Randomized placebo controlled trials of n-acetyl cysteine as adjunct therapy for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Glutathione is the principal antioxidant of the brain. There is evidence of oxidative stress, lowered brain glutathione and genetic linkage involve glutathione metabolic genes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is a safe, orally bioavailable, precursor of glutathione. NAC has been shown to reverse animal models of oxidative stress, and raises brain glutathione levels.<br /

Is the PANSS used correctly? a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) is one of the most important rating instruments for patients with schizophrenia. Nevertheless, there is a long and ongoing debate in the psychiatric community regarding its mathematical properties.</p> <p>All 30 items range from 1 to 7 leading to a minimum total score of 30, implying that the PANSS is an interval scale. For such interval scales straightforward calculation of relative changes is not appropriate. To calculate outcome criteria based on a percent change as, e.g., the widely accepted response criterion, the scale has to be transformed into a ratio scale beforehand. Recent publications have already pointed out the pitfall that ignoring the scale level (interval vs. ratio scale) leads to a set of mathematical problems, potentially resulting in erroneous results concerning the efficacy of the treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A Pubmed search based on the PRISMA statement of the highest-ranked psychiatric journals (search terms "PANSS" and "response") was carried out. All articles containing percent changes were included and methods of percent change calculation were analysed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This systematic literature research shows that the majority of authors (62%) actually appear to use incorrect calculations. In most instances the method of calculation was not described in the manuscript.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These alarming results underline the need for standardized procedures for PANSS calculations.</p

Oscillatory Cortical Network Involved in Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Schizophrenia

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), a prominent symptom of schizophrenia, are often highly distressing for patients. Better understanding of the pathogenesis of hallucinations could increase therapeutic options. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) provides direct measures of neuronal activity and has an excellent temporal resolution, offering a unique opportunity to study AVH pathophysiology.Twelve patients (10 paranoid schizophrenia, 2 psychosis not otherwise specified) indicated the presence of AVH by button-press while lying in a MEG scanner. As a control condition, patients performed a self-paced button-press task. AVH-state and non-AVH state were contrasted in a region-of-interest (ROI) approach. In addition, the two seconds before AVH onset were contrasted with the two seconds after AVH onset to elucidate a possible triggering mechanism.AVH correlated with a decrease in beta-band power in the left temporal cortex. A decrease in alpha-band power was observed in the right inferior frontal gyrus. AVH onset was related to a decrease in theta-band power in the right hippocampus.These results suggest that AVH are triggered by a short aberration in the theta band in a memory-related structure, followed by activity in language areas accompanying the experience of AVH itself

Support for gay men: an Australian study

Recently, research in the USA has shown that women, and young people in particular, have become increasingly supportive of gay men. The current study used a cross-sectional, correlational design to investigate these same issues in Australia. The sample included 575 heterosexual participants, 184 men and 390 women. Because a literature search failed to identify an Australian measure of support for gay men, a Support for Gay Men Scale was developed by the researchers. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate whether scores on the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality and the respondents' sex predicted scores on the Support for Gay Men subscales, and the strength of these relationships. Findings reveal that this relatively young university undergraduate Australian sample indicated they strongly supported gay men

The steady state visually evoked potential topography dynamics in schizophrenia

We report on the topography of the steady state visually evoked potential (ssvep) recorded from twenty normal male subjects and twenty five patients with a history of schizophrenic symptomatology; recruited at the mental health research institute. All subjects were required to visually fixate on a central point on a computer screen for two minutes while brain electrical activity was recorded from 64 scalp sites. Then the visual steady state stimulus was presented for one minute. The ssvep was elicited by superimposing a spatially uniform 13 hz flicker on the visual field and fourier techniques were used to calculate the ssvep magnitude at each scalp site. The ssvep analysis, was centred on the 60 seconds prior to and after the visual stimulus was turned on. Spherical spline interpolation techniques were employed to determine the distribution of the ssvep magnitude topography. The major difference in ssvep topography between the groups was the ratio of prefrontal to occipital ssvep magnitude; normal subjects demonstrated prefrontal ssvep magnitude approximately 60% of the maximum occipital value. By contrast, schizophrenic prefrontal ssvep values were significantly lower than the occipital values. This reduction in prefrontal ssvep will be discussed in the context of ''hypofrontality'' and possible medication effects

Exploring the predictors and mediators of personal wellbeing for young Hazaras with refugee backgrounds in Australia

Objective The Hazara people have historically been persecuted because they are an ethnic and religious minority group in Afghanistan. While there has been research into the wellbeing of young refugees from other ethnic backgrounds, little research has focused on the wellbeing of young Hazaras. Path analysis was used to determine the predictors and mediators of personal wellbeing for young Hazaras with refugee backgrounds in Australia. These included presence of immediate family in Australia, absence of trauma symptoms, acculturation, resilience, and spirituality. Method Seventy Hazaras, 50 males and 20 females, aged 16–30-years (M = 21.56, SD = 4.29) who had spent an average of 5-years and 2-months (SD = 3.40) in Australia completed an online survey which comprised demographic items and three questionnaires. Results The hypotheses were supported in that acculturation, absence of trauma symptoms, and presence of immediate family in Australia predicted personal wellbeing. Resilience and spirituality were not direct predictors of personal wellbeing, however acculturation mediated the relationship between both resilience and personal wellbeing and between spirituality and personal wellbeing. As expected, both resilience and spirituality, and resilience and absence of trauma symptoms, were positively correlated. Conclusions The model identifies possible pathways to wellbeing for young Hazaras with refugee backgrounds in Australia. Findings suggest the young people sampled are positively engaged with education and work in Australia and report an absence of trauma symptoms. The online survey methodology provided access to a relatively large sample in a short period of time. Implications for refugee policy, practice, and research are discussed