The effect of obesity and dietary habits on oxidative stress in Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Objective: Increased oxidative stress has been described in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether high oxidative stress is further influenced by obesity and dietary habits in euthyroid women with HT. Methods: Two hundred eighteen consecutive euthyroid women with HT were studied and separated in two groups; 102 with thyroxine replacement and 114 without. For the evaluation of oxidative stress, total lipid peroxide levels in serum (TOS) were measured and recoded as 'high TOS' vs 'medium/low TOS'. The type of food and consumption frequency were recorded. Two binary variables were considered; normal vs low fruit consumption and daily vs sporadic vegetable consumption. Results: 'High TOS' was more frequent in women under thyroxine replacement (31.4% vs 14.7%, OR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.4­5.2). The prevalence of 'high TOS' was higher among overweight/obese women compared to women with normal BMI (30.4% vs 12.5%, OR = 3.1, 95% CI: 1.5­6.4). Low fruit consumption was associated with increased 'high TOS' prevalence (30.6% vs 12.9%, OR = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.4­6.2). Sporadic vegetable consumption was associated with increased 'high TOS' prevalence compared to daily consumption (29.9% vs 13.5%, OR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.3­5.7). The examined risk factors were independent and additive in their effect on TOS. At least three risk factors had to be concomitantly present for the likelihood of 'high TOS' to be significantly elevated. Conclusions: Oxidative stress is increased in women with HT under thyroxine replacement. Nevertheless, normal BMI, daily fruit and vegetable consumption, all contribute in maintaining oxidative stress at low levels.

What Is Going On? The Process of Generating Questions about Emotion and Social Cognition in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia with Cartoon Situations and Faces.

Regarding the notion of putative “best” practices in social neuroscience and science in general, we contend that following established procedures has advantages, but prescriptive uniformity in methodology can obscure flaws, bias thinking, stifle creativity, and restrict exploration. Generating hypotheses is at least as important as testing hypotheses. To illustrate this process, we describe the following exploratory study. Psychiatric patients have difficulties with social functioning that affect their quality of life adversely. To investigate these impediments, we compared the performances of patients with schizophrenia and those with bipolar disorder to healthy controls on a task that involved matching photographs of facial expressions to a faceless protagonist in each of a series of drawn cartoon emotion-related situations. These scenarios involved either a single character (Nonsocial) or multiple characters (Social). The Social scenarios were also Congruent, with everyone in the cartoon displaying the same emotion, or Noncongruent (with everyone displaying a different emotion than the protagonist should). In this preliminary study, both patient groups produced lower scores than controls (p < 0.001), but did not perform differently from each other. All groups performed best on the social-congruent items and worst on the social-noncongruent items (p < 0.001). Performance varied inversely with illness duration, but not symptom severity. Complete emotional, social, cognitive, or perceptual inability is unlikely because these patient groups could still do this task. Nevertheless, the differences we saw could be meaningful functionally and clinically significant and deserve further exploration. Therefore, we stress the need to continue developing novel, alternative ways to explore social cognition in patients with psychiatric disorders and to clarify which elements of the multidimensional process contribute to difficulties in daily functioning.

Effect of synthetic and natural media on lipid production from Fusarium oxysporum

Background: Dependence on fossil resources, for the production of fuels and energy, has resulted in environmental and financial problems, which require our immediate action in order to reverse the situation. Use of renewable sources for the production of fuels and energy is an important alternative with biodiesel remains as one of the promising options. Aim of this work is to evaluate the fungus Fusarium oxysporum for its potentials to accumulate microbial lipids when grown on synthetic media and saccharified sweet sorghum stalks. Results: The effect of different carbon sources, nitrogen sources and C/N ratio on the lipid production was initially examined, which resulted in a lipid concentration of 4.4 g/L, with lipid content of 42.6% w/w. Sweet sorghum stalks were able to support growth and lipid production of the fungus, both as carbon source and as nitrogen source. It was also shown that saccharification of the dried stalks is an important step to increase lipid production. Removal of the remaining stalk solids enabled the lipid production during cultivation in increased initial solids of up to 16 w/w. This resulted in a lipid production of 3.81 g/L. Conclusions: It was demonstrated that F. oxysporum can be used as an efficient oleaginous microorganism, with sweet sorghum serving as an excellent raw material for the cultivation of the fungus. The lipids obtained during this work were also found to have a fatty acid profile with good potentials to be used for biodiesel production.

