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Poster #158 SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING WITH INPATIENTS USING A SOAP-OPERA TV SHOW: A BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCE
Abstracts of the 3rd Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Conference / Schizophrenia Research 136, Supplement 1 (2012) S1–S375
Poster #156 ACTION FLUENCY IMPAIRMENT AND TEMPORAL SYNCHRONIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA Helene Wilquin 1,2,3 , Yvonne Delevoye-Turrell 1,2 , Anne Giersch 4 1 Univ. Lille Nord de France, Lille, France; 2 UDL3, URECA, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France; 3 LPL, CNRS UMR 6057, Aix en Provence, France; 4 INSERM U666, Strasbourg, France Background: Actions typically do not occur in a perceptualor motoric vacuum but often are embedded in a context.Thus, everybody can plan motor sequence relying on the ability to organize through time and to coordinate information from multiple sources and notably perceptual context (i.e. auditory, visual, etc.). These two capacities: high-order motor sequencing and perceptual organization are known to be disturbed in patients with schizophrenia (Delevoye et al., 2007; Giersch et al., 2011; Silverstein & Keane, 2011). We propose in this study to clarify this action fluency impairment in patients with schizophrenia, especially regarding issue of integrative mechanisms required for the creation of correct internal representation of the action. Most specifically, we investigate the impact of rhythm’s structure on participants’ capacity to organize and smoothly execute motor sequence. Methods: Twenty four patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and 22 matched healthy participants (HC) were tested on an original tapping task requiring the use of a touch screen. The subjects’ task was to produce sequentialpointing movements to visual targets in synchrony with auditory BIPS. Participants pointed clockwise a series of 6 circles, one after the other, during 36 s. A total of 20 trials were presented for which was manipulated the rhythm type (equivalent (500ms-500ms) vs. alternated intervals (300ms-600ms)). Subjects were to be the most accurate possibly both spatially and temporally. Results: The main findings showed that patients with schizophrenia had similar results to controls when motor sequencing had to be synchronized with rhythm made up of successive isochronous intervals (equivalent rhythm). Conversely, patients had more difficulties than controls to motor synchronize their action (tap) with alternated rhythm constituted of two different time intervals organized in pairs (short-long/short-long). More precisely, one sub-group of patients failed to respect time intervals showing an important error rate, whereas another sub-group followed the alternated rhythm efficiently but showing a slightly reduced ratio measured between short and long time interval compared with controls. Interestingly, in this alternated rhythm condition, all subjects produced a shorter tap (contact duration on the touch screen) on the first than on the second tap of a pair interval (short-long) but this effect was larger in patients, suggesting thatrhythm’s structure affects motor planning and execution of a motor fluency sequence. Discussion: Our results provide experimental support to the idea that motor fluency impairment in patients may emerge from difficulties in building and/or maintaining internal representations requiring specifically to group in pairs timing information. These findings also may be useful for the creation of innovating cognitive remediation through movement in patient with schizophrenia.
Poster #157 SPURIOUS SIGNAL DETECTION AND DELUSIONS OF REFERENCE IN FIRST-EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIA Gloria H.Y. Wong 1 , H. Tao 2 , Z. He 2 , W.C. Chang 1 , Sherry W.K. Chan 1 , Christy L.M. Hui 1 , Z. Xue 2 , Z. Liu 2 , Eric Y.H. Chen 1 1 The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 2 Central South University, Changsha, China Background: Delusions of reference (DOR) are a group of highly prevalent psychotic symptoms. In DOR, patients experience attentional capture by certain otherwise neutral aspects in the environment, which were regarded as self-referential. Theoretically, aberrant salience as a result of excessive dopamine firing may lead to spurious signal detection in patients with DOR. We test the hypothesis that patients presenting with and DOR have increased false alarms in a visual and an auditory signal detection task, compared with patients not experiencing the symptom and with healthy controls.
