精神分裂症患者自我面孔识别能力及其与失言识别和执行功能的相关性研究

目的 探讨精神分裂症患者自我面孔识别能力及其与失言识别能力和执行功能的关系.方法 采用自我面孔识别任务(SFRT)、失言识别测试(FPT)和威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST)对年龄、性别、文化程度相匹配57例门诊和住院精神分裂症患者(患者组)及50名健康对照者(对照组)的自我面孔识别能力、失言识别能力和执行功能进行测试;采用Spearman相关分析比较自我面孔识别能力与失言识别能力和执行功能的相关性.结果 (1)SFRT:患者组平均反应时[(2122±1124) ms]长于对照组[(1180±322) ms,P＜0.01],正确率[(80±16)％]低于对照组[(88±6)％,P＜0.01].(2) FPT:患者组总分[(42.20±14.52)分]、失言故事分[(29.98±15.64)分]和控制故事分[(12.22±5.62)分]均低于对照组[分别为(67.58±8.12)、(52.16±7.14)、(15.36±4.12)分,P＜0.05或P＜0.01].(3) WCST:除完成分类数和非持续性正确数外,患者组与对照组间其他各项WCST指标差异均具有统计学意义(P＜0.05或P＜0.01).(4)相关分析显示,患者组SFRT正确率与FPT失言故事分间呈正相关(r=0.328,P＜0.05),与WCST总应答数(r=-0.282,P ＜0.05)、错误应答数(r=-0.278,P＜0.05)、持续应答数(r=-0.397,P＜0.01)和非持续性错误数(r=-0.395,P＜0.01)呈负相关.结论 精神分裂症患者存在自我面孔识别能力、失言识别能力和执行功能的损害,患者自我面孔识别缺陷与心理理论和执行功能障碍可能具有某种共同的病理生理基础.     

精神分裂症患者注意网络功能与情绪认知障碍的相关性研究

目的 探讨精神分裂症患者的注意网络功能和面孔情绪认知功能障碍及两者间的关系.方法 采用注意网络测验(ANT)和中国人面孔情绪测验(CFET)对50例未用抗精神病药的精神分裂症患者(患者组)进行评估,并与53名正常健康者(对照组)进行比较.结果 (1)ANT:患者组的平均反应时间[(743.0±97.0)ms]长于对照组[(668.9±95.8)ms,P＜0.01],定向网络效率[(30.1±30.7)ms]低于对照组[(49.6±21.3)ms,P＜0.01].(2)CFET:患者组和对照组的总分[分别为(75.46±13.28)分和(105.64±4.82)分]及对六种基本情绪的认知评分[分别为:喜(18.82±0.52)分和(19.81±0.39)分、怒(15.10±4.63)分和(18.23±1.37)分、悲(12.96±5.11)分和(18.17±1.52)分、惊(13.24±5.03)分和(18.77±1.12)分、怕(5.96±3.99)分和(15.11±2.15)分、厌(9.38±5.47)分和(15.47±2.18)分]差异均有统计学意义(P＜0.01).(3)Spearman相关分析:患者组ANT正确率与CFET总分呈正相关(r=0.285),ANT平均反应时间与CFET总分(r=-0.302)和对情绪怒的认知评分(r=-0.296)呈负相关,而ANT警觉效率评分与对情绪厌的认知评分(r=0.401)呈正相关(均P＜0.05).结论 精神分裂症患者存在注意定向功能障碍和广泛的情绪认知缺陷,注意功能与情绪认知总体水平存在相关.     

首次发病的青少年精神分裂症患者执行功能的研究

目的:探讨首次发病的青少年精神分裂症患者执行功能及其与精神症状的关系. 方法:采用威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST)及韦克斯勒记忆量表第3版(WMS-Ⅲ)空间广度测验测试75例首次发病的青少年精神分裂症患者(病例组)和80名健康对照者(对照组)的执行功能;病例组同时应用阳性和阴性症状量表(PANSS)评定病情. 结果:病例组WCST的错误总数、持续反应数和持续错误数显著高于对照组,正确总数显著低于对照组(P均＜0.01);WMS-Ⅲ总分和空间广度逆行分显著低于对照组(P均＜0.05).病例组PANSS阴性症状分与WMS-Ⅲ空间广度逆行分及总分负相关(r=-0.276,r=-0.230;P均＜0.05);阳性症状分与WCST完成分类数负相关(r=-0.258,P＜0.05);一般病理学总分与WMS-Ⅲ空间广度逆行分负相关(r=-0.244,P＜0.05). 结论:首次发病的青少年精神分裂症患者执行功能显著受损,并与病情有关.     

