Humor perception in schizophrenia appears to be related to disorganization syndrome

Perception of humor seems to be often disturbed in schizophrenia, yet current literature is limited and ambiguous on its relationship to psychopathology. A sample of 40 schizophrenia-diagnosed subjects provided humor comprehension and funniness ratings for 60 cartoons and 60 stories with funny, neutral and absurd punchlines. Disorganization syndrome was found to associate with deficits in humor comprehension and experienced funniness in non-humorous stimuli after controlling for cognitive performance, age, sex and medication. The findings are discussed in relation to previous studies on the topic

On the specificity of figurative language comprehension impairment in schizophrenia and its relation to cognitive skills but not psychopathological symptoms - Study on metaphor, humor and irony

People with schizophrenia have difficulty understanding figurative expressions, such as metaphors, humor or irony. The present study investigated the specificity of figurative language impairment in schizophrenia and its relation with cognitive and psychotic symptoms. It included 54 schizophrenia and 54 age and sex-matched healthy subjects who performed a cognitive screening (ACE-III) and figurative language comprehension task consisting of 60 short stories with three types of endings: a figurative one and its literal and an absurd (meaningless) counterparts. Each figurative domain - metaphor, humor, irony - was split into two sub-domains, i.e., conventional and novel metaphors, intended-to-be-funny and social-norm-violation jokes, simple irony and critical sarcasm, respectively. The main findings are: i) in schizophrenia, figurative language deficit manifests itself in each domain; ii) the most pronounced subdomain-specific impairment has been found for novel vs conventional metaphors and irony vs sarcasm; iii) altered figurative language comprehension was related to diminished cognitive abilities but not to psychopathology symptoms (PANSS) or other clinical characteristics. This may suggest that figurative language impairment, as a specific part of communication deficit, may be regarded as an essential characteristic of schizophrenia, related to primary cognitive deficits but independent of psychopathology

Neural circuit of verbal humor comprehension in schizophrenia : an fMRI study

Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit problems with understanding the figurative meaning of language. This study evaluates neural correlates of diminished humor comprehension observed in schizophrenia. The study included chronic schizophrenia (SCH) outpatients (n = 20), and sex, age and education level matched healthy controls (n = 20). The fMRI punchline based humor comprehension task consisted of 60 stories of which 20 had funny, 20 nonsensical and 20 neutral (not funny) punchlines. After the punchlines were presented, the participants were asked to indicate whether the story was comprehensible and how funny it was. Three contrasts were analyzed in both groups reflecting stages of humor processing: abstract vs neutral stories - incongruity detection; funny vs abstract - incongruity resolution and elaboration; and funny vs neutral - complete humor processing. Additionally, parametric modulation analysis was performed using both subjective ratings separately. Between-group comparisons revealed that the SCH subjects had attenuated activation in the right posterior superior temporal gyrus (BA 41) in case of irresolvable incongruity processing of nonsensical puns; in the left dorsomedial middle and superior frontal gyri (BA 8/9) in case of incongruity resolution and elaboration processing of funny puns; and in the interhemispheric dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24) in case of complete processing of funny puns. Additionally, during comprehensibility ratings the SCH group showed a suppressed activity in the left dorsomedial middle and superior frontal gyri (BA 8/9) and revealed weaker activation during funniness ratings in the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24). Interestingly, these differences in the SCH group were accompanied behaviorally by a protraction of time in both types of rating responses and by indicating funny punchlines less comprehensible. Summarizing, our results indicate neural substrates of humor comprehension processing impairments in schizophrenia, which is accompanied by fronto-temporal hypoactivation

Forms of aggression in women experiencing violence in their intimate relationships

