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Query: UMLS:C0036341 (schizophrenia)
 60,220 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

With optimal pregnancy conditions (natural, enriched diet which includes fish) African (Digo) infants are 3-4 weeks ahead of European/American infants in sensorimotor terms at birth, and during the first year. Infants of semi-aquatic sea-gypsies swim before they walk, and have superior visual acuity compared with us. With adverse pregnancy behaviour (fear of fat, a trend to dieting), neglecting the need for brain fat to secure normal brain development and function, we run a risk of dysfunction--death. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome victims have depressed birth weight, lower levels of marine fat in brainstem than controls, and >80 suffer multiple hypoxic episodes prior to death. Depressed birth weight (more than 10% below mean) is seen in learning and behaviour disorders, and a trend towards weights of less than 3kg is increasing, which supports a rise in antenatal sub optimality. Given marine fat deficiency in pregnancy and infancy, neurons starved for fuel could delay myelination and maturation in the latest developed Frontal Lobes. The phylogenetic oldest Lateral Frontal Lobe System (feed-back mechanism etc.) derived from olfactory bulb-amygdala, which crosses in Anterior Commisure is probably spared, while the Medial Frontal Lobe System derived from Hippocampus-Cingulum and crosses in Corpus Callosum (delayed response task) is most likely affected. The rise in infantile autism (intact vision and hearing) with deficit in delayed response task only, could suggest a deficit in the Medial Frontal Lobe System. The human species is unique; 70% of total energy to the foetus goes to development of the brain, which mainly consists of marine fat. It undergoes pervasive regressive events, before birth, in infancy and at puberty. Minimal retraction of neuronal arborisation is advantageous. Attributable to adverse pregnancy childrearing practice, excessive retraction is likely prenatally and in infancy. Pubertal age affects the fundamental property of nervous tissue, excitability: excessive excitatory drive is seen in early, and a deficiency in late puberty. It is postulated that with adequate marine fat, there is probably no risk of psychopathology at the extremes, whereas a deficiency could lead to paroxysmal (subcortical) dysfunction in early puberty, and breakdown of cortical circuitry and cognitive dysfunctions in late puberty. The post-pubertal psychoses, schizophrenia and manic-depressive psychosis at the extremes of the pubertal age continuum, with contrasting excitability and biological treatment, are probably the result of continuous dietary deficiency, which has inactivated the expression of genes for myelin development and oligodendrocyte-related genes in their production of myelin. The beneficial effect of marine fat in both disorders, in other CNS disorders as well as in developmental dyslexia (DD) and ADHD among others, supports our usual diet is persistently deficient. We have neglected the similarity of our great brain to other mammals, and our marine heritage. Given the amount of marine fat needed to secure normal brain development and function is not known, nor the present dietary level, it seems unduly conjectural to postulate that a dietary deficiency in marine fat is causing brain dysfunction and death. However, all observations point in the same direction: our diet focusing on protein mainly, is deficient, the deficiency is most pronounced in maternal nutrition and in infancy.
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PMID:From superior adaptation and function to brain dysfunction--the neglect of epigenetic factors. 1561 23

Although amphetamine treatment has been shown to promote recovery of motor function in animals with cortical ablations, the potential therapeutic effect of amphetamine on processes other than motor control, such as attention and working memory, has been relatively unexplored. Accordingly, we investigated the beneficial effect of D-amphetamine treatment in animals with dorsal prefrontal cortex lesions (dPFC) compared with sham controls on a novel combined attention-memory task (CAM) that simultaneously measures attention to a visual stimulus and memory for that stimulus. The dPFC group was impaired in their ability to correctly detect the visual stimulus. Although this deficit occurred together with increased omissions and slow response latencies, these associated deficits largely recovered within the 10 post-operative baseline sessions revealing a selective attentional deficit in this group of animals. Nonetheless, the dPFC lesion did not substantially affect the working memory component of the task. The systemic administration of d-amphetamine served to ameliorate the attentional deficit in the dPFC group at the low dose only (0.2 mg/kg). By contrast, the dPFC group were less sensitive to the detrimental effects of the high dose (0.8 mg/kg) on any aspect of task performance. However, despite improving attention to the visual stimulus, D-amphetamine did not improve memory for that stimulus which instead appeared to deteriorate. The results provide apparently the first demonstration that low doses of D-amphetamine can ameliorate an attentional deficit in animals with selective dPFC lesions and may be a useful model of cognitive deficit in ADHD, schizophrenia or frontal brain injury.
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PMID:D-Amphetamine remediates attentional performance in rats with dorsal prefrontal lesions. 1568 Jan 98

