Reduced platelet serotonergic responsivity as assessed by dense granule secretion in first-episode psychosis.

Objectives: To determine whether blunted serotonergic responsivity, indicated by decreased platelet dense granule secretion (DGS), occurs in neuroleptic-naïve patients with schizophrenia, as observed previously in chronic schizophrenia.

Design And Methods: Serotonin (5-HT)-amplified DGS was examined in 40 first-episode neuroleptic-naïve patients (24 with schizophrenia and 16 with mood disorders) and 24 healthy subjects.

Results: Healthy controls showed robustly increased DGS.

Deconstructing psychosis with human brain imaging.

This review synthesizes our current knowledge on the neurobiology of psychosis from an array of in vivo brain-imaging studies. The evidence base consists of hundreds of studies of patients with schizophrenia and fewer on bipolar disorder but rarely providing direct comparisons between the disorders or integration across methods. Replicated findings in schizophrenia include reduced whole-brain and hippocampal volume as potential vulnerability markers, with further progression at onset; reduced N-acetyl aspartate concentrations in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex; striatal dopamine D(2) receptors upregulation; and alteration in the relation between frontal and temporal activation.

Reduced N-acetyl-aspartate levels in schizophrenia patients with a younger onset age: a single-voxel 1H spectroscopy study.

Schizophrenia is widely considered a neurodevelopmental disorder. The timing of psychosis onset may determine the degree of functional and biological deficits. In this study, the association between age of onset of psychosis and in vivo biochemical levels was assessed in first-episode, antipsychotic-naive (FEAN) schizophrenia subjects.

Sex difference in cognitive response to antipsychotic treatment in first episode schizophrenia.

We extend the investigation of cognitive sex differences in schizophrenia in a novel way by grouping cognitive tests according to the direction of the typical sex difference, an approach used in studies of hormonal effects on behavior in other clinical conditions. Additionally, we explore how performance on these 'male' and 'female' tests changed following antipsychotic treatment. Seventy patients with a first hospitalization for schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder completed cognitive tests before antipsychotic treatment and approximately 5 weeks after treatment.

Antipsychotic drugs exacerbate impairment on a working memory task in first-episode schizophrenia.

Background: This study sought to replicate previous findings of worsened performance on a translational spatial working memory task among antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients after antipsychotic treatment and to extend these findings by examining whether changes in the allocation of covert attention contribute to this effect.

Methods: Fourteen antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients performed an oculomotor delayed response task before and 6 weeks after antipsychotic treatment (risperidone n = 11; olanzapine n = 3). Fifteen matched healthy individuals were studied in parallel.

Morphology of the orbitofrontal cortex in first-episode schizophrenia: relationship with negative symptomatology.

Different studies have documented OFC abnormalities in schizophrenia, but it is unclear if they are present at disease onset or are a consequence of disease process and/or drug exposure. The evaluation of first-episode, drug-naïve subjects allows us to clarify this issue. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed on 43 first-episode, antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients and 53 healthy comparison subjects matched for age, gender, race, and handedness.

Pituitary volume in neuroleptic-naïve schizophrenia: a structural MRI study.

Abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) have been implicated in psychosis. To our knowledge, no prior study has measured pituitary volume in a neuroleptic-naïve schizophrenic population. Herein, we present data exploring the volumetric differences in a sample of antipsychotic-naïve patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia versus appropriately matched healthy controls.

Emotional words induce enhanced brain activity in schizophrenic patients with auditory hallucinations.

Neuroimaging studies of emotional response in schizophrenia have mainly used visual (faces) paradigms and shown globally reduced brain activity. None of these studies have used an auditory paradigm. Our principal aim is to evaluate the emotional response of patients with schizophrenia to neutral and emotional words.

Adverse effects of risperidone on spatial working memory in first-episode schizophrenia.

Context: Working memory impairments are a central neurocognitive feature of schizophrenia. The nature of these impairments early in the course of illness and the impact of antipsychotic drug treatment on these deficits are not well understood. The oculomotor delayed response task is a translational spatial working memory paradigm used to characterize the neurophysiologic and neurochemical aspects of working memory in the primate brain.

Cognitive enhancement therapy improves emotional intelligence in early course schizophrenia: preliminary effects.

