Cognitive Neuropsychiatry

How disrupted interoception could lead to disturbances in perceptual reality monitoring
Dijkstra N, Convertino L and Garfinkel S
Can neurocognitive performance account for dimensional paranoid ideation?
Wong A, Baughman FD, Mullan BA, Heslop K, Dauer E and Haywood D
Paranoid ideation underlies numerous psychological disorders and has debilitating effects on daily life. Deficits in neurocognition are highlighted as a contributing factor to paranoid-related disorders, but the impact on the symptom-level experience of paranoid ideation is unclear. This study aimed to employ a dimensional approach to understand the association between neurocognition and the severity and presence of paranoid ideation.
Conspiracy mentality in autistic and non-autistic individuals
Roels S, Begeer S, Scheeren AM and van Prooijen JW
Belief in conspiracy theories has emerged across times and cultures. While previous accounts attributed conspiracy beliefs to mental health conditions, accumulating research suggests that conspiracy theories are common among the general population. In the present study we examined whether conspiracy mentality - that is, a general predisposition to believe conspiracy theories - differed between a group of autistic adults and a general population sample.
Pattern glare sensitivity distinguishes subclinical autism and schizotypy
Torrens WA, Pablo JN, Berryhill ME and Haigh SM
Schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder are distinct neurodevelopmental disorders sharing clinically relevant behaviours. However, early sensory responses show divergent responses. Individuals with schizophrenia typically exhibit cortical whereas individuals with autism show cortical . Identifying reliable neurobiological differences between the disorders can diminish misdiagnosis and optimise treatments.
Limited awareness of hallucinations in patients with Alzheimer's disease
El Haj M, Larøi F and Chapelet G
We investigated the degree of cognitive insight in patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) regarding their hallucinations, aiming to elucidate the subjective experiences and perceptions associated with this phenomenon.
Visual hallucinations of autobiographical memories: a single-case study
Ramirez-Bermudez J, Yoldi-Negrete M, Martinez Juarez I, Cárdenas Belaunzaran J and Coltheart M
We report an epileptic patient who experienced hallucinatory visual experiences of autobiographical memories from her past. These visual experiences were confined to the lower left quadrant of her visual field. We carried out a single-case study that used brain-imaging, EEG and behavioural methods to study this patient. We found that this patient had an incomplete left inferior homonymous quadrantanopia due to a lesion of right occipital cortex, and also that she showed neurological abnormalities in right temporal cortex, a region that is part of the brain's autobiographical-memory circuit. We attribute the occurrence of this patient's autobiographical-memory hallucinations to the combination of degraded visual input to right temporal cortex plus hyperexcitability of that region.
Information gathered through draws-to-decision, social functioning, and personal recovery among patients with schizophrenia in Japan
Watanabe S, Taniguchi T and Sugihara M
In schizophrenia, social functioning and personal recovery are pivotal outcomes potentially influenced by cognitive biases such as Jumping to Conclusions (JTC). Despite their significance, the relationship between JTC, social functioning, and personal recovery remains unclear. This study aims to investigate this relationship to inform tailored interventions for schizophrenia management.
Difference between subjective and objective cognitive decline confirmed by power spectral density
Jeong HT, Youn YC, Park KY, Choi BS, Nam TK and Sung HH
The study aims to use power spectrum changes in subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), for future biomarker studies in early AD diagnosis.
Validation of the Turkish version of the Neurological Fatigue Index for Stroke
Küçükakgün H, Tulek Z, Kılıçaslan K, Dursun Uncu J, Bayrak C, Soltanalizadeh R and Krespi Y
Post-stroke fatigue is an often overlooked problem that hinders recovery. Therefore, stroke patients should be evaluated for fatigue during the recovery period. This study aimed to adapt the Neurological Fatigue Index for Stroke (NFI-Stroke) into the Turkish language.
Non-clinical hallucinations and mental imagery across sensory modalities
Rogers LW, Yeebo M, Collerton D, Moseley P and Dudley R
Vivid mental imagery has been proposed to increase the likelihood of experiencing hallucinations. Typically, studies have employed a modality general approach to mental imagery which compares imagery across multiple domains (e.g., visual, auditory and tactile) to hallucinations in multiple senses. However, modality specific imagery may be a better predictor of hallucinations in the same domain. The study examined the contribution of imagery to hallucinations in a non-clinical sample and specifically whether imagery best predicted hallucinations at a modality general or modality specific level.
A hierarchy of visual processing deficits in body dysmorphic disorder: a conceptual review and empirical investigation
Pikoos TD, Malcolm A, Castle DJ and Rossell SL
Abnormal visual processing has been proposed as a mechanism underlying excessive focus on minor appearance flaws in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Existing BDD research has not differentiated the various stages of face processing (featural, first-order configural, holistic and second-order configural) that are required for higher-order processes such as emotion recognition. This study investigated a hierarchical visual processing model to examine the nature of abnormalities in face processing in BDD.