S337
Methods: A total of 32 patients with first-episode schizophrenia (mean age 24.3±6.9 years, 19 men) and 17 healthy controls (mean age 24.7±7.7 years, 9 men) were recruited. Controls and patients were matched in age, sex and education. Patients were further divided into a DOR group (n=15) and a non-DOR group (n=17). DOR was assessed using the Ideas of Reference Interview Scale (IRIS). Spurious signal detection was tested using the randomized and sequential Contour Integration Test (Field, Hayes, and Hess 1993) for visual processing and the Babble Task (Hoffman et al, 2007) for auditory processing. Performance was compared between groups using ANOVA and post-Hoc analysis. Signal detection analyses were carried out to differentiate between genuine spurious signal detection and response bias. Relationship between IRIS scores and false alarm rates was explored. Results: Spurious signal detection was observed in both DOR groups and healthy controls in low signal-to-noise trials. In the Contour Integration Test, patients with DOR were more likely to detect spurious signals particularly when the stimuli were presented at a moderate signaltonoise ratio compared with the other two groups (p<0.01), with an effect size of 1.11 (Cohen’s d). False alarms are correlated with DOR severity (r=0.39, p<0.01). All three groups demonstrated good sensitivity and conservative response in signal detection. A similar trend was seen in the Babble Task. Discussion: Spurious signal detection is a common phenomenon under noisy conditions, which can be elicited also in healthy subjects. In DOR, there appears to be increased spurious signal detection, at a moderate signal-to-noise ratio. This observation cannot be accounted for by a general decline in task performance or a more liberal response bias, suggesting genuine false detection of signals in patients with DOR. This study provided initial findings for further investigation into the neurocognitive substrates of DOR.
Poster #158 SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING WITH INPATIENTS USING A SOAP-OPERA TV SHOW: A BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCE Juliana Emy Yokomizo 1 , Graça Maria Ramos Oliveira 1 , Paulo Clemente Sallet 2 1 Neuropsychology Service, Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 2 Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil Background: This study aims to describe our experience with a Social Skills Training Group of psychotic inpatients performed in an acute psychiatric ward. It is known that social cognition is impaired in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. This might affect their daily functioning as much as the impairment of other cognitive functions. Studies involving social skills training in a nursery context are sparse. We have been running this intervention model since 2009. Methods: Each session has 1, 5 hour duration and runs once a week, in a regular schedule, coordinated by two neuropsychologists. Patients are invited to join the group and are led to a small auditorium. A brief explanation of social skills and three types of behavior (assertive, non-assertive and aggressive) is presented orally and visually in a slide show. It is then presented an episode of a Brazilian well-known TV program which could be freely translated to “The Big Family”. It was chosen to be used in the training group because: it tells the story of a regular Brazilian family, mostly in funny situations – or, at least, having a “happy ending” -, and its characters are easily identified; it has been presented on an influent TV channel for more than 10 years, being recognized for most of the population; besides, its social and cultural context is near to our usual patients’. After the presentation, which lasts 45 minutes, patients are asked to remember some predetermined situations of the episode, and are then stimulated to interpret one character’s intentions, feelings and behaviors and to associate them to one of the 3 types cited above. These questions are presented on a slide show, although any commentaries or different questions are welcomed and discussed with all the participants. At the end of the session, an open question related to the core conflict of that episode is directed to the patients, in an attempt to make them associate others’ social situations to theirs, describing how did or would they behavior to solve that problem. Results: Our experience and observation allow us to identify, in a qualitative form, that the ludical nature of the situations showed on the TV
S338
Abstracts of the 3rd Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Conference / Schizophrenia Research 136, Supplement 1 (2012) S1–S375
program facilitates the involvement of the patients with the task. We might also conjecture that the improvement in the participation and the amount of adequate answers are very associated to the improvement of clinical status, which is more evident in those cases with more preserved previous social functioning. The impressions about each case are reported to the other professionals in our nursery team meetings, performed once a week, thus contributing to the treatment decisions. Discussion: A social skills training group with psychotic inpatients using a ludical TV program might be helpful to evaluate their clinical improvements and contribute to the treatment decisions. At the moment, our main limitation is the lack of quantitative data, although one of our future goals is to control variables (such as time of exposure, percentage of errors, improvement rate) considering the peculiarities of a nursery context. We also assume that further studies are necessary to better explore the benefits of this type of training involving psychotic patients in an acute status.
day-to-day lives, supporting their ability to have rewarding and productive social relationships.
