficits in working memory and rule learning on the object alternation test was also found. These results support the idea that neuropsychological dysfunction among relatives of patients with schizophrenia is a stable trait caused by the familial predisposition to schizophrenia.
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Eisen SA, Waterman B, Skinner CS, Scherrer JF, Romeis JC, Bucholz K, Heath A, Goldberg J, Lyons MJ, Tsuang MT, True WR. Sociodemographic and health status characteristics with prostate cancer screening in a national cohort of middle-aged male veterans. Urology 1999; 53:516-22. [PMID: 10096377 DOI: 10.1016/s0090-4295(98)00545-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To characterize variables associated with obtaining prostate cancer screening in a nonclinical, nationally distributed, middle-aged male population. METHODS Telephone interviews were administered to 2652 individual members of the Vietnam Era Twin Registry in 1992 and 1995. Dependent variables were self-report measures of having had a digital rectal examination (DRE) and/or a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test in the past 5 years. Independent variables were current measures of age, household income, education, race, insurance, source of care, and lifetime measures of physical condition, psychiatric illness, and alcohol and nicotine dependence. RESULTS Thirty-five percent of the sample reported having had a PSA and DRE within the past 5 years. Prevalence of obtaining either a PSA or DRE varied with age, income, education, and race. Subjects with a regular source of care, a regular physician, and health insurance reported higher rates of having had a DRE or PSA and DRE. Persons with a physical or psychiatric illness reported more screening. A multiple regression model revealed that having a regular source of care, having a regular physician, physical illness, psychiatric illness, minority status, higher income, and age predicted having had some form of screening. CONCLUSIONS A substantial portion of middle-aged men have had both a PSA and DRE performed at least once in the preceding 5 years. It may be possible to further improve prostate cancer screening participation by directing educational programs at men who are not in contact with the healthcare system. If the PSA and DRE screening guidelines that are finally adopted discourage screening among low-risk men younger than age 50, educational programs that emphasize age screening criteria may be warranted.
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Faraone SV, Seidman LJ, Kremen WS, Toomey R, Pepple JR, Tsuang MT. Neuropsychological functioning among the nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients: a 4-year follow-up study. JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY 1999; 108:176-81. [PMID: 10067004 DOI: 10.1037/0021-843x.108.1.176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In a prior study of 54 relatives of patients with schizophrenia and 72 control participants, 3 neuropsychological functions met the criteria for risk indicators of the schizophrenia genotype: executive functioning, memory, and auditory attention. In an assessment of the stability of these findings, the sample was reexamined 4 years after the initial assessment. Three test scores were found to differ between groups (Immediate Verbal Memory, Delayed Verbal Memory, and Dichotic Listening Digits Detected) or to show a significant Group x Gender interaction (immediate and delayed verbal and visual memories). None of the test scores showed Group x Time interactions, suggesting that the discriminating power of the tests was stable over time. Evidence for deficits in working memory and rule learning on the object alternation test was also found. These results support the idea that neuropsychological dysfunction among relatives of patients with schizophrenia is a stable trait caused by the familial predisposition to schizophrenia.
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Seidman LJ, Breiter HC, Goodman JM, Goldstein JM, Woodruff PW, O'Craven K, Savoy R, Tsuang MT, Rosen BR. A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of auditory vigilance with low and high information processing demands. Neuropsychology 1999. [PMID: 9805320 DOI: 10.1037//0894-4105.12.4.505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
This study identified the brain activations associated with auditory vigilance tasks, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We created auditory continuous performance tests (CPTs) in which a demanding task (working memory task) was made more difficult than a simple vigilance task by increasing working memory and interference filtering demands. Two cohorts of normal male controls performed significantly worse on the working memory CPT than on the vigilance task. Compared to the vigilance task, performance of the working memory task produced significant signal change in lateral and medial prefrontal cortex, precentral cortex, temporal lobe, including insula and hippocampus, parietal-occipital cortex, cingulate, thalamus, and superior colliculus. Performance and degree of activation was associated with an estimate of IQ. Further research should clarify the contributions of working memory and interference filtering to the activated network.
