Objective To explore the cool execution function (CEF)and its influence factors before and after treatment in drug-na?ve, first-episode schizophrenics. Methods Twenty-one drug-naive, first-episode schizophrenics (patients group) and 25 healthy persons (control group) were interviewed by using the SCID. The severity of clinical symptoms was respectively assessed in patient group before treatment and after 8 weeks using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The Trail-Marking Test A-B (TMT A-B) and Hanoi Tower Test (HTT) were conducted to assess cool executive function. Reaction time and the number of errors of TMT A-B’s and HTT’s reaction time and operative steps were recorded. Results Before treatment, the patient group’s reaction time was longer in HTT and TMT A-B than that in the control group's (P = 0.013;P = 0.000;P =0.001), respectively. Error number of TMT-B in the patient group was more than that in the control group (P =0.015); The operative steps of HTT and error number of TMT A were no statistical difference than those in the control group. After treatment, reaction time of TMT A reduced significantly than before treatment (P = 0.002);Before and after treatment , patients ’ reaction time of HTT and TMT B , operative steps of HTT and the error number of TMT A-B were all no statistical difference. Running multiple linear regression , reaction times of TMT-B was positively correlated with negative symptoms (β = 7.198,P = 0.012), and the error number of it was positively correlated with positive symptoms (β = 0.382,P = 0.024). Conclusions CEF in patients with drug-naive, first-episode schizophrenia is affected in a certain degree, especially the flexibility and attention transfer. Symptoms is the most serious influence factors. Treatment in sympotoms earlier is the important way to protect cool cognition.