Schizotypy and perceptual span in a non-clinical sample: a virtual reality study
Moat K, Wallis G, McAnally K, Grove P and Horvath A
Individuals with high schizotypy or schizophrenia exhibit difficulties in distributing their attention across space, leading to a reduction in their "perceptual span" - the extent of visual space that can be attended to at once. In this study, we aim to explore the correlation between schizotypy and perceptual span in a non-clinical sample to investigate whether perceptual span correlates with schizotypy across its range.
Neurocognition across bipolar disorder phases compared to healthy subjects
Ciftci E, Farhad S, Metin B and Tarhan N
Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with cognitive abnormalities that may persist during euthymia and are linked to poor occupational performance. The cognitive differences between phases of BD are not well known. Therefore, a cross-sectional study with a relatively large population was conducted to evaluate the differences among BD phases in a wide range of neurocognitive parameters.
Everything in its right place: a case report of reduplicative paramnesia with therapeutic and theoretical considerations
Green H, Seiler L and Anwar F
Reduplicative paramnesia (RP) is a rare and poorly understood phenomenon in which a person believes the place they are in has been replicated and exists in two places at once. There is minimal extant theoretical work addressing possible cognitive mechanisms subtending RP. We present a new case of RP and discuss the therapeutic and theoretical implications of this case for the management and understanding of this phenomenon. Using the hypothetico-deductive approach to a neuropsychological case, we examine the phenomenon in the light of one and two-factor approaches to understanding the genesis of delusions. The individual discussed in this case showed some evidence of relatively efficient incorporation of new evidence (belief updating) despite concurrently maintaining a delusional belief system. This case raises novel challenges for the two-factor account of neurological delusions.
What makes us social and what does it tell us about mental disorders?
Frith U and Frith C
Exploring the cognitive profiles related to unimodal auditory versus multisensory hallucinations in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders
Bere MJ, Rossell SL, Tan EJ, Carruthers SP, Gurvich C, Neill E, Sumner PJ, Van Rheenen TE and Toh WL
Hallucinations can be experienced across multiple sensory modalities, but psychiatric studies investigating the cognitive mechanisms of hallucinations have been somewhat restricted to the auditory domain. This study explored the cognitive profiles of individuals experiencing multisensory hallucinations (MH) in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD) and compared these to those experiencing unimodal auditory hallucinations (AH) or no hallucinations (NH).
Koro: a socially-transmitted delusional belief
Coltheart M and Davies M
Koro is a delusion whereby a man believes his penis is shrinking into his abdomen and this may result in his death. This socially-transmitted non-neuropsychological delusional belief occurs (in epidemic form) in South-East and South Asia. We investigated whether the two-factor theory of delusion could be applied to epidemic Koro.
The association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and executive functioning
Ouhmad N, Combalbert N and El Hage W
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition characterised by several disturbances in an individual's executive functioning. We were interested in the link between executive functions and the presence of anxiety and depression in a clinical population with post-traumatic stress disorder. Our sample comprised 180 participants divided into three groups: 60 with PTSD, 60 trauma-exposed without PTSD, and 60 controls. All participants were assessed on the following dimensions: PTSD, dissociation, executive functions, anxiety, and depression. Consistent with the literature, the results of our study suggest that individuals with PTSD have difficulties in executive functioning. These disturbances are related to levels of anxiety and depression. The severity of PTSD is positively correlated with executive function disturbances, but the observed disturbances, especially in working memory updating, can be explained mainly by the high level of depression, rather than by PTSD alone.
Neurological soft signs and cognition among inpatients with schizophrenia
Fares R, Haddad C, Sacre H, Hallit S, Haddad G, Salameh P and Calvet B
Evidence has shown that neurological soft signs are strongly associated with neurocognitive dysfunction. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to assess the association between NSS and cognitive impairments in a sample of inpatients with schizophrenia. The secondary objective was to explore the association between NSS total scores and functioning. The study enrolled 95 inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia disorders and 45 healthy controls. The neurological evaluation scale (NES) was used to assess neurological soft sign while the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) was used to evaluate cognitive functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia had significantly higher mean scores on the NES total test and subtests than the control group. Higher cognition was significantly associated with lower NES total and subtest scores. Higher functional independence was significantly associated with a lower NES total score (Beta = -.25), lower motor coordination subtest score (Beta = -.04), and lower others subtest (Beta = -.12). When taking the functional independence scale as the dependent variable, a higher NES total score was significantly associated with lower functioning (Beta = -0.03). NSS were associated to neurocognitive impairments in almost every domain among patients with schizophrenia. Further prospective research is still needed to confirm this role.
Cognitive profile in functional disorders
Roivainen E, Peura M and Pätsi J
Patients with functional disorders (FD) often experience cognitive problems such as forgetfulness and distractibility alongside physical symptoms that cannot be attributed to a known somatic disease.
