Heightened but Inefficient Thought-Action Fusion in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: New Insight From a Multiple Trial Version of the Classic Thought-Action Fusion Experiment

Objective@#Thought-action fusion (TAF), which is a tendency to make the relationship between one’s thoughts and external consequences, is a dysfunctional belief linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). While the TAF is commonly evaluated using the Thought-Action Fusion Scale (TAFS), it cannot fully reflect the actual experience of experimentally evoked TAF. In the present study, we applied a multiple-trial version of the classic TAF experiment and evaluate two variables, reaction time (RT) and emotional intensity (EI). @*Methods@#Ninety-three patients with OCD and 45 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The participants were asked to read the name of a close or neutral person embedded in different positive (PS) or negative (NS) TAF statements. During the experiments, RT and EI were gathered. @*Results@#The OCD patients presented with longer RT and lower EI in the NS condition than HCs. In each group, the HCs showed a significant relationship between RT in the NS condition and TAFS scores, whereas the patients did not, although they had higher TAFS scores than the HCs. In contrast, the patients showed a trend toward a correlation between RT in the NS condition and guilt. @*Conclusion@#These findings may indicate our multiple-trial version of the classical TAF showed reliable results of the two new variables, especially RT, in the task and allow to newly identify paradoxical patterns in which the TAFS scores are high but actual performance is impaired, that is, the inefficient activation of TAF in OCD.

The Neural Correlates of Positive Versus Negative Thought-action Fusion in Healthy Young Adults

Objective@#Thought-action fusion (TAF), one of the most-studied dysfunctional beliefs in obsessive-compulsive disorder, represents an individual’s belief that his/her thoughts directly influence events. TAF belief types are divided into personal thoughts relating to positive (positive TAF) and negative outcomes (negative TAF). However, the neural mechanisms underlying both aspects of the TAF response remain elusive. @*Methods@#This functional magnetic resonance imaging study aimed to investigate the neural circuits related to positive and negative TAF and their relationships with psychological measures. Thirty-one healthy male volunteers participated in a modified TAF task wherein they were asked to read the name of a close person embedded in positive statements (PS) or negative statements (NS). @*Results@#Conjunction analysis revealed activation of the fusiform and lingual gyri, midcingulate and superior medial frontal gyri, inferior orbitofrontal gyrus, and temporoparietal junction. The NS ＞ PS comparison showed additional activation in the precuneus and medial prefrontal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, insula, globus pallidus, thalamus, and midbrain. Precuneus activity was associated with the TAF score among these areas. Moreover, activity in the inferior orbitofrontal gyrus, insula, superior, middle and medial frontal gyri, globus pallidus, inferior parietal lobule, and precuneus was associated with dimensional obsessive-compulsive scores. In contrast, the PS ＞ NS comparison revealed no significant activation. @*Conclusion@#These results suggest that negative TAF, relative to positive TAF, recruits additional regions for self-referential processing, salience, and habitual responding, which may contribute to the activation of the belief that a negative thought increases the probability of that negative outcome.

Characteristics of Early Maladaptive Schemas in Individuals with Schizophrenia: A Comparative Study Relative to Major Depressive Disorder / 대한정신분열병학회지

Objectives@#This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of early maladaptive schemas and their associations with clinical symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. @*Methods@#Forty-eight patients with schizophrenia, 49 patients with major depressive disorder, and 50 healthy controls completed the Young Schema Questionnaire and symptom measures including the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Expanded (BPRS-E). @*Results@#The schizophrenia group had significantly higher scores than the healthy controls and lower scores than the depression group in most schemas. Compared with healthy controls, the schizophrenia group exhibited higher scores in 10 schemas, i.e., mistrust, social isolation, failure, dependence, vulnerability to harm, enmeshment, insufficient self-control, subjugation, emotional inhibition, and negativity schemas (all p<0.001). Moreover, vulnerability to harm, enmeshment, subjugation, and negativity schemas were correlated with total scores of the BPRS-E (0.37≤r≤0.43, all p<0.05). Regarding the five BPRS domains, emotional deprivation schema showed significant relationships with negative (r=0.50, p=0.005) and disorganization (r=0.39, p=0.033) symptoms, while no schemas showed correlations with positive symptoms. @*Conclusion@#These results suggest that most schemas in patients with schizophrenia pertain to impaired autonomy and performance as well as disconnection and rejection domains and may improve our understanding and the treatment of schizophrenia from a perspective of schema therapy focused on these domains.

A Case of Dorsal Nasal Cyst after Augmentation Rhinoplasty / 대한이비인후과학회지

Augmentation rhinoplasty is one of the most popular aesthetic procedures for orientals. Various materials have been used for augmenting the nasal dorsum. Complications that may occur right after rhinoplasty are generally attributed to failure to obtain the desired aesthetic, functional and psychological results. Other complications include postoperative hemorrhage and infection including cellulitis, abscess formation and toxic shock. Serious life-threatening complications such as intracranial or general infection that occurred in the preantibiotic era are fortunately infrequent. Dorsal nasal cyst formation is also considered a rare complication of augmentation rhinoplasty. The cause of this complication is not well known untill now; however, the entrapment of nasal mucosa and subsequent growth through osteotomy sites are thought to be the basis for the formation of these mass. Dorsal nasal cyst formation of post-augmentaion rhinoplasty was reported in a few case around the world but not in Korea. However, we experienced one case of dorsal nasal cyst formation after augmentation rhinoplasty in our clinic. Therefore, we present the case report of dorsal nasal cyst formation as a rare post-augmentation rhinoplasty with inferior turbinate bone and cartilage.