Inclusion of Alcoholic Associations Into a Public Treatment Programme for Alcoholism Improves Outcomes During the Treatment and Continuing Care Period: A 6-Year Experience.

Aims: To investigate whether inclusion of self-help groups into the hospital treatment programme improves the prognosis of alcohol dependence through the treatment period; and to examine therapeutic adherence and prognosis during continuing care.

Method: Patients attending the treatment programme at the 'Hospital 12 de Octubre' were randomized into two groups. In Group A (n = 123), patients received the usual treatment included in our programme, whereas in Group B (n = 126), patients also attended self-help groups.

Cognitive impairments in patients with first episode psychosis: The relationship between neurophysiological and neuropsychological assessments.

Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia have been widely reported. Neurophysiological and neuropsychological assessments have been conducted to study these impairments. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are relevant markers of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, and reductions in specific ERP components have been found.

Sensory Gating Deficits in First-Episode Psychosis: Evidence From Neurophysiology, Psychophysiology, and Neuropsychology.

Sensory gating deficits are commonly found in patients with schizophrenia. However, there is still scarce research on this issue. Thirty-eight patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) were compared to thirty-eight controls.

The Addiction-Related Protein ANKK1 is Differentially Expressed During the Cell Cycle in Neural Precursors.

TaqIA is a polymorphism associated with addictions and dopamine-related traits. It is located in the ankyrin repeat and kinase domain containing 1 gene (ANKK1) nearby the gene for the dopamine D2 receptor (D2R). Since ANKK1 function is unknown, TaqIA-associated traits have been explained only by differences in D2R.

Are negative symptoms really related to cognition in schizophrenia?

Previous studies have generally found a relationship between negative and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. The present study investigated the relationship between the 5 PANSS factors of a recent consensus model developed by NIMH researchers, and cognitive performance as assessed with the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) in 80 patients with schizophrenia using correlation and regression analyses. The PANSS Cognitive factor showed a small to moderate significant association with MCCB Speed of processing, Working memory, Verbal learning, the Neurocognitive composite score, and the Overall composite score.

The Addiction-Related Gene Ankk1 is Oppositely Regulated by D1R- and D2R-Like Dopamine Receptors.

The ankyrin repeat and kinase domain containing 1 (ANKK1) TaqIA polymorphism has been extensively studied as a marker of the gene for dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) in addictions and other dopamine-associated traits. In vitro mRNA and protein studies have shown a potential connection between ANKK1 and the dopaminergic system functioning. Here, we have investigated whether Ankk1 expression in the brain is regulated by treatment with dopaminergic agonists.

Stress induced by the socially evaluated cold-pressor test cause equivalent deficiencies of sensory gating in male subjects with schizophrenia and healthy controls.

It is known that patients with schizophrenia show a deficiency in the prepulse inhibition reflex (PPI). These patients display abnormalities in autonomic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function and may have an altered sensitivity to stress. To date, no studies have been carried out to determine the effect of acute stress on the PPI.

Clinical and Demographic Characteristics of Binge Drinkers Associated with Lack of Efficacy of Brief Intervention and Medical Advice.

Unlabelled: Brief Counseling Intervention (BCI) and Medical advice (MA) are psychotherapeutic approaches used for the treatment of binge drinkers in Primary Care. Although binge drinking is a common pattern of alcohol misuse in Europe and in the US, no studies have evaluated those subjects who do not respond to Brief Counseling Interventions or Medical Advice.

Objective: To determine the clinical and demographic characteristics of binge drinkers in whom BCI or MA are not effective in reducing harmful alcohol use.

Changes on the Modulation of the Startle Reflex in Alcohol-Dependent Patients after 12 Weeks of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention.

Aims: Little is known about changes in the modulation of the startle reflex when patients go through an alcohol-dependence treatment in an outpatient facility. In the current study, the affective modulation of the cue-related startle reflex has been used to evaluate changes in the emotional processing of alcohol-related stimuli that occurred after a standard cognitive-behavioral intervention, and to assess the outcome of this intervention. We hypothesized a 'normalization' of the startle inhibition for the alcohol-related cues during the period of treatment.

Startle-response based tasks and laboratory measures of impulsivity in abstinent alcoholic patients.

