Language production impairments in patients with a first episode of psychosis.

Language production has often been described as impaired in psychiatric diseases such as in psychosis. Nevertheless, little is known about the characteristics of linguistic difficulties and their relation with other cognitive domains in patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP), either affective or non-affective. To deepen our comprehension of linguistic profile in FEP, 133 patients with FEP (95 non-affective, FEP-NA; 38 affective, FEP-A) and 133 healthy controls (HC) were assessed with a narrative discourse task.

The Italian version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Affective Disorders: performance of patients with bipolar disorder and healthy controls.

Objectives: Cognitive deficits in Bipolar Disorder (BD) are significant enough to have an impact on daily functioning. Therefore, appropriate tools must be used to improve our understanding of the nature and severity of cognitive deficits in BD. In this study, we aimed to compare the cognitive profiles of patients with BD and healthy controls (HC) applying the Italian version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Affective Disorders (BAC-A).

The role of the acceptance and commitment therapy in the treatment of social anxiety: An updated scoping review.

Background: Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) or Social Phobia is characterized by fear and anxiety of social circumstances that negatively impact an individual's occupational and relational life. There are several treatment options for this disorder ranging from pharmacological therapy to psychotherapies. In particular, the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy that practices acceptance and awareness strategies with behavior change strategies in order to increase an individual's mental flexibility, has been found to be effective.

Case Report: The Association Between Chromosomal Anomalies and Cluster A Personality Disorders: The Case of Two Siblings With 16p11.2 Deletion and a Review of the Literature.

Although several studies have shown the correlation between chromosomal rearrangements and the risk of developing psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, little attention has been given to identifying the genetic basis of pre-disposing personality so far. In this regard, a limited but significant number of studies seem to indicate an association between chromosomal anomalies and cluster A personality disorders (CAPD). Starting from the clinical description of two brothers affected by familial 16p11 deletion syndrome (OMIM #611913), both sharing cluster A and C personality traits, the aim of the present study is to critically review the literature regarding the correlation between chromosomal rearrangements and CAPD.

The association of childhood trauma, lifetime stressful events and general psychopathological symptoms in euthymic bipolar patients and healthy subjects.

Background: Psychopathological symptoms during euthymia in Bipolar Disorder (BD) affect quality of life and predispose to the occurrence of new acute episodes, however only few studies investigated potential risk-factors. This study aims to explore the association between childhood trauma (CT), lifetime stressful events (SLEs) and psychopathological symptoms in BD patients during euthymia and controls (HC).

Methods: A total of 261 participants (93 euthymic patients with BD, 168 HC) were enrolled.

Mental Health in Patients With Adrenal Incidentalomas: Is There a Relation With Different Degrees of Cortisol Secretion?

Context: Cushing's syndrome frequently causes mental health impairment. Data in patients with adrenal incidentaloma (AI) are lacking.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate psychiatric and neurocognitive functions in AI patients, in relation to the presence of subclinical hypercortisolism (SH), and the effect of adrenalectomy on mental health.

Brain Morphology of Cannabis Users With or Without Psychosis: A Pilot MRI Study.

Cannabis is the illicit drug most commonly used worldwide, and its consumption can both induce psychiatric symptoms in otherwise healthy subjects and unmask a florid psychotic picture in patients with a prior psychotic risk. Previous studies suggest that chronic and long-term cannabis exposure may exert significant negative effects in brain areas enriched with cannabinoid receptors. However, whether brain alterations determined by cannabis dependency will lead to a clinically significant phenotype or to a psychotic outbreak at some point of an abuser's life remains unclear.

Which are the best questionnaires to longitudinally evaluate mindfulness skills in personality disorders?

Background: Personality disorders (PDs) are severe mental illnesses, characterized by inflexible and enduring response patterns in a broad range of personal and social situations. With the aim of identifying effective and evidence-based interventions, in the last decades we observed a flourishing of the so-called "thirdwave" cognitive-behavioural therapies, where mindfulness appears as relevant factor in promoting individual well-being and treatment response. In this regard, several authors tried to develop new instruments that enable to measure mindfulness skills, such as the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale (PHLMS).

The Effect of DHA Supplementation on Cognition in Patients with Bipolar Disorder: An Exploratory Randomized Control Trial.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mental disorder with a wide range of cognitive deficits, both in the euthymic and acute phase of the disease. Interestingly, in recent years, there has been a growing interest in investigating the impact of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on cognition in BD. In this context, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6 ω-3, DHA) supplementation on cognitive performances in euthymic BD patients.

A systematic review of online interventions for families of patients with severe mental disorders.

Background: Several studies show the effectiveness of face-to-face interventions with families in improving the prognosis of patients with severe psychiatric disorders and their relatives; however, the effectiveness of online interventions is poorly understood. The current study aims to provide an overview of evidence for the effectiveness of online treatments (web/app) for patients with severe psychiatric disorders and their families.

Method: We performed a systematic review of online treatments for informal family caregivers of patients with a severe psychiatric disorder.

Altered syntactic abilities in first episode patients: An inner phenomenon characterizing psychosis.

Background: Research has consistently shown that language abilities represent a core dimension of psychosis; however, to date, very little is known about syntactic comprehension performance in the early stages of psychosis. This study aims to compare the linguistic abilities involved in syntactic comprehension in a large group of First Episode Psychosis (FEP) patients and healthy controls (HCs).

