Emotional processing in Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia: Evidence for response bias deficits in PD

Deficits in facial emotion recognition in Parkinson’s disease patients has been well documented. Nevertheless, it is still not clear whether facial emotion recognition deficits are secondary to other cognitive impairments. The aim of this study was to answer the question of whether deficits in facial emotion recognition in PD result from impaired sensory processes, or from impaired decision processes. To address this question, we tested the ability to recognize a mixture of basic and complex emotions in 38 non-demented PD patients and 38 healthy controls matched on demographic characteristics. By using a task with an increased level of ambiguity, in conjunction with the Signal Detection Theory, we were able to differentiate between sensitivity and response bias in facial emotion recognition. Sensitivity and response bias for facial emotion recognition were calculated using a d-prime value and a c index respectively. Our study is the first to employ the EIS-F scale for assessing facial emotion recognition among PD patients; to test its validity as an assessment tool, a group comprising schizophrenia patients and healthy controls were also tested. Patients with PD recognized emotions with less accuracy than healthy individuals (d-prime) and used a more liberal response criterion (c index). By contrast, patients with schizophrenia merely showed diminished sensitivity (d-prime). Our results suggest that an impaired ability to recognize facial emotions in PD patients may result from both decreased sensitivity and a significantly more liberal response criteria, whereas facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia may stem from a generalized sensory impairment only

An Effective Method of Detecting Characteristic Points of Impedance Cardiogram Verified in the Clinical Pilot Study

Accurate and reliable determination of the characteristic points of the impedance cardiogram (ICG) is an important research problem with a growing range of applications in the cardiological diagnostics of patients with heart failure (HF). The shapes of the characteristic waves of the ICG signal and the temporal location of the characteristic points B, C, and X provide significant diagnostic information. On this basis, essential diagnostic cardiological parameters can be determined, such as, e.g., cardiac output (CO) or stroke volume (SV). Although the importance of this problem is obvious, we face many challenges, including noisy signals and the big variability in the morphology, which altogether make the accurate identification of the characteristic points quite difficult. The paper presents an effective method of ICG points identification intended for conducting experimental research in the field of impedance cardiography. Its effectiveness is confirmed in clinical pilot studies

Ocena jakości życia osób z chorobą Parkinsona

Problem of the quality of life is a goal of scientific research for instance in psychology. Mostly it is considered in connection with evaluation of state of health, the level of cognitive and physical functionning and general well-being. The quality of life is considered in context of illness, disability and limits in everyday life.The goal of this study was comparision of selected factors: depression, cognitive functionning, age, sex and duration of disease, education with quality of life in Parkinson’s disease. Material and methods: 40 patients with Parkinson’s disease took part in the study. Following methods were used: Mini Mental State Examination_ MMSE, Beck Depression Inventory – BDI and Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire – PDQ-39. Results: Obtained reults showed that somatic problems, motor ability, activity of daily living, cognitive functionning and emotional state are among the most affected areas of life. Support form relatives and communciation with the social environment were the least deteriorated. Significant correlation between depression and quality of life was observed. Conclusions: The results suggest that early recognition and proper treatment of depression may improve the quality of life and reduce some of the somatic disturbances

Ocena fluencji literalnej i kategorialnej u osób z chorobą Parkinsona po przebytym zabiegu ablacyjnym gałki bladej

Pallidotomy (PVP – posteroventral pallidotomy), in which a tiny part of the globus pallidus is destroyed, represents one of the most popular methods for improving the functioning of patients suffering on Parkinson’s disease (PD). Cognitive impairment is supposed to be an outcome following Unilateral Stereotatic Pallidotomy. Many reasearches have shown some deficits in verbal fluency ensuing left pallidotomy. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate latter and category fluency in patients with PD after pallidotomy. Methods: 20 patients with PD after pallidotomy (12 after right and 8 after left pallidotomy) (group 1). The results were compared with 2 control groups – healthy controls (group 2) and patients with PD treated with pharmacotherapy (gropu 3). Assessments were conducted three times, before, just after and about two years after PVP. An experimental method to evaluate word fluency (letter and category) was used

A serious game : a new training addressing particularly prospective memory in the elderly

A training in the form of a computer game that aims at improving five cognitive functions in the elderly has been developed: visuospatial memory, attention, memory for prose, working memory and prospective memory. It was devised as a collaboration among the Department of Cognitive Psychology in Warsaw, Department of Individual Differences Psychology in Bydgoszcz, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science – Game Academy in Cracow, and Department of Human Psychology and Department of Psychiatry of Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz. This software is an example of the so-called serious games. To the best of our knowledge it is the first one to focus particularly on prospective memory. This is the first report concerning the present training, which is currently being elaborated. The next step in its development will be testing its validity