Latent inhibition of conditioned odor potentiation of startle: a developmental analysis

We conducted a two-part study of age and latent inhibition in the rat. In the first part of the study, rats given odor-shock pairings at 23 or 75 days of age exhibited a potentiated startle response in the presence of the odor the following day. This effect did not occur in rats trained at 16 or 20 days of age. Odor pre-exposure on the day prior to conditioning markedly reduced the odor potentiation of startle effect in 23- and 75-day-old rats but had no effect in 16 and 20-day-olds. In the second part of the study, rats were pre-exposed to the odor at 16 or 20 days of age and then conditioned at 23 days of age. When tested the day after conditioning, these pre-exposed rats exhibited a disruption in the odor potentiation of startle effect. We compare our results with other studies of latent inhibition, and with recent studies on whether conditioned responses are appropriate to the animal's age at training or their age at test.     

Institutional rearing and diagnostic outcome in children of schizophrenic mothers. A prospective high-risk study

Within a prospective, longitudinal study of offspring of schizophrenic mothers (so-called high-risk children), diagnostic outcome (schizophrenia, "schizotypal" personality disorder, other diagnoses, and no mental illness) was predicted by the mother's age at first hospitalization and by institutionalization during the first five years of life. Institutionalization was unrelated to adult psychopathology in a low-risk control group. These results are interpreted as supporting a diathesis-stress model of schizophrenic origin.     

The Self and Its Prolonged Intrinsic Neural Timescale in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia (SCZ) can be characterized as a basic self-disorder that is featured by abnormal temporal integration on phenomenological (experience) and psychological (information processing) levels. Temporal integration on the neuronal level can be measured by the brain’s intrinsic neural timescale using the autocorrelation window (ACW) and power-law exponent (PLE). Our goal was to relate intrinsic neural timescales (ACW, PLE), as a proxy of temporal integration on the neuronal level, to temporal integration related to self-disorder on psychological (Enfacement illusion task in electroencephalography) and phenomenological (Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience [EASE]) levels. SCZ participants exhibited prolonged ACW and higher PLE during the self-referential task (Enfacement illusion), but not during the non-self-referential task (auditory oddball). The degree of ACW/PLE change during task relative to rest was significantly reduced in self-referential task in SCZ. A moderation model showed that low and high ACW/PLE exerted differential impact on the relationship of self-disorder (EASE) and negative symptoms (PANSS). In sum, we demonstrate abnormal prolongation in intrinsic neural timescale during self-reference in SCZ including its relation to basic self-disorder and negative symptoms. Our results point to abnormal relation of self and temporal integration at the core of SCZ constituting a “common currency” of neuronal, psychological, and phenomenological levels.     

Self-disorders and the Schizophrenia Spectrum: A Study of 100 First Hospital Admissions

Introduction: Self-disorders (SD) have been described as a core feature of schizophrenia both in classical and recent psychopathological literature. However, the specificity of SD for the schizophrenia spectrum disorders has never been demonstrated in a diagnostically heterogeneous sample, nor has the concurrent validity of SD been examined. Aim: (1) To examine the specificity of Examination of Anomalous Self-Experiences (EASE) measured SD to the schizophrenia spectrum disorder in first contact inpatients, (2) to explore the internal consistency and factorial structure of the EASE, (3) to assess the concurrent validity of SD by exploring correlations between SD and the canonical psychopathological dimensions of schizophrenia, (4) to explore relations of SD to intelligence, sociodemographic, and extrinsic illness characteristics. Methods: A total of 100 consecutive first admission patients underwent a comprehensive psychopathological examination and an assessment of SD with the EASE scale. The diagnostic distribution of the EASE scores was tested with ANOVA, whereas the relations between the EASE scores and other symptomatic dimensions of schizophrenia were tested with Spearman’s rho. A potential factorial structure and the internal consistency of the EASE scale were also examined. Results: SD aggregated significantly in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders, with no differences between schizophrenia and schizotypal disorders. EASE scores correlated moderately with canonical psychopathological dimensions of schizophrenia. Factor analysis of the EASE disclosed only one factor and the internal consistency of the EASE was excellent. Conclusions: SD aggregate selectively in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders, with similar levels in schizophrenia and schizotypy. The study lends validity to the view of SD as an experiential vulnerability phenotype of the schizophrenia spectrum disorders.     