Methods: A multiple choice test of comprehension of syntax was administered to 218 FEP patients (166 non-affective FEP patients [FEP-NA] and 52 affective FEP patients [FEP-A]) and 106 HCs.

The brief assessment of cognition in affective disorders: Normative data for the Italian population.

Background: To date there are no validated tests in Italian to assess cognitive functions in Bipolar Disorder. Therefore, this study aimed to provide normative data for the Italian version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Affective Disorders (BAC-A), a battery targeting neuro- and affective-cognition in affective disorders.

Methods: Data were collected from 228 healthy participants (age range: 18-67; mean age: 34.

The Neuroanatomy of Somatoform Disorders: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Background: Somatoform disorders (SDs) are a heterogeneous group of psychiatric syndromes characterized by common symptoms, which may mimic a physical condition but they are not explained by a medical condition. Although the biologic nature of this disorder has been widely accepted, the neuroanatomical correlates characterizing SDs are still inconclusive.

Objective: This study aims to explore gray matter (GM) volume alterations in SD patients compared to healthy controls and their possible association with clinical and cognitive measures.

Prosody abilities in a large sample of affective and non-affective first episode psychosis patients.

Objective: Prosody comprehension deficits have been reported in major psychoses. It is still not clear whether these deficits occur at early psychosis stages. The aims of our study were to investigate a) linguistic and emotional prosody comprehension abilities in First Episode Psychosis (FEP) patients compared to healthy controls (HC); b) performance differences between non-affective (FEP-NA) and affective (FEP-A) patients, and c) association between symptoms severity and prosodic features.

Temperament and Character Inventory in Bipolar Disorder versus Healthy Controls and Modulatory Effects of 3 Key Functional Gene Variants.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) has been associated with temperamental and personality traits, although the relationship is still to be fully elucidated. Several studies investigated the genetic basis of temperament and character, identifying catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene variants as strong candidates.

Methods: In the GECO-BIP study, 125 BD patients and 173 HC were recruited.

Age at Onset and Social Cognitive Impairment in Clinically Stabilized Patients with Schizophrenia: An Ecological Cross-Sectional Study.

Purposes of the present study were to assess the social cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and to detect if some clinical variables (particularly age at onset) are predictive of general/social cognitive deficit in schizophrenia patients. Thirty-five clinically stabilized schizophrenia outpatients were assessed by the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) and by Torralva's social cognition battery. Binary logistic models were performed to find an eventual association between continuous clinical variables and cognitive test failures.

The impact of psychosis on brain anatomy in bipolar disorder: A structural MRI study.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a major psychiatric illness characterized by heterogeneous symptoms including psychotic features. Up until now, neuroimaging studies investigating cerebral morphology in patients with BD have underestimated the potential impact of psychosis on brain anatomy in BD patients. In this regard, psychotic and non-psychotic BD may represent biologically different subtypes of the disorder, being possibly associated with specific cerebral features.

Cognitive correlates of neuroimaging abnormalities in the onset of schizophrenia: A case report.

Increasing evidence shows that cognitive impairment and brain abnormalities can appear early in the first episodes of schizophrenia, but it is currently debated how brain changes can correlate with clinical presentation of schizophrenic patients. Of note, this report describes the case of a young schizophrenic male presenting parietal magnetic resonance/positron emission tomography abnormalities and cognitive impairment, documented by specific neuropsychological tests. In our knowledge only few studies have investigated if neuropsychological abnormalities could be concomitant with both structural and functional neuroimaging.

Neuropsychiatric Burden in Huntington's Disease.

Huntington's disease is a disorder that results in motor, cognitive, and psychiatric problems. The symptoms often take different forms and the presence of disturbances of the psychic sphere reduces patients' autonomy and quality of life, also impacting patients' social life. It is estimated that a prevalence between 33% and 76% of the main psychiatric syndromes may arise in different phases of the disease, often in atypical form, even 20 years before the onset of chorea and dementia.

Correlation between neuropsychological and social cognition measures and symptom dimensions in schizophrenic patients.

Neurocognitive and social cognition deficits have been largely reported in Schizophrenia (SKZ) but their association with psychopathology remains uncertain. Our purpose was to explore the relationship between symptom dimensions and neuropsychological performances. We enrolled 35 stabilized schizophrenic outpatients of the Department of Psychiatry of Policlinico Hospital, University of Milan, who completed psychiatric Rating Scales, the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) and the Executive and Social Cognition Battery (ESCB).

The impact of mood episodes and duration of illness on cognition in bipolar disorder.

Objective: A number of studies showed cognitive impairment in bipolar patients but few researches have studied the impact of mood episodes or duration of illness on neuropsychological functioning.

Methods: Cognitive functioning was examined in 110 bipolar 1 outpatients with different mood state (mania, major depression, mixed episode and euthymia). The neuropsychological battery included The Visual Search Test, Trail Making Test, Corsi Test, Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), Cognitive Estimation Task (CET) and Tower of London and it assessed attention, memory and executive/planning functions.

White matter metabolism differentiates schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a preliminary PET study.

Fluorodeoxyglucose-F18 positron emission tomography studies (FDG-PET) have shown similar corticolimbic metabolic dysregulation in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, with hypoactive prefrontal cortex coupled with hyperactive anterior limbic areas. However, it is not clear whether white matter metabolism connecting these regions is differently affected in the two disorders. Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia (mean age ± S.