Poster #159 INITIAL TESTING OF A NOVEL SOCIAL COGNITIVE TREATMENT FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA
Background: Prepulse Inhibition (PPI), an objective measurement of sensorimotor gating disturbances, is widely used for discovering new antipsychotic agents. Here, we used siRNA expressing plasmids in the shell of nucleus accumbens in aim to knockingdown of dopamine D2 receptors, and studied its effects on apomorphine disruptive effects on PPI. Methods: Seventy two adult Wistar rats divided into nine groups (eight per group). Control group with no intervention, two Apomorphine groups (0 and 0.5 mg/kg), three siRNA groups (0, 250, and 500 ng/μl), and three groups treated with SiRNA (0, 250 and 500 ng/μl) and after 72 hours received apomorphine (0.5 mg/kg). siRNA expressing plasmids microinjected in nucleus accumbens shell (0.2 μl in each side)and apomorphine injected intraperitoneally. Startle and PPI were measured in three prepulse intensities (71, 74, and 80 db) using San Diego SR-LAB startle response system. The expression of dopamine D2 receptor in nucleus accumbens was measured using real time RT- PCR after PPI measurement. Results: Results of repeated measure ANOVA showed that apomorphine reduced significantly PPI in 74 and 80 prepulse intensities [F(2,19)=5.40, P=0.014],with no effect on startle response. siRNA had no effects on basal PPI [F(3,23)=0.60, P=0.621].Results also showed that reduced PPI after apomorphine reversed in prepulse intensities 74 and 80 in groups treated with siRNA 250 and 500 ng/μl (no significant difference compare to control group, p=0.198and p=0.727 respectively).Expression of D2 receptor mRNA in nucleus accumbens were also decreased in groups treated with siRNA (250 and 500ng/μl, 78 and 72 percent reduction compare to control, p=0.04 and 0.121 respectively). Discussion: In conclusion, our results showed that silencing dopamine D2 receptors in the shell of nucleus accumbens can reverse the PPI impairment induced by apomorphine. This finding may suggest use of siRNA against D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens as a potentially therapeutic option in schizophrenia.
David L. Roberts 1 , Petra Kleinlein 2 , Jamie Stevens 3 1 University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA; 2 Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; 3 Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, CT, USA Background: Social cognition, the mental operations underlying social interaction, is impaired in schizophrenia, and this impairment is thought to contribute to social dysfunction. There is initial evidence that social cognitive treatments may improve social functioning, but treatment-related improvements have been modest. This limitation is due in part to the fact that patients with cognitive deficits have difficulty recalling and using social cognitive strategies in real life situations. Here we report on a new treatment called Mary/Eddie/Bill (MEB) that is designed to bypass cognitive deficits by teaching patients a social cognitive tool that is easy to remember and use in day-to-day life. We predicted that patients would experience MEB as easy to remember and use, and that MEB treatment would be associated with improvements in social cognition and social functioning. Methods: 24 outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited into an uncontrolled pre/post trial of a 6-session version of MEB. MEB teaches patients to make adaptive social cognitive judgments by imagining the perspectives of three prototypical fictional characters: My-fault Mary always blames herself for social problems and feels sad and worried; Easy Eddie never blames anybody for problems and feels content; Blaming Bill always blames others and feels angry and suspicious. At pre- and post-treatment, participants completed measures of social cognition (Theory of Mind [ToM], hostile attributional bias, and Jumping-to-Conclusions [JTC] bias) and a measure of social functioning. At post-treatment participants also provided feedback on the ease of MEB, and were tested on their recall for the MEB charactersand their ability to imagine the characters’ thoughts and feelings. Results: The 16 participants who attended at least 5 MEB sessions were called “treatment completers.” On a feedback survey, completers overwhelmingly rated MEB as easy to use, enjoyable and useful for improving their social cognition and social functioning. All completers recalled the names of the MEB characters at post-test, and nearly all were able to describe each character’s typical thoughts and feelings. Pre/post paired samples t-tests and conservative estimates of within-group effect size were computed on all outcome measures. Completers showed significant improvements in ToM (t=2.81, p<0.05; d=0.66), JTC bias (t=2.66; p<0.05); d=0.93), and self-reported social functioning (t=2.22; p<0.05; d=0.53), and a non-significant reduction in hostile attributional bias (d=0.32). Discussion: MEB takes a novel approach to social cognitive training in schizophrenia by teaching patients a simple and memorable heuristic strategy. The current findings suggest that MEB is indeed easy for patients to remember and use, and that patients found MEB to be enjoyable and useful. Moreover, results provide preliminary support for the potential efficacy of MEB in improving social cognition and social functioning. Although this pilot study is limited by small sample size, within-group design, and the use of a self-report measure of social functioning, results are sufficiently promising to justify larger, controlled investigation of MEB. It is hoped that MEB will help patients to make adaptive interpersonal judgments in their