The impact of healthcare professionals' personality and religious beliefs on the decisions to forego life sustaining treatments: an observational, multicentre, cross-sectional study in Greek intensive care units.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the opinion of intensive care unit (ICU) personnel and the impact of their personality and religious beliefs on decisions to forego life-sustaining treatments (DFLSTs). SETTING: Cross-sectional, observational, national study in 18 multidisciplinary Greek ICUs, with >6 beds, between June and December 2015. PARTICIPANTS: 149 doctors and 320 nurses who voluntarily and anonymously answered the End-of-Life (EoL) attitudes, Personality (EPQ) and Religion (SpREUK) questionnaires. Multivariate analysis was used to detect the impact of personality and religious beliefs on the DFLSTs. RESULTS: The participation rate was 65.7%. Significant differences in DFLSTs between doctors and nurses were identified. 71.4% of doctors and 59.8% of nurses stated that the family was not properly informed about DFLST and the main reason was the family's inability to understand medical details. 51% of doctors expressed fear of litigation and 47% of them declared that this concern influenced the information given to family and nursing staff. 7.5% of the nurses considered DFLSTs dangerous, criminal or illegal. Multivariate logistic regression identified that to be a nurse and to have a high neuroticism score were independent predictors for preferring the term 'passive euthanasia' over 'futile care' (OR 4.41, 95% CI 2.21 to 8.82, p<0.001, and OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.72, p<0.05, respectively). Furthermore, to be a nurse and to have a high-trust religious profile were related to unwillingness to withdraw mechanical ventilation. Fear of litigation and non-disclosure of the information to the family in case of DFLST were associated with a psychoticism personality trait (OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.25 to 4.80, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: We demonstrate that fear of litigation is a major barrier to properly informing a patient's relatives and nursing staff. Furthermore, aspects of personality and religious beliefs influence the attitudes of ICU personnel when making decisions to forego life-sustaining treatments.

Burnout and job satisfaction of intensive care personnel and the relationship with personality and religious traits: An observational, multicenter, cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate if burnout in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is influenced by aspects of personality, religiosity and job satisfaction. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Cross-sectional study, designed to assess burnout in the ICU and to investigate possible determinants. Three different questionnaires were used: the Malach Burnout Inventory, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Spiritual/Religious Attitudes Questionnaire. Predicting factors for high burnout were identified by multivariate logistic regression analysis. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: This national study was addressed to physicians and nurses working full-time in 18 Greek ICU departments from June to December 2015. RESULTS: The participation rate was 67.9% (n=149) and 65% (n=320) for ICU physicians and nurses, respectively). High job satisfaction was recorded in both doctors (80.8%) and nurses (63.4%). Burnout was observed in 32.8% of the study participants, higher in nurses compared to doctors (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that neuroticism was a positive and extraversion a negative predictor of exhaustion (OR 5.1, 95%CI 2.7-9.7, p<0.001 and OR 0.49, 95%CI 0.28-0.87, p=0.014, respectively). Moreover, three other factors were identified: Job satisfaction (OR 0.26, 95%CI 0.14-0.48, p<0.001), satisfaction with current End-of-Life care (OR 0.41, 95%CI 0.23-0.76, p=0.005) and isolation feelings after decisions to forego life sustaining treatments (OR 3.48, 95%CI 1.25-9.65, p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Personality traits, job satisfaction and the way End-of-Life care is practiced influence burnout in the ICU.

RAGE polymorphisms and oxidative stress levels in Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

