Oxytocin and Social Cognitions in Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review.

Schizophrenia is a chronic multifactorial disorder. Over the last years, there has been a growing interest in cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, which is considered by many as the core abnormality of the disease. In the systematic review we focus on the social cognition and its correlation with the neuropeptide oxytocin, which is shown to be involved in the emotion recognizing processes, in the trust behavior and many other aspects of social functioning.

Synchronization as a biological, psychological and social mechanism to create common time: A theoretical frame and a single case study.

Synchronizing neural processes, mental activities, and social interactions is considered to be fundamental for the creation of temporal order on the personal and interpersonal level. Several different types of synchronization are distinguished, and for each of them examples are given: self-organized synchronizations on the neural level giving rise to pre-semantically defined time windows of some tens of milliseconds and of approximately 3 s; time windows that are created by synchronizing different neural representations, as for instance in aesthetic appreciations or moral judgments; and synchronization of biological rhythms with geophysical cycles, like the circadian clock with the 24-hr rhythm of day and night. For the latter type of synchronization, an experiment is described that shows the importance of social interactions for sharing or avoiding common time.

Does a bishop pray when he prays? And does his brain distinguish between different religions?

Does a religion shape belief-related decisions and influence neural processing? We investigated an eminent bishop of the Catholic Church in Germany by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess neural processing while he was responding to short sentences of the Christian Bible, the Islamic Quran, and the Daodejing ascribed to Laozi in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, continuous praying was further compared to the resting state activity. In contrast to explicit statements of agreeing or not agreeing to different statements from the Bible and the Quran, we found in Experiment 1 no difference in neural activation when the bishop was reading these statements from the two religions.

A disembodied man: A case of somatopsychic depersonalization in schizotypal disorder.

In the general concept of self-disturbances in schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders, somatopsychic depersonalization (SPD) occupies a special place as it constitutes a syndrome that comprises feelings of detachment from one's own body and mental processes. However, apart from clinical descriptions, to date the pathophysiology of SPD is not fully understood due to the rareness of the syndrome and a lack of experimental studies. In a case study of one patient with schizotypal disorder, we applied a multimodal approach to understanding the SPD phenomena.

Genome-wide analysis implicates microRNAs and their target genes in the development of bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and highly heritable neuropsychiatric disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 1%. Molecular genetic studies have identified the first BD susceptibility genes. However, the disease pathways remain largely unknown.

[To the question of pathophysiological fundamentals of endocrine system functioning in patients with a first psychotic episode].

Objective: To study the characteristics of prolactin secretion in patients with a first psychotic episode (FPE) with regard to disease severity, gender and patient's neuromediator system state.

Material And Methods: Author studied 76 patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders and 34 normals (control group).

Results And Conclusion: There was a significant negative sex-related correlation between the severity of psychopathologic symptoms and plasma prolactin levels.

Long-term trajectories of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia: A critical overview.

Background: Cognitive disturbances are widely pronounced in schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Whilst cognitive deficits are well established in the prodromal phase and are known to deteriorate at the onset of schizophrenia, there is a certain discrepancy of findings regarding the cognitive alterations over the course of the illness.

Methods: We bring together the results of the longitudinal studies identified through PubMed which have covered more than 3 years follow-up and to reflect on the potential factors, such as sample characteristics and stage of the illness which may contribute to the various trajectories of cognitive changes.

[Molecular-genetic and electroencephalographic markers of neurocognitive processes in depressive disorders].

Perspectives of molecular-genetic approaches to the establishment of mechanisms of development and causes of heterogeneity of neurocognitive impairment are discussed. The current results indicate that candidate genes for depression can contribute to the variance of memory and regulatory functions in patients. At the same time, these genes are closely related to affective information processing and .

[EEG spectral characteristics in resistant depression patients on transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment].

Objective: to examine the EEG spectral characteristics during TMS in resistant depression therapy.

Material And Methods: The sample consisted of 32 depressive patients diagnosed with recurrent depressive disorder or bipolar affective disorder. TMS, as well as EEG, were conducted during the previous inefficient thymoanaleptic therapy with reduced doses.

[Depression in alcohol addicted patients].

In this review, authors considered characteristics of depression and alcohol addiction. Depressive disorders comorbid to alcoholism are heterogeneous in their nature and structure and can be observed during alcohol withdrawal syndrome and in remission. Antidepressants, and first of all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), along with the specific anti-relapse drugs (disulfiram, acamprosate and naltrexone), are the drugs of choice in treatment of alcohol addiction.

[The influence of premorbid functioning on the efficacy of psychosocial therapy in adolescents with schizophrenia spectrum disorders].

Aim: To explore an effect of premorbid functioning level on the efficacy of psychosocial therapy in adolescents with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in order to determine a differential approach to its performance.

