Schizophrenia Research

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia robustly predict functional outcomes but remain relatively resistant to available treatments. Better measures of negative symptoms, especially motivational deficits, are needed to better understand these symptoms and improve treatment development. Recent research shows promise in linking behavioral effort tasks to motivational negative symptoms, reward processing deficits, and defeatist attitudes, but few studies account for individual or group (patient v. control) differences in cognitive ability to perform the tasks...

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BACKGROUND: The spectrum of schizophrenia disorders (SSD) is a severe mental disorder. It is one of the main medical causes of disability that generates high health and social costs. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the factors associated with clinical recovery (CR) (symptomatic remission-SR and functional recovery-FR) and personal recovery (PR) in people diagnosed with SSD. METHODS: 14 meta-analyses focused on recovery were reviewed following the PRISMA model statements...

PURPOSE: Understanding affiliate stigma and its impact on family of people living with schizophrenia (PLS) in China is important for culturally informed intervention. This study aims to describe the pattern of affiliate stigma of family members of PLS in China and investigated the association between affiliate stigma and family burden. METHODS: PLS and their family members dwelling in community were randomly recruited from four cities across China and completed measures of affiliate stigma and family burden...

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BACKGROUND: The clinical profiles of methamphetamine-induced psychosis (MIP) and schizophrenia are largely overlapping making differentiation challenging. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aim to compare the positive and negative symptoms of MIP and schizophrenia to better understand the differences between them. STUDY DESIGN: In accordance with our pre-registered protocol (CRD42021286619), we conducted a search of English-language studies up to December 16th, 2022, in PubMed, EMBASE, and PsycINFO, including stable outpatients with MIP and schizophrenia...

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms by which antipsychotic medications (APs) contribute to obesity in schizophrenia are not well understood. Because AP effects on functional brain connectivity may contribute to weight effects, the current study investigated how AP-associated weight-gain risk relates to functional connectivity in schizophrenia. METHODS: Fifty-five individuals with schizophrenia (final N = 54) were divided into groups based on previously reported AP weight-gain risk (no APs/low risk [N = 19]; moderate risk [N = 17]; high risk [N = 18])...

OBJECTIVE: To describe patterns of antipsychotic switching among patients hospitalized for schizophrenia and to correlate antipsychotic switching with hospital readmission risk. METHODS: We identified 3295 patients with index hospitalizations for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder from New York State Medicaid claims 2017-2018 who had filled at least one prescription for an antipsychotic in both the 44 days (one month +14 day grace period) prior to and after their admission...

We characterized the neurocognitive profile of communed-based individuals and unaffected siblings of patients with psychosis from Brazil reporting psychotic experiences (PEs). We also analyzed associations between PEs and the intra and inter-functional connectivity (FC) in the Default Mode Network (DMN), the Fronto-Parietal Network (FPN) and the Salience Network (SN) measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. The combined sample of communed-based individuals and unaffected siblings of patients with psychosis comprised 417 (neurocognition) and 85 (FC) volunteers who were divided as having low (<75th percentile) and high (≥75th percentile) PEs (positive, negative, and depressive dimensions) assessed by the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences...

Cognitive impairment is a core characteristic of schizophrenia. Social isolation has been linked to impaired cognitive function among the general population. In this longitudinal study, we examined the association between social isolation and cognitive function among inpatients with schizophrenia. Two waves of data (2019 and 2021) were collected from chronic psychiatric wards. A total of 166 inpatients completed all measurements at baseline and follow-up. Social isolation was measured by incorporating the frequency of social contact and participation, while cognitive functions were assessed by the Taiwan version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-T)...

Tobacco smoking is highly prevalent in persons with psychosis and is the leading cause of preventable mortality in this population. Less is known about tobacco smoking in persons with first episode psychosis (FEP) and there have been no estimates about the prevalence of nicotine vaping in FEP. This study reports rates of tobacco smoking and nicotine vaping in young people with FEP enrolled in Coordinated Specialty Care programs in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Using data collected from 2021 to 2023, we examined lifetime and recent smoking and vaping and compared smokers and vapers to nonusers on symptoms, functioning, and substance use...

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PURPOSE: Although the stability of current diagnostic criteria for people with First Episode Psychosis (FEP) is essential for treatment, it still remains poorly investigated. As its examination necessarily requires a prospective evaluation of diagnostic trajectories, the aims of the current longitudinal investigation were: (a) to assess diagnostic changes in an Italian FEP population treated within an "Early Intervention in Psychosis" service during a 2-year follow-up period, and (b) to identify potential sociodemographic and clinical moderators of diagnostic instability at entry...

BACKGROUND: Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are a disabling symptom for people with schizophrenia (SCZ), and do not always respond to antipsychotics. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has shown efficacy for medication-refractory AVH, though the underlying neural mechanisms by which rTMS produces these effects remain unclear. This systematic review evaluated the structural and functional impact of rTMS for AVH in SCZ, and its association with clinical outcomes. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted in Medline, PsychINFO, and PubMed using terms for four key concepts: AVH, SCZ, rTMS, neuroimaging...

BACKGROUND: Impaired cognitive reappraisal is a notable symptom of early psychosis, but its neurobiological basis remains underexplored. We aimed to identify the underlying neurobiological mechanism of this impairment by using resting-state functional connectivity (FC) analyses focused on brain regions related to cognitive reappraisal. METHODS: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance images were collected from 36 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, 32 clinical high-risk (CHR) individuals, and 48 healthy controls (HCs)...

UNLABELLED: Aggression in schizophrenia patients is an issue of concern. Previous studies have shown that aggression in schizophrenia patients may be related to insomnia and quality of life to different extents. This study aimed to explore the potential mediating role of quality of life in the relationship between aggression and insomnia among schizophrenia patients. Demographic factors affecting aggression in schizophrenia patients were also explored. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 781 stable patients aged 18-75 who met the ICD10 diagnosis of "schizophrenia" completed the completed questionnaire...

A decreased expression of specific interneuron subtypes, containing either the calcium binding protein parvalbumin (PV) or the neurotransmitter somatostatin (SST), are observed in the cortex and hippocampus of both patients with schizophrenia and rodent models used to study the disorder. Moreover, preclinical studies suggest that this loss of inhibitory function is a key pathological mechanism underlying the symptoms of schizophrenia. Interestingly, decreased expression of Lhx6, a key transcriptional regulator specific to the development and migration of PV and SST interneurons, is seen in human postmortem studies and following multiple developmental disruptions used to model schizophrenia preclinically...

Although cross-sectional studies have suggested that discrimination has a negative impact on the mental health of patients with COVID-19, no cohort studies with longitudinal data have established a causal relationship. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between COVID-19-related discrimination and subsequent psychotic experiences in individuals who had contracted the disease. Secondary outcomes were PTSD symptoms, psychological distress, and suicidal ideation. We utilized inverse probability weighting and marginal structural models with robust standard errors to analyze the association, accounting for confounders and loss to follow-up...

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OBJECTIVE: Despite their acknowledged value, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are infrequently used in psychosis, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. We compared ratings on two single-item PROMs, Self-Rated Health (SRH) and Self-Rated Mental Health (SRMH), of persons receiving similar early psychosis services in Chennai, India and Montreal, Canada. We hypothesized greater improvements in SRH and SRMH in the Chennai (compared to the Montreal) sample. METHODS: Participants (Chennai N = 159/168 who participated in the larger study; Montreal N = 74/165 who participated in the larger study) completed the SRH and SRMH during at least two out of three timepoints (entry, months 12 and 24)...