Real-Life Functioning in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome in Relation to Neurocognitive Abilities and Psychotic Symptoms: A Comparison With Idiopathic Schizophrenia.

Background: The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) entails intellectual disabilities and higher risk of psychotic disorders.

Unique Functional Neuroimaging Signatures of Genetic Versus Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.

Background: 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22qDel) is a copy number variant that is associated with psychosis and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Adolescents who are at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) are identified based on the presence of subthreshold psychosis symptoms.

Social cognition and real-life functioning in patient samples with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome with or without psychosis, compared to a large sample of patients with schizophrenia only and healthy controls.

Patients with the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (DS) show an increased risk of developing a psychotic illness lifetime. 22q11.

Similar grey matter abnormalities in 22q11.2DS and chronic schizophrenia: a voxel-based morphometry study.

Background: The 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS) is considered the most reliable biological model to study genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Structural Cerebellar Abnormalities and Parkinsonism in Patients with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome.

The phenotypic expression of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is variable and may include cognitive, psychiatric, and neurological manifestations, e.

Recognition of facial emotion expressions and perceptual processes in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

Background: Social cognition (SC) deficits and of its facial emotion expression (FEE) component have been described in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS), a high-risk for schizophrenia (SCZ) systemic genetic syndrome.

Social Cognition Impairments in 22q11.2DS Individuals With and Without Psychosis: A Comparison Study With a Large Population of Patients With Schizophrenia.

Background: 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) represents one of the most important genetic risk factors for schizophrenia (SCZ) and a reliable biological model to study endophenotypic characters of SCZ. The aim of the study was to investigate Social Cognition impairments in subjects with 22q11.

Clozapine-induced gastroesophageal rumination in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. A case report on gastroesophageal side effects management without renouncing clozapine's effectiveness.

Despite entailing more severe and uncommon side effects in 22q11.2DS compared to idiopathic schizophrenia, we strongly believe that clozapine should continue to be considered the gold standard for all treatment-resistant schizophrenia, even in 22qDS.

Psychic euosmia among obsessive-compulsive personality disorder patients: A case control study.

Background: Psychic euosmia (PE) has been described as a supposed psychological predisposition for which pleasant smells elicit an immediate sense of pleasure, order and calmness in obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). In this study we tried to verify the interpretation that PE is the counterpart of disgust that has been associated to contamination and moral purity. Disgust and morality are significantly associated in people with obsessive-compulsive personality traits.

Prevalence of antipsychotic-induced extrapyramidal symptoms and their association with neurocognition and social cognition in outpatients with schizophrenia in the "real-life".

First generation antipsychotics (FGAs) are more likely to induce extrapyramidal side-effects (EPS) than second generation antipsychotics (SGAs), and EPS have been shown associated to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. So far, no study has explored the relationships between EPS and social cognition (SC) in people with schizophrenia. Therefore, we assessed the prevalence of EPS in a large sample of drug-treated community-dwelling persons with schizophrenia and explored their relationships with patients' neurocognitive and SC abilities.

Social cognition deficit and genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia in 22q11 deletion syndrome.

Introduction: 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome (22q11DS) is associated with a 25% risk of psychotic onset.

Materials And Methods: The sample consist of 120 subjects: 39 schizophrenics (SCZ); 20 siblings of schizophrenic patients (SIB); 34 22q11DS non-psychotic patients (DEL); 17 22q11DS psychotic patients (DEL_scz); 30 control subjects (CS).

Myoclonic epilepsy, parkinsonism, schizophrenia and left-handedness as common neuropsychiatric features in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

Background: 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is considered as the genetic model of schizophrenia.

Genetic and clinical features of social cognition in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2 DS) is widely known as one of the most compelling genetic models of schizophrenia so far, being almost 40% of the carriers affected by psychotic symptoms.

Attentional functioning in individuals with 22q11 deletion syndrome: insight from ERPs.

The 22q11 deletion syndrome (22q11DS), or DiGeorge syndrome (DG), is one of the most common genetic deletion syndromes. DG also carries a high risk for psychiatric disorders, with learning disabilities frequently being reported. Impairments in specific cognitive domains, such as executive functioning and attention, have also been described.

Negative functional brain networks.