BACKGROUND: Polymorphisms of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) gene have been studied in various autoimmune disorders, but not in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Also, increased oxidative stress has been described in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible role of two common RAGE polymorphisms (-429T>C, -374T>A) in Hashimoto's thyroiditis; in parallel, we studied oxidative stress levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 300 consecutive euthyroid women were examined and classified into three groups: Hashimoto's thyroiditis with treatment (n = 96), Hashimoto's thyroiditis without treatment (n = 109) and controls (n = 95). For a rough evaluation of oxidative stress, total lipid peroxide levels in serum were measured. The -429T>C AluI and -374T>A MfeI polymorphisms of RAGE were studied in genomic DNA. RESULTS: Significant association of the RAGE system with Hashimoto's thyroiditis was found only with regard to the prevalence of the -429T>C, but not with -374T>A polymorphism. The levels of oxidative stress were significantly elevated in Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients under treatment. Further analysis demonstrated that an oxidative stress cut-off value of 590 µmol/L is associated with an increased risk of progression of Hashimoto's thyroiditis from euthyroidism to hypothyroidism; this risk is further increased in carriers of the RAGE -429T>C polymorphism. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that both examined risk factors may be implicated in the occurrence of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, but this covers only a fraction of the pathophysiology of the disease.

Interplay of dFOXO and two ETS-family transcription factors determines lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster.

Forkhead box O (FoxO) transcription factors (TFs) are key drivers of complex transcriptional programmes that determine animal lifespan. FoxOs regulate a number of other TFs, but how these TFs in turn might mediate the anti-ageing programmes orchestrated by FoxOs in vivo is unclear. Here, we identify an E-twenty six (ETS)-family transcriptional repressor, Anterior open (Aop), as regulated by the single Drosophila melanogaster FoxO (dFOXO) in the adult gut. AOP, the functional orthologue of the human Etv6/Tel protein, binds numerous genomic sites also occupied by dFOXO and counteracts the activity of an ETS activator, Pointed (Pnt), to prevent the lifespan-shortening effects of co-activation of dFOXO and PNT. This detrimental synergistic effect of dFOXO and PNT appears to stem from a mis-regulation of lipid metabolism. At the same time, AOP activity in another fly organ, the fat body, has further beneficial roles, regulating genes in common with dfoxo, such as the secreted, non-sensory, odorant binding protein (Obp99b), and robustly extending lifespan. Our study reveals a complex interplay between evolutionarily conserved ETS factors and dFOXO, the functional significance of which may extend well beyond animal lifespan.

Development of the Greek Verbal Learning Test: reliability, construct validity, and normative standards.

We developed a multiple-form list learning test appropriate for use with the Greek population and generated norms for clinical and research use. This task, the Greek Verbal Learning Test (GVLT), was based on the California Verbal Learning Test. We administered the standard version (Form A) to a sample of 354 healthy individuals, as well as two alternative forms (B and C) to a subgroup of the initial sample. Performance on the three forms was equivalent, and each test presented excellent internal consistency. We found good sensitivity and specificity in the testãs (Form A) utility in differentiating individuals with schizophrenia (n = 50) and individuals with traumatic brain injury (n = 53) from healthy adults. A multiple regression analysis indicated that age, education and sex predicted performance. Regression-based norms are also provided. Taken together, these data provide preliminary support for the reliability and construct validity of the GVLT.

Humor appreciation of captionless cartoons in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: It seems that the core neural regions and cognitive processes implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) pathophysiology may overlap with those involved in humor appreciation. However, to date, there have been no studies that have explored humor appreciation in OCD. The purpose of the present work was to investigate humor appreciation in a group of patients with OCD. METHODS: We examined 25 patients with OCD and 25 healthy controls, matched by age, education, and gender. We administered Penn's Humor Appreciation Test (PHAT), a computerized test comprising captionless cartoons by Mordillo. Each set of stimuli consisted of two almost identical drawings, one of which was funny due to the alteration of a detail in the cartoon, whereas the other was not funny. Severity of psychopathology was evaluated with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). RESULTS: No significant effect for group, gender or group × gender interaction was found on the PHAT scores. In OCD patients, humor appreciation was not significantly associated with age of onset, duration of illness, and obsessions, but correlated significantly with compulsions. CONCLUSIONS: Humor appreciation, based on captionless cartoons in OCD, does not seem to be deficient compared to healthy subjects but may be related to illness characteristics.

Modeling serpin conformational diseases in Drosophila melanogaster.

Transgenic Drosophila melanogaster have been used to model both the physiological and pathological behavior of serpins. The ability to generate flies expressing serpins and to rapidly assess associated phenotypes contributes to the power of this paradigm. While providing a whole-organism model of serpinopathies the powerful toolkit of genetic interventions allows precise molecular dissection of important biological pathways. In this chapter, we summarize the contribution that flies have made to the serpin field and then describe some of the experimental methods that are employed in these studies. In particular, we will describe the generation of transgenic flies, the assessment of phenotypes, and the principles of how to perform a genetic screen.