Cel pracy: Porównanie rodzajów ekspresji agresji występujących u kobiet, które doświadczyły różnych form przemocy i u kobiet, które nie zgłaszały przemocy w relacji z partnerem seksualnym. Metoda: Nasilenie i sposób regulacji agresji zmierzono za pomocą Inwentarza Psychologicznego Syndromu Agresji (IPSA) Gasia. Informacje na temat różnych charakterystyk przemocy (rodzaj, czas trwania) zebrano za pomocą stworzonego wtym celu kwestionariusza. Zbadano 60 kobiet w wieku od 19 do 59 lat. Trzydzieści z nich doznawało ze strony swojego partnera trwającej co najmniej rok przemocy: fizycznej (86%; n = 26), psychicznej (96%, n = 29) i seksualnej (16%, n = 5). Trzydziestoosobowa grupa porównawcza (kobiety bez doświadczeń przemocy) została włączona do badania na zasadzie tzw. doboru wiązanego pod względem wieku, wykształcenia i długości trwania związku. Wyniki: Kobiety, które doświadczyły długotrwałej przemocy w relacji, nie różniły się od kobiet, które nie relacjonowały aktów przemocy ze strony partnera pod względem nasilenia agresji, chęci odwetu czy natężenia jawnej agresji. Natomiast znacząco różniły się one pod względem poziomu autoagresji, zarówno emocjonalnej, jak i fizycznej. Kobiety, które doświadczyły przemocy ze strony partnera, częściej kierowały swoją agresję na siebie lub wyrażały ją w formie ukrytej (wrogość), natomiast rzadziej wyrażały agresję w formie pośredniej. Wnioski: Właściwa diagnoza zjawisk występujących w relacjach, wspomagana systematycznie prowadzonymi badaniami nad zjawiskiem wiktymizacji, może dostarczyć wiarygodnych danych pomocnych przy projektowaniu strategii przeciwdziałania przemocy i leczenia osób z takimi doświadczeniami.Objectives: To compare ways to express aggression in women who experienced various forms of intimate partner violence and in women without such history. Methods: The severity and ways of regulating aggression were assessed with the Inventory of Psychological Syndrome of Aggression (IPSA) by Gaś. Information about various characteristics of violence (type, duration) was collected with a specifically designed questionnaire. Altogether 60 women were assessed, aged 19-59. Among them, 30 were in relationships characterized by partner violence, which lasted at least one year and included physical abuse (86%, n=26), psychological abuse (96%, n=29) and/or sexual abuse (16%, n=5). Thirty women without experiences of violence in their relationships were included as control group, matched by age, educational level, and relationship duration. Results: Women with experience of long-term violence in relationships did not differ from the control group regarding the severity of aggression, desire to retaliate or the severity of explicit aggression. However, they obtained significantly higher scores in the dimensions of emotional and physical autoaggression, as well as of hostility. On the other hand, they expressed indirect aggression less often than women with no history of partner violence. Conclusions: A proper diagnosis of intimate partner violence-related phenomena in relationships, aided by a systematic research on the occurrence of victimization, may provide valid data which could prove helpful in designing strategies for preventing violence and providing an appropriate treatment for women with such experiences

Sheltered employment in schizophrenia is related to disorganization symptoms, processing speed and metaphor comprehension

Aim: The significance of cognitive functioning deficits in schizophrenia is already well acknowledged. The relationships among lower and higher order cognitive skills and symptoms, as well as their relevance to holding a paid job are relatively less researched, though. The purpose of this study was to conduct an analysis concerning these issues. Method: This study included 62 individuals with schizophrenia, 33 of them employed in paid sheltered jobs and 29 attending occupational therapy. They were assessed with tests of cognitive functions including communication skills. Psychopathological symptoms were assessed with the PANSS. Results: The assessed cognitive skills turned out to be interrelated as well as showed associations with positive, negative and disorganization symptoms. Furthermore, regression analysis showed that sheltered employment status is predicted by shorter reaction time, better comprehension of metaphors and lower severity of disorganization symptoms. Conclusions: Multiple associations among basic and higher cognitive skills provide support for the concept of a generalized cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. Beside psychopathology symptoms, both basic and higher cognitive skills are also independently predictive of professional functioning in schizophrenia. This suggests potential areas of cognitive rehabilitation that could affect employability