Involuntary social cue integration in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder

Objective Patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) have inferior social functioning compared to healthy controls, but the exact nature of these social deficits, and the underpinning mechanisms, are unknown. We sought to investigate social functioning in patients with OCD by measuring their involuntary/spontaneous processing of social cues using a specifically designed test, which might reveal deficits in these patients that explicit voluntary tasks do not detect. Methods The sample of the study consisted of an OCD group (n = 25) and a control group (n = 26). Both groups performed an adaptation of the Social Distance Judgment Task (SDJT; Jellema et al., 2009), in which participants have to judge the geometrical distance between two human cartoon figures presented on a computer screen. Head/gaze direction and body direction were manipulated to be either compatible, i.e. both directed to the left or to the right (Compatible condition) or incompatible, i.e. body directed toward the observer (frontal view) and head/gaze directed to the left or right (Incompatible condition). Results In the Compatible condition, controls nor OCD patients were influenced by the social cues in their judgments of the geometrical distances. However, in the Incompatible condition, where the attentional cue was more conspicuous, both groups were influenced by the cues, but the controls to a significantly larger extent than the OCD patients. Conclusions This study showed that patients with OCD are less likely, compared to controls, to automatically/spontaneously integrate the other’s direction of attention into their visual percept. This may have resulted in their judgments of the geometrical distances between the agents to be more accurate than those of controls. The suggested impairment in automatically integrating social cues may have important repercussions for the social functioning of OCD patients

Türkiye’de Formasyon Eğitimi Alan Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Toplumsal Cinsiyet Algıları

Objective: Discriminations such as women's access to fewer educational opportunities than men, their participation in decision-making, and working life difficulties continue to be experienced all over the world. The research is a cross-sectional study conducted to examine the sensitivity of students to gender equality since gender inequality continues in many areas of life and they are receiving formation training. Material and Methods: The population of the cross-sectional study consisted of students who took formation at Balikesir University. Students (n=90), who agreed to participate in the research, were reached without sampling on March 3, 2018. The questionnaire form was composed of questions to determine the sociodemographic characteristics of the students and their sensitivity to gender equality. Permission was obtained from individuals and institutions, and students were interviewed face-to-face to fill in questionnaires. The application, which took about 10 minutes, was done in the last 10 minutes of the lessons. Data were evaluated with frequency distributions and chi-square test in SPSS statistical program. Results: The mean age of the participants was 24.8±4.8. In the study, 52% of the students gave the answer "Men ensure the continuation of the lineage" and 81.1% said "Women should choose jobs that suit them", indicating that gender stereotypes are common. 90% of the students did not agree with the statement "It is normal for a woman to be subjected to violence by her husband when necessary", 91% did not agree with the statement "Girls do not need to be educated", 90% did not agree with the statement "Honor killing is necessary for the cleansing of honor", 90% did not agree with the statement "Women sometimes deserve beatings" and 92.2% did not agree with the statement "If resources are limited, boys should be given priority for education". Conclusion: According to the data obtained from the students, no gender-discriminatory approaches were detected in the use of health services by the public and in the provision of services by health personnel. In this case, students should be made more sensitive to gender inequality.Amaç: Kadınların erkeklere göre daha az eğitim olanaklarına ulaşmaları, karar mekanizmalarına katılmaları ve çalışma yaşamına ilişkin güçlükler gibi ayrımcılıklar, tüm dünyada yaşanmaya devam etmektedir. Araştırma toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğinin yaşamın birçok alanında sürüyor olması ve formasyon eğitimi alıyor olmaları nedeniyle öğrencilerin toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliğine ilişkin duyarlılıklarını incelemek amacıyla yapılmış kesitsel bir çalışmadır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Kesitsel tipteki çalışmanın evrenini Balıkesir Üniversitesi’nde formasyon alan öğrenciler oluşturmuştur. Örneklem yapılmaksızın 3 Mart/8 Nisan 2018 tarihlerinde araştırmaya katılmayı kabul eden öğrencilere (n=90) ulaşıldı. Anket formu öğrencilerin sosyo-demografik özellikleriyle toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliğine ilişkin duyarlılıklarını belirlemeye yönelik sorulardan oluşturuldu. Kişi ve kurumlardan izin alınıp, öğrencilerle yüz yüze görüşülerek anket formları doldurulması sağlandı. Yaklaşık 10dk süren uygulama derslerin son 10dk’sında yapıldı. Veriler SPSS istatistik programında frekans dağılımları ve ki-kare testi ile değerlendirildi. Bulgular: Katılımcıların yaş ortalaması 24,8±4,8’dir. Çalışmada öğrencilerin %52,0’si “Erkekler soyun devamını sağlar”, %81,1’i “Kadınlar kendilerine uygun işleri seçmelidir” yanıtlarının verilmesi cinsiyetçi kalıp yargıların yaygın olduğunu göstermektedir. ‘’Gerektiği zaman kadının kocasından şiddet görmesi normaldir’’ ifadesine %90’ı, “Kız çocuklarının okutulmasına gerek yoktur.’’ ifadesine %91’i, ‘’Namus cinayeti namusun temizlenmesi için gereklidir’’ ifadesine %90’ı, “Kadınlar bazen dayağı hak eder’’ifadesine %90’ı ‘’Kaynaklar kısıtlı ise eğitim için erkek çocuğa öncelik verilmeli’’ ifadesine %92,2’si katılmamıştır. Sonuç: Halkın sağlık hizmetlerinden yararlanmasında ve sağlık personelinin hizmet sunumunda öğrencilerden alınan verilere göre cinsiyet ayrımcı yaklaşımlar saptanmamıştır. Bu durumda öğrencilerin toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliği konusunda daha da duyarlı hale getirilmesi sağlanmalıdır