The neutral past: emotional (dys)regulation of autobiographical memory in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia
El Haj M, Kapogiannis D and Boutoleau-Bretonnière C
While affective disturbances are a key symptomatic indicator of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), little is known about how patients process the emotional load of their autobiographical (i.e. personal) memories.
The association between visual hallucinations and secondary psychosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Blackman G, Dadwal AK, Teixeira-Dias M and Ffytche D
Visual hallucinations are often considered to be suggestive of a secondary cause of psychosis, however, this association has never been assessed meta-analytically. We aimed to compare the presence of visual hallucinations in patients with psychosis due to a primary or secondary cause.
Immediate post performance judgements about cognitive performance in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: associations with test performance and subjective overall judgments regarding abilities
Dalkner N, Moore RC, Depp CA, Ackerman RA, Pinkham AE and Harvey PD
The study explored associations between the accuracy of post assessment judgements of cognitive performance with global self-assessments of psychosocial functioning compared to evaluations generated by observers in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Associations between intraindividual reaction time variability and prospective memory performance in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls
Liu JL, Chen T, Cui JF, Shi HS, Gan MY and Wang Y
Patients with schizophrenia exhibit prospective memory (PM) impairment. Intraindividual reaction time variability (IIRTV) is an index of attentional control that is required for PM. This study examined the differences in IIRTV between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls and the relationship between IIRTV and PM performance. Thirty-nine patients with schizophrenia and forty-two healthy controls were recruited to complete a PM task and the Sustained Attention to Response Task. IIRTV was calculated as the coefficient of variation (mean/SD) of reaction time over correctly responded trials in these tasks. Patients with schizophrenia showed lower PM accuracy and increased IIRTV, while the associations between PM accuracy and IIRTV were significant in healthy controls but not in patients with schizophrenia. These findings suggest impaired PM and relationship between PM and attentional control in patients with schizophrenia.
Unique contributions of specific neuropsychiatric symptoms to caregiver burden in informal caregivers family members of patients with dementia
Hanzevacki M, Lucijanic J, Librenjak D, Lucijanic M and Juresa V
We aimed to evaluate how the presence of individual neuropsychiatric symptoms in non-institutionalised patients with dementia is associated with caregiver burden of their informal caregivers, family members.
Contrasting social knowledge and theory of mind patterns in adults with personality disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and healthy controls
Lampron M, Savard C, Bernier A, Payant M, Sabourin S and Achim AM
Personality disorders (PD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) are distinct conditions displaying common symptoms, like impairments in social cognition, that make them hard to distinguish, especially in severe cases. To date, few studies have compared theory of mind skills in these two disorders, and none have compared social knowledge skills. This study aims to compare the social cognitive abilities of patients with these conditions.
Reversal learning in those with early psychosis features contingency-dependent changes in loss response and learning
Baker A, Suetani S, Cosgrove P, Siskind D, Murray GK, Scott JG and Kesby JP
People with psychotic disorders commonly feature broad decision-making impairments that impact their functional outcomes. Specific associative/reinforcement learning problems have been demonstrated in persistent psychosis. But these phenotypes may differ in early psychosis, suggesting that aspects of cognition decline over time.
Early-onset schizophrenia: studying the links between cognitive and clinical dimensions
Dor-Nedonsel E, Fernandez A, Menard ML, Manera V, Laure G, Thümmler S and Askenazy F
Early-onset schizophrenia (EOS), a rare and severe chronic psychiatric condition, is defined by an onset of schizophrenia symptoms before the age of 18. Core symptoms also include cognitive impairments. However, little is known about links between psychiatric symptoms of EOS and cognitive abilities.
The presence and severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms and their association with quality of life among patients with dementia
Alb'ool B and Abu Khait A
Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common manifestations of dementia. The presence and severity of these symptoms differ depending on different personal and contextual factors.
Dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system in adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A systematic review
Geiss L, Stemmler M, Beck B, Hillemacher T, Widder M and Hösl KM
Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (aADHD) is characterised by inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional instability, all of which were linked to altered modulation of the autonomic nervous system. This and the clinical effectiveness of sympathomimetic medication raised the question if autonomic modulation is altered in aADHD patients. We systematically searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web Of Science for publications investigating autonomic modulation in aADHD and controls during resting-state and/or under task conditions. We reviewed 15 studies involving 846 participants (424 aADHD and 422 controls), including 4 studies on sympathetic tone at rest, 13 studies on sympathetic modulation during tasks, 3 studies on resting state parasympathetic modulation and 3 papers on task-related parasympathetic modulation. Studies comprised measurements of electrodermal activity, heart rate variability, blood pressure variability, blood volume pulse, pre-ejection period, and baroreflex sensitivity. 2 studies reported reduced sympathetic tone in aADHD; 7 papers described lower sympathetic reactivity to task demands in this cohort. One study linked aADHD to impaired vagal tone, while no indications of altered tasks-related parasympathetic reactivity in aADHD patients were reported. The reviewed data revealed impaired cardiovascular autonomic modulation in aADHD patients, predominantly in sympathetic modulation and during stress exposure.