儿童少年期精神分裂症患者及其一级亲属认知功能的对照研究

目的:探讨儿童少年期精神分裂症患者及其一级亲属的认知功能状况. 方法:对40例儿童少年期精神分裂症患者(患者组)、80名父母(患者父母组)及22名同胞(患者同胞组)采用注意力测验、WMS-R-逻辑记忆、数字广度、连线测验A和B、词汇流畅性测验、Stroop色词测验及威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST)评定其认知功能,并与59名健康儿童(健康儿童对照组)及其父母(健康儿童父母组)80名进行比较. 结果:患者组除词汇流畅性测验以外,其他测验成绩差于健康儿童对照组;患者同胞组除数字顺背、词汇流畅性测验、连线测验-A、WCST正确应答数、WCST完成第1个分类应答数以外,其他测验成绩差于健康儿童对照组(P均＜0.001);患者父母组除数字顺背、词汇流畅性测验、连线测验-A以外,其他测验成绩差于健康儿童父母组(P＜0.01或P＜0.001).儿童精神分裂症患者与其父母在注意力测验、WMS-R-逻辑记忆、数字倒背、彩色文字阅读和彩色文字颜色阅读、WCST完成分数上呈正相关(r =0.350～0.615,P＜0.05或P＜0.001). 结论:儿童少年期精神分裂症患者及其一级亲属均存在广泛的认知功能缺陷,但患者的认知功能障碍更为严重.     

首发精神分裂症患者认知功能损害的研究

目的 探讨首发精神分裂症患者认知功能状况. 方法对60例首发精神分裂症患者进行威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST),韦氏成人智力量表(WAIS-R)、韦氏记忆量表(WMS)、简明精神病评定量表(BPRS)评定,同时对60名正常健康志愿者进行WCST评定. 结果病例组在WCST完成分类数(t=-4.6,P<0.05)、正确应答数(t=-2.3,P<0.05)、概念化水平百分数(t=-4.9,P<0.05)、错误应答数(t=5.8,P<0.05)以及持续错误数(t=4.6,P<0.05)等评定指标上测试成绩明显差于对照组;患者的WCST正确应答数与操作智商(r=0.5,P<0.05)、总智商(r=0.5,P<0.05)以及总记忆商数(r=0.6,P<0.05)呈正相关;错误应答数与操作智商(r=-0.5,P<0.05)以及总智商呈负相关(r=-0.5,P<0.05);持续错误数与总记忆商数呈负相关(r=-0.5,P<0.05);BPRS迟滞因子分与WCST总用时、错误应答数呈正相关(r=0.4,P<0.05);敌对猜疑因子分与WCST总用时呈正相关(r=0.4,P<0.05). 结论精神分裂症患者部分认知功能受损,与精神症状之间存在相关.     

首发精神分裂症的认知功能及其与血清同型半胱氨酸的关系

目的研究首发精神分裂症患者的认知功能及其与血清同型半胱氨酸(Hcy)水平的关系。方法采用词汇流畅测验、视觉再生测验、联想学习测验、数字广度测验、相似性测验、领悟测验、木块图测验、威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST)8项神经心理测试工具,对57例首发精神分裂症患者于治疗前和非典型抗精神病药治疗8周后各评定认知功能1次,同时采用酶免疫法测定其血清Hcy水平,阳性与阴性症状量表(PANSS)评定临床症状。结果①治疗前,除WCST的随机错误数外,患者组各项认知功能指标均显著差于正常对照(P<0.01);血清Hcy水平明显高于正常对照(P<0.01);患者组中WCST的正确数、完成分类数与血清Hcy水平呈负相关(r=-0.376,P<0.01;r=-0.397,P<0.01),WCST的错误总数、持续错误数与血清Hcy水平呈正相关(r=0.376,P<0.01;r=0.298,P<0.05)。②治疗后,患者组PANSS总分显著下降(P<0.01);认知功能除WCST的随机错误数外较治疗前有所改善(P<0.05),但总体仍显著差于正常对照(P<0.01);血清Hcy水平无显著变化;患者组中WCST的正确数、完成分类数仍与血清Hcy水平呈负相关(r=-0.388,P<0.01;r=-0.383,P<0.01),WCST的错误总数、持续错误数仍与血清Hcy水平呈正相关(r=0.388,P<0.01;r=0.315,P<0.02)。结论精神分裂症患者存在认知损害,其执行功能损害可能与Hcy的代谢失衡有关。     