The anticorrelations in fMRI measurements are still not well characterized, but some new evidences point to a possible physiological role. We explored the topology of functional brain networks characterized by negative edgess and their possible alterations in schizophrenia, using functional images of 8 healthy subjects and 8 schizophrenic patients in a resting state condition. In order to minimize the insertion of artifactual negative correlations, the preprocessing of images was carried out by the CompCorr procedure, and the results compared with the Global Signal Regression (GSR) procedure.

Cannabis use related to early psychotic onset: Role of premorbid function.

The present cross-sectional study investigates the relation between Cannabis and the development of a psychotic disorder. The main objective is to explore the relations between Cannabis use and psychosis onset, premorbid adjustment cognitive impairment and familiarity. Forty-three patients with a diagnosis of Psychotic Disorder were recruited and divided in two groups based on Cannabis use before onset: Cannabis-using patients (PCU, N=21) and Cannabis-free patients (PCF, N=22).

Persistence or recurrence of non-psychotic comorbid mental disorders associated with 6-year poor functional outcomes in patients at ultra high risk for psychosis.

Background: Patients at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR) are a highly heterogeneous group in terms of clinical and functional outcomes. Several non-psychotic mental disorders co-occur together with the UHR state. Little is known about the impact of non-psychotic comorbid mental disorders on clinical and functional outcomes of UHR patients.

Effectiveness of a Standardized Equine-Assisted Therapy Program for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

In this study the effectiveness of an equine-assisted therapy (EAT) in improving adaptive and executive functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was examined (children attending EAT, n = 15, control group n = 13; inclusion criteria: IQ > 70). Therapeutic sessions consisted in structured activities involving horses and included both work on the ground and riding. Results indicate an improvement in social functioning in the group attending EAT (compared to the control group) and a milder effect on motor abilities.

Why are help-seeking subjects at ultra-high risk for psychosis help-seeking?

In addition to attenuated psychotic symptoms, individuals at high clinical risk of developing psychosis display a wide range of psychopathological features. Some of these may be subjectively perceived as more troubling than others and may therefore be more likely to trigger help-seeking behavior. We aimed at investigating the nature and prevalence of symptoms subjectively considered most distressing by high-risk individuals at the time of their presentation to early recognition services and to determine their impact on baseline and longitudinal functional and clinical outcomes.

[Functional magnetic resonance imaging in subjects at high risk for schizophrenia: a review].

Functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) has an important role in the study of the vulnerability to psychosis: it is an essential tool to search for endophenotypes that can let us to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of schizophrenia and increase the ability to predict the onset of the illness. In this review are summarized results of the fMRI studies conducted on individuals at enhanced risk for developing psychosis, for clinical or genetic reasons. The cerebral activity in this kind of subjects appear in most cases more similar to that of individuals affected than to that of normal controls; this increases the possibility, in the future, for a diagnostic role of the cerebral activation.

Medial frontal gyrus alterations in schizophrenia: relationship with duration of illness and executive dysfunction.

Executive functioning is consistently impaired in schizophrenia, and it has been associated with reduced gray matter volume in prefrontal areas. Abnormalities in prefrontal brain regions have also been related to the illness duration. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of executive functioning decline and chronicity in prefrontal regions of patients with schizophrenia.

Antidepressant, antipsychotic and psychological interventions in subjects at high clinical risk for psychosis: OASIS 6-year naturalistic study.

Background: Recent randomized controlled trials suggest some efficacy for focused interventions in subjects at high risk (HR) for psychosis. However, treating HR subjects within the real-world setting of prodromal services is hindered by several practical problems that can significantly make an impact on the effect of focused interventions.

Method: All subjects referred to Outreach and Support in South London (OASIS) and diagnosed with a HR state in the period 2001-2012 were included (n = 258).

Are we really mapping psychosis risk? Neuroanatomical signature of affective disorders in subjects at ultra high risk.

Background: The majority of people at ultra high risk (UHR) of psychosis also present with co-morbid affective disorders such as depression or anxiety. The neuroanatomical and clinical impact of UHR co-morbidity is unknown.

Method: We investigated group differences in grey matter volume using baseline magnetic resonance images from 121 participants in four groups: UHR with depressive or anxiety co-morbidity; UHR alone; major depressive disorder; and healthy controls.