A preliminary study on similarities and dissimilarities of Neurological Soft Signs in schizophrenic and obsessive-compulsive disorders suggests a common maldevelopmental model.

Aim: Neurological Soft Signs (NSS) represent minor neurological signs related to non-specific cerebral alterations. They have been documented in many psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia (SCZ) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Aim of this study was to determine and compare the incidence and severity of NSS in patients with SCZ, in patients with OCD, and healthy control subjects (HCs).

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).

Negative symptoms as key features of depression among cannabis users: a preliminary report.

Objective: Cannabis use is frequent among depressed patients and may lead to the so-called "amotivational syndrome", which combines symptoms of affective flattening and loss of emotional reactivity (i.e. the so-called "negative" symptomatology).

Influence of obstetric complication severity on brain morphology in schizophrenia: an MR study.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine if a causal relationship exists between obstetric complications (OCs) severity and linear magnetic resonance (MR) measurements of brain atrophy in patients with schizophrenia.

Materials And Methods: Linear measurements of ventricular enlargement (bifrontal span, Evans ratio, and bicaudate ratio) and hippocampal atrophy (interuncal distance) were completed on MR images obtained in 47 patients with schizophrenia. Regression analysis was used to look at association with OCs severity, assessed by the "Midwife protocol" of Parnas and colleagues.

The potential role of high or low birthweight as risk factor for adult schizophrenia.

Objective: Obstetric complications may be an important factor in the development of schizophrenia. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of these complications in the development of schizophrenia in adult life, with particular attention to the potential role of birth weight.

Method: We carried out a case-control study, comprising schizophrenics and patients with diseases of the schizophrenia spectrum as cases, and their healthy male brothers as controls.

Severity of obstetric complications and risk of adult schizophrenia in male patients: a case-control study.

Objective: Obstetric complications may be an etiologically important factor in the development of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the risk for developing schizophrenia in adult life is increased in individuals with more severe obstetric complications at birth.

Methods: To this end, mothers were interviewed to gather data about obstetric complications.