Encoding of everyday objects in older adults: Episodic memory assessment in virtual reality.

Introduction: Age-related decline in episodic memory performance in otherwise healthy older adults is indisputably evident. Yet, it has been shown that under certain conditions episodic memory performance in healthy older adults' barely deviates from those seen in young adults. Here we report on the quality of object encoding in an ecologically valid, virtual-reality based memory assessment in a sample of healthy older and younger adults with comparable memory performance.

Digitally Assisted Standard Diagnostics in Insurance Medicine (DASDIM): psychometric data in psychiatric work disability evaluations.

Purpose: Insurers often commission psychiatric experts to evaluate the eligibility of workers with mental disorders for disability benefits, by estimating their residual work capacity (RWC). We investigated the validity of a standardized, computer-based battery of established diagnostic instruments, for evaluating the personality, cognition, performance, symptom burden, and symptom validity of claimants.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-three claimants for benefits were assessed by the assembled test battery, which was applied in addition to a conventional clinical work disability evaluation.

Psychopathy, Neuroticism, and Abusive Behavior in Low Risk Child Sex Offenders.

Personality traits are considered as an important aspect in the assessment of child sex offenders (CSOs). The current study sought to elucidate the association between neuroticism, psychopathy, and abusive behavior in low risk CSOs. 43 pedophilic CSOs and 21 controls (CTLs) completed the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R), Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), and Multiphasic Sex Inventory (MSI).

Ecologically relevant episodic memory assessment indicates an attenuated age-related memory loss - A virtual reality study.

Objectives: Since the advent of imaging techniques, the role of the neuropsychological assessment has changed. Questions concerning everyday functionality became primarily important and, thus, ecologically valid neuropsychological assessments are mandatory. Virtual reality (VR) environments might provide a way of implementing immersive cognitive assessments with a higher degree of everyday-life-related cognitive demands.

The neuropsychology of emerging psychosis and the role of working memory in episodic memory encoding.

Background: Episodic memory encoding and working memory (WM) deficits are among the first cognitive signs and symptoms in the course of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. However, it is not clear whether the deficit pattern is generalized or specific in nature. We hypothesized that encoding deficits at an early stage of the disease might be due to the more fundamental WM deficits.

Neuroticism in child sex offenders and its association with sexual dysfunctions, cognitive distortions, and psychological complaints.

Studies in child sex offenders (CSO) often report deviant personality characteristics. In our study, we investigated neuroticism in CSO and tested the hypothesis that CSO with high neuroticism show more serious abuse behavior and are more likely to exhibit sexual dysfunction and cognitive distortions, as compared to CSO with low neuroticism. A sample of 40 CSO (both child sexual abusers and child sexual material users) was split into two subsamples based on their neuroticism scores, obtained by the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R) questionnaire.

[Symptom Validation in Independent Medical Evaluations].

High prevalence rates of non-authentic complaints identified by experts in the field of insurance medicine draw attention to the risk of services, which are of limited availability and financially compensated, being used in ways that are not goal-oriented. Therefore, symptom validity testing has become a growing issue to prevent non-targeted monetary compensations. This paper outlines the best-evaluated methods and instruments.

Sleep Disruption and Daytime Sleepiness Correlating with Disease Severity and Insulin Resistance in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Comparison with Healthy Controls.

Background & Aims: Sleep disturbance is associated with the development of obesity, diabetes and hepatic steatosis in murine models. Hepatic triglyceride accumulation oscillates in a circadian rhythm regulated by clock genes, light-dark cycle and feeding time in mice. The role of the sleep-wake cycle in the pathogenesis of human non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is indeterminate.

Learning aptitude, spatial orientation and cognitive flexibility tested in a virtual labyrinth after virtual stress induction.

Background: Under stressful conditions such as in an emergency situation, efficient information processing is essential for reasonable responses.

Purpose Of The Study: Virtual Reality (VR) technology is used to induce stress and to test three main cognitive functions for decision making in stressful situations.

Methods: A VR task was developed to induce stress following the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) protocol and two VR cognitive performance tests to measure learning aptitude, spatial orientation and cognitive flexibility.

Predicting general criminal recidivism in mentally disordered offenders using a random forest approach.

Background: Psychiatric expert opinions are supposed to assess the accused individual's risk of reoffending based on a valid scientific foundation. In contrast to specific recidivism, general recidivism has only been poorly considered in Continental Europe; we therefore aimed to develop a valid instrument for assessing the risk of general criminal recidivism of mentally ill offenders.

Method: Data of 259 mentally ill offenders with a median time at risk of 107 months were analyzed and combined with the individuals' criminal records.

Duration of untreated psychosis and cognitive functioning.

Background: Studies examining the influence of duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) or duration of untreated illness (DUI) on cognition vary with regard to results and methods. This study is the first in this field to include an at risk mental state with later transition to psychosis (ARMS-T) sample and to analyse how the DUI relates to their cognitive functioning. Because methodological operationalization of cognitive functioning in previous studies is highly heterogeneous, we aimed to compare different approaches.

Help-seeking and pathways to care in the early stages of psychosis.

