Electroencephalography for the Study of the Auditory P300 Evoked Potential and Derived Measurements.

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a widely used tool in neuropsychiatry research. The most used measurements in EEG are the amplitude and latency of the cortical electrophysiological activity in response to stimulus, known as evoked potentials. Besides potentials, time/frequency analysis is also used to obtain information on global fluctuations of the recordings, which evoked potentials do not provide. Time/frequency analysis results in different values known as derived measures. In this work, a brief introduction to evoked potentials and time/frequency analyses in schizophrenia is given, focusing on P300, noise power, and spectral entropy. Finally, a detailed description is given on how to obtain EEG recordings, evoked potentials, and derived measures.

Entrevista a un profesional sanitario: estudio piloto de una actividad de contacto asistencial temprano en el grado en Medicina durante la pandemia por COVID-19 / Interviewing a health care professional: pilot study of an early care contact activity in the Medical degree during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introducción: El Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior fomenta el diseño y la aplicación de metodologías docentes innovadoras, que en las ciencias de la salud pueden contribuir al conocimiento y el contacto temprano con la práctica asistencial, y a la humanización de la medicina. El objetivo es presentar las características y los resultados obtenidos en la actividad grupal ‘Entrevista a un profesional sanitario’. Sujetos y métodos: La actividad se ha desarrollado en la asignatura de Psicología, de segundo curso del grado en Medicina, durante el curso académico 2019-2020 (n = 164 estudiantes; 29,3% hombres; edad media = 19,7 años). La pandemia por COVID-19 requirió su adaptación a la docencia no presencial. De los 33 profesionales sanitarios colaboradores, 29 contestaron al cuestionario de satisfacción en línea (65,5% hombres; edad media = 49,2 años). Resultados: Se constituyeron 33 grupos de estudiantes y la media (desviación estándar) de la calificación fue 8,8 (0,65) sobre 10 puntos. Los estudiantes presentaron una amplia variedad de cuestiones relacionadas con la humanización de la medicina. Las entrevistas se realizaron fundamentalmente por videoconferencia (58,6%). Los profesionales sanitarios que contestaron al cuestionario fueron preferentemente titulados en Medicina (89,7%) y especialistas en medicina familiar y comunitaria (27,6%). Presentaron una elevada satisfacción tanto en la organización de la actividad como en su valoración -media sobre 5 puntos (desviación estándar), 4,5 (0,5) y 4,7 (0,3), respectivamente-. Conclusión:‘Entrevista a un profesional sanitario’ es una actividad grupal que facilita el contacto asistencial temprano y el papel activo de los estudiantes, ha sido muy bien valorada por los profesionales sanitarios participantes y puede adaptarse a la docencia no presencial.(AU)

Introduction: The European Higher Education Area encourages the design and application of innovative teaching methods. Regarding Health Sciences, they can contribute to the early knowledge and contact with healthcare practice and to the humanization of medicine. The aim is to present the characteristics and results obtained in the group activity: ‘Interview a healthcare professional’. Subjects and methods: The activity has been applied in the subject of Psychology (second year of the Degree in Medicine) during the academic year 2019-20 (n = 164 students, 29.3% men, mean age = 19.7). The COVID-19 pandemic has required its adaptation to distance education. Of the 33 collaborating health professionals, 29 answered the online satisfaction questionnaire (65.5% men, mean age = 49.2 years). Results: Thirty-three groups of students were constituted, the mean (standard deviation) rating was 8.80 (0.65) out of 10 points. Students presented a wide variety of issues related to the humanization of medicine. Most of the interviews were conducted by videoconference (58.6%). The health professionals who answered the questionnaire were mostly graduates in Medicine (89.7%) and specialists in Family and Community Medicine (27.6%). They presented high satisfaction in both the organization and assessment of the activity -mean score out of 5 (SD), 4.5 (0.5) and 4.7 (0.3) respectively-.Conclusion: ‘Interview a healthcare professional’ is a group activity that facilitates early contact with healthcare practice and the active role of students, it has been highly valued by the participating healthcare professionals and can be adapted to the non-face-to-face teaching modality.(AU)

Genetic copy number variants, cognition and psychosis: a meta-analysis and a family study.

