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Biomedical subjects

Rebecca Fuller

Publications and source records attributed to Rebecca Fuller.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Globus pallidus volume is related to symptom severity in neuroleptic naive patients with schizophrenia.

This study compares globus pallidus (GP) volume between neuroleptic naive patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls using structural MRI. The volume of the external segment of the GP (GPe) was positively correlated with the severity of global symptoms, as measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SANS/SAPS, Andreasen and Olsen, 1982). The volume for the GP, GPe, and internal segment (GPi) did not differ between groups.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Cognitive executive function in dystonia.

Dystonia is a movement disorder considered to result from basal ganglia dysfunction. The aim of this study was to investigate the functional significance of frontal hyperactivity demonstrated in dystonia in imaging studies by examining executive function and working memory, in which the prefrontal cortex is known to be involved. We assessed 10 patients with idiopathic dystonia and 12 age- and IQ-matched normal controls. All subjects completed tests of first letter, category, and alternating category word fluency, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Stroop Colour Word Naming Test, the Missing Digit Test of working memory, a test of random number generation, a test requiring generation of self-ordered random number sequences, the Paced Serial Addition Test, a test of conditional associative learning, and finger tapping and peg insertion under unimanual, bimanual, and dual task conditions. The patients with dystonia did not differ significantly from controls on any measures of executive function or working memory used other than category word fluency and the extent of decline in tapping with one hand under dual task conditions when simultaneously inserting pegs with the other hand. For this small sample, the results suggest that unlike other movement disorders associated with fronto-striatal dysfunction such as Parkinson's disease or Huntington's disease, dystonia was not associated with deficits on the tests of executive function or working memory used. A more detailed investigation of cognitive function in a larger sample of patients is required.

Cognition Disorders↗
PubMed2002

Longitudinal assessment of premorbid cognitive functioning in patients with schizophrenia through examination of standardized scholastic test performance.

OBJECTIVE: Studies suggest the presence of premorbid cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia, yet the onset and course of these deficits remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal course of premorbid cognitive functioning in individuals with schizophrenia by using prospective data obtained from scholastic test results. METHOD: Scores from grades 4, 8, and 11 on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development were obtained for 70 subjects who later developed schizophrenia. The mean percentile rank of the subjects' scores in the areas of vocabulary, reading comprehension, language, mathematics, sources of information, and an overall composite category were compared with state norms. RESULTS: The subjects scored below the 50th percentile for each category in all three grades, but only language, reading, sources of information, and composite scores from grade 11 were significantly below state norms. With regard to longitudinal course, there was a significant linear decrease in language scores over time. Scores from grade 11 were positively correlated with WAIS-R IQ, verbal fluency, and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning scores at first illness episode. Scores from grade 11 were not significantly correlated with age at illness onset or ratings of disorganized, psychotic, or negative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Scholastic test scores at grades 4 and 8 were nonsignificantly below average in this group of children who later developed schizophrenia. However, test scores dropped significantly between grades 8 and 11. This corresponds to ages 13-16 years, or the onset of puberty. Poor or declining scholastic performance may be a precursor to the cognitive impairment seen during the first episode of illness.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Secondary prevention of schizophrenia: utility of standardized scholastic tests in early identification.

BACKGROUND: Given the enormous societal burden of schizophrenia, there has been a growing interest in its prevention during the past decade. Early detection and prompt treatment may improve outcome in schizophrenia. In this study, we examine the value of using pre-morbid cognitive impairment in early detection. METHODS: Standardized achievement tests Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED) at Grades 4, 8 and 11 were examined in 70 patients with schizophrenia and 147 comparison subjects without schizophrenia. The majority of comparison subjects later developed another major mental illness such as substance abuse or mood disorder. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to test the efficiency and accuracy of pre-morbid cognitive tests for differentiating adolescents who will later develop schizophrenia from those who remain well or develop another mental illness. RESULTS: Although schizophrenia patients had lower mean percentile ranks than comparison subjects in every ITBS/ITED sub-test, these differences were only associated with small increases in risk for schizophrenia. Standardized scholastic tests achieved moderate sensitivity and specificity, and enhanced the detection of schizophrenia by three to five fold. However, positive predictive values were low. ITBS/ITED scores alone cannot be used in screening the general population, given the low positive predictive values. CONCLUSION: Combining ITBS/ITED scores with other risk factors, such as family history, may lead to more efficient early detection. Our findings illustrate the challenges facing the secondary prevention of schizophrenia. Priority should be given to developing efficient and accurate methods of early detection in order to reduce the dangers of making erroneous false positive diagnoses, and to decrease exposure to unnecessary treatment during the testing of early interventions.

Achievement↗