51
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Li ML, Xiang B, Li YF, Hu X, Wang Q, Guo WJ, Lei W, Huang CH, Zhao LS, Li N, Ren HY, Wang HY, Ma XH, Deng W, Li T. Morphological changes in gray matter volume correlate with catechol-O-methyl transferase gene Val158Met polymorphism in first-episode treatment-naïve patients with schizophrenia. Neurosci Bull 2015; 31:31-42. [PMID: 25564193 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-014-1491-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2014] [Accepted: 11/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene is a schizophrenia susceptibility gene. A common functional polymorphism of this gene, Val158/158Met, has been proposed to influence gray matter volume (GMV). However, the effects of this polymorphism on cortical thickness/surface area in schizophrenic patients are less clear. In this study, we explored the relationship between the Val158Met polymorphism of the COMT gene and the GMV/cortical thickness/cortical surface area in 150 first-episode treatment-naïve patients with schizophrenia and 100 healthy controls. Main effects of diagnosis were found for GMV in the cerebellum and the visual, medial temporal, parietal, and middle frontal cortex. Patients with schizophrenia showed reduced GMVs in these regions. And main effects of genotype were detected for GMV in the left superior frontal gyrus. Moreover, a diagnosis × genotype interaction was found for the GMV of the left precuneus, and the effect of the COMT gene on GMV was due mainly to cortical thickness rather than cortical surface area. In addition, a pattern of increased GMV in the precuneus with increasing Met dose found in healthy controls was lost in patients with schizophrenia. These findings suggest that the COMTMet variant is associated with the disruption of dopaminergic influence on gray matter in schizophrenia, and the effect of the COMT gene on GMV in schizophrenia is mainly due to changes in cortical thickness rather than in cortical surface area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Li Li
- The Mental Health Center and the Psychiatric Laboratory, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
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52
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Nelson B, Raballo A. Basic Self-Disturbance in the Schizophrenia Spectrum: Taking Stock and Moving Forward. Psychopathology 2015; 48:301-9. [PMID: 26368118 DOI: 10.1159/000437211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2015] [Accepted: 06/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The concept of basic self-disturbance offers a renewed, phenomenologically oriented framework to approach both the cross-sectional and longitudinal complexity of schizophrenia spectrum psychopathology. According to this approach, schizophrenia is characterized by instability in the most foundational and irreducible dimension of selfhood, i.e., the basic sense of self. Whereas normal basic self-experience is characterized by being a self-present, single, temporally persistent, bodily and demarcated (bounded) subject of experience and action, vulnerability to schizophrenia is marked by several structural shifts in such a basic selfhood (e.g., unstable first-person perspective, diminished sense of presence, and loss of vital contact with reality). This provides the ground for the emergence of the varied symptoms of schizophrenia, such as positive, negative and disorganization symptoms. Recent empirical research confirms that basic self-disturbance is specific to the schizophrenia spectrum and might be of value in the prospective identification of prodromal patients. The concept has implications for both aetiopathogenetic research and clinical-psychotherapeutic intervention. Furthermore, it may offer an integrative framework across 'levels' of inquiry in schizophrenia research (i.e. across psychopathological, neurocognitive and neurobiological domains).
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Affiliation(s)
- Barnaby Nelson
- Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia
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53
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Brent BK. A mentalization-based approach to the development of the therapeutic alliance in the treatment of schizophrenia. J Clin Psychol 2014; 71:146-56. [PMID: 25557537 DOI: 10.1002/jclp.22150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
This article presents a clinical illustration of a mentalization-based approach to the development of a therapeutic alliance in the treatment of schizophrenia. A clinically focused overview of the attachment-based understanding of mentalization central to the mentalization-based treatment model is first provided. This is followed by a brief summary of the theory and evidence supporting the possible link between attachment disturbances and deficits of mental state understanding in schizophrenia. A case presentation then illustrates the application of core mentalization-based principles and interventions to enhance the therapeutic alliance by addressing disruptions of mentalization and reducing paranoia in the treatment of a patient with early course schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin K Brent
- The Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School; The Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
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Núñez D, Oelkers-Ax R, de Haan S, Ludwig M, Sattel H, Resch F, Weisbrod M, Fuchs T. Do deficits in the magnocellular priming underlie visual derealization phenomena? Preliminary neurophysiological and self-report results in first-episode schizophrenia patients. Schizophr Res 2014; 159:441-9. [PMID: 25239127 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.08.