Poster #160 SILENCING DOPAMINE D2 RECEPTORS BY USE OF SIRNA IN THE NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS SHELL REDUCED IMPAIRMENT OF PREPULSE INHIBITION INDUCED BY APOMORPHINE IN RAT Mohammad-Reza Noori-Daloii 1, Ali Shahbazi 2,3 , Siamak Alizadeh Zendehrood 2 , Fatemeh Zare Mehrgerdi 2 , Somayeh Niknazar 2 , Mohammad Mostawfi 2 , Hajar Hashemi Sotoobadi 2 , Asghar Korzehbor 1, Majid Mojarad 1 , Ali Rashidi Nejad 1 1 Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2 Physiology Research Center, and Physiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran, Iran; 3 Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Tehran, Iran
Poster #161 TOWARDS RECOVERY: EMPOWERMENT AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN CHRONIC PSYCHIATRIC INPATIENTS A.P.M. Stiekema 1 , L. van der Meer 1,2 , P.J. Quee 1,4,5 , F. Jörg 5,6 , R. Bruggeman 4,5 , H. Knegtering 5,7 , A.M. Dethmers 1 , C.M. Rietberg 1 , A. Aleman 2,3 , R.A. Schoevers 4,5 1 Department of Longterm Rehabilitation, Lentis Mental Health Care, Zuidlaren, Netherlands; 2 BCN-neuroimaging Center, Department of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands; 3 Department of Behavioral & Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands; 4 Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands; 5 Rob Giel Research Center, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands; 6 Department of Research and Education, Friesland Mental Health Services, Leeuwarden, Netherlands; 7 Research Department, Lentis Mental Healthcare, Groningen, Netherlands Background: Schizophrenia is considered one of the most disabling mental disorders; over 60% of the patients do not fully recover and in approximately 11% of the patients the disorder is chronic (Wiersma et al., 1998). Despite a variety of therapeutic efforts seeking to influence its prognosis,
Poster #156 ACTION FLUENCY IMPAIRMENT AND TEMPORAL SYNCHRONIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA Helene Wilquin 1,2,3 , Yvonne Delevoye-Turrell 1,2 , Anne Giersch 4 1 Univ. Lille Nord de France, Lille, France; 2 UDL3, URECA, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France; 3 LPL, CNRS UMR 6057, Aix en Provence, France; 4 INSERM U666, Strasbourg, France Background: Actions typically do not occur in a perceptualor motoric vacuum but often are embedded in a context.Thus, everybody can plan motor sequence relying on the ability to organize through time and to coordinate information from multiple sources and notably perceptual context (i.e. auditory, visual, etc.). These two capacities: high-order motor sequencing and perceptual organization are known to be disturbed in patients with schizophrenia (Delevoye et al., 2007; Giersch et al., 2011; Silverstein & Keane, 2011). We propose in this study to clarify this action fluency impairment in patients with schizophrenia, especially regarding issue of integrative mechanisms required for the creation of correct internal representation of the action. Most specifically, we investigate the impact of rhythm’s structure on participants’ capacity to organize and smoothly execute motor sequence. Methods: Twenty four patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and 22 matched healthy participants (HC) were tested on an original tapping task requiring the use of a touch screen. The subjects’ task was to produce sequentialpointing movements to visual targets in synchrony with auditory BIPS. Participants pointed clockwise a series of 6 circles, one after the other, during 36 s. A total of 20 trials were presented for which was manipulated the rhythm type (equivalent (500ms-500ms) vs. alternated intervals (300ms-600ms)). Subjects were to be the most accurate possibly both spatially and temporally. Results: The main findings showed that patients with schizophrenia had similar results to controls when motor sequencing had to be synchronized with rhythm made up of successive isochronous intervals (equivalent rhythm). Conversely, patients had more difficulties than controls to motor synchronize their action (tap) with alternated rhythm constituted of two different time intervals organized in pairs (short-long/short-long). More precisely, one sub-group of patients failed to respect time intervals showing an important error rate, whereas another sub-group followed the alternated rhythm efficiently but showing a slightly reduced ratio measured between short and long time interval compared with controls. Interestingly, in this alternated rhythm condition, all subjects produced a shorter tap (contact duration on the touch screen) on the first than on the second tap of a pair interval (short-long) but this effect was larger in patients, suggesting thatrhythm’s structure affects motor planning and execution of a motor fluency sequence. Discussion: Our results provide experimental support to the idea that motor fluency impairment in patients may emerge from difficulties in building and/or maintaining internal representations requiring specifically to group in pairs timing information. These findings also may be useful for the creation of innovating cognitive remediation through movement in patient with schizophrenia.
