DNA methylation levels of RELN promoter region in ultra-high risk, first episode and chronic schizophrenia cohorts of schizophrenia.

The essential role of the Reelin gene (RELN) during brain development makes it a prominent candidate in human epigenetic studies of Schizophrenia. Previous literature has reported differing levels of DNA methylation (DNAm) in patients with psychosis. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) examine and compare RELN DNAm levels in subjects at different stages of psychosis cross-sectionally, (2) analyse the effect of antipsychotics (AP) on DNAm, and (3) evaluate the effectiveness and applicability of RELN promoter DNAm as a possible biological-based marker for symptom severity in psychosis.

Social skills, negative symptoms and real-world functioning in individuals at ultra-high risk of psychosis.

Background: Impairment in real-world social functioning is observed in individuals at Ultra-High Risk (UHR) of psychosis. Both social skills and negative symptoms appear to influence real-world functioning. This study aims to examine the psychometric properties of a social skills measure, the High-Risk Social Challenge task (HiSoC), and evaluate the relationship between social skills, negative symptoms, and real-world functioning in UHR individuals.

Large-scale evaluation of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) symptom architecture in schizophrenia.

Although the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is widely utilized in schizophrenia research, variability in specific item loading exist, hindering reproducibility and generalizability of findings across schizophrenia samples. We aim to establish a common PANSS factor structure from a large multi-ethnic sample and validate it against a meta-analysis of existing PANSS models. Schizophrenia participants (N = 3511) included in the current study were part of the Singapore Translational and Clinical Research Program (STCRP) and the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials for Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE).

Grit protects medical students from burnout: a longitudinal study.

Background: Burnout is a serious issue plaguing the medical profession with potential negative consequences on patient care. Burnout symptoms are observed as early as medical school. Based on a Job Demands-Resources model, this study aims to assess associations between specific job resources measured at the beginning of the first year of medical school with burnout symptoms occurring later in the first year.

Quality of parental bonding is associated with symptom severity and functioning among individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis.

Patients with schizophrenia tend to report having 'affectionless-controlling' mothers when the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) is used. However, there is limited research on the parenting styles received by individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. Furthermore, previous PBI studies have suggested that a three-factor solution is more suitable than the original two-factors.

Childhood adversities in people at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Childhood adversities have been reported to be more common among individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. This paper systematically reviewed and meta-analysed (i) the severity and prevalence of childhood adversities (childhood trauma exposure, bullying victimisation and parental separation or loss) among the UHR, and (ii) the association between adversities and transition to psychosis (TTP). PsycINFO, PubMed and Embase databases were searched for studies reporting childhood adversities among UHR individuals.

Longitudinal Cognitive Changes in Young Individuals at Ultrahigh Risk for Psychosis.

Importance: Cognitive deficits are a key feature of risk for psychosis. Longitudinal changes in cognitive architecture may be associated with the social and occupational functioning in young people.

Objectives: To examine longitudinal profiles of cognition in individuals at ultrahigh risk (UHR) for psychosis, compared with healthy controls, and to investigate the association of cognition with functioning.

The Impact of Medication Anticholinergic Burden on Cognitive Performance in People With Schizophrenia.

Background: Cognitive deficits are prevalent in people with schizophrenia and associated with functional impairments. In addition to antipsychotics, pharmacotherapy in schizophrenia often includes other psychotropics, and some of these agents possess anticholinergic properties, which may impair cognition. The objective of this study was to explore the association between medication anticholinergic burden and cognition in schizophrenia.

Disrupted latent inhibition in individuals at ultra high-risk for developing psychosis.

The addition of off-the-shelf cognitive measures to established prodromal criteria has resulted in limited improvement in the prediction of conversion to psychosis. Tests that assess cognitive processes central to schizophrenia might better identify those at highest risk. The latent inhibition paradigm assesses a subject's tendency to ignore irrelevant stimuli, a process integral to healthy perceptual and cognitive function that has been hypothesized to be a key deficit underlying the development of schizophrenia.

Impact of distress related to attenuated psychotic symptoms in individuals at ultra high risk of psychosis: Findings from the Longitudinal Youth at Risk Study.