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2014] [Revised: 08/04/2014] [Accepted: 08/19/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Early visual impairments probably partially caused by impaired interactions between magnocellular (M) and parvocellular (P) pathways (M priming deficit), and disturbances of basic self-awareness or self-disorders (SDs) are core features of schizophrenia. The relationships between these features have not yet been studied. We hypothesized that the M priming was impaired in first-episode patients and that this deficit was associated with visual aspects of SDs. AIM To investigate early visual processing in a sample of first-episode schizophrenia patients and to explore the relationships between M and P functioning and visual aspects of SDs addressed by the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE) interview. METHOD Nine stimulating conditions were used to investigate M and P pathways and their interaction in a pattern reversal visually evoked potential (VEP) paradigm. N80 at mixed M- and P-conditions was used to investigate magnocellular priming. Generators were analyzed using source localization (Brain Electrical Source Analysis software: BESA). VEPs of nineteen first-episode schizophrenia patients were compared to those of twenty matched healthy controls by a bootstrap resample procedure. Visual aspects of SDs were analyzed through a factor analysis to separate symptom clusters of derealization phenomena. Thereafter, the associations between the main factors and the N80 component were explored using linear mixed models. RESULTS Factor analyses separated two EASE factors ("distance to the world", and "intrusive world"). The N80 component was represented by a single dipole located in the occipital visual cortex. The bootstrap analysis yielded significant amplitude reductions and prolonged latencies in first-episode patients relative to controls in response to mixed M-P conditions, and normal amplitudes and latencies in response to isolated P- and M-biased stimulation. Exploratory analyses showed significant negative correlations between the N80 amplitude values at mixed M-P conditions and the EASE factor "distance to the world", i.e. relatively higher amplitudes in the patient group were associated with higher subjective perceived derealization ("distance to the world"). CONCLUSIONS The early VEP component N80 evoked by mixed M-P conditions is assumed to be a correlate of M priming, and showed reduced amplitudes and longer latencies in first-episode patients. It probably reflects a hypoactivation of the M-pathway. The negative association between visual SDs (derealization phenomena characterized by visual experiences of being more distant to the world), and the M priming deficit was counterintuitive. It might indicate a dysregulated activity of the M-pathway in patients with SDs. Further research is needed to better understand this preliminary finding.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Núñez
- Faculty of Psychology, University de Talca, Chile; Psychiatry Department, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Voßstr. 4, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - R Oelkers-Ax
- Psychiatry Department, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Voßstr. 4, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Blumenstraße 8, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - S de Haan
- Psychiatry Department, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Voßstr. 4, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - M Ludwig
- Psychiatry Department, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Voßstr. 4, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - H Sattel
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Langerstraße 3, 81675 Munich, Germany.
| | - F Resch
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Blumenstraße 8, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - M Weisbrod
- Psychiatry Department, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Voßstr. 4, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany; Klinikum Karlsbad-Langensteinbach, Guttmannstrasse 1, 76307 Karlsbad, Germany.
| | - T Fuchs
- Psychiatry Department, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Voßstr. 4, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany.
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Brent BK, Seidman LJ, Coombs G, Keshavan MS, Moran JM, Holt DJ. Neural responses during social reflection in relatives of schizophrenia patients: relationship to subclinical delusions. Schizophr Res 2014; 157:292-8. [PMID: 24951401 PMCID: PMC4109724 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.05.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2014] [Revised: 05/21/2014] [Accepted: 05/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Deficits in the capacity to reflect about the self and others ("social reflection" [SR]) have been identified in schizophrenia, as well as in people with a genetic or clinical risk for the disorder. However, the neural underpinnings of these abnormalities are incompletely understood. METHODS Responses of a network of brain regions known to be involved in self and other processing (e.g., medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and superior temporal gyrus (STG)) were measured during SR in 16 first-degree, non-psychotic relatives (RELS) of schizophrenia patients and 16 healthy controls (CONS). Because of prior evidence linking dysfunction in this network and delusions, associations between SR-related responses of this network and subclinical delusions (measured using the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory) were also examined. RESULTS Compared with CONS, RELS showed significantly less SR-related activity of the right and left PCC and STG. Moreover, response magnitudes were negatively correlated with levels of delusional thinking across both groups. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that aberrant function of the neural circuitry underpinning SR is associated with the genetic liability to schizophrenia and confers vulnerability to delusional beliefs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin K. Brent
- The Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA,The Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Larry J. Seidman
- The Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA,The Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Garth Coombs
- The Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
| | - Matcheri S. Keshavan
- The Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Joseph M. Moran
- The Center for Brain Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA,U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center
| | - Daphne J. Holt
- The HST-MIT Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA,The Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
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56
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Park S, Nasrallah HA. The varieties of anomalous self experiences in schizophrenia: splitting of the mind at a crossroad. Schizophr Res 2014; 152:1-4. [PMID: 24332407 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2013.11.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2013] [Accepted: 11/26/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sohee Park
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, United States.
| | - Henry A Nasrallah
- Department of Neurology & Psychiatry, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63104, United States
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