Poster #157 SPURIOUS SIGNAL DETECTION AND DELUSIONS OF REFERENCE IN FIRST-EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIA Gloria H.Y. Wong 1 , H. Tao 2 , Z. He 2 , W.C. Chang 1 , Sherry W.K. Chan 1 , Christy L.M. Hui 1 , Z. Xue 2 , Z. Liu 2 , Eric Y.H. Chen 1 1 The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 2 Central South University, Changsha, China Background: Delusions of reference (DOR) are a group of highly prevalent psychotic symptoms. In DOR, patients experience attentional capture by certain otherwise neutral aspects in the environment, which were regarded as self-referential. Theoretically, aberrant salience as a result of excessive dopamine firing may lead to spurious signal detection in patients with DOR. We test the hypothesis that patients presenting with and DOR have increased false alarms in a visual and an auditory signal detection task, compared with patients not experiencing the symptom and with healthy controls.
S337
Methods: A total of 32 patients with first-episode schizophrenia (mean age 24.3±6.9 years, 19 men) and 17 healthy controls (mean age 24.7±7.7 years, 9 men) were recruited. Controls and patients were matched in age, sex and education. Patients were further divided into a DOR group (n=15) and a non-DOR group (n=17). DOR was assessed using the Ideas of Reference Interview Scale (IRIS). Spurious signal detection was tested using the randomized and sequential Contour Integration Test (Field, Hayes, and Hess 1993) for visual processing and the Babble Task (Hoffman et al, 2007) for auditory processing. Performance was compared between groups using ANOVA and post-Hoc analysis. Signal detection analyses were carried out to differentiate between genuine spurious signal detection and response bias. Relationship between IRIS scores and false alarm rates was explored. Results: Spurious signal detection was observed in both DOR groups and healthy controls in low signal-to-noise trials. In the Contour Integration Test, patients with DOR were more likely to detect spurious signals particularly when the stimuli were presented at a moderate signaltonoise ratio compared with the other two groups (p<0.01), with an effect size of 1.11 (Cohen’s d). False alarms are correlated with DOR severity (r=0.39, p<0.01). All three groups demonstrated good sensitivity and conservative response in signal detection. A similar trend was seen in the Babble Task. Discussion: Spurious signal detection is a common phenomenon under noisy conditions, which can be elicited also in healthy subjects. In DOR, there appears to be increased spurious signal detection, at a moderate signal-to-noise ratio. This observation cannot be accounted for by a general decline in task performance or a more liberal response bias, suggesting genuine false detection of signals in patients with DOR. This study provided initial findings for further investigation into the neurocognitive substrates of DOR.