Both omega-3 and omega-6 long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) are crucial to brain development and function, but omega-3 LC-PUFA in particular are often lacking in modern diets in developed countries. Increasing evidence, reviewed here, indicates that LC-PUFA deficiencies or imbalances are associated with childhood developmental and psychiatric disorders including ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autistic spectrum disorders. These conditions show a high clinical overlap and run in the same families, as well as showing associations with various adult psychiatric disorders in which FA abnormalities are already implicated, such as depression, other mood disorders, and schizophrenia. Preliminary evidence from controlled trials also suggests that dietary supplementation with LC-PUFA might help in the management of these kinds of childhood behavioral and learning difficulties. Treatment with omega-3 FA appears most promising, but the few small studies published to date have involved different populations, study designs, treatments, and outcome measures. Large-scale studies are now needed to confirm the benefits reported. Further research is also required to assess the durability of such treatment effects, to determine optimal treatment compositions and dosages, and to develop reliable ways of identifying those individuals most likely to benefit from this kind of treatment. Childhood developmental and psychiatric disorders clearly reflect multifactorial influences, but the study of LC-PUFA and their metabolism could offer important new approaches to their early identification and management. Heterogeneity and comorbidity are such, however, that a focus on specific traits or symptoms may prove more fruitful than an exclusive reliance on current diagnostic categories.
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PMID:Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in childhood developmental and psychiatric disorders. 1573 18

Bipolar disorder is a chronic disease characterized by depressive, manic or hypomanic, and mixed episodes. Bipolar disorder may be confused with unipolar depression, because patients with bipolar disorder are usually symptomatic with depression rather than mania. Bipolar disorder may also be misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, since both disorders can present with psychotic symptoms. For children, the principal differential diagnostic consideration is ADHD. Making the correct diagnosis has important prognostic and treatment implications. Comorbidities with personality disorders, substance and alcohol abuse or dependence, and anxiety disorders complicate assessment, treatment, and recovery. Effective pharmacotherapy and maintenance monitoring are critical in order to minimize the risk of relapse and associated disability, morbidity, and mortality.
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PMID:The many faces of bipolar disorder. How to tell them apart. 1574 22

Altered motor activity is a frequently observed symptom in many psychiatric disorders. It is an important diagnostic parameter in mania, depression, ADHD and others. The method which allows measuring motor activity precisely and objectively is actometry. An actometer is a small, electronic device measuring body movements. This paper is a review of psychiatric research in which actometry was used: sleep disorders, ADHD, schizophrenia, anorexia nervosa, affective disorders and also in chronobiology and psychopharmacology. Methodology of actometric research and limitations of the method are discussed.
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PMID:[Application of actigraphy in psychiatry]. 1577 76

The relationship between executive function and comorbid diagnoses in ADHD children is examined. One hundred six children between 7 and 15 years of age are assessed using the Tower of London (TOL), a test of executive function, and the Kiddie Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Present and Lifetime Version, a diagnostic interview. All children met the diagnostic criteria for ADHD. A majority of the children had comorbid anxiety disorders, mood disorders, or oppositional defiant disorder. Measures on the TOL are total move score, total initiation time, and total rule violations. Age is predictive in all three measures of executive function as assessed by the TOL. Gender is predictive of total initiation time and total rule violations. Comorbid disorders are found to not have significance on executive function as measured by the TOL. This study concludes that comorbid disorders may not affect executive function.
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PMID:Self-regulation and inhibition in comorbid ADHD children: an evaluation of executive functions. 1600 58