原发性失眠症患者认知功能的研究

目的:探讨原发性失眠症患者认知功能损害的特点。方法:采用神经心理测验包括韦氏记忆(数字累加、视觉再认、视觉再生、联想学习)、数字广度、数字划消、连线测验和威斯康辛卡片分类测验(WCST)分别对35例原发性失眠症患者(失眠组)和30名健康对照者(正常对照组)进行注意力、记忆力、执行功能等方面的测评;同时应用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数量表(PSQI)、抑郁自评量表(SDS)、焦虑自评量表(SAS)分别评定失眠及伴随的焦虑、抑郁症状的严重程度。结果:失眠组在数字累加、视觉再认、视觉再生、联想学习、数字广度测验的数字倒背、数字划消测验中的注意力失误率、连线测验B及BA完成时间和WCST测验的各项成绩(除正确应答数外)均明显差于正常对照组(F=4.646~28.224,P0.05或P0.01)。失眠组数字累加分与病程呈负相关(r=-0.558,P=0.001);联想学习分与PSQI评分呈负相关(r=-0.405,P=0.019);连线测验B-A时间与病程呈正相关(r=0.405,P=0.019);WCST持续错误百分比与SDS分呈正相关(r=0.309,P=0.045)。结论:原发性失眠症患者存在广泛认知功能损害,其病程、失眠程度以及伴随的焦虑抑郁情绪是导致认知功能损害的影响因素。     

首发精神分裂症患者血清GFAP与认知功能的研究

目的 研究首发精神分裂症患者血清中胶质纤维酸性蛋白(Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein,GFAP)水平的变化与认知功能障碍之间的关系.方法 用酶联免疫吸附技术(Enzyme-linked Immunoadsordent Assay,ELISA)测定48例精神分裂症患者(患者组)和42例正常对照者(对照组)血清GFAP的浓度,并用威斯康星卡片分类测验(Wisconsin Cord Sorting Test,WCST)检测首发精神分裂症患者和正常人的认知功能.比较两组血清GFAP浓度,同时探讨GFAP浓度的变化与认知功能的关系.结果 (1)患者组血清浓度高于对照组(P＜0.01);(2)患者组WCST成绩低于对照组(P＜0.01),表明首发精神分裂症患者认知功能及执行能力比正常人差;(3)相关分析表明WCST中错误应答数、持续性错误数与患者血清GFAP浓度呈正相关,完成分类个数与患者血清GFAP浓度呈负相关(P＜0.05).结论 首发精神分裂症患者存在认知功能障碍和神经胶质细胞损害,且代表神经胶质细胞损害的血清GFAP浓度与认知功能障碍程度呈正相关.     

酒依赖患者执行功能的失匹配负波研究

目的:探讨酒依赖(AD)患者的失匹配负波(MMN)改变及其与执行功能的关系。方法:对30例AD患者(AD组)分别于戒酒前后进行威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST)及事件相关电位(ERP)MMN检测,结果与30名健康志愿者(对照组)比较;分析AD患者MMN与执行功能的关系。结果:AD组戒酒前后WCST测验结果比较差异无统计学意义,且明显差于对照组(P0.05或P0.01);与对照组相比,AD组戒酒前后MMN振幅显著降低,潜伏期显著延长(P0.05或P0.01)。AD组戒酒后MMN的振幅显著增加,潜伏期显著缩短(P均0.05);相关分析显示MMN潜伏期与WCST的持续性应答数呈正相关(r=0.78,P0.01)。结论:MMN对AD患者戒酒前后的执行功能改变的检测优于WCST。     