Cognitive functions in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder

<b>Background : </b>Recent studies have focused on the nature of cognitive dysfunction in bipolar patients. The purpose of the current study was to investigate cognitive performance of individuals with bipolar disorder compared to healthy control subjects during a well-established euthymic period. <b>Methods : </b>The sample consisted of 27 bipolar euthymic patients and 21 control subjects. Verbal and visual memory performance, attention, executive functions and psychosocial functions were evaluated for each partticipant. <b>Results : </b>Bipolar patients showed significant attentional deficit and executive dysfunction and also poor performance on verbal and visual memory tasks compared to the controls. Illness duration and lifetime total episode number and previous episode with psychotic features was associated with worsened performance on attention, executive and memory tasks. Psychosocial functioning was not associated with cognitive deficit. <b>Conclusions : </b>The present study showed persistent cognitive impairment on inhibitory control and selective attention as well as poor performance on verbal and visual memory tests in a group of bipolar euthymic patients. The impaired neuropsychological performance was associated with duration of illness, total number of episodes per lifetime, and previous episodes with psychotic features. Attentional dysfunction seemed to be a trait abnormality for the sample studied

Prevalence of dementia, related risk factors and psychiatric comorbidity in nursing home residents

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of dementia and related factors and comorbid psychiatric disorder among elderly in nursing home. Methods: This study was done in 141 elderly people who live in Denizli nursing home. Dementia and psychiatric disorder were diagnosed according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Mini Mental State Examination, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia, Global Deterioration Scale, Multidimensional observation scale for elderly subjects were used for elderly in this study. Results: Our study includes elderly people who are men (66%) and women, the mean age of group was 74.99±9.81 years, the mean education years was 1.79±3.03 years, mean duration in nursing home was 42.68 months. Prevalence of DSM-IV dementia was 62.4% (n=88). Out of patients with dementia 59 (67%) were Alzheimer Disorder, 22 (25%) were vascular dementia and 7 (%8) were the other type of dementia. Age, number of chronic physical disorder and the number of the drugs used were higher in dementia group than in non-dementia group. Level of education was lower in elderly with dementia than elderly without dementia. Older age than 76 years, residing in rural areas, low education level, having to Diabetes Mellitus are determined to be the risk factors for depressive disorders according to logistic regression analysis. At least one psychiatric disorder was associated with 45.6% of dementia patients and depressive disorder was found to be the most diagnosed entity. Conclusion: The prevalence of dementia and comorbid depression is common among elderly people in nursing homes

