Distinct Response Inhibition Patterns in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Patients and Pathological Gamblers.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and pathological gambling (PG) are common disorders. The cognitive models of OCD and PG focus on abnormalities in response inhibition. Although, these functions have been studied in different PG and OCD samples, no study has compared the response inhibition in both.

Functional and structural neural indices of risk aversion in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients suffer from risk aversion, which may be mediated by their exaggerated response to threat and diminished response to reward. In this study, 13 OCD patients and 13 healthy matched controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while playing an interactive risky choice game encompassing distinct intervals of threat and reward; as well as anatomical diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Compared to healthy controls OCD patients were reluctant to make risky choices during the game.

Age-of-onset of schizophrenic and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in patients with schizo-obsessive disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) are prevalent, persistent, clinically significant phenomena in schizophrenia. To facilitate the understanding of their temporal interrelationship, we assessed age-of-onset of schizophrenic and obsessive-compulsive symptoms among 133 patients admitted to Tirat Carmel Mental Health Center (Israel) during the years 1999-2010 who met DSM-IV criteria for both schizophrenic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The mean age-of-onset of the first clinically significant OCS was significantly earlier than the mean age-of onset of the first psychotic symptoms.

Diminished language lateralization in schizophrenia corresponds to impaired inter-hemispheric functional connectivity.

Introduction: A consistent brain imaging finding in schizophrenia is decreased language-asymmetry, already evident in first episode patients, thus arguing for a biomarker of the disorder. Nonetheless, its specificity to schizophrenia is questionable. Furthermore, while previous studies suggested that enhanced right hemisphere activation underlies this diminished asymmetry, the mechanism for this anomaly is yet unknown.

Obsessive musical hallucinations in a schizophrenia patient: psychopathological and FMRI characteristics.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) are relatively common and clinically significant phenomena in schizophrenia patients, suggesting the existence of a separate schizo-obsessive subgroup of the disorder. Although a majority of schizo-obsessive patients have typical ego-dystonic OCS, a meaningful proportion exhibits diagnostically challenging psychopathological phenomena, psychotic in content and obsessive in form. We report the clinical and functional magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of a schizophrenia patient who developed auditory hallucinations with musical content and obsessive in form.

Effect of the selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor reboxetine on cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia patients: an add-on, double-blind placebo-controlled study.

The noradrenergic (NE) system mediates cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia patients, and the NE transporter represents a putative target for cognitive enhancing therapy. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study we evaluated the effect of add-on reboxetine (4 mg/day), a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (NRI), co-administered with atypical antipsychotic olanzapine (10 mg/day) on cognitive functioning in DSM-IV schizophrenia patients. The Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics battery and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test were used to assess selective cognitive functions at baseline and endpoint (6 weeks).

Obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions in schizophrenia patients with comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder.

A substantial proportion of schizophrenia patients also exhibit obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS). We sought to determine whether the revealed symptom dimensions in OCD exist in schizophrenia patients with comorbid OCD. One hundred and ten patients who met DSM-IV criteria for both schizophrenia and OCD were recruited.

Comparison of clinical characteristics, co-morbidity and pharmacotherapy in adolescent schizophrenia patients with and without obsessive-compulsive disorder.

A substantial proportion of adolescent schizophrenia patients exhibit obsessive-compulsive symptoms/disorder (OCS/OCD). In the present study we sought to provide a clinical characterization of adolescent schizo-obsessive patients. A consecutive sample of 22 adolescent patients (age 13-18 years) who met DSM-IV criteria for both schizophrenia and OCD was compared with 22 non-OCD schizophrenia patients matched for age, gender and number of hospitalizations.

Clinical characteristics of schizotypal-related obsessive-compulsive disorder.

In this study we compared 15 patients with DSM-IV obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) and 31 non-SPD OCD patients. OCD-SPD patients had poorer insight, more negative symptoms, lower functioning, more antipsychotic augmentation and more first-degree relatives with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. A distinct clinical phenotype of OCD associated with SPD should be considered when investigating etiopathogenetic mechanisms.

Awareness of illness and insight into obsessive-compulsive symptoms in schizophrenia patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) have been revealed in a substantial proportion of schizophrenia patients. We sought to evaluate insight into OCS in schizo-obsessive patients. We evaluated insight into OCS and awareness of schizophrenia, using the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS) and the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD), respectively.

