Increased Cognitive Control During Execution of Finger Tap Movement in People with Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Previous studies employed demanding and complex hand tasks to study the brain activation in people with Parkinson's Disease (PD). There is inconsistent finding about the cerebellar activity during movement execution of this patient population.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the brain activation patterns of PD individuals in the on-state and healthy control subjects in a simple finger tapping task.

Effects of integrated supported employment plus cognitive remediation training for people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders.

Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the synergistic effects of cognitive remediation training (CRT) on Integrated Supported Employment (ISE). ISE blends individual placement support service with work-related social skills training for Chinese people suffering from schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Method: Ninety participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders were recruited from two psychiatric outpatient services in Hong Kong.

Importance of punishment frequency in the Iowa gambling task: an fMRI study.

It has been widely found that in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara et al. Cognition, 50(1), 7-15 1994) normal subjects would gradually learn to prefer obtaining rewards for long-term benefits than seeking immediate rewards to maximize the overall profit. The current study aimed to gain an understanding of how punishment frequency in the IGT would be processed and its association with subjects' reward preferences.

MRI predicts remission at 1 year in first-episode schizophrenia in females with larger striato-thalamic volumes.

Background/aims: The Remission in Schizophrenia Working Group has defined remission as 'a low-mild symptom intensity level, maintained for a minimum of 6 months, where such symptoms do not affect an individual's behaviour' [Andreasen et al.: Am J Psychiatry 2005;162:441-449]. Since brain morphology relates to symptomatology, treatment and illness progression, MRI may assist in predicting remission.

Voxel-based analysis of postnatal white matter microstructure in mice exposed to immune challenge in early or late pregnancy.

Maternal infection during prenatal life is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism, in the offspring. We and others have reported white mater microstructure abnormalities in prefrontal-striato-temporal networks in these disorders. In addition we have shown that early rather than late maternal immune challenge in the mouse model precipitates ventricular volume change and impairs sensorimotor gating similar to that found in schizophrenia.

A naturalistic study of grey matter volume increase after early treatment in anti-psychotic naïve, newly diagnosed schizophrenia.

Background: Anti-psychotic treatment appears to be associated with striatal volume increase, but how early this change occurs is still unknown.

Methods: A single prospective cohort of 20 anti-psychotic-naïve patients, newly diagnosed with schizophrenia, underwent magnetic resonance imaging brain scan at baseline. This was repeated following up to 8 weeks of anti-psychotic treatment.

Age-related grey matter volume correlates of response inhibition and shifting in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Background: Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties with executive function and impulse control which may improve with age.

Aims: To map the brain correlates of executive function in ADHD and determine age-related changes in reaction times and brain volumes.

Method: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and control groups were compared on the change task measures of response inhibition (stop signal reaction time, SSRT) and shifting (change response reaction time, CRRT).

Distinct patterns of grey matter abnormality in high-functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome.

Background: Autism exists across a wide spectrum and there is considerable debate as to whether children with Asperger's syndrome, who have normal language milestones, should be considered to comprise a subgroup distinct other from high-functioning children with autism (HFA), who have a history of delayed language development. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of autism are in disagreement. One possible reason is that the diagnosis of autism takes precedence over Asperger's syndrome and a distinction in language acquisition is rarely made.

Evidence of normal hearing laterality in familial schizophrenic patients and their relatives.

Dichotic listening (DL) has been used as a tool to investigate possible left cerebral dysfunction in schizophrenia. However, the wide range of DL tests (e.g.

Immediate and sustained psychological impact of an emerging infectious disease outbreak on health care workers.

Objective: To assess the immediate and sustained psychological health of health care workers who were at high risk of exposure during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak.

Methods: At the peak of the 2003 SARS outbreak, we assessed health care workers in 2 acute care Hong Kong general hospitals with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). One year later, we reassessed these health care workers with the PSS-10, the 21-Item Depression and Anxiety Scale (DASS-21), and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R).

Stress and psychological distress among SARS survivors 1 year after the outbreak.

Objective: Our study examined the stress level and psychological distress of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) survivors 1 year after the outbreak.

Method: During the SARS outbreak in 2003, we used the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) to assess SARS survivors treated in 2 major hospitals (non-health care workers, n = 49; health care workers, n = 30). We invited SARS survivors from the same hospitals (non-health care workers, n = 63; health care workers, n = 33) to complete the PSS-10 again in 2004.

Mapping brain structure in attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder: a voxel-based MRI study of regional grey and white matter volume.

The neuroanatomical basis of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is postulated to involve brain circuitry responsible for attention and executive function. Relatively new automated methods of MRI analysis allow rapid examination of each volume element (voxel) of whole brain, therefore we planned a comprehensive quantitative examination of brain anatomy in children with ADHD using voxel-based methods. We aimed to quantify whole brain, global tissue class and regional grey and white matter volume differences in 28 male children with ADHD and 31 closely matched controls.

Cerebral grey, white matter and csf in never-medicated, first-episode schizophrenia.

We report the first voxel-based morphometric (VBM) study to examine cerebral grey and white matter and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using computational morphometry in never-medicated, first-episode psychosis (FEP). Region-of-interest (ROI) analysis was also performed blind to group membership. 26 never-medicated individuals with FEP (23 with DSM-IV schizophrenia) and 38 healthy controls had MRI brain scans.

Psychological responses to the SARS outbreak in healthcare students in Hong Kong.

This paper reports a cross-sectional questionnaire study that investigated perceived stress and psychological responses to the SARS outbreak in healthcare students at the height of the outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003. Non-healthcare university students served as controls. All the groups reported high levels of perceived stress.

Mapping the brain in autism. A voxel-based MRI study of volumetric differences and intercorrelations in autism.

Autism is a disorder of neurodevelopment resulting in pervasive abnormalities in social interaction and communication, repetitive behaviours and restricted interests. There is evidence for functional abnormalities and metabolic dysconnectivity in 'social brain' circuitry in this condition, but its structural basis has proved difficult to establish reliably. Explanations for this include replication difficulties inherent in 'region of interest' approaches usually adopted, and variable inclusion criteria for subjects across the autism spectrum.

Psychological effects of the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong on high-risk health care workers.

Objective: To quantify stress and the psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on high-risk health care workers (HCWs).

Method: We evaluated 271 HCWs from SARS units and 342 healthy control subjects, using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to assess stress levels and a structured list of putative psychological effects of SARS to assess its psychological effects. Healthy control subjects were balanced for age, sex, education, parenthood, living circumstances, and lack of health care experience.

Stress and psychological impact on SARS patients during the outbreak.

Objective: To examine stress and psychological impact in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients during the 2003 outbreak. SARS is a novel, highly infectious pneumonia, and its psychological impact is still unclear.

Method: At the peak of the outbreak, SARS patients (n = 79) and healthy control subjects (n = 145) completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and documented a range of psychological responses.

A comparison between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls on the expression of attentional blink in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm.

The expression of attentional blink (AB) in 24 schizophrenia inpatients was compared to 22 healthy subjects in a dual-target rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm in which a sequence of discrete stimuli was presented in rapid succession. Correct identification of the first target led to poorer detection of the second one when they were interspersed by distractors. This second-target deficit constitutes the AB effect, which is most pronounced between 200 and 500 ms after the offset of the first target stimulus and steadily decays as the number of intervening distractors increases.