Genome-wide dFOXO targets and topology of the transcriptomic response to stress and insulin signalling.

FoxO transcription factors, inhibited by insulin/insulin-like growth factor signalling (IIS), are crucial players in numerous organismal processes including lifespan. Using genomic tools, we uncover over 700 direct dFOXO targets in adult female Drosophila. dFOXO is directly required for transcription of several IIS components and interacting pathways, such as TOR, in the wild-type fly. The genomic locations occupied by dFOXO in adults are different from those observed in larvae or cultured cells. These locations remain unchanged upon activation by stresses or reduced IIS, but the binding is increased and additional targets activated upon genetic reduction in IIS. We identify the part of the IIS transcriptional response directly controlled by dFOXO and the indirect effects and show that parts of the transcriptional response to IIS reduction do not require dfoxo. Promoter analyses revealed GATA and other forkhead factors as candidate mediators of the indirect and dfoxo-independent effects. We demonstrate genome-wide evolutionary conservation of dFOXO targets between the fly and the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, enriched for a second tier of regulators including the dHR96/daf-12 nuclear hormone receptor.

The impact of impaired "Theory of Mind" on social interactions in schizophrenia.

Given the importance of social dysfunction in schizophrenia, many studies have explored how social cognition, and, particularly, Theory of Mind (ToM) may affect patients' social interactions. In the present study, we investigated the impact of ToM deficits on social interactions, taking into account overall neuropsychological functioning as well as clinical and demographic characteristics. We assessed 28 patients with schizophrenia and 30 healthy participants on a series of tasks including tests of ToM, neuropsychological tests focused on functions potentially relevant to ToM and role plays as an indicator of social interactions. Patients performed more poorly than healthy controls across most ToM and some of the neuropsychological tests. Correlations and hierarchical regression analyses indicated the impact of some, but not all, facets of ToM on patients' social interactions, over and above neuropsychological functioning, positive and negative symptom ratings, duration of illness and demographic characteristics. These findings suggest that remediation of ToM deficits in patients with schizophrenia may help to improve their social interactions.

dFOXO-independent effects of reduced insulin-like signaling in Drosophila.

The insulin/insulin-like growth factor-like signaling (IIS) pathway in metazoans has evolutionarily conserved roles in growth control, metabolic homeostasis, stress responses, reproduction, and lifespan. Genetic manipulations that reduce IIS in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and the mouse have been shown not only to produce substantial increases in lifespan but also to ameliorate several age-related diseases. In C. elegans, the multitude of phenotypes produced by the reduction in IIS are all suppressed in the absence of the worm FOXO transcription factor, DAF-16, suggesting that they are all under common regulation. It is not yet clear in other animal models whether the activity of FOXOs mediate all of the physiological effects of reduced IIS, especially increased lifespan. We have addressed this issue by examining the effects of reduced IIS in the absence of dFOXO in Drosophila, using a newly generated null allele of dfoxo. We found that the removal of dFOXO almost completely blocks IIS-dependent lifespan extension. However, unlike in C. elegans, removal of dFOXO does not suppress the body size, fecundity, or oxidative stress resistance phenotypes of IIS-compromised flies. In contrast, IIS-dependent xenobiotic resistance is fully dependent on dFOXO activity. Our results therefore suggest that there is evolutionary divergence in the downstream mechanisms that mediate the effects of IIS. They also imply that in Drosophila, additional factors act alongside dFOXO to produce IIS-dependent responses in body size, fecundity, and oxidative stress resistance and that these phenotypes are not causal in IIS-mediated extension of lifespan.

Psychotic features associated with multiple sclerosis.