Purpose: Delay in the treatment of a first psychotic episode can have a negative influence on the future course of the disease. In this context, it is important to examine pathways to care to understand factors contributing to delay in access to adequate care.

Methods: Using the Basel Interview for Psychosis, we examined the help-seeking behaviour of 61 individuals with an at-risk mental state for psychosis and 37 patients with a first episode of psychosis in a low threshold health care system as part of the Basel early detection of psychosis study.

Can cognitive deficits facilitate differential diagnosis between at-risk mental state for psychosis and depressive disorders?

Aim: Many studies have provided evidence of cognitive deficits in individuals in an 'At Risk Mental State' (ARMS) for psychosis, which makes neuropsychology potentially useful in the early detection of psychosis. As depression is an important differential diagnosis in prodromal states of psychosis, the specificity of neurocognitive deficits in ARMS individuals as compared with non-psychotic depressive disorders is investigated.

Methods: Neurocognitive performance of four groups was analysed: 22 ARMS individuals with later transition to psychosis (ARMS-T), 25 ARMS individuals without later transition to psychosis (ARMS-NT), 34 controls with depressive disorders and 76 healthy controls.

First self-perceived signs and symptoms in emerging psychosis compared with depression.

Aim: To investigate differences between the early symptoms of schizophrenia and depressive disorders.

Methods: Sixty-one individuals with an at-risk mental state (ARMS), 17 of whom later made the transition to psychosis, 37 patients with a first episode of psychosis and 16 controls with depressive disorders were interviewed about first self-perceived signs and symptoms.

Results: In ARMS and first episode of psychosis, on average, first self-perceived signs or symptoms had occurred about 5-6 years before the interview.

Pituitary volume increase during emerging psychosis.

Background: Morphologic abnormalities of the pituitary gland volume (PV) have been reported in schizophrenia, but at what point in time they occur remains unclear. This study determines PV across different stages of emerging psychotic disorders compared to healthy controls.

Methods: We compared PV of 36 individuals with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) for psychosis, 23 patients with a first episode psychosis (FEP) and 20 healthy controls (HC).

EEG spectral power and negative symptoms in at-risk individuals predict transition to psychosis.

Introduction: EEG power in the delta, theta and beta1 bands has been shown to be positively correlated with negative symptoms in first episode psychotic patients. The present study investigates this correlation in an "at risk mental state for psychosis" (ARMS) with the aim to improve prediction of transition to psychosis.

Methods: Thirteen ARMS patients with later transition to psychosis (ARMS-T) and fifteen without (follow-up period of at least 4 years) (ARMS-NT) were investigated using spectral resting EEG data (of 8 electrodes over the fronto-central scalp area placed according to the 10-20 system) and summary score of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS).

Hippocampus abnormalities in at risk mental states for psychosis? A cross-sectional high resolution region of interest magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: Hippocampal volume (HV) reduction is well documented in schizophrenia. However, it is still unclear whether this change is a pre-existing vulnerability factor, a sign of disease progression, a consequence of environmental factors, such as drug use, antipsychotic medication, or malnutrition. The timing of HV changes is not well established, but a lack of macrostructural hippocampal brain abnormalities before disease onset would rather support a neuroprogressive illness model.

Efficacy of using cognitive status in predicting psychosis: a 7-year follow-up.

Background: Despite extensive early detection research in schizophrenic psychoses, methods for identifying at-risk individuals and predicting their transition to psychosis are still unreliable. Moreover, there are sparse data on long-term prediction. We therefore investigated long-term psychosis transition in individuals with an At Risk Mental State (ARMS) and examined the relative efficacy of clinical and neuropsychological status in optimizing the prediction of transition.

Negative symptoms in neuroleptic-naïve patients with first-episode psychosis correlate with QEEG parameters.

Introduction: While several studies have shown an association of QEEG band power with negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, this has not yet been investigated in a sample with neuroleptic-naïve first-episode patients (NNFE) up to now. From literature we hypothesized delta (0.5-4Hz) and theta (4-8Hz) power to be augmented and alpha (8-12Hz) power to be decreased with increased negative symptoms in NNFE.

EEG: a helpful tool in the prediction of psychosis.

Objective: EEG investigation in patients with an at risk mental state (ARMS) for psychosis and patients with a first episode of psychosis (FE) in comparison to healthy controls (HC) in a clinical follow up study of Early Detection of Psychosis.

Method: Seventy-three patients (42 ARMS, 31 FE) and 35 HC were investigated. ARMS patients were followed up in order to monitor transition to psychosis.

Neuropsychological deficits in individuals with an at risk mental state for psychosis - working memory as a potential trait marker.

Objective: To investigate the neuropsychological profile of individuals with an at risk mental state for psychosis (ARMS, N=60) compared to healthy controls (HC, N=51) and to identify those cognitive domains which discriminate best between groups.

Method: Study subjects and controls were compared using a neuropsychological test battery covering the domains of intelligence (LPS3, MWT-A), executive functions (ToH, WCST, TAP - Go/NoGo), working memory (Tests for Attentional Performance (TAP) - Working Memory), and attention (CPT-OX). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) comparing ARMS subjects with HC was conducted.