Psychiatry / Psychology
In Autism, Related Disorders, Recognizing Emotion Is Different Than Identity
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In contrast to previous reports, for those with autism or Asperger’s syndrome, recognizing facial expressions is separate from identifying familiar faces, according to a study published in the November 22, 2005, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Those who had an impaired ability to process facial identity were no different than those with normal facial identity ability, when it came to processing facial expression.
Led by researchers in the U.S. and Canada, the study examined 26 adults diagnosed with either autism, Asperger’s syndrome, social-emotional processing disorder, or both Asperger’s and social-emotional processing disorder. The shared trait of these disorders is social dysfunction. The individuals took a variety of tests to measure famous face recognition, recognition of non-facial emotional cues (from voices or bodies), recognition of basic emotions (happy, sad, angry, fearful), and recognition of a complex mental state (reflective, aghast, irritated, impatient) presented by a pair of eyes.
Ritalin May Ease Hyperactivity In Autism-Related Disorders
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Ritalin (methylphenidate), long an approach to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, may be effective for treating hyperactivity in autism and related pervasive developmental disorders, according to investigators here.
Nearly 50% of children with pervasive developmental disorders and hyperactivity responded to the drug, but the magnitude of the response was less than that seen with children with ADHD, reported investigator David J. Posey, M.D., of the Indiana University School of Medicine here, and colleagues in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.
Women and Men Get to the Joke Differently
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Men and women process Blondie and Dagwood differently, just as they do with Charlie Brown and Lucy. Beetle Bailey too.
MRI scanning of men and women shows that their brains process cartoons slightly differently—especially when the joke is funny. But the differences don’t show up in behavior. Both sexes find pretty much the same things funny and, for a given joke, tend to give it an equivalent humor rating.
Hyperactivity drug may help autism
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A drug commonly given to children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can help some autistic children with similar symptoms, researchers said on Monday.
Methylphenidate, sold as Ritalin by Novartis AG, dominates the $2.2 billion market for drugs treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms, such as an inability to concentrate and impulsive behavior.
Methylphenidate shows promise for hyperactivity associated with autism
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Medication commonly used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be effective for treatment of hyperactivity symptoms in children with autism and related pervasive developmental disorders, according to a study in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.
Children with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders often also have symptoms of hyperactivity, distractibility and impulsiveness requiring treatment, according to background information in the article. Some previous small studies on the use of medications to treat hyperactivity in these children have shown promise, although side effects have been common, including irritability and social withdrawal.
Mortality Risk in Elderly Dementia Patients May Rise With Newer Anti Psychotics
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Elderly patients with dementia who take so-called atypical anti-psychotic drugs have an increased risk of death, according to a meta-analysis of clinical trials.
The increased risk of about 50% compared with placebo was not found for any individual drug and could not have been detected by any of the individual trials included in the analysis, according to a report published in the Oct. 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Abused Boys Prone to Psychiatric Ailments and Future Violence
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Boys who are physically abused, often by their mothers, have a heightened risk of psychiatric illnesses, legal troubles, violent behavior, and doing prison time as adults, researchers here reported.
A random telephone survey of 197 men here found a history of childhood physical abuse to be significantly associated with depression (P=0.003), post-traumatic stress disorder (P<0.001), the number of lifetime sexual partners (P=0.035), legal troubles (P=0.002), and incarceration (P=0.007), investigators reported in the Oct. 18 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Brain abnormalities linked to pathological lying
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Pathological liars may have structural abnormalities in their brains, a new study suggests.
Dr. Adrian Raine and Yaling Yang of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and colleagues found that individuals who habitually lied and cheated had less gray matter and more white matter in their prefrontal cortex than normal people. They report their findings in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Schizophrenia: early treatment improves outcome
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For many years, psychiatrists have argued over whether or not early intervention after a schizophrenia patient’s first episode of psychosis could improve the patient’s long-term outcome. A new study concludes that early intervention can improve outcome.
Historically, the prevailing view has been that “it just doesn’t matter when you treat a person because their clinical outcome is predetermined,” Dr. Diana O. Perkins from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explained in a UNC statement.
Coffee Sends Wake Up Call to the Brain
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People who queue up at Starbucks to buy a $5 cup of coffee do get their bang for those bucks, according to a Texas researcher. He has tracked the “wake-up” effect of coffee to its ability to block a brain chemical that makes people sleepy.
Robert W. Greene, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said the caffeine in coffee blocks the brain’s production of adenosine, a brain chemical that calms the brain’s arousal centers.
Helping to Fight the Hidden Risks
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Those of us suffering with high blood pressure rarely have any symptoms.
For many, the first they know about it is when they have a heart attack or a stroke.
Psychopaths could be best financial traders?
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“Wanted: psychopaths to make a killing in the markets.”
Such an advert will not be appearing in the world’s newspapers any time soon, but it may have a ring of truth after research revealed the best wheeler-dealers could well be “functional psychopaths.”
A team of U.S. scientists has found the emotionally impaired are more willing to gamble for high stakes and that people with brain damage may make good financial decisions, the Times newspaper reported Monday.
Most newer schizophrenia drugs no better
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A head-to-head comparison of five schizophrenia drugs found that most newer treatments are no better than an older generic drug, despite their higher cost, a U.S. study released on Monday showed.
The lone exception, Eli Lilly and Co.‘s Zyprexa, may be better than the other medicines but users experienced dramatic weight gain and developed a higher risk of diabetes, the new study concluded. The drug is also the most expensive.
Suicide rate up for male inmates in England
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Male prisoners in England and Wales have a five-fold increased risk of suicide in comparison to their peers in the general population, UK researchers report.
The findings imply a need for “improved suicide prevention in prisoners, particularly identification and treatment of mental illness in prisoners,” said study author Dr. Seena Fazel, of the University of Oxford.
Adults with ADHD often have other mental disorders
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Adults with a history of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often suffer from multiple psychiatric problems during their lives including Depression, anxiety and substance use, according to a study.
