A SIGNIFICANT elevation in plasma magnesium concentration in a small series of schizophrenic and depressive patients has recently been reported by Cade (1). These levels were said to be further elevated by treatment. The present study, as part of a study of blood from schizophrenic patients (2, 3), was undertaken to determine if these observations represented a general phenomenon among schizoph...

Previous studies analyzing semantic priming in schizophrenic patients have reported conflicting results. In the present study, we explored semantic priming in a sample of schizophrenic patients with mild thought disorders. We wondered if distinct cognitive processes, such as facilitation and/or inhibition, underlie semantic hyperpriming and are variously impaired in schizophrenic patients. Usin...

Background: The use of antipsychotics has been crucial in the treatment of schizophrenic patients. However, clozapine, as well as most atypical antipsychotics, may lead to higher weight gain and metabolic changes.Objective: To compare the frequency of overweight and obesity between schizophrenic patients exposed to clozapine to the prevalence of patients exposed to other antipsychotics....

AIM The aim of the study was to compare working memory and executive function capacity in the first years of illness, in early-onset schizophrenic subjects with later-onset patients, who became ill in adulthood. The aim was also to asses the possible level of cognitive dysfunction in two groups of schizophrenic patients in partial remission of psychopathological symptoms. METHOD 25 adolescent...

Comorbidity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been observed in about 15% of schizophrenic patients and has been associated with poor prognosis. Therefore, there is a need for specific treatment options for these patients (schizo-obsessive, ScOCD). This is an open, prospective study, aiming to test the efficacy of Ziprasidone (80-200mg/d) in ScOCD patients and comparing the response to ...

The increased prevalence of schizophrenia among patients with the 22q11 interstitial deletion associated with DiGeorge syndrome has suggested the existence of a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia within the DiGeorge syndrome chromosomal region (DGCR) on 22q11. Screening for genomic rearrangements of 23 genes within or at the boundaries of the DGCR in 63 unrelated schizophrenic patients and 6...

BACKGROUND Loosening of associations and thought disruption are key features of schizophrenic psychopathology. Alterations in neural networks underlying this basic abnormality have not yet been sufficiently identified. Previously, we demonstrated that spatio-temporal clustering of magnetic brain responses to pictorial stimuli map categorical representations in temporal cortex. This result has o...

To investigate the role of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphisms in schizophrenia, we analyzed the genotypes of MTHFR677 and MTHFR1298 of 130 schizophrenic patients and 226 controls, using a polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The MTHFR T677 allele was significantly distributed (chi(2)=7.900; P=0.019), between schizophrenic cases and healt...

Disturbed processing of emotional faces and voices is typically observed in schizophrenia. This deficit leads to impaired social cognition and interactions. In this study, we investigated whether impaired processing of emotions also affects musical stimuli, which are widely present in daily life and known for their emotional impact. Thirty schizophrenic patients and 30 matched healthy controls ...