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Objective. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex deficit and neurological soft signs (NSS) are two markers of vulnerability to psychosis. This study investigated the possibility of a PPI–NSS relation due to a putative common biological substrate, hypothesizing that patients with higher NSS scores also show higher PPI deficits. Moreover, we examined the possibility of an association of PPI deficits and NSS with negative symptoms.Methods. Fifteen subjects with psychosis and fifteen healthy controls underwent PPI and NSS evaluations.Results. Patients did not exhibit higher PPI deficits but only higher NSS rates (p< 0.01), as compared with healthy controls. Higher NSS rates were not associated with PPI deficits, and NSS sensory integration signs correlated positively with negative symptoms (p< 0.01).Conclusion. Our study supported the hypothesis that NSS are trait markers whereas PPI deficits state markers and that their putative common biological substrate is not sufficient to determinate an association between them. The study hypothesis, however, needs further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. We aim to outline the neural correlates of atypical emotional face processing in individuals with ASD. Methods. A comprehensive literature search was conducted through electronic databases to identify functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of whole brain analysis with emotional-face processing tasks in individuals with ASD. The Signed Differential Mapping with random effects model was used to conduct meta-analyses. Identified fMRI studies were further divided into sub-groups based on contrast ('emotional-face vs. non-emotional-face' or 'emotional-face vs. non-face') to confirm the results of a meta-analysis of the whole studies. Results. Thirteen studies with 226 individuals with ASD and 251 typically developing people were identified. We found ASD-related hyperactivation in subcortical structures, including bilateral thalamus, bilateral caudate, and right precuneus, and ASD-related hypoactivation in the hypothalamus during emotional-face processing. Sub-analyses with more homogeneous contrasts preserved the findings of the main analysis such as hyperactivation in sub-cortical structure. Jackknife analyses showed that hyperactivation of the left caudate was the most robust finding. Conclusions. Abnormalities in the subcortical structures, such as amygdala, hypothalamus and basal ganglia, are associated with atypical emotional-face processing in individuals with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuregulin 1 ( NRG1) and v-erb-a erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 4 ( ErbB4) have been extensively studied in schizophrenia susceptibility because of their pivotal role in key neurodevelopmental processes. One of the reasons for the inconsistencies in results could be the fact that the phenotype investigated has mostly the diagnosis of schizophrenia per se, which is widely heterogeneous, both clinically and biologically. In the present study we tested, in a large cohort of 461 schizophrenia patients recruited in Scotland, whether several SNPs in NRG1 and/or ErbB4 are associated with schizophrenia symptom dimensions as evaluated by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). We then followed up nominally significant results in a second cohort of 439 schizophrenia subjects recruited in Germany. Using linear regression, we observed two different groups of polymorphisms in NRG1 gene: one showing a nominal association with higher scores of the PANSS positive dimension and the other one with higher scores of the PANSS negative dimension. Regarding ErbB4, a small cluster located in the 5′ end of the gene was detected, showing nominal association mainly with negative, general and total dimensions of the PANSS. These findings suggest that some regions of NRG1 and ErbB4 are functionally involved in biological processes that underlie some of the phenotypic manifestations of schizophrenia. Because of the lack of significant association after correction for multiple testing, our analyses should be considered as exploratory and hypothesis generating for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COMT Val158Met moderates the effect of stress on psychotic symptoms. Exposure to stress is also associated with mesolimbic dopamine release in individuals experiencing low maternal care. We therefore test the hypothesis that recent stressful life events are associated with more severe positive symptoms (associated with mesolimbic dopamine release) in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients who experienced low maternal care during childhood. We hypothesized that COMT Val158Met moderates this association. A total of 149 FEP patients recruited within the Psychosis Incident Cohort Outcome Study (PICOS) participated in the present study. Maternal care was assessed by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), stressful life events were collected by the List of Events Scale and positive symptoms were assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). We found that low maternal care and recent stressful life events were associated with higher level of positive symptoms at the onset (analysis of variance [ANOVA], p = 0.012), and that patients who were also homozygotes for the COMT Val158 allele had the highest level of positive symptoms (ANOVA, p = 0.024). Low maternal care and severe stressful life events may contribute to a symptomatology characterized by more severe positive symptoms at the onset, possibly due to an increased mesolimbic dopamine release. Homozygosity for the COMT Val158 allele seems to confer a biological predisposition to the stress-related hyperactivity of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. The data imply that the mesolimbic dopaminergic system is involved in the mediation/modulation of the effect of stressful events on the vulnerability for psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to describe patterns of experienced and anticipated discrimination in a sample of persons experiencing a first episode of psychosis and to explore associations with clinical and psychosocial variables. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted within the context of the Psychosis Incident Cohort Outcome Study, a multisite naturalistic study examining first-episode patients treated in public psychiatric services in the Veneto Region of Italy. The Discrimination and Stigma Scale was used to assess experienced and anticipated discrimination. Results: Ninety-seven patients were interviewed. Experiences of discrimination were common in relationships with family members (43%), making friends (32%), relationships with neighbors (25%), keeping a job (25%), finding a job (24%), and intimate relationships (23%). In regard to anticipated discrimination, 37% had stopped seeking a close relationship and 34% had stopped looking for work, 58% felt the need to conceal their diagnosis, and 37% reported that other people avoided diem. In regression analysis, a higher number of functioning needs together with higher anticipated discrimination were associated with a higher level of experienced discrimination. A higher level of experienced discrimination and greater illness awareness were associated with more anticipated discrimination. Conclusions: First-episode patients reported experiencing discrimination in several key life areas. Anticipated discrimination further limited their access to life opportunities. Patients' awareness of the negative consequences of symptoms and disabilities led them to more easily perceive discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Considerable variations in the incidence of psychosis have been observed across countries, in terms of age, gender, immigration status, urbanicity and socioeconomic deprivation. Aims To evaluate the incidence rate of first-episode psychosis in a large area of north-eastern Italy and the distribution of the above-mentioned risk factors in individuals with psychoses. Method Epidemiologically based survey. Over a 3-year period individuals with psychosis on first contact with services were identified and diagnosed according to ICD-10 criteria. Results In total, 558 individuals with first-episode psychosis were identified during 3077555 person-years at risk. The annual incidence rate per 100000 was 18.1 for all psychoses, 14.3 for non-affective psychoses and 3.8 for affective psychoses. The rate for all psychoses was higher in young people aged 20-29 (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 4.18, 95% Cl 2.77-6.30), immigrants (IRR=2.26, 95% Cl 1.85-2.75) and those living in the most deprived areas (IRR= 2.09, 95% Cl 1.54-2.85). Conclusions The incidence rate in our study area was lower than that found in other European and North American studies and provides new insights into the factors that may increase and/ or decrease risk for developing psychosis. Declaration of interest None. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Cancer mortality data allow assessing, at the same time, the risk of developing the disease and the quality of care provided to patients after the oncologic diagnosis. This study explores the risk of death caused by a single tumor site in a psychiatric population treated in a community-based psychiatric service. Methods: All patients with an ICD-10 psychiatric diagnosis, seeking care in 1982-2006 (25 years), were included. Data were drawn from the South Verona Psychiatric Case Register (PCR). Mortality and cause of death were ascertained using different procedures and sources. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were used to compare the observed number of deaths with the expected number using as reference a population in the Veneto region. Results: Having been admitted to the hospital (SMR = 1.32), having a short interval from registration (1.52), having a diagnosis of alcoholism (2.03), and being a middle-aged male (1.83) were factors showing an increased risk of death from cancer. Increased SMRs were found for cancer of the oral cavity (22.93), lymphoma, leukemias, Hodgkin's lymphoma (8.01), and central nervous system (CNS) and cranial nerve tumors (4.75). The SMR decreased for stomach tumors (0.49). Patients with alcoholism (5.90 for larynx), affective disorders (20.00 for lymphomas), and personality disorders (28.00 for SNC) were found to be exposed to a high risk of cancer death in specific sites. Conclusions: Psychiatric patients showed different patterns of site-specific cancer mortality when compared with the general population. The 20-fold higher risk of dying from hematological neoplasms needs further investigation. Chronic use of phenothiazines could be involved in the relative protection from stomach and prostate cancer found in psychiatric patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Non-adherence to anti-psychotics is common, expensive and affects recovery. We therefore examine the cost-effectiveness of adherence therapy for people with schizophrenia by multi-centre randomised trial in Amsterdam, London, Leipzig and Verona. Methods: Participants received 8 sessions of adherence therapy or health education. We measured lost productivity and use of health/social care, criminal justice system and informal care at baseline and one year to estimate and compare mean total costs from health/social care and societal perspectives. Outcomes were the Short Form 36 (SF-36) mental component score (MCS) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained (SF-36 and EuroQoL 5 dimension (EQ5D)). Cost-effectiveness was examined for all cost and outcome combinations using cost-effectiveness acceptability curves (CEACs). Results: 409 participants were recruited. There were no cost or outcome differences between adherence therapy and health education. The probability of adherence therapy being cost-effective compared to health education was between 0.3 and 0.6 for the six cost-outcome combinations at the willingness to pay thresholds we examined. Conclusions: Adherence therapy appears equivalent to health education. It is unclear whether it would have performed differently against a treatment as usual control, whether such an intervention can impact on quality of life in the short-term, or whether it is likely to be cost-effective in some sites but not others. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN: ISRCTN01816159. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty-four years have elapsed since the passing of the Italian Law 180, the reform law that marked the transition from a hospital-based system of care to a model of community psychiatry that was designed to be an alternative to, rather than to complement, the old hospital-centred services. The main principle of Law 180 is that psychiatric patients have the right to be treated the same way as patients with other diseases and only voluntary treatments are allowed, with a few exceptions that are strictly regulated. The main features and consequences of the Italian reform are initially reviewed; national and local level experiences and epidemiological data are then analysed in order to highlight and disentangle the 'active ingredients' of the Italian experience. A public health attitude with the capacity to network good practice in service organization by giving voice to successful experiences and promoting health service research, apart from some local services, is still generally lacking. Furthermore, it is still difficult to provide an evidence-based reply to the question: can à l'Italienne community-care be exported elsewhere? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Reduced left superior temporal gyrus (STG) volume is one of the most replicated imaging findings in schizophrenia. However, it remains unclear whether genes play any role in our understanding of such structural alteration. It has been proposed that Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) might be a promising gene involved in schizophrenia, because of its role in neurodevelopment and neuroplasticity. In this study, the association between NRG1 and STG anatomy in patients with schizophrenia was explored for the first time. Methods: We investigated a 1-year treated prevalence cohort of patients with schizophrenia in contact with the South Verona Community-Based Mental Health Service. A blood sample was collected for DNA extraction and brain structure was assessed with an MRI scan. A total of 27 subjects with schizophrenia underwent both assessments and were included in the study. Results: We investigated the association between the polymorphism SNP8NRG222662 (rs4623364) of NRG1 and volume of the STG. We found that patients homozygous for the C allele had reduced left STG gray and white matter volumes in comparison to those homozygous for the G allele (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: This exploratory study suggests that NRG1 may be involved in determining STG size in schizophrenia, and may play a role in the neurogenetic basis of the language disturbances seen in this disorder. However, due to our small sample size, the results should be regarded as preliminary and replicated in a larger sample. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural and functional studies have shown that schizophrenia is often associated with frontolimbic abnormalities in the prefrontal and mediotemporal regions. It is still unclear, however, if such dysfunctional interaction extends as well to relay regions such as the thalamus and the anterior insula. Here, we measured gray matter volumes of five right-hemisphere regions in 68 patients with schizophrenia and 77 matched healthy subjects. The regions were amygdala, thalamus, and entorhinal cortex (identified as anomalous by prior studies on the same population) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior insula (isolated by voxel-based morphometry analysis). We used structural equation modeling and found altered path coefficients connecting the thalamus to the anterior insula, the amygdala to the DLPFC, and the entorhinal cortex to the DLPFC. In particular, patients exhibited a stronger thalamus-insular connection than healthy controls. Instead, controls showed positive entorhinal-DLPFC and negative amygdalar-DLPFC connections, both of which were absent in the clinical population. Our data provide evidence that schizophrenia is characterized by an impaired right-hemisphere network, in which intrahemispheric communication involving relay structures may play a major role in sustaining the pathophysiology of the disease. Hum Brain Mapp, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Almost no data are available on whether patients and doctors have similar or dissimilar opinions on the presence and level of distress due to antipsychotic adverse effects. The aim of this survey is to compare doctors' versus patients' perspective on the presence and level of distress due to antipsychotic adverse effects in a sample of patients under the care of the South-Verona mental health services. Methods: All patients exposed to antipsychotic drugs during a census period of 6 months were identified. For each included subject, socio-demographic, clinical and treatment data were extracted. Patients' perspective on antipsychotic adverse effects was measured by means of the Liverpool University Neuroleptic Side Effect Rating Scale (LUNSERS). The LUNSERS was similarly employed to measure doctors' perspective on antipsychotic adverse effects. Results: During the recruitment period, 243 patients taking antipsychotic drugs were enrolled. The correlation between the total LUNSERS score reported by patients and doctors was very low (correlation coefficient 0.22, 95% confidence interval 0.15-0.30). On average, patients perceived more adverse effects and with a significant higher distress than doctors. Multivariate analyses found no factors simultaneously associated with both patient and doctor ratings of adverse effects. Conclusion: Our study suggests that doctors, researchers and health care providers should increasingly consider patient and doctor perspectives