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Summary: Background & aims: Although eating disorders prevalence is increasing, they are often under diagnosed in cases of unspecific signs of malnutrition. Screening scales may allow earlier diagnosis and nutritional intervention. This study aimed to evaluate the validity of the French version (SCOFF-F) of the SCOFF questionnaire for the detection of eating disorders among a female patient population referred to a clinical nutrition unit. Methods: After answering the 5 dichotomous questions of the paper version of SCOFF-F, patients were evaluated by one eating disorders specialist blinded to questionnaire results, using the MINI and Diagnosis and Statistical Manual for Mental diseases (DSM-IV) criteria as a gold standard. Results: Patients with anorexia nervosa (n = 67) and with bulimia nervosa (n = 45) were assessed. Age-matched healthy female students (n = 114) served as control group. At a cut-off of two positive responses, the sensibility, specificity and the area under the curve of SCOFF-F were 94.6%, 94.7% and 97.9% respectively. Cohen’s kappa coefficient between SCOFF-F and MINI results was 89%. Conclusions: The results of this study confirm the reliability of SCOFF-F as a screening and diagnostic-facilitating test for eating disorders in a French-speaking female patient population. SCOFF-F should help professionals in clinical nutrition to achieve earlier diagnosis and care of eating disorder patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Introduction: In animal studies, long-term prenatal nicotinic exposure alters the development of dopaminergic neurons. To determine whether prenatal smoking exposure was associated with schizophrenia, using a retrospective design study, we compared the prevalence of tobacco use during pregnancy in mothers of subjects with and without schizophrenia. Methods: One hundred patients with schizophrenia, 100 nonschizophrenic-matched subjects, and their respective mothers were interviewed. The prevalence of smoking was measured in these individuals as well as in their respective mothers during the pregnancy. Results: Patients with schizophrenia smoked more often compared with controls (73% vs 57%). In contrast, the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy did not differ between the groups of mothers. Indeed, the amount of tobacco used was significantly lower in mothers of patients with schizophrenia vs mothers of nonpsychotic subjects. Conclusion: This study did not show any association between prenatal tobacco exposure and further development of schizophrenia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An abstract of the article "Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Schizophrenia and Its Relation With Dopamine," by Olivier Guillin and colleagues is presented.

Prenatal psychoactive substance exposure has significant impact on neonatal health and child development and the development of reliable biomarkers is critical. Meconium presents several advantages for detecting prenatal exposure to psychoactive substances, as it is easy to collect and provides a broad time frame of exposure (third trimester). The aim of our study was to compare the prevalence of alcohol, tobacco and/or cannabis use during the third trimester of pregnancy (using maternal self-reports) with the results of meconium testing of their metabolites in newborns (cotinine, ethyl-glucuronide (EtG) and cannabinoid metabolites). Among all deliveries (993) that occurred in all maternities in Rouen (Normandy) during a defined time period (5 consecutive weeks in August, 2010 and August, 2011), 724 mothers were included and 645 meconium samples were collected. Maternal self-reports, using the Addiction Severity Index (5th edition), and meconium samples were collected within 72 h of delivery. Cotinine detection appears highly correlated to maternal self-reports (Kappa value: 0.79; [95%CI: 0.73–0.85]). Moreover, detection in meconium seems more accurate in the prediction of neonatal consequences of prenatal tobacco exposure as compared to maternal self-reports. In contrast, we have found a lower concordance between maternal self-reports and meconium testing for EtG and cannabinoid metabolites (Kappa value: 0.13; [95%CI: 0.04–0.22] and: 0.30; [95%CI: −0.03–0.63], respectively); however the total number of EtG- and cannabinoid-positive meconium samples was small. Interestingly, meconium samples with the highest levels of EtG mainly corresponded to negative maternal self-reports. Fetal exposure to alcohol, tobacco or cannabis may also considerably differ as displayed in our pairs of dizygotic twins. Finally, a polyconsumption of these psychoactive substances was not frequently observed according to meconium testing. In conclusion, cotinine detection appears as a valuable meconium biomarker. EtG measurement in meconium samples seems interesting if there is any risk of high fetal exposure, whereas assessment of prenatal cannabis exposure, using meconium testing, needs to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic mental health experts play a crucial role in criminal responsibility evaluations. However, the quality of these assessments has at time come under scrutiny and has been heavily criticized. A literature review revealed significant differences between countries concerning legal frameworks and procedures for conducting these assessments. The findings suggest that although some countries can be seen as a "role model", there still is room for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oculomotor abnormality is one of the endophenotypes in schizophrenia. The predictive component of smooth pursuit can be studied by comparing the gain, i.e., the ratio of smooth eye position to target position, during predictable (pure sinusoidal) and unpredictable (pseudorandom) target motions. The aim of this experiment was to study predictive and