Aims: It is well known that impulsivity is a risk factor for the development of Addictive Disorders, and more specifically Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD). Recently, the Startle-Response Based Tasks (SRBT) and its different forms of plasticity have been found to be impaired in the alcoholic population. This is the first study to explore the correlation between impulsivity laboratory tasks and the SRBT test, in order to determine whether impulsivity and startle response (SR) could be related and in turn, explain their association with Alcohol Dependence (AD).

Cannabis abuse effects on prepulse inhibition in patients with first episode psychosis in schizophrenia.

Deficits in prepulse inhibition (PPI) and cannabis abuse are consistently found in schizophrenia. The authors studied PPI deficits in first episode psychosis (FEP) with schizophrenia and cannabis abuse influence. Thirty-five patients with FEP and 22 control subjects were examined.

Clinical usefulness and economic implications of continuation/maintenance electroconvulsive therapy in a Spanish National Health System public hospital: A case series.

Introduction: Continuation/maintenance electroconvulsive therapy has been shown to be effective for prevention of relapse in affective and psychotic disorders. However, there is a limited nubber of studies that investigate clinical management, associated costs, and perceived quality variables.

Material And Methods: A series of 8 cases included during the first 18 months of the Continuation/Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy Program of the Psychiatry Department at 12 de Octubre University Hospital is presented.

Is it possible to combine different psychotic symptom scales in bipolar disorder?

It has been suggested that data on positive and negative psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia as assessed using different scales may be combined. For the first time, we assessed correlations between the positive syndrome subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS-P) and the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), and between the negative syndrome subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS-N) and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) in patients with bipolar disorder. We also aimed to confirm these correlations in patients with schizophrenia.

Characterizing cannabis-induced psychosis: a study with prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex.

Cannabis-induced psychotic disorder (CIPD) refers to psychotic symptoms that arise in the context of cannabis intoxication. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) deficits have been extensively identified in schizophrenia and in cannabis abusers. We aimed to characterize PPI in CIPD patients.

A five-year follow-up study of neurocognitive functioning in bipolar disorder.

Objectives: Cognitive dysfunction in bipolar disorder has been well-established in cross-sectional studies; however, there are few data regarding the longitudinal course of cognitive performance in bipolar disorder. The aim of this study was to examine the course of cognitive function in a sample of euthymic patients with bipolar disorder during a five-year follow-up period.

Methods: Eighty euthymic outpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of bipolar disorder and 40 healthy control comparison subjects were neuropsychologically assessed at baseline (T1) and then at follow-up of five years (T2).

[Integration of self-guidance groups for relatives in a public program of alcoholism treatment].

Interventions with relatives of alcohol-dependent patients have shown effectiveness in engaging unmotivated patients into treatment. The Federation of ex-alcoholics, in the Community of Madrid, has a network of self-help centers (Centers to Promote Psychosocial Alternatives against Addictions, CPAA) spread throughout the Madrid's region where alcohol-dependent patients and their families receive attention. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that the integration of these facilities could improve the psychological condition of the relatives and the outcome on the patients' treatment.

Cognition and the five-factor model of the positive and negative syndrome scale in schizophrenia.

Different exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) have found a number of factors other than the original positive, negative, and general psychopathology. Based on a review of previous studies and using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), Wallwork et al. (Schizophr Res 2012; 137: 246-250) have recently proposed a consensus five-factor structure of the PANSS.

Negative symptoms and executive function in schizophrenia: does their relationship change with illness duration?

Background: Negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction are of crucial functional and prognostic importance in schizophrenia. However, the nature of the relationship between them and the factors that may influence it have not been well established.

Aims: To investigate whether the relationship between negative symptoms and executive function changes according to the duration of illness in schizophrenia.

[Cognitive deficit in schizophrenia: MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery].

Cognitive deficits constitute a core symptom in schizophrenia, are difficult to treat, and have special relevance regarding prognosis and functional outcome. The search for pharmacological strategies for improving cognition in schizophrenic patients has been hindered by the lack of a consensus regarding instruments for cognitive assessment. The 'Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia' (MATRICS) initiative of the U.

Patterns of pharmacological maintenance treatment in a community mental health services bipolar disorder cohort study (SIN-DEPRES).

Maintenance therapy in bipolar disorder (BD) is usually required to prevent relapses and improve residual symptoms. Therefore, in this study, we describe patterns of pharmacological maintenance treatment and identify associated clinical features. This prospective multicentre epidemiological study recruited a cohort of 739 consecutive out-patients with clinically stable BD.