The relationship between COMT, proline, and negative symptoms in clinical high risk and recent psychosis onset.

Individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) of developing psychosis, as well as patients with recent psychosis onset (RO), experience significant negative symptoms that detrimentally impact daily-life functioning and are associated with poor outcomes, even in those who do not convert to psychosis. Targeting negative symptoms may thus hold promise for the treatment of CHR and RO patients. Building from previous findings we examined whether the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) ValMet functional polymorphism and fasting peripheral proline concentration predicts the severity of negative symptoms experienced by adolescents and young adults at CHR or those with RO.

Singing and Speaking Ability in Parkinson's Disease and Spinocerebellar Ataxia.

Purpose: This study examined spontaneous, spoken-to-a-model, and two sung modes in speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD), speakers with cerebellar disease (CD), and healthy controls. Vocal performance was measured by intelligibility scores and listeners' perceptual ratings.

Method: Participants included speakers with hypokinetic dysarthria secondary to PD, those with ataxic dysarthria secondary to CD, and healthy speakers.

Legal Admissibility of the Rorschach and R-PAS: A Review of Research, Practice, and Case Law.

The special issue editors selected us to form an "adversarial collaboration" because our publications and teaching encompass both supportive and critical attitudes toward the Rorschach and its recently developed system for use, the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS). We reviewed the research literature and case law to determine if the Rorschach and specifically R-PAS meet legal standards for admissibility in court. We included evidence on norms, reliability, validity, utility, general acceptance, forensic evaluator use, and response style assessment, as well as United States and selected European case law addressing challenges to mental examination motions, admissibility, and weight.

Physical Assault in the Psychiatry Emergency Room.

Previous studies of physical assaults in hospitals focused primarily on inpatient psychiatric units, leaving unanswered questions about the extent to which findings generalize to psychiatric emergency rooms. Assault incident reports and electronic medical records from one psychiatric emergency room and two inpatient psychiatric units were reviewed. Qualitative methods were used to identify precipitants.

Emotionally expressed voices are retained in memory following a single exposure.

Studies of voice recognition in biology suggest that long exposure may not satisfactorily represent the voice acquisition process. The current study proposes that humans can acquire a newly familiar voice from brief exposure to spontaneous speech, given a personally engaging context. Studies have shown that arousing and emotionally engaging experiences are more likely to be recorded and consolidated in memory.

The Growing Regulation of Conversion Therapy.

Conversion therapies are any treatments, including individual talk therapy, behavioral (e.g. aversive stimuli), group therapy or milieu (e.

Sound-Color Associations in Psychosis-Prone Individuals.

Synesthetic-pseudosynesthetic characteristics have been hypothesized to be a schizophrenia endophenotype, a developmental feature, and/or a symptom of psychosis. Few studies to date, however, have examined whether individuals at risk for psychosis have synesthetic symptoms. We examined the relationship between hue and pitch in high psychosis prone (HP; n = 30) and low psychosis prone individuals (LP; n = 31).

Immediate affective motivation is not impaired in schizophrenia.

Background: Among the various cognitive and affective evaluations that contribute to decisions about whether to engage in a future activity, three affective evaluations are particularly relevant: 1) interest in the activity itself, 2) the pleasure anticipated from the activity and 3) the excitement experienced while looking forward to the activity. In addition to these pre-activity evaluations, affective evaluations that are done after the activity is completed impact people's motivation to repeat the same activity. Although extant research suggests that these affective processes may be impaired in schizophrenia, it is not clear whether these impairments are mostly secondary to cognitive deficits.

Inpatients with schizophrenia report impaired situational motivation but intact global and social motivation.

It is well established that individuals with schizophrenia are less active and engaged than healthy control subjects, and motivation deficits are considered a core symptom of the disease. However, it remains unclear if schizophrenia individuals perceive themselves as less motivated than others, and there is a scarcity in research examining the relationship between perceived motivation, psychopathology and personality traits. Eighty-six inpatients with schizophrenia and 45 non-patient control participants completed the Motivation and Energy Inventory, which consists of Global Motivation, Social Motivation and Situational Motivation (the motivation individuals experience when they are engaging in an activity).

Motherhood in women with serious mental illness.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of motherhood among inpatient females at a large state psychiatric hospital in suburban New York, as well as develop an understanding of the characteristics and needs of this unique population. Data on motherhood status was gathered from October 2010 through April 2011 via medical records. Data on custody status, frequency of contacts with children, and effect of mental illness on parenting was assessed through patient surveys and focus groups.

