BACKGROUND： In patients with depression, as well as in patients with schizophrenia, both mood and working memory performance are often impaired. Both issues can only be addressed and improved with medication to some ...BACKGROUND： In patients with depression, as well as in patients with schizophrenia, both mood and working memory performance are often impaired. Both issues can only be addressed and improved with medication to some extent. OBJECTIVE： This study investigates the mood and the working memory performance in patients with depression or schizophrenia and whether acupuncture can improve these. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS： A pragmatic clinical trial design was used The study was conducted in a psychiatric clinic. Fifty patients with depression and 50 with schizophrenia were randomly divided into an experimental and a waiting-list group. Additionally, 25 healthy control participants were included. Twelve weeks of individualized acupuncture treatment was used as the clinical intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： All patients were tested before （T1） and after （T2） acupuncture treatment on a mood scale （Beck Depression Inventory-II, BDI-II）, a simple working memory task （digit span）, and a complex working memory task （letter-number sequencing）; the healthy controls were tested at T1 only. RESULTS： Patients with depression scored worse than the others on the BDI-II, and patients with schizophrenia scored worse than the healthy controls. On the digit span, patients with schizophrenia did not differ from healthy controls whereas they scored worse of all on the letter-number sequencing. With respect to the acupuncture findings, first, the present study showed that the use of acupuncture to treat patients with schizophrenia was both practical and safe. Moreover, acupuncture had a positive effect on the BDI-II for the depression group, but acupuncture had no effect on the digit span and on the letter- number sequencing performance for the two clinical groups. CONCLUSION： The clinical improvement in patients with depression after acupuncture treatment was not accompanied by any significant change in a simple working memory task or in a more complex working memory task; the same was true for the patients with schizophrenia.展开更多
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is gaining popularity in the treatment of psychiatric disorders that can be described and treated from either an Eastern or a Western perspective. In Eastern medicine, the disorders ...Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is gaining popularity in the treatment of psychiatric disorders that can be described and treated from either an Eastern or a Western perspective. In Eastern medicine, the disorders are described according to five diagnostic methods that are used in TCM: inspection, auscultation, olfaction, inquiry, and palpation, including tongue and pulse diagnosis.展开更多
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia and co-morbid sleep disorders.METHODS: A 42-year-old German male outpatient,suffering from long-term schizophrenia a...OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia and co-morbid sleep disorders.METHODS: A 42-year-old German male outpatient,suffering from long-term schizophrenia and sleep disorders, entered the study. Acupuncture was used as a non-pharmacological intervention. In addition to his ongoing Western Medicine(pharmacological) treatment, the patient received 12 weekly(non-standardized) acupuncture treatments in the clinic. The Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) diagnosis, the psychological assessment and the actiwatch data were compared before and after the acupuncture treatment.RESULTS: The TCM diagnosis revealed a Liver Fire pattern before the acupuncture treatment, which was still present, although to a lesser degree, after the treatment. The psychological assessment revealed no change in the positive symptoms, but a small decrease in the negative symptoms and the general psychopathology of the patient. This was further illustrated by the small decrease in the number of depressive symptoms. The subjective sleep disorders improved markedly after acupuncture treatment, but the daytime sleepiness did not. The actiwatch results showed that after acupuncture treatment, the patient was moving less during sleep, but no significant results were found for the other sleep parameters.CONCLUSION: Acupuncture was found to be an effective non-pharmacological add-on method for treating subjective sleep disorders, and, to a lesser degree, objective sleep disorders and the negative symptoms of chronic schizophrenia. Future larger clinical trials with follow-up measurements are needed in order to replicate the present preliminary beneficial acupuncture findings and in order to determine whether the observed effects can be sustained.展开更多
Nowadays,several noninvasive neuroimaging techniques,including transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS),exist.The working mechanism behind TMS is a rapidly changing magnetic field that generates an electric current via ...Nowadays,several noninvasive neuroimaging techniques,including transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS),exist.The working mechanism behind TMS is a rapidly changing magnetic field that generates an electric current via electromagnetic induction.When the coil is placed on the scalp,the magnetic field generates a physiological reaction in the underlying neural tissue.The TMS-induced change in the participant’s behavior is used by researchers to investigate the causal relations between specific brain areas and cognitive functions such as language.A variant of TMS has been developed,which is called rapid-rate TMS(rTMS).In this review,three databases(Medline,Educational Resources Information Center,and Scopus)were searched for rTMS studies on normal reading and dyslexia with a cut-off date of October 31,2014.rTMS was found to be a valuable tool for investigating questions related to reading research,both on the word and the sentence level.Moreover,it can be successfully used in research on dyslexia.Recently,(high-frequency)rTMS has been used as a“clinical”intervention technique for treating dyslexia and for improving reading performance by exciting underactive reading pathways in the brain.Finally,we end the paper with a discussion of future directions in the field of rTMS research and dyslexia,for instance,the promising prospect of combining TMS with simultaneous electroencephalographic imaging.展开更多
