Schizotypal traits, neurocognition, and paternal age in unaffected first degree relatives of patients with familial or sporadic schizophrenia.

Studies comparing cognitive processes between familial and sporadic schizophrenia have yielded inconsistent findings. In this study we examined differences in neurocognition and schizotypal traits in unaffected relatives of schizophrenia-spectrum patients with either the familial (multiplex) or the sporadic (simplex) subtype of the disorder, taking paternal age at birth into consideration. Simplex (n = 65; SR), multiplex (n = 35; MR) relatives and controls (n = 114) were compared on several cognitive functions and schizotypal traits; between-group differences were evaluated with and without including paternal age in the analyses. SR and MR had higher negative and paranoid traits compared with controls, but paternal age abolished the differences between the SR and control groups. When taking into account schizotypal traits and participants' age, controls outperformed MR in strategy formation and set-shifting and SR in psychomotor speed, set-shifting and executive working memory. After including paternal age in the analyses, controls outperformed MR in strategy formation, working memory and executive working memory and both groups in psychomotor speed and set-shifting. These findings suggest that multiplex relatives present with a "riskier" personality and cognitive profile when considering the effects of paternal age. Nevertheless, simplex relatives are impaired in fundamental cognitive processes, thus highlighting the detrimental effects of paternal age on neurocognition.

Neurocognitive performance, psychopathology and social functioning in individuals at high risk for schizophrenia or psychotic bipolar disorder.

INTRODUCTION: Although cognitive deficits are consistent endophenotypes of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, findings in psychotic bipolar disorder (BDP) are inconsistent. In this study we compared adult unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia and BDP patients on cognition, psychopathology, social functioning and quality of life. METHODS: Sixty-six unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients (SUnR), 36 unaffected first-degree relatives of BDP patients (BDPUnR) and 102 controls participated in the study. Between-group differences were examined and Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) predicted group membership. RESULTS: Visual memory, control inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility and abstract reasoning were linearly impaired in the relatives' groups. Poorer verbal fluency and processing speed were evident only in the SUnR group. The SUnR group had higher depressive and somatization symptoms while the BDPUnR group had higher anxiety and lower social functioning compared with the controls. Individuals with superior cognition were more likely to be classified as controls; those with higher social functioning, prolonged processing speed and lower anxiety were more likely to be classified as SUnR. LIMITATIONS: The relatives' sample is quite heterogeneous; the effects of genetic or environmental risk-factors were not examined. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive functions mediated by a fronto-parietal network, show linear impairments in unaffected relatives of BDP and schizophrenia patients; processing speed and verbal fluency impairments were evident only in schizophrenia relatives. Self-perceived symptomatology and social functioning also differ between schizophrenia and BDP relatives. The continuum seen in patients in several indices was also seen in the cognitive impairments in unaffected relatives of schizophrenia and BDP patients.

Surveying the ashes: experience from the 2007 Peloponnese wildfires six months after the disaster.

INTRODUCTION: Major disasters disrupt the infrastructure of communities and have lasting psychological, economic, and environmental effects on the affected areas. The psychological status and community effects of the devastating 2007 wildfires on the Peloponnese Peninsula of Greece were assessed six months following the disaster. METHODS: Adult inhabitants, 18-65 years of age, living in villages affected by the wildfires were selected randomly and compared with a demographically similar group living in neighboring villages that were unaffected by the fires. Regions were chosen based on the extent of fire damage in that area. There were 409 participants in the fire group, and 391 in the control group. Participants completed a questionnaire that included the SCL-90-R symptom checklist, a subjective perception of health status, and a series of items assessing views about current problems, personal values, and trust in different institutions. RESULTS: The fire group scored significantly higher on psychological distress compared to the control group. Both groups viewed their health status in the previous year as better than at the present time. There were few significant differences between groups in the designation of regional problems, attitudes, and values. In the total sample, 41.6% listed unemployment, and 15.0% listed poverty as the most important problem in their region. The Church was indicated as the most trusted institution by 36.7% of the group and the Government by 13.3%. A total of 30.2% did not have a trusted institution. CONCLUSIONS: The hardiness and resilience of the fire-impacted group was evident. However, an improvement in economic conditions is needed to maintain the health and enhance the quality of life of the population living in the Peloponnese region. This improvement likely would have a positive effect on the attitude of trust in government institutions.

Sustained attention and working memory deficits follow a familial pattern in schizophrenia.

Cognitive deficits are core features of schizophrenia and considered putative endophenotypes. This study assessed the familial pattern of deficits in sustained attention, working memory and executive function in remitted-schizophrenia patients and their unaffected siblings. Sixteen patients, 16 unaffected siblings, and 17 healthy control subjects underwent a battery of neuropsychological tasks that have so far yielded mixed findings in performance differences. Both groups had prolonged reaction times compared with controls in sustained attention tasks; the siblings made more false alarms in the working memory task, but only the patients' performance was poorer in the executive function tasks. These findings further support sustained attention and working memory deficits as potential endophenotypes of schizophrenia. Reaction time and false alarm rates are suggested as additional useful endophenotypic measures that could potentially account for differences in performance in tasks that are not purported to examine the specific measures per se.