To investigate the cognitive functioning of children and adolescents with Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders and Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified, 22 child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients and day-hospital patients at a state psychiatric hospital with Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders, 30 with Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified, and 130 with other psychiatric disorders, ages 8 to 17 years, were administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III for psychological assessment at admission. The Performance IQs of the ADHD and the Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder groups were significantly higher than those of the Schizophrenia Spectrum and the Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified groups, and the Full Scale IQs of the Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder group were significantly higher than those of the Schizophrenia Spectrum group and the Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified group. The Coding scores of the ADHD group were significantly higher than those of the Schizophrenia Spectrum, the Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified, and the Bipolar Disorder groups. There was a significant negative correlation between age and Digit Span for the Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders group.
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PMID:Sustained attention, visual processing speed, and IQ in children and adolescents with Schizophrenia Spectrum disorder and Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified. 1667

Synaptogenesis, the formation of functional synapses, is a crucial step for the development of the central nervous system. Among the genes involved in this process are cell adhesion molecules, such as protocadherins and neuroligins, which are essential factors for the identification of the appropriate partner cell and the formation of synapses. In this work, we studied the expression and the genetic variability of two closely related members of the protocadherin family PCDH11X/Y, located on the X and the Y chromosome, respectively. PCDH11Y is one of the rare genes specific to the hominoid lineage, being absent in other primates. Expression analysis indicated that transcripts of the PCDH11X/Y genes are mainly detected in the cortex of the human brain. Mutation screening of 30 individuals with autism identified two PCDH11Y polymorphic amino acid changes, F885V and K980N. These variations are in complete association, appeared during human evolution approximately 40,000 years ago and represent informative polymorphisms to study Y chromosome variability in populations. We studied the frequency of these variants in males with autism spectrum disorders (n = 110), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 61), bipolar disorder (n = 61), obsessive-compulsive disorder (n = 51), or schizophrenia (n = 61) and observed no significant differences when compared to ethnically-matched control populations. These findings do not support the role of PCDH11Y, or more generally of a frequent specific Y chromosome, in the susceptibility to these neuropsychiatric disorders.
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PMID:Expression and genetic variability of PCDH11Y, a gene specific to Homo sapiens and candidate for susceptibility to psychiatric disorders. 1633 80

Commonalities in the clinical phenomenology and psychopharmacology of ADHD and schizophrenia are reviewed. The potential of psychostimulants to produce psychotic symptoms emphasizes the need for objective psychophysiological distinctions between these disorders. Impaired emotion perception in both disorders is discussed. It is proposed that visual scanpaths to facial expressions of emotion might prove a potentially useful psychophysiological distinction between ADHD and schizophrenia. There is consistent evidence that both facial affect recognition and scanpaths to facial expressions are impaired in schizophrenia, with emerging empirical evidence showing that facial affect recognition is impaired in ADHD also. Brain imaging studies show reduced activity in the medial prefrontal and limbic (amygdala) brain regions required to process emotional faces in schizophrenia, but suggest more localized loss of activity in these regions in ADHD. As amygdala activity in particular has been linked to effective visual scanning of face stimuli, it is postulated that condition-specific breakdowns in these brain regions that subserve emotional behavior might manifest as distinct scanpath aberrations to facial expressions of emotion in schizophrenia and ADHD.
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PMID:ADHD and schizophrenia phenomenology: visual scanpaths to emotional faces as a potential psychophysiological marker? 1646 94

In a study of ADHD symptoms in the relatives of probands diagnosed with ADHD, the validity of self-reported and informant-reported symptoms in childhood and adulthood was investigated with a semistructured diagnostic interview, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (K-SADS) adapted for adults, as a criterion. The participating relatives were 80 women and 46 men aged 17 to 77. Rating scales based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) were completed by participants and informants. Internal consistency of the scales and interrater reliabilities of the diagnostic interview were satisfactory. Correlations between ratings across sources of information supported convergent and divergent validity. Self-report scales and informant scales predicted interview-based diagnoses in childhood and adulthood with adequate sensitivities and specificities. It was concluded that the rating scales have good psychometric properties, at least in at-risk populations.
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PMID:Validity of self-report and informant rating scales of adult ADHD symptoms in comparison with a semistructured diagnostic interview. 1648 66


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