抑郁症患者抗抑郁剂治疗前后脑动脉血流速度的改变及与认知功能的关系

目的:探讨短期治疗后抑郁症患者脑动脉血流速度的变化及其与注意力、执行功能的关系。方法:采用汉密尔顿抑郁量表(HAMD)评估70例抑郁症患者(抑郁症组)抑郁情绪,采用划销测验、威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST)测试抑郁症组和65名健康对照者(健康对照组)的认知功能;运用经颅多普勒超声检测两组脑动脉血流速度,抑郁症组在抗抑郁治疗4~8周后再次重测。结果:短期治疗后抑郁症组基底动脉血流速度较治疗前增快(t=2.45,P0.05),但左、右大脑中动脉、左、右大脑前动脉血流速度仍低于健康对照组(t=-6.07~-12.14;P均0.01);治疗后抑郁症组划销测验成绩较治疗前明显提高,但除净分IV外仍低于健康对照组(t=-2.54~-17.33;P0.05或P0.01);WCST错误应答数、持续性错误数均较治疗前减少,但仍多于健康对照组(t=9.33~15.13;P均0.01)。相关分析显示,治疗后大脑动脉平均血流速度与划销测验、WCST成绩显著相关(P0.05或P0.01);椎动脉血流速度差值与划销测验总净分差值、WCST错误应答数差值及持续性错误数差值呈正相关(r=0.454,0.270,0.378;P均0.01)。结论:短期治疗后抑郁症患者脑动脉平均血流速度与注意力、执行功能均得到一定程度的改善,但仍未恢复到正常状态;注意力与执行功能受损可能与脑动脉平均血流速度的改变有关。     

精神分裂症患者面孔情绪认知特点及其影响因素研究

目的探讨精神分裂症患者面孔情绪认知的特点及其影响因素。方法采用中国人面孔情绪测验(CFET)对121例精神分裂症患者进行测试,与76名正常对照比较,同时作阳性症状量表(SAPS)和阴性症状量表(SANS)评定。结果患者组6种基本情绪认知正确数均显著低于对照组,远隔错误数均显著高于对照组。回归分析显示,患者情绪认知障碍与年龄、用药情况、病程、住院次数及SAPS和SANS总评分无关,而受教育年限与情绪认知正确数和远隔错误数评分及多项不同情绪认知评分相关。SAPS阳性思维形式障碍因子分与CFET正确数总分呈负相关,而与CFET远隔错误数总分呈正相关,同时与惊、悲、怒情绪认知评分呈相关。SANS的注意障碍因子分与CFET正确数总分呈负相关,而与CFET远隔错误数总分呈正相关。结论精神分裂症患者存在广泛的情绪认知障碍并与某些症状相关,提示情绪认知障碍可能与疾病病理生理过程有关。     

Facial emotion recognition in Chinese with schizophrenia at early and chronic stages of illness

Deficits in facial emotion recognition have been recognised in Chinese patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. This study examined the relationship between chronicity of illness and performance of facial emotion recognition in Chinese with schizophrenia. There were altogether four groups of subjects matched for age and gender composition. The first and second groups comprised medically stable outpatients with first-episode schizophrenia (n=50) and their healthy controls (n=26). The third and fourth groups were patients with chronic schizophrenic illness (n=51) and their controls (n=28). The ability to recognise the six prototypical facial emotions was examined using locally validated coloured photographs from the Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion. Chinese patients with schizophrenia, in both the first-episode and chronic stages, performed significantly worse than their control counterparts on overall facial emotion recognition, (P<0.001), with specific impairment in identifying surprise, fear and disgust. The level of deficit was similar at the two stages of illness. Findings suggest that impaired recognition of facial emotion did not appear to have worsened over the course of disease progression, suggesting that recognition of facial emotion is a rather stable trait of the illness. The emotion-specific deficit may have implications for understanding the social difficulties in schizophrenia.     