Self-disorders and Schizophrenia: A Phenomenological Reappraisal of Poor Insight and Noncompliance

Poor insight into illness is considered the primary cause of treatment noncompliance in schizophrenia. In this article, we critically discuss the predominant conceptual accounts of poor insight, which consider it as an ineffective self-reflection, caused either by psychological defenses or impaired metacognition. We argue that these accounts are at odds with the phenomenology of schizophrenia, and we propose a novel account of poor insight. We suggest that the reason why schizophrenia patients have no or only partial insight and consequently do not comply with treatment is rooted in the nature of their anomalous self-experiences (ie, self- disorders) and the related articulation of their psychotic symptoms. We argue that self-disorders destabilize the patients’ experiential framework, thereby weakening their basic sense of reality (natural attitude) and enabling another sense of reality (solipsistic attitude) to emerge and coexist. This coexistence of attitudes, which Bleuler termed “double bookkeeping,” is, in our view, central to understanding what poor insight in schizophrenia really is. We suggest that our phenomenologically informed account of poor insight may have important implications for early intervention, psychoeducation, and psychotherapy for schizophrenia.Key words: compliance, phenomenology, double bookkeeping, vulnerability     

Schizophrenia, consciousness, and the self

In recent years, there has been much focus on the apparent heterogeneity of schizophrenic symptoms. By contrast, this article proposes a unifying account emphasizing basic abnormalities of consciousness that underlie and also antecede a disparate assortment of signs and symptoms. Schizophrenia, we argue, is fundamentally a self-disorder or ipseity disturbance (ipse is Latin for "self" or "itself") that is characterized by complementary distortions of the act of awareness: hyperreflexivity and diminished self-affection. Hyperreflexivity refers to forms of exaggerated self-consciousness in which aspects of oneself are experienced as akin to external objects. Diminished self-affection or self-presence refers to a weakened sense of existing as a vital and self-coinciding source of awareness and action. This article integrates recent psychiatric research and European phenomenological psychiatry with some current work in cognitive science and phenomenological philosophy. After introducing the phenomenological approach along with a theoretical account of normal consciousness and self-awareness, we turn to a variety of schizophrenic syndromes. We examine positive, then negative, and finally disorganization symptoms-attempting in each case to illuminate shared distortions of consciousness and the sense of self. We conclude by discussing the possible relevance of this approach for identifying early schizophrenic symptoms.     

Visual binding abilities in the initial and advanced stages of schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: The study tests the hypothesis that intramodal visual binding is disturbed in schizophrenia and should be detectable in all illness stages as a stable trait marker. METHOD: Three groups of patients (rehospitalized chronic schizophrenic, first admitted schizophrenic and schizotypal patients believed to be suffering from a pre-schizophrenic prodrome) and a group of normal control subjects were tested on three tasks targeting visual 'binding' abilities (Muller-Lyer's illusion and two figure detection tasks) in addition to control parameters such as reaction time, visual selective attention, Raven's test and two conventional cortical tasks of spatial working memory (SWM) and a global local test. RESULTS: Chronic patients had a decreased performance on the binding tests. Unexpectedly, the prodromal group exhibited an enhanced Gestalt extraction on these tests compared both to schizophrenic patients and to healthy subjects. Furthermore, chronic schizophrenia was associated with a poor performance on cortical tests of SWM, global local and on Raven. This association appears to be mediated by or linked to the chronicity of the illness. CONCLUSION: The study confirms a variety of neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia which, however, in this sample seem to be linked to chronicity of illness. However, certain aspects of visual processing concerned with Gestalt extraction deserve attention as potential vulnerability- or prodrome- indicators. The initial hypothesis of the study is rejected.