This research examined the preliminary effects of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy (CET) on social cognition in early course schizophrenia, using an objective, performance-based measure of emotional intelligence. Individuals in the early course of schizophrenia were randomly assigned to either CET (n=18) or Enriched Supportive Therapy (n=20), and assessed at baseline and after 1 year of treatment with the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. A series of analyses of covariance showed highly significant (p=.

Magnetic resonance imaging study of the orbitofrontal cortex in autism.

The orbitofrontal cortex is involved in multiple psychologic functions, such as emotional and cognitive processing, learning, and social behavior. These functions are variably impaired in individuals with autism. The present study examined the size of the orbitofrontal cortex, and its medial and lateral subdivisions, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans obtained from 40 non-mentally retarded individuals with autism and 41 healthy controls.

Abnormal brain size effect on the thalamus in autism.

This study was conducted to examine the volume of the thalamus in autism and to investigate the effect of brain size on this structure in an attempt to replicate, in a larger sample, findings from a previous study reporting the existence of a relationship between brain volume and thalamus in healthy controls but not in individuals with autism. Additionally, the relationships between thalamic volumes and clinical features were examined. Volumetric measurements of the right and left thalamic nuclei were performed on MRI scans obtained from 40 high-functioning individuals with autism (age range: 8-45 years) and 41 healthy controls (age range: 9-43 years).

Guidelines for clinical treatment of early course schizophrenia.

Several practice guidelines have been developed for the management of schizophrenia based on the current evidence base, but only a few have focused on the early course of this illness. In this article, we review the current literature on the approaches to management of early schizophrenia (ie, the prodromal, psychotic, and recovery phases of this illness). The efficacy of psychosocial and antipsychotic agents in the prodromal phase is an area of active research.

Pituitary volume in treatment-naïve pediatric major depressive disorder.

Background: Prior pilot investigation identified a larger pituitary gland volume (PGV) in pediatric patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared with healthy pediatric control subjects that was most prominent in boys with MDD. In this independent sample, we focus on gender differences in pituitary volume in a larger sample of pediatric patients with MDD.

Methods: Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging studies were conducted in 35 psychotropic drug-naïve children (15 boys, 20 girls), ages 8-17 years, and 35 case-matched healthy control subjects.

Volumetric alterations of the orbitofrontal cortex in autism.

Recent evidence has implicated the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in the pathophysiology of social deficits in autism. An MRI-based morphometric study of the OFC was conducted involving 11 children with autism (age range 8.1-12.

Insight and frontal cortical function in schizophrenia: a review.

Insight into illness has been identified as a clinically important phenomenon, in no small part due to an association with treatment-adherence. An increasing number of studies, but not all, have observed poor insight to be a reflection of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. A review of 34 published English-language studies found a significant number (i.

Pathways to care for African Americans with early psychosis.

Research examining pathways to care among African Americans with recent-onset psychosis is limited but suggests that African Americans have more complex and less desirable routes into care compared with whites. Delays in treatment of psychotic illness contribute to increasing rates of hospitalization, lengths of stay, long-term functional disability, and poor outcomes. African Americans may be less likely to seek help than whites, which may be due partly to stigma and beliefs in the African-American community about causes of mental illness as well as to external obstacles, such as involuntary civil commitment.

An MRI study of increased cortical thickness in autism.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine cortical thickness in autism in light of the postmortem evidence of cortical abnormalities of the disorder.

Method: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were acquired from 17 children with autism and 14 healthy comparison subjects, and sulcal and gyral thickness were measured for the total brain and for all lobes.

Results: Increases in total cerebral sulcal and gyral thickness were observed in children with autism relative to comparison subjects.

Premorbid characterization in schizophrenia: the Pittsburgh High Risk Study.

Prospective studies of young relatives at risk for schizophrenia can shed light on the possible premorbid precursors of the disease. Ongoing studies in Pittsburgh suggest that young non-psychotic high risk relatives have neurobehavioral, brain structural, physiological, and neurochemical deficits that may date back to childhood or earlier. We summarize these data, review the relevant literature in this emerging field, and provide some new data suggesting alterations in sleep architecture in young relatives at risk for schizophrenia.

An MRI study of minor physical anomalies in autism.

The objective of this investigation was to examine the existence of minor physical anomalies (MPA) in autism. The interorbital and interlens distances were measured on MRI scans obtained from a sample of 40 non-mentally retarded individuals with autism and 41 healthy controls. No differences were observed between the two groups on any measurements.