1,721,040 research outputs found
Understanding obsessive-compulsive disorder: Focus on decision making
No full textCurrent approaches to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have suggested that neurobiological abnormalities play a crucial role in the etiology and course of this psychiatric illness. In particular, a fronto-subcortical circuit, including the orbitofrontal cortex, basal ganglia and thalamus appears to be involved in the expression of OCD symptoms. Neuropsychological studies have also shown that patients with OCD show deficits in cognitive abilities that are strictly linked to the functioning of the frontal lobe and its related fronto-subcortical structures, such as executive functioning deficits and insufficient cognitive-behavioral flexibility. This article focuses on decision making, an executive ability that plays a crucial role in many real-life situations, whereby individuals choose between pursuing strategies of action that involve only immediate reward and others based on long-term reward. Although the role of decision-making deficits in the evolution of OCD requires further research, the collected findings have significant implications for understanding the clinical and behavioral heterogeneity that characterizes individuals with OCD
Increased concentrations of various amino acids in schizophrenic patients. Evidence for heterozygosity effects?
No full textThe hypothesis is examined that heterozygosity for amino acid disorders (AAD) is a genetic component of susceptibility for schizophrenic psychoses. To detect possible heterozygotes, urinary and blood amino acid levels were analyzed in a sample of subjects with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and in their biological parents and compared with those of a sample of healthy volunteers. The results showed increased blood and urinary levels of certain amino acid in those patients who have at least one parent with the same amino acid abnormality. This finding points to the possibility of heterozygosity for AAD in schizophrenic patients
NEUROFUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA - A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE PRESENCE OF EYE-TRACKING (SPEMS) AND QUALITY EXTINCTION TEST (QET) ABNORMALITIES IN A SAMPLE OF SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS
No full textThis preliminary study evaluated the simultaneous presence of abnormalities in the regulation of eye-tracking and neuropsychological tests performance (tactile extinction) in a sample of schizophrenic patients. Both those measures of central malfunctioning appears to be quite specific to schizophrenic disorders and more related to the trait, rather than state characteristics. Even though preliminary, the results indicate a significant relationship between abnormalities in SPEM regulation and the distribution of tactile abnormalities, with more left-side extinguishing patients showing abnormal SPEMs. Some interpretations of the findings are given in the context of current hypotheses on the neurofunctional abnormalities of schizophrenics
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