as two complementary dimensions that may provide different insights in the evaluation of antipsychotic drugs. Integrating different points of view may represent a way to develop a better therapeutic alliance that might decrease the likelihood of nonadherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess how the caseload and the utilisation of community-based mental health services is influenced by distance and to socioeconomic characteristics. Methods: Spatial and statistical analyses were conducted with a sample of 12,347 patients, with ICD-10 psychiatric diagnosis, who had at least one contact with psychiatric services in Verona, Italy, between 2000 and 2006. Three types of mental health facility were considered: acute inpatient wards, outpatient clinics, and community mental health centres (CMHC). To measure distance and accessibility, the locations of static mental health facilities and patients' homes were geocoded. Data were organised in a spatial database, which included census blocks, catchment areas locations, road network graphs, patients' and facilities' locations. In order to calculate travel distances, patients' and facilities' locations were connected to the road network. Accessibility was modelled by using the Network Analyst Service Area Function and 13 Service Areas were created around all facility locations, by measuring distances along the street network. For the epidemiological analyses, patients and census block centroids were linked to the service areas by using spatial join techniques. Epidemiological and utilisation analyses were performed for each type of setting. Results: The facilities were not equally located in the catchment areas. Of particular significance, rural areas appear to be poorly served by mental health services. The distance decay effect exists, with different trends for the three types of facility. The caseload (number of patients using services) decreased with increasing distance; at a distance of 10 km, there was a decrease of 80, 60 and 85%, respectively, for CMHCs, inpatients wards and outpatients clinics. From the Poisson regression models, distance was significantly correlated ( p value < 0.0001) with service use. Also univariate analyses showed a statistically significant association between distance and caseload for each type of setting ( p value < 0.05), with a decrease in service use for each service area increase in distance (1.5% for acute inpatient wards, 2.0% for CMHC, and 2.1% outpatient clinics). By adding other predictors in the Poisson regression models, these percentages increased. Conclusions: Further studies are needed to evaluate the influence of other factors, such as environmental variables, that may influence the use of mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel approach to schizophrenia classification using magnetic resonance images (MRI) is proposed. The presented method is based on dissimilarity-based classification techniques applied to morphological MRIs and diffusion-weighted images (DWI). Instead of working with features directly, pairwise dissimilarities between expert delineated regions of interest (ROIs) are considered as representations based on which learning and classification can be performed. Experiments are carried out on a set of 59 patients and 55 controls and several pairwise dissimilarity measurements are analyzed. We demonstrate that significant improvements can be obtained when combining over different ROIs and different dissimilarity measures. We show that combining ROIs using the dissimilarity-based representation, we achieve higher accuracies. The dissimilarity-based representation outperforms the feature-based representation in all cases. Best results are obtained by combining the two modalities. In summary, our contribution is threefold: (i) We introduce the usage of dissimilarity-based classification to schizophrenia detection and show that dissimilarity-based classification achieves better results than normal features, (ii) We use dissimilarity combination to achieve better accuracies when carefully selected ROIs and dissimilarity measures are considered, and (iii) We show that by combining multiple modalities we can achieve even better results. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 21, 179-192, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed a dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging (DSC-MRI) analysis to study the role of the demographic/clinical information on perfusion parameters between patients with schizophrenia and normal control subjects. 39 schizophrenia patients and 27 normal controls were studied with a Siemens 1.5T magnet. PWI images were obtained following intravenous injection of paramagnetic contrast agent (gadolinium-DTPA). For each perfusion parameter, i.e. relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF), relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV), mean transit time (MTT) and time-to-peak (TTP), the best predictor model was computed in left and right frontal cortex following a stepwise strategy. First of all, a linear model, including all the sociodemographic information and clinical variables as predictors was computed. At each step, the least significant predictor was excluded and a new linear model was evaluated until all predictors were excluded. Then, the best predictor model was selected based on the F statistic value and on the p value. The models for the rCBF and the rCBV both in the left and right frontal cortex were estimated independently from each other, and the best models contained the same predictors, i.e. clinical state, age, and length of illness. No significant models were obtained for the MTT and the TTP. This study showed a decrease in rCBF and rCBV frontal cortex values in subject affected by schizophrenia. Future DSC-MRI studies should further investigate the role of cerebral perfusion for the pathophysiology of the disease by recruiting first-episode patients and by considering cerebellar, parietal and temporal regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]