Dementia in schizophrenia: magnetic resonance and clinical correlates

Article Abstract:

While the search for anatomical correlates of schizophrenia has yielded some information (most notably, the enlargement of the lateral ventricles, spaces in the brain through which cerebrospinal fluid flows), a locus of structural change that could explain the disorder has not been found. In addition, brain structure of that subgroup of schizophrenic patients who cannot perform neuropsychological (NP) testing remains largely unexamined. To address these issues, 39 chronic schizophrenic patients were studied by MRI (magnetic resonance imaging, a way of examining brain or other internal tissues). They also underwent NP testing while they were clinically stable (that is, did not require hospitalization). The patients had been ill for an average of approximately seven years and were between 20 and 45 years of age. The records from their MRI scans were evaluated to determine cortical area; ventricular area (to help determine VBR, the ventricular brain ratio, a measure of the ventricular area to that of the whole brain cross-section); and the area of the corpus callosum (CC; the fiber tract that connects the left and right sides of the brain). Twenty-nine healthy volunteers served as control subjects. Results showed that the schizophrenics had a larger VBR and smaller CC than controls, and six schizophrenics fulfilled criteria for the diagnosis of Kraepelinian schizophrenia (dementia precox, an extreme form). These patients were unable to perform NP testing and four of them had larger VBRs than patients who could perform the testing. This constellation of findings may designate a subgroup of schizophrenic patients. No correlations were found for the entire patient group, however, between morphological brain changes and NP results. Overall, the results are similar to those of other studies in finding an enlargement of the lateral ventricles. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Brain, Schizophrenics

---

Carbamazepine adjunct for nonresponsive psychosis with prior hallucinogenic abuse

Article Abstract:

Some patients who are diagnosed with schizophrenia report that their chronic hallucinations began after they used hallucinogenic drugs (often with other drugs) for a long period of time. The hallucinations usually occur during their daily activities or are stimulated by occasional use of drugs such as marijuana. Individuals who are severely affected by the hallucinations may be so distracted that they can not hold a conversation, work, study, or even focus visually on the person to whom they are speaking. Unfortunately, many of these patients do not respond to the commonly used antipsychotic medications. Recently it was reported that carbamazepine (Tegretol), an anticonvulsant, was useful in patients with nonresponsive psychoses. This report discusses three cases in which patients, who began to experience chronic hallucinations following extensive use of hallucinogens and other drugs, were successfully treated with carbamazepine. Their hallucinations had not been reduced with antipsychotic drugs alone, but when carbamazepine was added, the hallucinations were dramatically reduced or eliminated. It appears that the diagnosis of schizophrenia in these three individuals may have been incorrect, and instead the patients' symptoms may have been caused by their extensive use of hallucinogenic drugs. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Evaluation, Causes of, Complications and side effects, Physiological aspects, Drug therapy, Drug abuse, Antipsychotic drugs, Antipsychotic agents, Hallucinations and illusions, Hallucinations, Carbamazepine, Hallucinogenic drugs

---

Independence of positive and negative symptoms in a population of schizophrenic patients

Article Abstract:

Schizophrenic patients are commonly categorized by whether positive (some behavior) or negative (the lack or dysfunction of one) symptoms predominate. Such categorizations often assume that boundaries for classification are clear cut. The present study sought to, but did not, find correlations between positive and negative symptoms in either schizophrenic patients as a whole or in subgroups of schizophrenics, as defined by duration of illness or the exact type of their mental illness. This suggests that positive and negative symptoms vary independently among such patients; awareness of positive symptoms cannot help predict negative ones, nor vice versa. Many patients have a mixture of negative and positive symptoms. Therefore, theories which categorize patients solely on the basis of positive or negative symptoms are of little use and schizophrenic patients should not be so categorized.

Models, Symptomatology, Signs and symptoms

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Comparing risky decision making under conditions of real and hypothetical consequences. Multiple methods for examining biased information use in contingency judgements
• Abstracts: Simple schizophrenia: past, present, and future. Cortical magnetic resonance imaging changes in elderly inpatients with major depression
• Abstracts: Anger and hostility in depression. Evidence for a menstrual-linked artifact in determining rates of depression

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.