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Objective: To identify neuropsychological domains, including fine motor dexterity, that are related to social functioning in schizophrenia. Method: Thirty-six DSM-IV schizophrenic subjects were assessed using the Purdue Pegboard test, the Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting test, the Tower of London, Schwartz' Reaction Time and Wechsler's Associate Learning and Digit Span tests. Social functioning was measured by the Social and Occupational Functional Assessment Scale. Results: Univariate regression analyses showed that the Purdue Pegboard, the Modified Card Sorting test, the Tower of London and Wechsler's Associate Learning subtest were significantly linked to social functioning. The best fitting multivariate model to explain social functioning included fine motor dexterity and executive functioning. Conclusion: Various neuropsychological measures correlated to social functioning, the correlation involving fine motor dexterity being the strongest one. Future studies of the prediction of social functioning in schizophrenia should include fine motor dexterity.

Cognitive impairments in depression have recently been proposed as secondary to more basic attentional disturbances. Studies have shown that performance on the Stroop Color-Word Test is impaired in depressives, but it is not clear whether this impairment reflects a primary distractor inhibition disturbance or a more global cognitive dysfunction, such as a reduction of processing resources. In the present study, unmedicated clinical depressives were evaluated using a computerized Stroop Color-Word Test and the Visuo-Spatial Interference Test, a selective attention task that makes fewer demands on resources. Compared with normal subjects, depressives presented increased choice reaction times (CRT) and interference in both tests. Correlations were found between CRT and interferences only in depressives, favoring the processing resource hypothesis. Further exploratory analysis comparing the more rapid depressives and the slower normal subjects on CRT revealed that although these subgroups had comparable CRT, rapid depressives still exhibited increased interference on the Visuo-Spatial Interference Test. Thus, in non- or mildly retarded patients, a specific distractor inhibition deficit was observed in absence of resource deficit.

Background: The objectives of the study were to characterize and compare the cognitive profile and natural evolution of patients presenting late-onset psychotic symptoms (LOPS: onset ≥50 years old) to those of elderly patients (≥50 years old) with life-long/early-onset schizophrenia (EOS: onset Methods: Neuropsychological profiles of 15 LOPS patients were compared to those of 17 elderly EOS patients and to those of two control groups (n = 11/group). The evolution of the two patient groups was compared using an independent diagnostic consensual procedure involving a geriatric psychiatry physician/clinician and a neuropsychologist blinded to the initial psychiatric diagnosis.Results: EOS presented significant memory and executive impairments when compared to controls but there was no significant difference between LOPS and their controls when age and education were taken into account. However, a detailed inspection of normative data suggests more executive impairments in LOPS than in EOS. The clinical judgment of experts was in favour of significant cognitive deficits with or without dementia in most LOPS (82.3%–94.1%) and EOS (80.0%–93.3%) patients. Regarding evolution, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) were the most common clinical diagnoses made by geriatric psychiatry physicians/clinicians for the LOPS (40%). In addition, 20% of LOPS versus 5.9% of EOS patients met the diagnostic criteria for dementia by consensus of the experts. Cerebral abnormalities were confirmed (CT scan; SPECT) in 73.3% of LOPS patients.Conclusion: The present results suggest cognitive deficits (mostly of executive functions) and vascular and neurodegenerative vulnerability in LOPS. Further studies with larger samples are needed to confirm the present findings.

Disruptive vocalizations (DVs) constitute a serious problem in geriatric nursing homes. The current literature suggests that DV can be interpreted as a way for demented persons with language limitations to communicate with others. In an attempt to test this hypothesis, 59 participants were recruited from six nursing homes to form two groups: one group of individuals with preserved language skills (PLS) and another group with altered language skills (ALS). They were compared on the frequency and types of DV. The results indicate that individuals with ALS manifest DV at a greater frequency than those with PLS. These persons also present a greater number of distinct DV forms. The results are interpreted in terms of language deterioration associated with dementia.

Stroop stimuli were used to measure the negative priming effect in eight positive and 10 negative schizophrenics, 21 depressive and 35 healthy control subjects in order to test hypotheses of insufficient versus persistent cognitive inhibition in schizophrenia. Data show that schizophrenics do not increase their response times to suppressor Stroop items compared to identical but neutral Stroop stimuli because the insufficiency of their inhibitory processes weakens the distractor-suppression effect. However, pre-exposure of the lexical distractor can compensate for insufficient inhibitory mechanisms in positive but not negative schizophrenics, suggesting more severe deterioration in the latter. Depressed subjects showed a slower development of cognitive inhibition. The results suggest important differences in the temporal evolution of inhibitory processes, and are discussed in terms of Hemsley's (1977) and Frith's (1979) theories.

Objective: This is the first study to report a direct comparison of neuropsychological performance in Kraepelinian vs. non-Kraepelinian schizophrenia (SZ). Methods: 17 Kraepelinian and 19 non-Kraepelinian subjects were assessed on a neuropsychological battery including the Purdue Pegboard, Schwartz' Reaction Time task, the Modified Card Sorting Test, the Wechsler's Associate Learning Test and the Digit Span. Results: Kraepelinian schizophrenia was characterized by more impaired performance on the Purdue Pegboard and the Card Sorting test. These differences remained significant when introducing, as covariates, the type of neuroleptic used, the use of anticholinergic medication, age and gender. Differences on the Reaction Time, the Associate Learning and the Digit Span tasks did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: These results suggest that Kraepelinian schizophrenia is characterized by impaired performance on fine motor dexterity and executive functioning. These results further add to the evidence for the validity of the distinction between Kraepelinian and non-Kraepelinian schizophrenia as a strategy to better understand the factors influencing severity and/or outcome in schizophrenia.

We report 2 cases of nephrogenic adenoma several years after successful cadaver kidney transplantation. In 1 case the lesion had cytomegalovirus inclusions, and we observed a marked and sustained reduction in the extension of the lesion with cessation of azathioprine. Surgical trauma and cytomegalovirus infections are discussed as etiologic factors. Conservative treatment seemed appropriate.

The increased incidence of malignancies after renal transplantation has been well documented. We describe the first reported case of a nephroblastoma (Wilms tumor) occurring in the host kidney of an adult after renal transplantation.