nonpredictive components of smooth pursuit in two groups of schizophrenia patients compared with control subjects. Methods: Fifty-one schizophrenia patients (40 nondeficit and 11 deficit) and 21 control subjects were studied. During a predictable task, subjects were asked to track a sinusoidal target (.4 Hz). For the unpredictable task, the pseudorandom target motion consisted of five superimposed sinusoidal waveforms (.1, .2, .4, .6, and .8 Hz). The smooth eye position (eye position without saccades), gain, and phase were calculated for each frequency in each participant and for both tasks. Results: The mean sinusoidal smooth eye position gain was significantly lower in patients than in control subjects with no significant difference between deficit and nondeficit patients. During the pseudorandom task, all groups had a similar gain at .4 Hz. Conclusions: Our study reveals that patients have a normal nonpredictive component of smooth pursuit, regardless of their level of negative symptoms. In contrast, the predictive mechanisms involved in eye pursuit were impaired in schizophrenia patients. These results indicate that poor pursuit performance during smooth pursuit is primarily a consequence of a predictive problem and is not related to the ability to generate an accurate pursuit maintenance response. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract Background:: Cognitive impairment has always been regarded as an important characteristic of schizophrenia. Many domains of cognition are disrupted with varying degrees of deficit: attention, executive functions, verbal and visuospatial working memory, learning, and memory. However, it is only recently that cognitive dysfunction has been recognized as a primary and enduring core deficit in schizophrenia (rather than the previous focus on positive and negative symptoms). Objective:: This article discusses cognitive impairment and the therapeutic effects of newer antipsychotic agents on cognitive functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Conclusions:: Cognitive dysfunction occurs before the first psychotic episode and persists throughout the course of the illness. It involves every aspect of cognitive functioning and has an important impact on long-term social and occupational outcomes. Improvement of cognitive functioning by antipsychotic treatment can be due indirectly to the improvement of therapeutic profiles of the newer antipsychotic agents (eg, higher efficacy on positive and negative symptoms, fewer side effects, less anticholinergic effects) or directly to effects on cerebral functioning (eg, by restoring dopamine prefrontal activity). However, further research is needed regarding the therapeutic effects of the newer antipsychotic drugs on cognitive functioning and their impact on psychosocial outcome. Although newer medications may improve cognitive functioning, they do not normalize neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia. In addition, various nonpharmacologic, psychological interventions have been used in the rehabilitation of patients with cognitive deficits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: Using standardized scales, we assessed the point prevalence, the severity of anxiety and depressive disorders, and the quality of life (QOL) in implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) recipients who received a device shock. Methods: Forty research subjects with device shocks (Group 1) and 25 without shocks (Group 2) were interviewed after ICD implantation using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Results: The point prevalence of anxiety disorders was higher in Group 1 (37.5%) than in Group 2 (8%) (P=.009). Depressive symptoms scores were higher in Group 1 (4.75) than in Group 2 (2.24) (P=.04)), but the prevalence of depressive disorders or the anxiety scores were not significantly different. A positive correlation was found between the number of shocks and the depressive symptoms scores (P=.05, r=0.24); there was a negative correlation between the mental health subscore of the SF-36 and the number of shocks (r=−0.36, P=.003). The point prevalence of depressive disorders was higher in the group with congenital cardiac diseases (50%) than in the valvular (8%) and ischemic groups (23%) (P=.04), and the mental health composite summary score of the SF-36 was lower in this group (46.34) than in those with valvular and ischemic disease (56.09 and 52.61, respectively) (P=.03). Conclusion: Exposure to shocks may lead to an increased risk of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Research subjects receiving a high number of shocks and research subjects with congenital cardiovascular diseases were at higher risk of depressive symptoms or at higher risk of poorer psychological aspects of QOL. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Abnormal sensory gating in schizophrenia has frequently been reported. The strength of central inhibitory pathways was measured using the P50 component of the auditory evoked potential in a conditioning–testing paradigm. The relationships between a relative decrease in P50 amplitude to repeated auditory stimuli and clinical symptoms remain controversial. Using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, we studied the P50 auditory conditioning–testing paradigm in 81 schizophrenic subjects, categorized into subgroups with and without prominent negative symptoms, in comparison with 88 control subjects. We found increased ratios of testing stimuli to conditioning stimuli in both schizophrenic subgroups relative to findings in the control group. In addition, we found significantly increased mean latencies of the P50 responses to conditioning (C) and testing (T) stimuli and significantly increased T/C ratios in the subgroup with negative symptoms compared with the subgroup with non-negative symptoms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]