Quantitative EEG analysis in obsessive compulsive disorder

Quantitative analysis of the EEG (q-EEG) in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) showed a decreased beta and an increased theta power at frontotemporal regions. The patients who had higher scores in doubting test (Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Questionnaire) and more severely ill patients shared similar q-EEG features. The relative theta powers were significantly increased and alpha powers were significantly decreased in these patients, particularly in the frontotemporal region. It was suggested that the q-EEG may be useful in investigating the OCD patients with heterogeneous characteristics

Prefrontal cortex neurochemical metabolite levels in major depression and the effects of treatment: An 1HMRS study

Objective: Neuronal degeneration in the prefrontal cortex during depression results in altered production of neurochemical metabolites. The aim of the present study is to examine changes in neurochemical metabolites in the prefrontal cortex and evaluate the effects of psychodrama group therapy and pharmacotherapy on neurochemical metabolism in the first episode depression using 1HMRS methodology. Method: Eighteen drug-free female patients with diagnosed first-episode major depression according to DSM-IV criteria and 10 healthy female subjects were enrolled in the study. The Hamilton Rating of Depression Scale (HAM-D) was used to asses the severity of depression in each of the study participants. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1HMRS) was applied to the right prefrontal cortex both before and after treatment and the concentration of N-Asetil Aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), and creatine (Cr) were measured. All patients were prescribed ant-depressant medication at the time of the evaluation (essitalopram 10-20 mg/g). In addition, a psychodrama group therapy session was conducted in which 10 patients participated in one 3-hour session each week. HAM-D and 1HMRS were repeated after 16 weeks. Result: Prior to treatment, the HAM-D score in the patient group was 14.55±4.55 while the HAM-D score was 3.88±2.47 after 16 weeks of treatment. The severity of symptoms among the patient group was determined to be mild/moderate. No neurochemical abnormalities were identified in the right prefrontal cortex of depressed patients compared to the healthy subjects in the baseline measurements and no significant change was observed in neurochemical metabolites following treatment with pharmacotherapy or pharmacotherapy with group psychotherapy. Conclusion: Our results identified no neurodegeneration, cell membrane dysfunction, alterations in energy metabolism, or altered neurochemical metabolite levels in patients undergoing a first episode of mild/moderate depression. Further studies will be needed to evaluate the effects of alternate treatments and the presence or absence of neuronal damage during follow-up of patients with depression

1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy in first episode and chronic schizophrenia patients

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to compare metabolite levels of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG), thalamus, and hippocampus in patients with chronic schizophrenia (CSPs) and first psychotic episode patients (FEPs) by the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Materials and methods: Thirty CSPs, 20 FEPs, and 30 healthy subjects participated in this study. N-Acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine, choline (Cho), and myoinositol levels of the DLPFC, ACG, thalamus, and hippocampus were measured by 1H-MRS. Results: It was determined that the NAA/Cho ratio was lower in both the FEPs and CSPs than the healthy controls in the DLPFC. DLPFC Cho levels were also higher in CSPs than healthy controls. NAA levels in CSPs were significantly lower than in the control group in the hippocampus. There was no significant difference in neurometabolite levels and ratios in the ACG and thalamus between the groups. Conclusion: This study supports neuronal dysfunction or loss of neuronal integrity in the DLPFC and hippocampus in CSPs. FEPs showed less neuronal dysfunction in the DLPFC, but not in the hippocampus. Our results suggest that schizophrenic patients show brain metabolic changes with the onset of the disorder in the DLPFC; these changes could be more apparent in the hippocampus as the disease progresses to chronic stages

A follow-up study of male sexual disorders: The neurophysiological assessments, anxiety-depression levels, and response to fluoxetine treatment [10]

Abstract Not Availabl