Although once considered rare, several more recent investigations have been published describing psychotic features in multiple sclerosis (MS). The association between the two conditions, however, remains unclear. Large-scale hospital-based, epidemiological and case studies have suggested a relationship between psychosis and MS through demonstrating their higher than chance co-occurrence, their temporal relationship, and their association with particular structural abnormalities in the brain (i.e., periventricular white matter and temporal demyelination). The etiology of psychosis in MS has also not been explained adequately. Regional demyelination and the use of corticosteroids have been implicated, yet their mechanisms of action have not been elucidated. The present review addresses what is known at this point in time regarding the occurrence of psychosis in the context of MS, the data regarding possible etiological factors, and the implications of these data and suggestions regarding diagnosis and treatment. Future research should explore the underlying pathophysiology of psychosis and multiple sclerosis to further our understanding of the central nervous system disease process. This research could help determine the features which would guide clinicians in identifying patients at risk of developing psychosis in the context of MS, as well as propose the optimal pharmacological intervention.

Sex differences in neuropsychological functioning among schizophrenia patients.

OBJECTIVES: Evidence from the literature addressing sex differences in cognition in schizophrenia remains equivocal, with some researchers suggesting that male schizophrenia patients are more impaired than female subjects, while others report no significant sex differences in cognitive functioning. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the differential pattern of cognitive performance observed in healthy men and women is preserved in male and female schizophrenia patients. METHOD: Ninety-six schizophrenia patients (56 men) were compared with 62 age- and gender-ratio matched healthy controls (31 men), on a battery of neuropsychological tests that assessed basic cognitive abilities: attention, working memory, abstraction, inhibition, fluency, verbal learning and memory, visual memory, visuospatial skills, and psychomotor speed. RESULTS: As a group, schizophrenia patients were significantly impaired in each of the cognitive domains assessed, with the exception of psychomotor speed. The effect of sex was significant for verbal learning and memory, wherein women outperformed men. No significant group x sex interactions were found in any cognitive domains, indicating that the female advantage typically observed in verbal learning and memory remained the same in the schizophrenia patients. CONCLUSION: The degree of cognitive impairment is the same for male and female schizophrenia patients. Those sex differences found among the patients were typical of the healthy population as well. Therefore, differential decrements in basic cognitive domains do not appear to account for the favourable course of schizophrenia in women relative to men.

Expression of human uncoupling protein-3 in Drosophila insulin-producing cells increases insulin-like peptide (DILP) levels and shortens lifespan.

Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) can dissipate mitochondrial protonmotive force by increasing the proton conductance of the inner membrane and through this effect could decrease ROS production, ameliorate oxidative stress and extend lifespan. We investigated whether ubiquitous, pan-neuronal or neurosecretory cell-specific expression of human UCP3 (hUCP3) in adult Drosophila melanogaster affected lifespan. Low, ubiquitous expression of hUCP3 at levels found in rodent skeletal muscle mitochondria did not affect proton conductance in mitochondria isolated from whole flies, but high pan-neuronal expression of hUCP3 increased the proton conductance of mitochondria isolated from fly heads. Expression of hUCP3 at moderate levels in adult neurons led to a marginal lifespan-extension in males. However, high expression of hUCP3 in neuronal tissue shortened lifespan. The life-shortening effect was replicated when hUCP3 was expressed specifically in median neurosecretory cells (mNSC), which express three of the Drosophila insulin-like peptides (DILPs). Expression of hUCP3 in the mNSC did not alter expression of dilp2, dilp3 or dilp5 mRNA, but led to increased amounts of DILP2 in fly heads. These data suggest that lowering mitochondrial coupling by high expression of hUCP3 alters mNSC function in a way that appears to increase DILP-levels in fly heads and lead to a concomitant decrease in lifespan.

Effects of sentence context on lexical ambiguity resolution in patients with schizophrenia.

Previous research has suggested that a failure in processing contextual information may account for the heterogeneous clinical manifestations and cognitive impairments observed in schizophrenia. In the domain of language, context processing in schizophrenia has been investigated mostly with single-word semantic priming paradigms; however, natural language comprehension depends on more than semantic relations between words. The present study aimed to systematically assess sentence context effects in homonym meaning activation in patients with schizophrenia. Fourteen patients with schizophrenia and 14 normal controls matched to the patients on sex, age, education and parental education, were examined using a cross-modal priming paradigm. Primes were sentences biasing the first, second, or neither meaning of a sentence-final equibiased homonym; targets were related to either the first or the second meaning of the homonym and appeared after an interstimulus interval (ISI) of 0ms or 750ms. Patients with schizophrenia exhibited a trend towards facilitation of both target types following unbiased sentences at ISI=0ms, similar to controls. However, in contrast to the pattern of selective target facilitation exhibited by control subjects following first- or second meaning-biased sentences, no significant target facilitation was observed in patients in the same condition. At ISI=750ms, patients did no longer exhibit significant target facilitation in any sentence context condition. This pattern of results is compatible with the assumption of a combined impairment in lexical (automatic spreading of activation within the semantic network) and extralexical (working memory) processes in patients with schizophrenia.