Recently, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has increasingly been used to investigate the neurobiology of schizophrenia. In those studies, researchers applied TMS in combination with motor evoked potentials (TMS...Recently, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has increasingly been used to investigate the neurobiology of schizophrenia. In those studies, researchers applied TMS in combination with motor evoked potentials (TMS/MEPs) and high density electroencephalograms (TMS/hd-EEG)[1].展开更多
Aim:Treatment non-adherence is a common problem in patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression.This study investigated the possible relationships between symptom severity,quality of sleep,and treatment adhere...Aim:Treatment non-adherence is a common problem in patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression.This study investigated the possible relationships between symptom severity,quality of sleep,and treatment adherence.Methods:Thirty outpatients with schizophrenia and 58 outpatients with depression were enrolled in this study.The beck depression Inventory-II,the positive and negative syndrome scale,and the pittsburgh sleep quality index were used to assess symptom severity and quality of sleep,and sleep log data were used to measure treatment adherence.Results:The preliminary results showed no significant relationship between symptom severity and treatment adherence or between quality of sleep and treatment adherence in patients with depression.However,a significant positive relationship was found between negative symptoms and treatment adherence and a significant negative relationship between quality of sleep and treatment adherence in patients with schizophrenia.Conclusion:The present exploratory study revealed a positive relationship between symptom severity and treatment adherence and a negative relationship between quality of sleep and treatment adherence in patients with schizophrenia,but no significant relationships in patients with depression were found.Future studies are needed in order to gain a better understanding of possible risk factors related to treatment non-adherence.展开更多
Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that has a worldwide prevalence of 0.5%^([1])and poses a high cost to society.^([2])The disorder is characterized by positive symptoms,such as hallucinations and delusion...Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that has a worldwide prevalence of 0.5%^([1])and poses a high cost to society.^([2])The disorder is characterized by positive symptoms,such as hallucinations and delusions,^([3])negative symptoms,such as impaired emotional functioning and behavioral disruptions(e.g.flat affect,difficulty in starting activities and completing them,etc.),^([4])and cognitive symptoms,such as deficits in executive functioning,impaired working memory,and attention problems.展开更多
Neuroscience is a relatively new research field that,so far,has resulted in important progress in understanding the physiology,biochemistry,pharmacology,and structure of the vertebrate brain.^([1])Because of this prog...Neuroscience is a relatively new research field that,so far,has resulted in important progress in understanding the physiology,biochemistry,pharmacology,and structure of the vertebrate brain.^([1])Because of this progress,spectacular technological developments,^([2])i.e.positron emission tomography,functional magnetic resonance imaging,transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS),diffusion tensor imaging,magneto-encephalography,electro-encephalography,etc.,and new treatments based on them,such as high-frequency repetitive TMS(rTMS),^([3])deep brain stimulation.展开更多
文摘BACKGROUND： In patients with depression, as well as in patients with schizophrenia, both mood and working memory performance are often impaired. Both issues can only be addressed and improved with medication to some extent. OBJECTIVE： This study investigates the mood and the working memory performance in patients with depression or schizophrenia and whether acupuncture can improve these. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS： A pragmatic clinical trial design was used The study was conducted in a psychiatric clinic. Fifty patients with depression and 50 with schizophrenia were randomly divided into an experimental and a waiting-list group. Additionally, 25 healthy control participants were included. Twelve weeks of individualized acupuncture treatment was used as the clinical intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： All patients were tested before （T1） and after （T2） acupuncture treatment on a mood scale （Beck Depression Inventory-II, BDI-II）, a simple working memory task （digit span）, and a complex working memory task （letter-number sequencing）; the healthy controls were tested at T1 only. RESULTS： Patients with depression scored worse than the others on the BDI-II, and patients with schizophrenia scored worse than the healthy controls. On the digit span, patients with schizophrenia did not differ from healthy controls whereas they scored worse of all on the letter-number sequencing. With respect to the acupuncture findings, first, the present study showed that the use of acupuncture to treat patients with schizophrenia was both practical and safe. Moreover, acupuncture had a positive effect on the BDI-II for the depression group, but acupuncture had no effect on the digit span and on the letter- number sequencing performance for the two clinical groups. CONCLUSION： The clinical improvement in patients with depression after acupuncture treatment was not accompanied by any significant change in a simple working memory task or in a more complex working memory task; the same was true for the patients with schizophrenia.
文摘Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is gaining popularity in the treatment of psychiatric disorders that can be described and treated from either an Eastern or a Western perspective. In Eastern medicine, the disorders are described according to five diagnostic methods that are used in TCM: inspection, auscultation, olfaction, inquiry, and palpation, including tongue and pulse diagnosis.