Poster #158 SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING WITH INPATIENTS USING A SOAP-OPERA TV SHOW: A BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCE Juliana Emy Yokomizo 1 , Graça Maria Ramos Oliveira 1 , Paulo Clemente Sallet 2 1 Neuropsychology Service, Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 2 Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil Background: This study aims to describe our experience with a Social Skills Training Group of psychotic inpatients performed in an acute psychiatric ward. It is known that social cognition is impaired in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. This might affect their daily functioning as much as the impairment of other cognitive functions. Studies involving social skills training in a nursery context are sparse. We have been running this intervention model since 2009. Methods: Each session has 1, 5 hour duration and runs once a week, in a regular schedule, coordinated by two neuropsychologists. Patients are invited to join the group and are led to a small auditorium. A brief explanation of social skills and three types of behavior (assertive, non-assertive and aggressive) is presented orally and visually in a slide show. It is then presented an episode of a Brazilian well-known TV program which could be freely translated to “The Big Family”. It was chosen to be used in the training group because: it tells the story of a regular Brazilian family, mostly in funny situations – or, at least, having a “happy ending” -, and its characters are easily identified; it has been presented on an influent TV channel for more than 10 years, being recognized for most of the population; besides, its social and cultural context is near to our usual patients’. After the presentation, which lasts 45 minutes, patients are asked to remember some predetermined situations of the episode, and are then stimulated to interpret one character’s intentions, feelings and behaviors and to associate them to one of the 3 types cited above. These questions are presented on a slide show, although any commentaries or different questions are welcomed and discussed with all the participants. At the end of the session, an open question related to the core conflict of that episode is directed to the patients, in an attempt to make them associate others’ social situations to theirs, describing how did or would they behavior to solve that problem. Results: Our experience and observation allow us to identify, in a qualitative form, that the ludical nature of the situations showed on the TV
S338
Abstracts of the 3rd Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Conference / Schizophrenia Research 136, Supplement 1 (2012) S1–S375
program facilitates the involvement of the patients with the task. We might also conjecture that the improvement in the participation and the amount of adequate answers are very associated to the improvement of clinical status, which is more evident in those cases with more preserved previous social functioning. The impressions about each case are reported to the other professionals in our nursery team meetings, performed once a week, thus contributing to the treatment decisions. Discussion: A social skills training group with psychotic inpatients using a ludical TV program might be helpful to evaluate their clinical improvements and contribute to the treatment decisions. At the moment, our main limitation is the lack of quantitative data, although one of our future goals is to control variables (such as time of exposure, percentage of errors, improvement rate) considering the peculiarities of a nursery context. We also assume that further studies are necessary to better explore the benefits of this type of training involving psychotic patients in an acute status.
day-to-day lives, supporting their ability to have rewarding and productive social relationships.
Poster #159 INITIAL TESTING OF A NOVEL SOCIAL COGNITIVE TREATMENT FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA
Background: Prepulse Inhibition (PPI), an objective measurement of sensorimotor gating disturbances, is widely used for discovering new antipsychotic agents. Here, we used siRNA expressing plasmids in the shell of nucleus accumbens in aim to knockingdown of dopamine D2 receptors, and studied its effects on apomorphine disruptive effects on PPI. Methods: Seventy two adult Wistar rats divided into nine groups (eight per group). Control group with no intervention, two Apomorphine groups (0 and 0.5 mg/kg), three siRNA groups (0, 250, and 500 ng/μl), and three groups treated with SiRNA (0, 250 and 500 ng/μl) and after 72 hours received apomorphine (0.5 mg/kg). siRNA expressing plasmids microinjected in nucleus accumbens shell (0.2 μl in each side)and apomorphine injected intraperitoneally. Startle and PPI were measured in three prepulse intensities (71, 74, and 80 db) using San Diego SR-LAB startle response system. The expression of dopamine D2 receptor in nucleus accumbens was measured using real time RT- PCR after PPI measurement. Results: Results of repeated measure ANOVA showed that apomorphine reduced significantly PPI in 74 and 80 prepulse intensities [F(2,19)=5.40, P=0.014],with no effect on startle response. siRNA had no effects on basal PPI [F(3,23)=0.60, P=0.621].Results also showed that reduced PPI after apomorphine reversed in prepulse intensities 74 and 80 in groups treated with siRNA 250 and 500 ng/μl (no significant difference compare to control group, p=0.198and p=0.727 respectively).Expression of D2 receptor mRNA in nucleus accumbens were also decreased in groups treated with siRNA (250 and 500ng/μl, 78 and 72 percent reduction compare to control, p=0.04 and 0.121 respectively). Discussion: In conclusion, our results showed that silencing dopamine D2 receptors in the shell of nucleus accumbens can reverse the PPI impairment induced by apomorphine. This finding may suggest use of siRNA against D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens as a potentially therapeutic option in schizophrenia.