Detection of facial expressions of emotions in schizophrenia

The aim of the present study was to examine spatial processing of facial emotion in schizophrenic patients suffering from affective symptoms. A face-in-the-crowd task using schematic stimuli was administered to schizophrenic patients with flat affect (n=30), schizophrenic patients suffering from anhedonia (n=30), schizophrenic patients not suffering from anhedonia or flat affect (n=28), and a group of healthy controls (n=30). Participants searched displays of neutral schematic faces for a face with a positive or negative mouth expression. Schizophrenic patients manifested a general slowing of response speed compared to normal subjects. All patient groups as well as normal subjects found negative faces more quickly than positive faces amongst neutral faces. Unexpectedly, with increasing anhedonia as assessed by psychiatric rating, a more efficient spatial detection of positive facial expression was observed. For flat-affect patients only, efficiency of search for negative facial expression did not differ from that in the neutral face control condition. This response pattern indicates that, in flat-affect schizophrenic patients, spatial search of negative facial expression might be slowed after the initial engagement of search processes. Potential explanations of the face processing effects found in anhedonia are discussed.     

Impairment in basal limbic function in schizophrenia during affect recognition

Patients with schizophrenia routinely fail to perform affect recognition tasks as accurately as healthy controls. The investigation of performance-related changes in cerebral activation in healthy subjects may facilitate the understanding of adaptation processes to different levels of difficulty and help to interpret the activation changes found in schizophrenic patients. Nine first hospitalized partly remitted schizophrenic patients and 10 healthy controls participated in an fMRI study with a facial affect discrimination and labeling task. Seven of the 10 healthy subjects were reexamined with changed stimulus conditions adapted according to the mean accuracy scores detected in schizophrenic patients. Controls showed a significantly increased activation of the right gyrus frontalis medialis with rising task difficulty during both tasks. The schizophrenic patients demonstrated a significantly decreased activation of the anterior cingulate during facial affect discrimination and of the amygdala-hippocampal complex bilaterally during facial affect labeling. In addition, an increased activation of the gyrus frontalis medialis bilaterally became apparent in the schizophrenic patients. It is suggested that the latter may reflect a compensatory effort for deficits in more basal limbic functions.     

Differential amygdala response during facial recognition in patients with schizophrenia: an fMRI study

Human lesion or neuroimaging studies suggest that amygdala is involved in facial emotion recognition. Although impairments in recognition of facial and/or emotional expression have been reported in schizophrenia, there are few neuroimaging studies that have examined differential brain activation during facial recognition between patients with schizophrenia and normal controls. To investigate amygdala responses during facial recognition in schizophrenia, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with 12 right-handed medicated patients with schizophrenia and 12 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The experiment task was a type of emotional intensity judgment task. During the task period, subjects were asked to view happy (or angry/disgusting/sad) and neutral faces simultaneously presented every 3 s and to judge which face was more emotional (positive or negative face discrimination). Imaging data were investigated in voxel-by-voxel basis for single-group analysis and for between-group analysis according to the random effect model using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM). No significant difference in task accuracy was found between the schizophrenic and control groups. Positive face discrimination activated the bilateral amygdalae of both controls and schizophrenics, with more prominent activation of the right amygdala shown in the schizophrenic group. Negative face discrimination activated the bilateral amygdalae in the schizophrenic group whereas the right amygdala alone in the control group, although no significant group difference was found. Exaggerated amygdala activation during emotional intensity judgment found in the schizophrenic patients may reflect impaired gating of sensory input containing emotion.     

Perception of emotions from faces and voices following unilateral brain damage

The importance of the right hemisphere in emotion perception in general has been well documented but its precise role is disputed. We compared the performance of 30 right hemisphere damaged (RHD) patients, 30 left hemisphere damaged (LHD) patients, and 50 healthy controls on both facial and vocal affect perception tasks of specific emotions. Brain damaged subjects had a single episode cerebrovascular accident localised to one hemisphere. The results showed that right hemisphere patients were markedly impaired relative to left hemisphere and healthy controls on test performance: labelling and recognition of facial expressions and recognition of emotions conveyed by prosody. This pertained at the level of individual basic emotions, positive versus negative, and emotional expressions in general. The impairment remained highly significant despite covarying for the group's poorer accuracy on a neutral facial perception test and identification of neutral vocal expressions. The LHD group were only impaired relative to controls on facial emotion tasks when their performance was summed over all the emotion categories and before age and other cognitive factors were taken into account. However, on the prosody test the LHD patients showed significant impairment, performing mid-way between the right hemisphere patients and healthy comparison group. Recognition of positive emotional expressions was better than negative in all subjects, and was not relatively poorer in the LHD patients. Recognition of individual emotions in one modality correlated weakly with recognition in another, in all three groups. These data confirm the primacy of the right hemisphere in processing all emotional expressions across modalities--both positive and negative--but suggest that left hemisphere emotion processing is modality specific. It is possible that the left hemisphere has a particular role in the perception of emotion conveyed through meaningful speech.     