Aim: Recent studies have highlighted that attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS) are an important source of distress in ultra high risk (UHR) individuals and that this distress is related to transition to psychosis (TTP). This study examined distress associated with APS in UHR individuals and investigated its association with TTP.

Methods: The Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental State (CAARMS) was used to identify 173 UHR individuals, who were included as participants in the study.

Establishing the Brief Assessment of Cognition - Short form.

The study aims to identify and validate a parsimonious subset of tests in the commonly used Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) that allows the evaluation of global cognitive ability. Several permutations of subtests from the BACS were examined to identify the best subset of tests to compose the short form measure. The Brief Assessment of Cognition-Short Form (BAC-SF) was evaluated for convergent validity in healthy and psychiatric samples (N = 3718).

Impact of psychiatric comorbidity in individuals at Ultra High Risk of psychosis - Findings from the Longitudinal Youth at Risk Study (LYRIKS).

Recent studies have reported a high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in Ultra High Risk (UHR) for psychosis populations. This study examined the prevalence of comorbidity and its impact on symptoms, functioning, cognition and transition to psychosis in the Longitudinal Youth at Risk Study (LYRIKS) sample. The Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental State (CAARMS) was used to identify UHR individuals and 163 participants were included in the study.

Proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial of pregnenolone in schizophrenia.

Rationale: Preclinical and clinical data suggest that pregnenolone may be a promising therapeutic in schizophrenia. Pregnenolone is neuroprotective and enhances learning and memory, myelination, and microtubule polymerization. Treatment with pregnenolone elevates allopregnanolone (a neurosteroid that enhances GABAA receptor responses) and pregnenolone sulfate (a positive NMDA receptor modulator).

The continuous performance test, identical pairs: norms, reliability and performance in healthy controls and patients with schizophrenia in Singapore.

Aim: To provide normative values for the healthy ethnic Chinese Singaporean population and a large sample of patients with schizophrenia for the Continuous Performance Task-Identical Pairs (CPT-IP). Participants Data were collected on 1011 healthy ethnic Chinese and 654 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, all between 21 and 55 years of age.

Methods: Data were stratified by age and gender.

The Longitudinal Youth at Risk Study (LYRIKS)--an Asian UHR perspective.

Numerous studies have been published on the psychosis prodrome and have explored a wide array of its many aspects. However, the set of risk factors identified by these various efforts is not homogenous across studies. This could be due to unique population factors or relatively small sample sizes.

Brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia: normative data in an English-speaking ethnic Chinese sample.

There is a dearth of non-Western normative data for neuropsychological batteries designed to measure cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Here, we provide normative data for English-speaking ethnic Chinese on the widely used Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia acquired from 595 healthy community participants between ages 14 and 55. Means and standard deviations of subtests and composite scores were stratified by age group and sex.

Applicability of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery in Singapore.

The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was developed to provide a reliable, valid, and standard battery for clinical trials on cognitive enhancers in schizophrenia. In this study we tested the applicability of the MCCB to Singapore's English speakers. Healthy ethnic Chinese, Malay, and Indian English speakers (N = 171) of both genders were recruited within three age groups and three levels of education to match as closely as possible the US norming sample, and were administered the MCCB.

Formulation of the age-education index: measuring age and education effects in neuropsychological performance.

The complex interplay of education, age, and cognitive performance on various neuropsychological tests is examined in the current study. New education indices were formulated and further investigated to reveal how age and education variances work together to account for performance on neuropsychological tests. Participants were 830 English-speaking ethnic Chinese.

Increased ratio of 2nd to 4th digit (2D:4D) in schizophrenia.

Sex differences in the onset, epidemiology, clinical presentation and neuropathology of schizophrenia suggest that sexual dimorphism in brain development may be relevant to pathogenesis. Sex hormones, in particular testosterone, are considered to be crucial in brain development, but few investigations have examined the potential role of prenatal testosterone in schizophrenia. In this study, we examined a retrospective marker of prenatal testosterone release - 2D:4D finger length ratio (2D:4D), the relative length of 2nd to 4th digit, in 64 Asian patients with schizophrenia and 64 sex-matched controls.

Neural basis of generation of conclusions in elementary deduction.

In everyday life, people untrained in formal logic draw simple deductive inferences from linguistic material (i.e., elementary propositional deductions).