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Kremen WS, Faraone SV, Toomey R, Seidman LJ, Tsuang MT. Sex differences in self-reported schizotypal traits in relatives of schizophrenic probands. Schizophr Res 1998; 34:27-37. [PMID: 9824874 DOI: 10.1016/s0920-9964(98)00081-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
We used the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire to evaluate schizotypal traits in 44 normal volunteers and 40 non-psychotic, biological relatives of schizophrenic probands. Relatives endorsed more cognitive-perceptual traits than did controls; a group-by-sex interaction indicated that male relatives accounted for this difference. Although not statistically significant, a similar pattern was observed for interpersonal traits. Thus, elevated rates of some schizotypal traits appear to be more prominent in male than in female relatives of schizophrenic probands, at least when assessed by self-report. Subscale analysis indicated that differences were accounted for primarily by suspiciousness and ideas of reference, suggesting that paranoid-like phenomena from both the cognitive-perceptual and interpersonal factors may constitute an important dimension of schizotypy in relatives. Unlike previous studies, we did not find any differences in constricted affect or disorganization signs. Interviews and other non-self-report techniques are probably best suited for an assessment of these features, although the question remains as to whether the combination of both approaches might provide some incremental discriminatory power.
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Seidman LJ, Van Manen KJ, Turner WM, Gamser DM, Faraone SV, Goldstein JM, Tsuang MT. The effects of increasing resource demand on vigilance performance in adults with schizophrenia or developmental attentional/learning disorders: a preliminary study. Schizophr Res 1998; 34:101-12. [PMID: 9824882 DOI: 10.1016/s0920-9964(98)00097-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The goal of this study was to assess whether degree of information processing load differentially affects vigilance performance in patients with schizophrenia as compared to normal controls or patients with other attentional disorders. We contrasted the performance of clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia (n = 18), with that of normal controls (n = 17), and adults with developmental attentional/learning disorders (n = 13) on simple and demanding versions of a visual continuous performance test (CPT). Patients with schizophrenia were significantly impaired on both versions of the CPT compared to normal controls, and showed a significant decline in perceptual sensitivity and significantly more omission errors with increased processing demands. Compared to adults with developmental attentional/learning disorders, patients with schizophrenia manifested a tendency toward a decline in perceptual sensitivity. There were no significant differences between groups on a measure of response bias. The data support the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia have insufficient information processing resources to cope with higher processing demands on effortful attention tasks. Further study comparing schizophrenic patients with patients who have other neuropsychiatric disorders, controlling for severity of illness, is required to determine the specificity of this deficit in schizophrenia.
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Tsuang MT, Lyons MJ, Meyer JM, Doyle T, Eisen SA, Goldberg J, True W, Lin N, Toomey R, Eaves L. Co-occurrence of abuse of different drugs in men: the role of drug-specific and shared vulnerabilities. ARCHIVES OF GENERAL PSYCHIATRY 1998; 55:967-72. [PMID: 9819064 DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.55.11.967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 440] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous research has demonstrated genetic and environmental influences on abuse of individual substances, but there is less known about how these factors may influence the co-occurrence of abuse of different illicit drugs. METHODS We studied 3372 male twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. They were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Version III, Revised to investigate the extent to which the abuse of different categories of drugs occurs together within an individual, as well as the possibility that genetic and environmental factors are responsible for observed co-occurrence. Co-occurrence was quantified using odds ratios and conditional probabilities. Multivariate biometrical modeling analyses were used to assess genetic and environmental influences on co-occurrence. RESULTS Abusing any category of drug was associated with a marked increase in the probability of abusing every other category of drugs. We found evidence for a shared or common vulnerability factor that underlies the abuse of marijuana, sedatives, stimulants, heroin or opiates, and psychedelics. This shared vulnerability is influenced by genetic, family environmental, and nonfamily environmental factors, but not every drug is influenced to the same extent by the shared vulnerability factor. Marijuana, more than other drugs, was influenced by family environmental factors. Each category of drug, except psychedelics, had genetic influences unique to itself (ie, not shared with other drug categories). Heroin had larger genetic influences unique to itself than did any other drug. CONCLUSION There are genetically and environmentally determined characteristics that comprise a shared or common vulnerability to abuse a range of illicit drugs.