Material And Methods: A study included 53 adolescents with schizophrenia spectrum disorders at the early stage of remission achievement (PANSS scores <65). An impact of premorbid functioning was assessed with the DD-CGAS and the efficacy of psychosocial therapy with CGAS and PedsQL at baseline and after 3, 6 and 12 months.

[The anxiety-depressive spectrum disorders in patients with larynx diseases].

Aim: To perform a psychopathological and clinical/psychological analysis of anxiety-depressive spectrum disorders (ADSD) in inflammatory otorhinolaryngological disease - larynx granuloma.

Material And Methods: We examined 30 patients, aged 33-65 years, including 13 patients with post-surgical recurrence of granuloma and 17 patients diagnosed for the first time with granuloma.

Results And Conclusion: The relationship between larynx granuloma and ADSD, predominantly of chronic type was shown.

[Sexual dysfunction in men with depressive disorders].

In this article, the authors summarize literature data about sexual dysfunction in depression in men. Prevalence, clinical issues and pathogenesis of sexual dysfunction in patients with affective disorders are described. The incidence of depression is steadily growing, and the structure of depressive disorders is becoming more complicated.

[Clinical/dynamic and epidemiological aspects of depressive disorders in the protracted emergency situation].

Objective: Depressive disorders are one of the most frequent forms of mental pathology developed in protracted emergency situations. Depression develops independently or comorbid to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Material And Methods: Authors conducted a population study of the dynamics of depressive disorders in people lived in the area of combat actions in the Chechen Republic.

[Neurorehabilitation of patients after stroke and brain injury].

Cerebral vascular diseases, traumatic brain injuries are frequent causes of fatality and severe disability. A complex of measures seems to be perspective to restore the brain functions impaired due to the focal brain lesion. Main stages of the formation of neurorehabilitation as independent discipline are considered.

Relationships between mixed features and borderline personality disorder in 2811 patients with major depressive episode.

Objective: The study focused on the relationship between mixed depression and borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Method: The sample comprised 2811 patients with a major depressive episode (MDE). Clinical characteristics were compared in patients with (BPD+) and without (BPD-) comorbid BPD and in BPD+ with (MXS+) and without (MXS-) mixed features according to DSM-5 criteria.

A synopsis of original research projects published in scientific database in the Russian Federation.

The article describes the current state of scientific publications in the field of psychiatry in the Russian Federation. Issues of academic dissertations, lack of access to recent Russian language research in foreign databases, and recent reforms in the Ministry of Education and Science for overcoming these limitations are discussed in detail. Four exemplary dissertation studies published in Russian language are summarized.

[Disturbance of serum albumin conformation in patients with melancholic depression].

Objective: Conformational protein changes may be an important component of the disturbance of molecular processes in the development of pathological process in the body. We studied conformations of albumin molecule in the blood of patients with depression using biophysical -nanotechnical approach.

Material And Methods: We examined 19 patients with depression and 25 healthy controls.

[Monoamine-hormonal interactions in the pathogenesis of anxious depression].

Biochemical aspects of the relationship between monoaminergic and hormonal systems in the pathogenesis of anxious depression are analyzed on the basis of literature and own results published earlier. Significant alterations in biogenic monoamine metabolism and changes in the hormonal status, that reflects homeostasis disturbance in whole, are inherent to anxious depression. The biochemical mechanisms of imbalance between serotonergic and noradrenergic systems and a role of cortisol in this process are discussed.

[Evidence-based choice and antidepressants treatment in psychiatry].

Depression is a severe and usually recurrent mental disorder which leads to a prominent impairment of physical and social functioning, a reduced quality of life of the patients, implies as well an increased morbidity and mortality. Reducing the social-economic depression burden is possible in the optimization of decision-making process of antidepressant choice (including SSRIs and SNRIs) based on the evidence-based risk/benefit ratio and resource saving potential treatment involving target psychosocial interventions and monitoring of long-term treatment adherence.

[A comparative study of different types of pharmacotherapy in treatment of depressive phase of bipolar II disorder].

Objective: A comparative evaluation of the efficacy and safety of different types of pharmacotherapy: antidepressant monotherapy (agomelatine or sertraline), mood stabilizer monotherapy (valproate) and combination therapy (valproate + sertraline) in bipolar II disorder patients with major depressive episode.

Material And Methods: A 6-week open randomized study included 89 inpatients and outpatients. Basic criteria of efficacy were ≥50% reduction of HAMD total score and remission (≤7 points) to the end of the study.

[Impairments of social cognition and depressions].

Directions in the studies of social cognition in depression are presented. Social cognition should be studied basing on the experience and content of the key psychotherapeutic approaches to depression treatment as well as on the studies of cognitive and motivational characteristics of patients with depression. The authors suggest the directions for further development of the problem: the relationship between impairment of social intelligence and general deficit in abilities to self-regulation of thinking; studies of a role of motivation and social anhedonia in the structure of social cognition impairment.