The burden of large and rare copy number genetic variants (CNVs) as well as certain specific CNVs increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. Several cognitive measures are purported schizophrenia endophenotypes and may represent an intermediate point between genetics and the illness. This paper investigates the influence of CNVs on cognition. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature exploring the effect of CNV burden on general intelligence. We included ten primary studies with a total of 18,847 participants and found no evidence of association. In a new psychosis family study, we investigated the effects of CNVs on specific cognitive abilities. We examined the burden of large and rare CNVs (>200 kb, <1% MAF) as well as known schizophrenia-associated CNVs in patients with psychotic disorders, their unaffected relatives and controls (N = 3428) from the Psychosis Endophenotypes International Consortium (PEIC). The carriers of specific schizophrenia-associated CNVs showed poorer performance than non-carriers in immediate (P = 0.0036) and delayed (P = 0.0115) verbal recall. We found suggestive evidence that carriers of schizophrenia-associated CNVs had poorer block design performance (P = 0.0307). We do not find any association between CNV burden and cognition. Our findings show that the known high-risk CNVs are not only associated with schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders, but are also a contributing factor to impairment in cognitive domains such as memory and perceptual reasoning, and act as intermediate biomarkers of disease risk.

Patología dual en personas sin hogar en el Área de Salud de Avilés / Dual pathology in homeless people in the Avilés Health Area

El objetivo principal del presente estudio es estimar la prevalencia de trastornos mentales graves y de uso de sustancias en personas en la situación de estar sin hogar. El trabajo se realizó a partir de los datos obtenidos de una muestra representativa de personas sin hogar en Avilés (Asturias) (n=100) utilizando la Entrevista Neuropsiquiátrica Internacional (M.I.N.I.). Los resultados de nuestro estudio ponen de manifiesto una estrecha relación entre el uso de sustancias y el sinhogarismo. Más de la mitad de las personas sin hogar tiene trastornos relacionados con el uso de sustancias en comparación con el uso problemático de sustancias en la población general. Se discute la atención psicosocial y la organización de una red de apoyo a las personas sin hogar. (AU)

The main objective of the present study is to estimate the prevalence of severe mental disorders and substance use in the homeless situation. The work was carried out from the data obtained from a representative sample of homeless people in Avilés (Asturias) (n = 100) using the International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.). The results of our study reveal a close relationship between substance use and homelessness. More than half of the homeless have substance use disorders compared to problem substance use in the general population. Psychosocial care and the organization of a support network for the homeless are discussed. (AU)

Dual pathology in homeless people in the Avilés Health Area / Patología dual en personas sin hogar en el Área de Salud de Avilés

The main objective of the present study is to estimate the prevalence of severe mental disorders and substance use in the homeless situation. The work was carried out from the data obtained from a representative sample of homeless people in Avilés (Asturias) (n = 100) using the International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.). The results of our study reveal a close relationship between substance use and homelessness. More than half of the homeless have substance use disorders compared to problem substance use in the general population. Psychosocial care and the organization of a support network for the homeless are discussed. (AU)

El objetivo principal del presente estudio es estimar la prevalencia de trastornos mentales graves y de uso de sustancias en personas en la situación de estar sin hogar. El trabajo se realizó a partir de los datos obtenidos de una muestra representativa de personas sin hogar en Avilés (Asturias) (n=100) utilizando la Entrevista Neuropsiquiátrica Internacional (M.I.N.I.). Los resultados de nuestro estudio ponen de manifiesto una estrecha relación entre el uso de sustancias y el sinhogarismo. Más de la mitad de las personas sin hogar tiene trastornos relacionados con el uso de sustancias en comparación con el uso problemático de sustancias en la población general. Se discute la atención psicosocial y la organización de una red de apoyo a las personas sin hogar. (AU)

Use of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder polygenic risk scores to identify psychotic disorders.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence for shared genetic susceptibility between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Although genetic variants only convey subtle increases in risk individually, their combination into a polygenic risk score constitutes a strong disease predictor.AimsTo investigate whether schizophrenia and bipolar disorder polygenic risk scores can distinguish people with broadly defined psychosis and their unaffected relatives from controls. METHOD: Using the latest Psychiatric Genomics Consortium data, we calculated schizophrenia and bipolar disorder polygenic risk scores for 1168 people with psychosis, 552 unaffected relatives and 1472 controls. RESULTS: Patients with broadly defined psychosis had dramatic increases in schizophrenia and bipolar polygenic risk scores, as did their relatives, albeit to a lesser degree. However, the accuracy of predictive models was modest. CONCLUSIONS: Although polygenic risk scores are not ready for clinical use, it is hoped that as they are refined they could help towards risk reduction advice and early interventions for psychosis.Declaration of interestR.M.M. has received honoraria for lectures from Janssen, Lundbeck, Lilly, Otsuka and Sunovian.