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Seidman LJ, Breiter HC, Goodman JM, Goldstein JM, Woodruff PW, O'Craven K, Savoy R, Tsuang MT, Rosen BR. A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of auditory vigilance with low and high information processing demands. Neuropsychology 1998; 12:505-18. [PMID: 9805320 DOI: 10.1037/0894-4105.12.4.505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
This study identified the brain activations associated with auditory vigilance tasks, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We created auditory continuous performance tests (CPTs) in which a demanding task (working memory task) was made more difficult than a simple vigilance task by increasing working memory and interference filtering demands. Two cohorts of normal male controls performed significantly worse on the working memory CPT than on the vigilance task. Compared to the vigilance task, performance of the working memory task produced significant signal change in lateral and medial prefrontal cortex, precentral cortex, temporal lobe, including insula and hippocampus, parietal-occipital cortex, cingulate, thalamus, and superior colliculus. Performance and degree of activation was associated with an estimate of IQ. Further research should clarify the contributions of working memory and interference filtering to the activated network.
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98
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Goldstein JM, Seidman LJ, Goodman JM, Koren D, Lee H, Weintraub S, Tsuang MT. Are there sex differences in neuropsychological functions among patients with schizophrenia? Am J Psychiatry 1998; 155:1358-64. [PMID: 9766767 DOI: 10.1176/ajp.155.10.1358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 163] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Studies of sex differences in neuropsychological performance in schizophrenia report inconsistent results, due in part to methodological artifacts. The study presented here was specifically designed to examine sex differences in neuropsychological performance. It was hypothesized that schizophrenic women would exhibit fewer neuropsychological deficits than schizophrenic men and that their performance would be more similar to that of normal women than schizophrenic men's performance would be to that of normal men. METHOD Thirty-one outpatients with DSM-III-R-defined schizophrenia were systematically sampled from an extensive service network serving a large urban catchment area for seriously mentally ill persons. Twenty-seven normal comparison subjects were matched within sex on the basis of age, parental socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and handedness. An extensive neuropsychological test battery was administered, and multivariate analysis of variance was used to test for the effects of sex and group and sex-by-group interactions. RESULTS Male patients were significantly impaired across all functions in comparison with normal male subjects and on tests of attention, verbal memory, and executive functions in comparison with female patients. Female patients performed significantly worse than female normal comparison subjects only on tests of attention, executive functions, visual memory, and motor functions. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that women with schizophrenia may be less vulnerable to particular cognitive deficits, especially those involving verbal processing, than schizophrenic men.
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Faraone SV, Biederman J, Mennin D, Russell R, Tsuang MT. Familial subtypes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a 4-year follow-up study of children from antisocial-ADHD families. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1998; 39:1045-53. [PMID: 9804037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
ADHD is a familial disorder with high rates of comorbidity with conduct disorder in childhood and antisocial personality and substance use disorders in adulthood. A growing literature suggests that ADHD with antisocial comorbidity may be nosologically distinct from other forms of ADHD. Previously, we proposed a family-based stratification that defined Antisocial families as those with either conduct disorder or antisocial personality disorder in the probands or relatives. To provide predictive validity for that stratification, we assessed psychopathology in these families 4 years after their initial assessment. Results show that the probands and siblings from Antisocial families had higher rates of psychopathology during the 4-year follow-up period compared with siblings from Non-antisocial and control families. They also had more deviant ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist (especially for anxious/depressed, delinquent, and aggressive behavior). We found fewer group differences in the academic, psychosocial, and intellectual correlates of ADHD. These results confirm and extend previous work indicating that Antisocial ADHD may be a nosologically and clinically meaningful subform of ADHD.
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Maher BA, Manschreck TC, Yurgelun-Todd DA, Tsuang MT. Hemispheric asymmetry of frontal and temporal gray matter and age of onset in schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 1998; 44:413-7. [PMID: 9777170 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3223(98)00076-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Investigators have reported lack of normal asymmetry of lateralization in some schizophrenic patients, as measured postmortem and by preference and/or performance. It has been suggested that this lack of asymmetry is related to early onset of schizophrenia. The present study extends the inquiry by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurement of volumetric asymmetry. METHODS Hemispheric asymmetry of volume in regional gray matter was examined in 16 schizophrenic patients who had undergone MRI of brain volume. RESULTS Low levels of hemispheric asymmetry in the frontal and temporal areas were strongly associated with early onset of schizophrenia, the association with frontal volume being more marked than with temporal volume. No relationship was found in the other brain areas that were scanned. The findings were not artifacts of chronological age, nor of extreme scores in a small sample. CONCLUSIONS These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that failure to develop asymmetry is an important component of the pathology underlying some forms of schizophrenia.
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