Individual differences in novelty-seeking predict differential responses to chronic antidepressant treatment through sex- and phenotype-dependent neurochemical signatures.

Women experience major depression at roughly twice the rate of men. Inconclusive clinical evidences assist the notion that responsiveness to antidepressant pharmacotherapy is sexually dimorphic with the two sexes presenting differential responses when treated with tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Notably, responsiveness to antidepressive agents presents marked inter-individual variability, the biological basis of which remains elusive. Herein, we sought to investigate putative sex differences to chronic antidepressant treatment with the TCA clomipramine in rats selected on the basis of their reactions to novelty. Our data revealed that high novelty-seeker (HR) male rats were more responsive to clomipramine treatment as far as the alleviation of anxiety and nociception are concerned, compared to low novelty-seeker (LR) males and HR/LR female rats. Surprisingly, chronic clomipramine treatment attenuated depressive-like symptomatology in the forced swim test (FST) of behavioral despair in both sexes albeit in the opposite novelty-seeking phenotypes (i.e. in male HR and female LR). Interestingly in male HR rats, clomipramine treatment diminished serotonergic neurochemical responses post-FST exposure in all limbic brain regions examined, while these were boosted in their LR counterparts. Dopaminergic and glutamatergic neurochemistry also presented phenotype-related alterations. On the contrary, in females the neurochemical substrate was only modestly affected. Notably, corticosteroid responses were augmented in female but attenuated in male drug-treated rats. Overall, the current dataset lends further support that the male sex may benefit to a greater extent when treated with TCAs and reveals that individual differences are associated with qualitative and quantitative sex-related behavioral and neurochemical manifestations in response to chronic antidepressant treatment.

Antidepressants influence somatostatin levels and receptor pharmacology in brain.

This study investigated how the administration (acute and chronic) of the antidepressants citalopram and desmethylimipramine (DMI) influences somatostatin (somatotropin release inhibitory factor, SRIF) levels and SRIF receptor density (sst(1-5)) in rat brain. Animals received either of the following treatments: (1) saline for 21 days (control group), (2) saline for 20 days and citalopram or DMI for 1 day (citalopram or DMI acute groups), (3) citalopram or DMI for 21 days (citalopram or DMI chronic groups). Somatostatin levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. [(125)I]LTT SRIF-28 binding in the absence (labeling of sst(1-5)) or presence of 3 nM MK678 (labeling of sst(1/4)) and [(125)I]Tyr(3) octreotide (labeling of sst(2/5)) binding with subsequent autoradiography was performed in brains of rats treated with both antidepressants. Somatostatin levels were increased after citalopram, but not DMI administration, in the caudate-putamen, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex. Autoradiography studies illustrated a significant decrease in receptor density in the superficial and deep layers of frontal cortex (sst(2)), as well as a significant increase in the CA1 (sst(1/4)) hippocampal field in brains of chronically citalopram-treated animals. DMI administration increased sst(1/4) receptors levels in the CA1 hippocampal region. These results suggest that citalopram and to a lesser extent DMI influence the function of the somatostatin system in brain regions involved in the emotional, motivational, and cognitive aspects of behavior.

Chronic antidepressant treatment modulates the release of somatostatin in the rat nucleus accumbens.

This study investigated the in vivo neuronal release of somatostatin in the rat nucleus accumbens (NAc), and the effect of chronic administration of antidepressants. Microdialysis studies were performed on male Sprague-Dawley rats, in accordance with the EU guidelines (EEC Council 86/609). Somatostatin levels were quantified by radioimmunoassay (RIA) or enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA). A high concentration of potassium ions (K(+), 100 mM) was used to ascertain the neuronal release of somatostatin. Antidepressant treatments involved the administration of citalopram (20 mg/2 ml/kg, i.p., once daily) or desipramine (DMI, 5 mg/2 ml/kg, i.p., twice daily) for 21 days. Control groups received saline (2 ml/kg for 21 days, i.p.) once or twice daily respective of the antidepressant treatment. Basal levels of somatostatin released were found to be 20.01+/-0.52 fmol/sample. K(+) (100 mM) increased somatostatin levels at 205% of basal. Chronic citalopram and desipramine treatments also increased the somatostatin levels by 83+/-32% and 40+/-6% of basal, respectively. These findings indicate that somatostatin is released neuronally in the NAc. Antidepressants influence its release in a positive manner, suggesting the necessity of further studies for the elucidation of the involvement of somatostatin in the putative therapeutic effects of these agents.

Hair analysis differentiates chronic from acute carbamazepine intoxication.

This is a report of a 12-year-old epileptic child undergoing chronic treatment with carbamazepine who was found comatose. He was considered to have acute severe drug toxicity. Measurement of carbamazepine concentration in the patient's hair segments together with the carbamazepine blood levels were both important in determining the chronic nature of the patient's intoxication.