David L. Roberts 1 , Petra Kleinlein 2 , Jamie Stevens 3 1 University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA; 2 Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; 3 Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, CT, USA Background: Social cognition, the mental operations underlying social interaction, is impaired in schizophrenia, and this impairment is thought to contribute to social dysfunction. There is initial evidence that social cognitive treatments may improve social functioning, but treatment-related improvements have been modest. This limitation is due in part to the fact that patients with cognitive deficits have difficulty recalling and using social cognitive strategies in real life situations. Here we report on a new treatment called Mary/Eddie/Bill (MEB) that is designed to bypass cognitive deficits by teaching patients a social cognitive tool that is easy to remember and use in day-to-day life. We predicted that patients would experience MEB as easy to remember and use, and that MEB treatment would be associated with improvements in social cognition and social functioning. Methods: 24 outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited into an uncontrolled pre/post trial of a 6-session version of MEB. MEB teaches patients to make adaptive social cognitive judgments by imagining the perspectives of three prototypical fictional characters: My-fault Mary always blames herself for social problems and feels sad and worried; Easy Eddie never blames anybody for problems and feels content; Blaming Bill always blames others and feels angry and suspicious. At pre- and post-treatment, participants completed measures of social cognition (Theory of Mind [ToM], hostile attributional bias, and Jumping-to-Conclusions [JTC] bias) and a measure of social functioning. At post-treatment participants also provided feedback on the ease of MEB, and were tested on their recall for the MEB charactersand their ability to imagine the characters’ thoughts and feelings. Results: The 16 participants who attended at least 5 MEB sessions were called “treatment completers.” On a feedback survey, completers overwhelmingly rated MEB as easy to use, enjoyable and useful for improving their social cognition and social functioning. All completers recalled the names of the MEB characters at post-test, and nearly all were able to describe each character’s typical thoughts and feelings. Pre/post paired samples t-tests and conservative estimates of within-group effect size were computed on all outcome measures. Completers showed significant improvements in ToM (t=2.81, p<0.05; d=0.66), JTC bias (t=2.66; p<0.05); d=0.93), and self-reported social functioning (t=2.22; p<0.05; d=0.53), and a non-significant reduction in hostile attributional bias (d=0.32). Discussion: MEB takes a novel approach to social cognitive training in schizophrenia by teaching patients a simple and memorable heuristic strategy. The current findings suggest that MEB is indeed easy for patients to remember and use, and that patients found MEB to be enjoyable and useful. Moreover, results provide preliminary support for the potential efficacy of MEB in improving social cognition and social functioning. Although this pilot study is limited by small sample size, within-group design, and the use of a self-report measure of social functioning, results are sufficiently promising to justify larger, controlled investigation of MEB. It is hoped that MEB will help patients to make adaptive interpersonal judgments in their
Poster #160 SILENCING DOPAMINE D2 RECEPTORS BY USE OF SIRNA IN THE NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS SHELL REDUCED IMPAIRMENT OF PREPULSE INHIBITION INDUCED BY APOMORPHINE IN RAT Mohammad-Reza Noori-Daloii 1, Ali Shahbazi 2,3 , Siamak Alizadeh Zendehrood 2 , Fatemeh Zare Mehrgerdi 2 , Somayeh Niknazar 2 , Mohammad Mostawfi 2 , Hajar Hashemi Sotoobadi 2 , Asghar Korzehbor 1, Majid Mojarad 1 , Ali Rashidi Nejad 1 1 Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2 Physiology Research Center, and Physiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran, Iran; 3 Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Tehran, Iran
Poster #161 TOWARDS RECOVERY: EMPOWERMENT AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN CHRONIC PSYCHIATRIC INPATIENTS A.P.M. Stiekema 1 , L. van der Meer 1,2 , P.J. Quee 1,4,5 , F. Jörg 5,6 , R. Bruggeman 4,5 , H. Knegtering 5,7 , A.M. Dethmers 1 , C.M. Rietberg 1 , A. Aleman 2,3 , R.A. Schoevers 4,5 1 Department of Longterm Rehabilitation, Lentis Mental Health Care, Zuidlaren, Netherlands; 2 BCN-neuroimaging Center, Department of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands; 3 Department of Behavioral & Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands; 4 Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands; 5 Rob Giel Research Center, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands; 6 Department of Research and Education, Friesland Mental Health Services, Leeuwarden, Netherlands; 7 Research Department, Lentis Mental Healthcare, Groningen, Netherlands Background: Schizophrenia is considered one of the most disabling mental disorders; over 60% of the patients do not fully recover and in approximately 11% of the patients the disorder is chronic (Wiersma et al., 1998). Despite a variety of therapeutic efforts seeking to influence its prognosis,