Recovery as the new medical model for psychiatry.

Treatment grounded in recovery principles is often viewed as not being based on the "medical model." In this Open Forum the author asserts that recovery from mental illness is entirely compatible with concepts of recovery from medical illness and with new approaches to medical treatment. Three ways of conceptualizing recovery are defined: clinical recovery, illness management, and personal recovery.

Emotion antecedents in schizophrenia.

Emotion antecedents are defined as external or internal events that cause emotions in individuals. Their study brings us insight into individuals' emotion processing. Emotion antecedents have rarely been studied in schizophrenia.

Synthetic delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (dronabinol) can improve the symptoms of schizophrenia.

We are reporting improvement of symptoms of schizophrenia in a small group of patients who received the cannabinoid agonist dronabinol (synthetic Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Before this report, cannabinoids had usually been associated with worsening of psychotic symptoms. In a heuristic, compassionate use study, we found that 4 of 6 treatment-refractory patients with severe chronic schizophrenia but who had a self-reported history of improving with marijuana abuse improved with dronabinol.

A new rating scale for negative symptoms: the Motor-Affective-Social Scale.

The commonly used rating scales for negative symptoms in schizophrenia have shown good reliability, but disagreement persists regarding both the content definition and the validity of several items. Instead, authors have recommended rating the specific behaviors that are defined as negative symptoms. To surmount these shortcomings, we developed a new rating scale for negative symptoms: the Motor-Affective-Social Scale (MASS).

The role of the psychiatrist as advocate.

There are a number of ways in which a psychiatrist or other mental health professional can advocate for mental health issues. The author uses her own involvement in the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists (AGLP) as a way to illustrate the advocacy role. Challenges and accomplishments with respect to that role and the organization's work are discussed.

Pharmacokinetics of aripiprazole and concomitant carbamazepine.

The objective of this study was to assess the pharmacokinetics of aripiprazole when coadministered with carbamazepine using an open-label sequential treatment design in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Nine male patients were enrolled and received aripiprazole monotherapy (30 mg once daily) for 14 days, after which aripiprazole steady-state pharmacokinetics were assessed. Subjects were then administered carbamazepine together with aripiprazole for 4 to 6 weeks.

Pharmacokinetics of aripiprazole and concomitant lithium and valproate.

The objective of this study was to assess the pharmacokinetics of the antipsychotic aripiprazole when coadministered with lithium or valproate. Two open-label, sequential treatment design studies were conducted in chronically institutionalized patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder requiring treatment with lithium (n = 12) or valproate (divalproex sodium) (n = 10). Patients received aripiprazole 30 mg/day on days 1 to 14 and aripiprazole with concomitant therapy on days 15 to 36.

Efficacy of olanzapine and risperidone for treatment-refractory schizophrenia among long-stay state hospital patients.

The authors studied the efficacy of olanzapine and risperidone among patients with treatment-refractory schizophrenia who had been hospitalized for more than five years and who were not suitable candidates for a clozapine trial. The patients were systematically reassessed and were given olanzapine or risperidone as part of a "second-chance program." The patients in both groups showed significant improvement in scores on the 18-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale after three months.

Identifying multiple recidivists in a state hospital population.

Of 195 patients admitted to a state hospital over a four-month period, 74 were multiple recidivists. Nearly half of the 195 patients could be assigned to one of six profile subgroups of recidivists described in a previous study. Because of the high rate of medication noncompliance in this state hospital sample (65 percent), noncompliance alone was not an adequate predictor of multiple recidivism.

Incorporating structured learning therapy into occupational therapy treatment of chronic psychiatric patientse.

Role playing activities, when incorporated into a group experience, have been shown to enhance social skills development in patients with chronic psychiatric conditions. This approach, adapted from the psychological therapeutic model of Structured Learning Therapy, addresses interpersonal skill development at three distinct levels: rudimentary interpersonal skills, community interpersonal skills, and abstract intepersonal skills. Unique to this therapeutic model is the concept of the patient taking an active role in formulating the dialogues used in each role playing situation.

Multivariate analysis of the relationship of psychosocial crisis variables to Ego Identity Status.

The purpose of the present study was the investigation of the intercorrelations among psychosocial crisis resolution variables and ego identity statuses. The focus of the study was correlational including discriminant analyses which allowed for the identification of psychosocial crisis predictor variables which significantly distinguished identity statuses. Discriminant analyses were also computed for the purpose of identifying variables which significantly distinguished male and female identity statuses.