Objective:To explore the abnormalities of efficiency in resting state functional brain network in patients with paranoid schizophrenia and the correlations between efficiencies and clinical symptoms.Methods:A total of 73 patients with schizophrenia (SZ group) met with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-Ⅳ) criteria for schizophrenia and 70 healthy controls (HC group) were included .All subjects were checked by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and positive and negative syndrome scale(PANSS) were used to assess the symptoms.Abnormalities of global and local efficiency of brain regions in brain functional network were analyzed by graph theory.Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between the abnormal global efficiency and local efficiency of brain regions of SZ group and PANSS.SPSS 20.0 software was used for dependent-sample t-test, ANOVA test and Pearson correlation analysis. Results:Compared with the HC group, SZ group showed increased global efficiency in bilateral thalamus(left: 0.26±0.06, 0.28±0.04, t=2.03, P=0.044.right: 0.26±0.06, 0.28±0.05, t=2.08, P=0.040), right orbital part of middle frontal gyrus(0.21±0.04, 0.23±0.05, t=2.25, P=0.026), cerebellar lobule Ⅸ(0.19±0.06, 0.21±0.05, t=2.56, P=0.011) and vermis Ⅲ(0.15±0.08, 0.19±0.07, t=3.27, P=0.001), while decreased global efficiency in bilateral parahippocampal gyrus(left: 0.25±0.05, 0.22±0.05, t=-3.34, P=0.001.right: 0.27±0.04, 0.23±0.05, t=-4.96, P=0.000), superior occipital gyrus(left: 0.27±0.03, 0.26±0.03, t=-2.70, P=0.008.right: 0.27±0.02, 0.26±0.03, t=-2.73, P=0.007), superior parietal gyrus(left: 0.27±0.03, 0.26±0.05, t=-2.63, P=0.010.right: 0.27±0.03, 0.25±0.05, t=-2.76, P=0.007), paracentral lobule(left: 0.28±0.03, 0.26±0.07, t=-2.47, P=0.015.right: 0.28±0.04, 0.25±0.07, t=-3.06, P=0.003), left precental gyrus(0.28±0.04, 0.27±0.04, t=-1.98, P=0.049), left cuneus(0.26±0.04, 0.25±0.04, t=-2.08, P=0.039), left lingual gyrus(0.29±0.03, 0.28±0.03, t=-2.28, P=0.024), left middle occipital gyrus(0.29±0.03, 0.28±0.03; t=-2.74, P=0.007), left middle temporal gyrus(0.28±0.03, 0.26±0.03, t=-2.73, P=0.007), temporal pole in left middle temporal gyrus(0.20±0.06, 0.18±0.06, t=-2.59, P=0.011) and right hippocampus(0.27±0.04, 0.26±0.06, t=-2.05, P=0.042).Compared with the HC group, SZ group showed increased local efficiency in bilateral caudate nucleus(left: 0.33±0.06, 0.35±0.05, t=2.54, P=0.012.right: 0.33±0.07, 0.35±0.04, t=2.77, P=0.007) and left superior occipital gyrus(0.39±0.03, 0.40±0.02, t=2.17, P=0.031), while decreased local efficiency in bilateral parahippocampal gyrus(left: 0.35±0.04, 0.32±0.07, t=-3.16, P=0.002.right: 0.34±0.04, 0.32±0.07, t=-2.91, P=0.004), left supplementary motor area(0.36±0.02, 0.35±0.05, t=-2.01, P=0.047), left inferior parietal but supramarginal and angular gyrus(0.35±0.03, 0.34±0.05, t=-2.65, P=0.009), left cerebellar crus Ⅱ(0.37±0.03, 0.36±0.04, t=-2.01, P=0.046), lobule ⅦB(0.37±0.03, 0.35±0.07, t=-1.98, P=0.049), right posterior cingulate gyrus(0.36±0.04, 0.34±0.07, t=-2.07, P=0.041), right superior parietal gyrus(0.37±0.03, 0.36±0.05, t=-2.19, P=0.031), right precuneus(0.36±0.02, 0.35±0.04, t=-2.36, P=0.020), right paracentral lobule(0.37±0.02, 0.36±0.06, t=-2.07, P=0.041) and right temporal pole in middle temporal gyrus(0.33±0.08, 0.30±0.09, t=-2.09, P=0.038).The global efficiency of bilateral paracentral lobule and left temporal pole in middle temporal gyrus in SZ group were negatively correlated with the negative scale scores( r=-0.25, -0.25, -0.26, all P<0.05).The global efficiency of right hippocampus in SZ group was positively correlated with total scores of PANSS( r=0.23, P=0.049).The global efficiency of left middle temporal gyrus in SZ group was negatively correlated with total scores of PANSS( r=-0.23, P=0.049).The local efficiency of right paracentral lobule in SZ group was negatively correlated with the positive scale scores( r=-0.24, P=0.038). Conclusion:The brain networks of patients with first-episode paranoid schizophrenia may have regional dysfunction in the transmission efficiency and fault-tolerant ability of resting state brain functional network, and the abnormalities of efficiency may be associated with the severity of psychiatric symptoms in several brain regions.

Objective: Subthreshold attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been suggested to be a “morbid condition” which also needs medical attention. Methods: The present study recruited 89 children with subthreshold ADHD (sADHD), 115 children with diagnosed ADHD (cADHD), and 79 healthy controls (HC) to explore the clinical manifestation, executive functions (EFs) of sADHD, and the caregiver strain. The clinical manifestation was evaluated through clinical interviews and parent-reports. Executive functions were assessed both experimentally and ecologically. Caregiver strain was measured by a parent-reported questionnaire. Results: For the clinical manifestation, both sADHD and cADHD indicated impairments when compared with HC. The comorbidities and the scaled symptoms indicated that the externalizing behaviors were relatively less serious in sADHD than cADHD, whereas the internalizing behaviors between two groups were comparable. For ecological EFs, sADHD scored between cADHD and HC in inhibition and working memory. For experimental EFs, sADHD was comparable to cADHD in inhibition, shifting, and was worse than cADHD in verbal working memory. For the caregiver strain, all scores of sADHD were between that in cADHD and that in HC. Conclusion Our present findings supported the suggestion of subthreshold ADHD as “morbid condition,” which should be treated with caution in clinical practice, especially for the internalizing behaviors and some key components of EFs.

Adolescent ; Decision Making ; Emotions ; Humans