Processing emotional expression and facial identity in schizophrenia

Previous studies showed that schizophrenic patients have a deficit in facial information processing. The purpose of the present study was to test the abilities of patients with schizophrenia and normal controls in emotion and identity matching when these two dimensions were varied orthogonally. Subjects (20 schizophrenic patients and 20 controls) had to report if two faces had the same emotion or belonged to the same person. When the task concerned one type of information (i.e. emotion or identity), the other one was either constant (same person or same emotion) or changed (different person or different emotion). Schizophrenic patients performed worse than controls for both kinds of facial information. Their deficit was more important when the secondary factor was changed. In particular, they performed at chance level when they had to match one emotion expressed by two distinct persons. Finally, correlation analysis indicated that performance/deficit in identity and emotion matching co-varied and that in such tasks performance is negatively correlated with the severity of negative symptoms in patients. Schizophrenic patients present a generalised deficit for accessing facial information. A facial emotion and an identity-processing deficit are related to negative symptoms. Implications for face-recognition models are discussed.     

Disengagement of attention from facial emotion in unipolar depression

Abnormal processing of facial expressions is assumed to be an important factor mediating the course of depression. The aim of the present study was to investigate the ability to disengage attention from facial emotion in depressed patients in the course of an inpatient treatment program. It was hypothesized that in depression disengagement of visual attention from negative facial expression is delayed, while disengagement from positive facial expression is facilitated. A face-in-the-crowd task using schematic stimuli and crowds of neutral and emotion faces as 'distractor' stimuli was administered to depressed patients and normal controls matched for age, sex, and education. Patients with major depression (n=15) and normal controls (n=15) were tested twice, about 6 weeks apart. From test 1 to test 2, patients' depressivity decreased significantly. Depressives showed higher response latencies and error rates than control subjects. However, depressed patients exhibited the same scanning pattern for facial emotion as healthy individuals across both test sessions. Participants detected a negative face more rapidly in a crowd of faces than a positive face. When displays consisted of repetitions of the same face, subjects were generally slower (and less accurate) when faces were negative relative to positive or neutral. The present data suggest that the ability to disengage attention from facial emotion in visual search is not impaired in depression.     

Dyskinesia and soft neurological signs in schizophrenia: a comparative study

Objective. Several neurological abnormalities can be found at a greater frequency in patients with schizophrenia, including neurological soft signs (NSS) and signs of the “pyramidal” and “extrapyramidal” systems. We aimed to explore the frequency of movement disorders in patients with antipsychotic naïve schizophrenia and to compare and contrast with antipsychotic-treated patients and healthy controls. Methods. Twenty-two antipsychotic naive schizophrenic patients, 22 antipsychotic treated patients and 22 healthy control subjects were assessed by Neurological Evaluation (NES), Abnormal Involuntary Movements (AIMS), and Positive and Negative Syndrome (PANSS) Scales. Results. The NES scores of the never-medicated schizophrenic group were significantly higher than those of normal controls but did not differ significantly from the medicated group. Dyskinesia rates in the both schizophrenic groups were higher than in healthy controls. Medicated and non-medicated schizophrenic patient scores did not differ in AIMS with regard to facial and oral movements, but medicated patients scored higher than non-medicated subjects with respect to extremity movements. Conclusion. Our data suggest that: soft neurological signs and abnormal involuntary movements in the facial region are more prevalent in patients with schizophrenia, whether they are medicated or antipsychotic naïve. On the contrary, abnormal involuntary movements in the trunk and the extremities seem to be associated with medication.