Emotion perception in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the ability to perceive facial and vocal affect in a group of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and to explore the specific emotions that might be troublesome for them. Participants were 25 patients with OCD and 25 healthy controls, matched for age, education, and gender. They were assessed with computerized tests of affect perception using visual faces [Kinney's Affect Matching Test (KAMT)], visual everyday scenarios [Fantie's Cartoon Test (FCT)], and prosody [Affective Prosody Test (APT)], as well as a facial recognition test [Kinney's Identity Matching Test (KIMT)]. Severity of OCD symptoms in the patient group was measured with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. Patients with OCD were not impaired in the perception of emotion, in either the visual [still photographs (KAMT) or sketches of everyday scenarios (FCT)] or the vocal (APT) modality, as compared with age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy individuals. Moreover, patients with OCD did not differ from healthy individuals in discriminating facial identity (KIMT). With regard to each emotion type separately, patients performed equally well as healthy individuals in all the emotions examined. Emotion processing of both facial expressions and prosody does not appear to be deficient in patients with OCD (JINS, 2009, 15, 148-153).

Investigation of heart rate and blood pressure variability, baroreflex sensitivity, and approximate entropy in acute brain injury patients.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to investigate longitudinally over time heart rate (HR) and blood pressure variability and baroreflex sensitivity in acute brain injury patients and relate them with the severity of neurologic dysfunction and outcome. METHODS: Data from 20 brain injured patients due to multiple causes and treated in the intensive care unit were used, with HR and blood pressure recorded from monitors and analyzed on a daily basis. We performed power spectral analysis estimating low frequencies (LF: 0.04-0.15 Hz), high frequencies (HF: 0.15-0.4 Hz), and their ratio and calculated the approximate entropy, which assesses periodicity within a signal and transfer function (TF), that estimates baroreflex sensitivity. Heart rate variance was considered as a measure of HR variability. RESULTS: Nonsurvivors (brain dead) had lower approximate entropy (0.65 +/- 0.24 vs 0.84 +/- 0.26, P < .05) and lower variance mean values (0.48 +/- 0.54 vs 1.29 +/- 0.42 ms(2)/Hz, P < .01), lower LF and HF minimum values (0.31 +/- 0.88 vs 1.11 +/- 0.46, P < .01; and 0.27 +/- 0.42 vs 0.86 +/- 0.30, P < .01, respectively), lower LF/HF (0.22 +/- 0.29 vs 0.62 +/- 0.28, P < .01), and lower TF mean values (0.43 +/- 0.29 vs 1.11 +/- 0.74, P < .05) during their whole stay in the intensive care unit in relation with survivors. The mean variance (P < .05), mean TF (P < .05), and mean LF/HF (P < .05) were significantly successful in separating survivors from nonsurvivors. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in acute brain injury patients, low variability, low baroreflex sensitivity, and sustained decrease in LF/HF of HR signals are linked with a high mortality rate.

Studying social cognition in patients with schizophrenia and patients with frontotemporal dementia: theory of mind and the perception of sarcasm.

We investigated social cognition and theory of mind in patients with schizophrenia and in patients with frontotemporal dementia in order to elucidate the cognitive mechanisms involved in the breakdown of these skills in psychiatric and neurological patients. Our tasks included videotaped scenarios of social interactions depicting sincere, sarcastic and paradoxical remarks, as well as lies. We found impaired performance of the schizophrenia group on all theory of mind conditions despite their intact understanding of sincere statements. In contrast, the FTD group performed poorly only when they had to rely on paralinguistic cues indicating sarcasm or lies, and not on paradoxical remarks or sarcasm when given additional verbal cues. Our findings suggest that, while current deficits in social and interpersonal functioning in patients with FTD may reflect a decrement in previously acquired skills, similar deficits in patients with schizophrenia may reflect an altogether inadequately learned process.