Biomedical subjects

Sam Hutton

Publications and source records attributed to Sam Hutton.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Risk-taking on tests sensitive to ventromedial prefrontal cortex dysfunction predicts early relapse in alcohol dependency: a pilot study.

Twenty one patients in a residential rehabilitation program fulfilling International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD) criteria for alcohol dependence syndrome were recruited. On neuropsychological tests, alcohol dependent patients relapsed early if they made choices governed by immediate gain irrespective of later outcome, which is consistent with dysfunctional ventromedial-prefrontal cortex mediating the inability to resist the impulse to drink despite ultimately deleterious effects. The authors suggest that the use of neuropsychological tasks of decision making may have several advantages over more conventional strategies for studying alcoholism.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Does hormone therapy for the treatment of breast cancer have a detrimental effect on memory and cognition? A pilot study.

This pilot study examines whether hormone therapy for breast cancer affects cognition. Patients participating in a randomised trial of anastrozole, tamoxifen alone or combined (ATAC) (n=94) and a group of women without breast cancer (n=35) completed a battery of neuropsychological measures. Compared with the control group, the patients were impaired on a processing speed task (p=0.032) and on a measure of immediate verbal memory (p=0.026) after controlling for the use of hormone replacement therapy in both groups. Patient group performance was not significantly related to length of treatment or measures of psychological morbidity. The results showed specific impairments in processing speed and verbal memory in women receiving hormonal therapy for the treatment of breast cancer. Verbal memory may be especially sensitive to changes in oestrogen levels, a finding commonly reported in studies of hormone replacement therapy in healthy women. In view of the increased use of hormone therapies in an adjuvant and preventative setting their impact on cognitive functioning should be investigated more thoroughly.

Affect↗

PubMed2002

Executive dysfunction in first-episode schizophrenia and relationship to duration of untreated psychosis: the West London Study.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have demonstrated early generalised cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. AIMS: To examine executive function in first-episode schizophrenia, characterise the nature of the impairment and specify any relationships with symptoms and duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). METHOD: Patients (n = 136) and normal controls (n = 81) were assessed with the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery, National Adult Reading Test IQ, and Scales for the Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms. RESULTS: Memory and executive impairments in patients were independent of IQ level. Spatial working memory was impaired because of inadequate strategy use. On a planning task, patients showed reduced planning times and suboptimal problem-solving. On an attentional set-shifting task, 75% of patients were able to perform an extra-dimensional shift thought to be a core attribute of prefrontal cortex function. Those who failed had significantly longer DUP. CONCLUSIONS: Prefrontal cortex function deteriorates at the onset of psychosis and continues to worsen over time.

Adolescent↗