文摘OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia and co-morbid sleep disorders.METHODS: A 42-year-old German male outpatient,suffering from long-term schizophrenia and sleep disorders, entered the study. Acupuncture was used as a non-pharmacological intervention. In addition to his ongoing Western Medicine(pharmacological) treatment, the patient received 12 weekly(non-standardized) acupuncture treatments in the clinic. The Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) diagnosis, the psychological assessment and the actiwatch data were compared before and after the acupuncture treatment.RESULTS: The TCM diagnosis revealed a Liver Fire pattern before the acupuncture treatment, which was still present, although to a lesser degree, after the treatment. The psychological assessment revealed no change in the positive symptoms, but a small decrease in the negative symptoms and the general psychopathology of the patient. This was further illustrated by the small decrease in the number of depressive symptoms. The subjective sleep disorders improved markedly after acupuncture treatment, but the daytime sleepiness did not. The actiwatch results showed that after acupuncture treatment, the patient was moving less during sleep, but no significant results were found for the other sleep parameters.CONCLUSION: Acupuncture was found to be an effective non-pharmacological add-on method for treating subjective sleep disorders, and, to a lesser degree, objective sleep disorders and the negative symptoms of chronic schizophrenia. Future larger clinical trials with follow-up measurements are needed in order to replicate the present preliminary beneficial acupuncture findings and in order to determine whether the observed effects can be sustained.
文摘Nowadays,several noninvasive neuroimaging techniques,including transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS),exist.The working mechanism behind TMS is a rapidly changing magnetic field that generates an electric current via electromagnetic induction.When the coil is placed on the scalp,the magnetic field generates a physiological reaction in the underlying neural tissue.The TMS-induced change in the participant’s behavior is used by researchers to investigate the causal relations between specific brain areas and cognitive functions such as language.A variant of TMS has been developed,which is called rapid-rate TMS(rTMS).In this review,three databases(Medline,Educational Resources Information Center,and Scopus)were searched for rTMS studies on normal reading and dyslexia with a cut-off date of October 31,2014.rTMS was found to be a valuable tool for investigating questions related to reading research,both on the word and the sentence level.Moreover,it can be successfully used in research on dyslexia.Recently,(high-frequency)rTMS has been used as a“clinical”intervention technique for treating dyslexia and for improving reading performance by exciting underactive reading pathways in the brain.Finally,we end the paper with a discussion of future directions in the field of rTMS research and dyslexia,for instance,the promising prospect of combining TMS with simultaneous electroencephalographic imaging.
文摘Recently, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has increasingly been used to investigate the neurobiology of schizophrenia. In those studies, researchers applied TMS in combination with motor evoked potentials (TMS/MEPs) and high density electroencephalograms (TMS/hd-EEG)[1].
文摘Aim:Treatment non-adherence is a common problem in patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression.This study investigated the possible relationships between symptom severity,quality of sleep,and treatment adherence.Methods:Thirty outpatients with schizophrenia and 58 outpatients with depression were enrolled in this study.The beck depression Inventory-II,the positive and negative syndrome scale,and the pittsburgh sleep quality index were used to assess symptom severity and quality of sleep,and sleep log data were used to measure treatment adherence.Results:The preliminary results showed no significant relationship between symptom severity and treatment adherence or between quality of sleep and treatment adherence in patients with depression.However,a significant positive relationship was found between negative symptoms and treatment adherence and a significant negative relationship between quality of sleep and treatment adherence in patients with schizophrenia.Conclusion:The present exploratory study revealed a positive relationship between symptom severity and treatment adherence and a negative relationship between quality of sleep and treatment adherence in patients with schizophrenia,but no significant relationships in patients with depression were found.Future studies are needed in order to gain a better understanding of possible risk factors related to treatment non-adherence.
文摘Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that has a worldwide prevalence of 0.5%^([1])and poses a high cost to society.^([2])The disorder is characterized by positive symptoms,such as hallucinations and delusions,^([3])negative symptoms,such as impaired emotional functioning and behavioral disruptions(e.g.flat affect,difficulty in starting activities and completing them,etc.),^([4])and cognitive symptoms,such as deficits in executive functioning,impaired working memory,and attention problems.
文摘Neuroscience is a relatively new research field that,so far,has resulted in important progress in understanding the physiology,biochemistry,pharmacology,and structure of the vertebrate brain.^([1])Because of this progress,spectacular technological developments,^([2])i.e.positron emission tomography,functional magnetic resonance imaging,transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS),diffusion tensor imaging,magneto-encephalography,electro-encephalography,etc.,and new treatments based on them,such as high-frequency repetitive TMS(rTMS),^([3])deep brain stimulation.
