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Hitczenko K, Segal Y, Keshet J, Goldrick M, Mittal VA. Speech characteristics yield important clues about motor function: Speech variability in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis. SCHIZOPHRENIA (HEIDELBERG, GERMANY) 2023; 9:60. [PMID: 37717025 PMCID: PMC10505148 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-023-00382-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS Motor abnormalities are predictive of psychosis onset in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis and are tied to its progression. We hypothesize that these motor abnormalities also disrupt their speech production (a highly complex motor behavior) and predict CHR individuals will produce more variable speech than healthy controls, and that this variability will relate to symptom severity, motor measures, and psychosis-risk calculator risk scores. STUDY DESIGN We measure variability in speech production (variability in consonants, vowels, speech rate, and pausing/timing) in N = 58 CHR participants and N = 67 healthy controls. Three different tasks are used to elicit speech: diadochokinetic speech (rapidly-repeated syllables e.g., papapa…, pataka…), read speech, and spontaneously-generated speech. STUDY RESULTS Individuals in the CHR group produced more variable consonants and exhibited greater speech rate variability than healthy controls in two of the three speech tasks (diadochokinetic and read speech). While there were no significant correlations between speech measures and remotely-obtained motor measures, symptom severity, or conversion risk scores, these comparisons may be under-powered (in part due to challenges of remote data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic). CONCLUSION This study provides a thorough and theory-driven first look at how speech production is affected in this at-risk population and speaks to the promise and challenges facing this approach moving forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasia Hitczenko
- Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique, Département d'Études Cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL University, Paris, France.
| | - Yael Segal
- Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Joseph Keshet
- Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Matthew Goldrick
- Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Cognitive Science Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Vijay A Mittal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Cognitive Science Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Evanston/Chicago, IL, USA
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Berglund AM, Raugh IM, Macdonald KI, James SH, Bartolomeo LA, Knippenberg AR, Strauss GP. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on hallucinations and delusions in youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis and outpatients with schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2023; 273:1329-1338. [PMID: 36680609 PMCID: PMC9862234 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-023-01551-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has had detrimental effects on mental health in the general population, the impact on those with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders has received relatively little attention. Assessing pandemic-related changes in positive symptoms is particularly critical to inform treatment protocols and determine whether fluctuations in hallucinations and delusions are related to telehealth utilization and treatment adherence. In the current longitudinal study, we evaluated changes in the frequency of hallucinations and delusions and distress resulting from them across three-time points. Participants included: (1) outpatients with chronic schizophrenia (SZ: n = 32) and healthy controls (CN: n = 31); (2) individuals at clinically high risk for psychosis (CHR: n = 25) and CN (n = 30). A series of questionnaires were administered to assess hallucination and delusion severity, medication adherence, telehealth utilization, and protective factors during the pandemic. While there were no significant increases in the frequency of hallucinations and delusions in SZ and CHR, distress increased from pre-pandemic to early pandemic in both groups and then decreased at the third time point. Additionally, changes in positive symptom severity in SZ were related to psychiatric medication adherence. Findings suggest that positive symptoms are a critical treatment target during the pandemic and that ongoing medication services will be beneficial.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alysia M Berglund
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Ian M Raugh
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Kelsey I Macdonald
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Sydney H James
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Lisa A Bartolomeo
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Anna R Knippenberg
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Gregory P Strauss
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
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Zarubin VC, Gupta T, Mittal VA. History of trauma is a critical treatment target for individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis. Front Psychiatry 2023; 13:1102464. [PMID: 36683986 PMCID: PMC9846262 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1102464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
People meeting criteria for a clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis syndrome frequently represent a heterogeneous, help-seeking, and dynamic population. Among the numerous symptoms and risk factors for psychosis, exposure to trauma stands out as both highly prevalent and poorly understood. Indeed, while up to 80% of individuals meeting criteria for a CHR syndrome report trauma histories, there is currently limited research dedicated to this specific area. This is particularly problematic as trauma is tied to risk for conversion, leads to a range of clinical issues, and contributes to disability and poor quality of life. Fortunately, recent research in the general population has led to a significant evolution in the way trauma is assessed and understood, and further, some studies have indicated that targeted trauma interventions in formal psychotic disorders are highly effective. However, direct adoption is challenging as the CHR syndrome holds a number of unique concerns (e.g., clinical heterogeneity, developmental trauma), and characteristically, involves a developing pediatric or young adult population that also comes with specific considerations (e.g., living with caregivers, transitionary period in roles). In this "perspective" we frame the issues around understanding trauma in CHR individuals, discuss viable treatments and unique considerations, and provide suggestions for future steps in developing and incorporating trauma-focused interventions in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa C. Zarubin
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences (DevSci), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Tina Gupta
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Vijay A. Mittal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences (DevSci), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Institute for Policy Research (IPR), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
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Zhang D, Guo Q, Xu L, Liu X, Zhang T, Liu X, Chen H, Li G, Wang J. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis: Evidence from eye-tracking measures. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2022; 118:110578. [PMID: 35618148 PMCID: PMC9126616 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2022.110578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Emerging evidence suggested that people with severe mental disorders were more vulnerable to the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few researches investigated the influence of global pandemics on people at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical symptoms, psychological distress, and eye-tracking characteristics in CHR individuals and healthy participants. Forty-nine CHR individuals and 50 healthy controls (HC) were assessed by PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), Perceived Stress Scale, 10-item version (PSS-10), and Coronavirus Impact Scale (CIS). Eye movement performances were measured by the tests of fixation stability, free-viewing, and anti-saccade. According to the mean score of CIS, participants were stratified into high-impact (n = 35) and low-impact (n = 64) subgroups. Compared with the HC group, CHR participants reported significantly higher levels of post-traumatic symptoms caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and showed abnormalities in most of the eye movement indexes. Among the altered indexes, the saccade amplitude of fixation stability test (far distractor), the scan path length of free-viewing test, and the accuracy of anti-saccade test were negatively affected by the severity of impact level in the CHR group. Moreover, the altered eye movement indexes were significantly associated with the total scores of CIS, PCL-5, and subscales of the Scale of Prodromal Syndromes (SOPS) among CHR individuals. Overall, our findings suggested the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the eye movement characteristics of CHR individuals. The present study provides valuable information on physiological distress related to the COVID-19 pandemic and sensitive neuropsychological biomarkers that interacted with social and environment stress in the CHR population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Zhang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China
| | - Qian Guo
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China; Department of Early Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China.
| | - Lihua Xu
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China
| | - Xu Liu
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China
| | - TianHong Zhang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China
| | - Xiaohua Liu
- Department of Early Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China
| | - Haiying Chen
- Department of Early Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China
| | - Guanjun Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China.
| | - Jijun Wang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, PR China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT), Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 201203, PR China; Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, PR China.
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