Insight into obsessive-compulsive symptoms and awareness of illness in adolescent schizophrenia patients with and without OCD.

A substantial proportion of adolescent schizophrenia patients also has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). As the reliability of OCD identification in schizophrenia has been challenged, we evaluated insight into OCD symptoms and awareness of schizophrenia, using the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale and the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder respectively, in 22 adolescent inpatients who met DSM-IV criteria for both schizophrenia and OCD. Awareness of illness was also assessed in a comparison group of 22 non-OCD adolescent schizophrenia patients.

Neurological soft signs in schizophrenia patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a prevalent and clinically significant phenomenon in schizophrenia patients. Both schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are considered to be neurodevelopmental disorders sharing dysfunctional frontal-subcortical circuitry. Using the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES), the authors assessed neurological soft signs in 59 patients who met DSM-IV criteria for both schizophrenia and OCD.

Attenuating effect of reboxetine on appetite and weight gain in olanzapine-treated schizophrenia patients: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.

Rationale: Search for safe and effective strategies to diminish weight gain associated with second generation antipsychotics (SGAs) is imperative. In the present study, we sought to replicate our preliminary findings, which indicated that coadministration of the selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor reboxetine attenuates olanzapine-induced weight gain.

Materials And Method: Fifty-nine patients hospitalized for first-episode DSM-IV schizophrenic disorder participated in this randomized double-blind study.

Preferential aggregation of obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders in schizophrenia patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Objective: To validate a complex association between schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Method: We used the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders to compare the rate of OCD spectrum and additional Axis I disorders in 100 patients who met criteria for both schizophrenia and OCD, non-OCD schizophrenia (n = 100), and OCD (n = 35).

Results: There was a robust between-group difference in the number of patients with one or more OCD spectrum disorders (schizo-obsessive n = 30, compared with schizophrenia n = 8; P = 0.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder in bipolar disorder patients with first manic episode.

Background: Evidence indicates that obsessive--compulsive disorder (OCD) co-occurs with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) at a higher rate than in the general population. The inflated rate of comorbidity may result from chronic illness, antipsychotic therapy or treatment-seeking behavior. To control for these factors we evaluated the prevalence of OCD in patients with first-episode acute mania who met DSM-IV criteria for BD-I, and compared them with our previously reported group of first-episode schizophrenia patients.

Familial aggregation of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and obsessive-compulsive associated disorders in schizophrenia probands with and without OCD.

A substantial proportion of schizophrenia patients also has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). To further validate the clinical validity of a schizo-obsessive diagnostic entity, we assessed morbid risks for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and OC-associated disorders in first-degree relatives of schizophrenia probands with and without OCD. Two groups of schizophrenia probands [with OCD (n = 57) and without OCD (n = 60)] and community-based controls (n = 50) were recruited.

Comparison of clinical characteristics and comorbidity in schizophrenia patients with and without obsessive-compulsive disorder: schizophrenic and OC symptoms in schizophrenia.

Background: Since a substantial proportion of schizophrenia patients has symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), we sought to provide a phenomenological characterization of a schizophrenia subgroup with OCD.

Method: A consecutive sample of patients who met DSM-IV criteria for both schizophrenia and OCD (N = 55) was compared with 55 schizophrenia patients without OCD matched for age and number of hospitalizations. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I psychiatric disorders (SCID-I), including a specific module for tic disorders based on DSM-IV criteria, Scales for the Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms, Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Clinical Global Impressions scale, and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression were used.

Attenuation of olanzapine-induced weight gain with reboxetine in patients with schizophrenia: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: Since increased norepinephrine availability may account for the weight-reducing effect of appetite suppressants, the authors hypothesized that the addition of the selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor reboxetine may prevent or attenuate olanzapine-induced weight gain.

Method: Twenty-six patients hospitalized for first-episode DSM-IV schizophrenic disorder participated in the study. In addition to 6 weeks of treatment with olanzapine, 10 mg/day, patients were randomly allocated in a double-blind design to receive either reboxetine, 4 mg/day, (N=13) or placebo (N=13).