Symptomatological and neuropsychological hints can be used to predict psychosis, attending psychiatrist at National Taiwan University Hospital Liu Chen-chung (劉震鐘) said yesterday.
Liu made the remarks at this year’s International Symposium on Brain and Mind Sciences in Taipei, which focused on early detection and treatment of schizophrenia.
In his presentation on the neuropsychological study of early schizophrenia, Liu made public the results of a follow-up study on the psychopathological progress of early schizophrenia-like disorders, a five-year project sponsored by the National Health Research Institute from 2006 to 2010.
Led by National Taiwan University professor emeritus of psychiatry Hwu Hai-gwo (胡海國), the project aimed to follow not only participants with first-episode psychosis (FEP) or ultra-high-risk (UHR) for psychosis, now also called attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS), but also those at intermediate risk and marginal risk of psychosis.
“It echoes a recent proposal that if you want to monitor the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, [you should] not only focus on the late prodromal state like APS,” but also the earlier stages, Liu said.
By conducting a combination of neuropsychological tests, besides the FEP group, putative pre-psychotic participants were categorized into a UHR group, intermediate risk group (IRG) and marginal risk group, with the UHR group divided into those who transitioned into full-blown psychosis during the follow-up (UHR positive) and those who did not (UHR negative).
A total of 318 participants, divided into five groups, including the four mentioned above and a control group, were given baseline assessments, Liu said.
Liu said that although it was expected that there would be a gradient in the wellbeing of neurocognitive function among the groups, the result “was not so clear.”
The FEP, UHR and IRG groups all manifested verbal memory and processing speed deficits.
“Even [the participants who had been categorized to be at] a very early stage, the MR stage … showed some cognitive declines,” Liu said.
And while the FEP group performed worse among the clinical subjects, in terms of the test results, “the difference among the other three groups was not so significant,” Liu added.
“In some indicators, the UHR negative performed even worse than the UHR positive,” Liu added. “The baseline neurocognitive function of UHR subjects [thus] provided limited evidence to differentiate those who converted to FEP from those who did not later on.”
“And this is why we need to dig into other biomarkers,” such as the underlying neural mechanism causing the emergence of psychosis, “to get stronger predictors,” Liu said.
A video allegedly featuring retired general Kao An-kuo (高安國) calling on Taiwanese military officers to surrender to China and overthrow the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has sparked outrage and calls for him to be charged with treason. The video, titled “A message to Taiwanese military officers,” allegedly shows Kao saying: “I call on commanding officers of our military troops to stand up for Chinese nationalism, to take up this duty under heaven’s mandate to save Taiwanese from oppression and terrible suffering.” Dressed in military fatigues and a beret, the lieutenant general called on officers to overthrow the “fraudulent DPP regime,”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday rejected the claim Beijing has been making about Taiwan’s status, while thanking US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman for raising concerns about Taiwan during her meeting with Chinese officials. Sherman met with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) on a visit to Tianjin on Sunday and Monday, with Wang urging Washington not to infringe on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Taiwan is part of China, a fundamental fact that would never change, and China has the right to take any action needed to restrain Taiwanese independence, Wang said, urging Washington to abide
A solo exhibition by Taiwanese artist Lee Kuang-yu (李光裕) at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay has generated considerable attention since its opening last year, including from Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍). Since the COVID-19 pandemic closed borders early last year, domestic tourism in Singapore has soared at destinations such as the popular Gardens by the Bay, a nature park in the city-state’s Central Region. Since the venue’s reopening in August last year, “A Sculptor’s Secret Garden,” a solo exhibition of Lee Kuang-yu’s work curated by Tan Hwee Koon (陳慧君), has been been especially popular. Originally scheduled to close today, the show
HASTY REVIEW CLAIMS: Medigen’s vaccine, which is to start phase 3 clinical trials later this year, should not have received emergency use authorization, Hau said Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) is to appeal the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authorization of Medigen Vaccine Biologics’ COVID-19 vaccine, he said yesterday. The administration on July 19 granted Medigen emergency use authorization, even though the drugmaker had not yet completed phase 3 clinical trials. The government should not authorize the use of a vaccine that has not completed phase 3 trials, Hau said in Taipei on the sidelines of an event to distribute boxed meals with former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康). Hau said the government had politicized
RSS