No abstract

Smoking prevalence in patients who are diagnosed with schizophrenia (SCZ) is higher than in the general population. Chronic tobacco use in SCZ patients may reduce the side effects of antipsychotic drugs, thus serving as a self-medication for such side effects. Understanding the ways in which chronic tobacco use influences visual sensitivity has clinical implications, which may serve as a tool for non-invasively diagnosing early-stage visual processing deficits. The present study evaluated the effects of chronic tobacco use on visual sensitivity in SCZ patients. Our purpose was to provide new directions for future research, mainly psychophysical and electrophysiological studies. In the present study, 40 smoker controls (SC), 20 SCZ tobacco users, and 20 SCZ tobacco nonusers were recruited from the Psychosocial Care Center. Visual sensitivity was compared between both SCZ groups and the SC group. Patients with SCZ who were chronic tobacco users presented lower visual sensitivity for chromatic (p < 0.001) and achromatic (p < 0.001) stimuli compared with the other groups. Our findings highlight the need to evaluate possible addictive behavior in patients with SCZ, which may contribute to public policies that seek to improve the quality of life of SCZ patients and their families.

Although some studies have reported perceptual changes in psychosis, no definitive conclusions have been drawn about visual disturbances that are related to bipolar disorder (BPD). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate colour vision in BPD patients. Data were recorded from 24 participants: healthy control group (n = 12) and type 1 BPD group (n = 12). The participants were 20–45 years old and they were free from neurological disorders and identifiable ocular disease and had normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity. Colour discrimination was evaluated using the Lanthony D-15d, Trivector and Ellipse tests, using a psychophysical forced-choice method. The relationship of visual measures to mood state and cognitive function was also investigated. The results showed that BPD patients had higher colour discrimination thresholds in the D15d (p < 0.001), Trivector (p < 0.001) and Ellipse (p < 0.01) tests compared with healthy controls. Linear regression analysis showed that mood state was related to colour discrimination. BPD individuals were not impaired in cognitive tasks. The present study provided new evidence of potential links between type 1 BPD and visual processing impairments. This research suggests a new direction for studies and the need for research in this field of study.

No abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the ways in which tobacco addiction affects a person’s ability to recognize facial patterns. Facial detection was assessed in 16 individuals with tobacco use disorder and 16 healthy nonsmokers. Facial stimuli were taken from the Ignatian Educational Foundation (FEI) database, from which 12 male and 12 female faces were randomly selected. In the facial detection task, the subjects’ task was to detect the location of a face when it was presented with a face/nonface pair on the screen. The order of stimulus presentation was randomized within sessions. Bayesian adaptive estimation was used for stimulus presentation. Presentation times varied between 16.7 and 3,006 ms. Lower response accuracy was associated with worse discrimination. No predictive effects of the cognitive tests on facial detection were found. A person’s ability of facial detection can be applied to provide initial descriptions of impairments in the visual processing system. Early stage visual processing is impaired by chronic smoking, and subjects are able to recognize this. Therefore, there is a possibility of reversing this effect and promoting a better prognosis. The present task has biopsychosocial applications and may improve smokers’ health by detecting subtle initial changes in visual processing.

Cigarette smoke is a complex chemical mixture that has health-damaging components, such as carbon monoxide, ammonia, pyridine, toluene, and nicotine. Cognitive functions have been well documented in heavy smokers, but visual perception has been less characterized. The purpose of the present study was to assess the influence of chronic heavy smoking on color discrimination. We evaluated color discrimination in healthy heavy smokers (n = 16), deprived smokers (n = 16), and healthy nonsmokers (n = 16). The participants were 20–45 years old and were evaluated using a psychophysical forced-choice method. In this method, the volunteers had to choose the pseudoisochromatic stimulus that contained a test frequency at 4 directions (e.g., up, down, right, and left) in the MacAdam ellipses test, which is commercially available as the Cambridge Colour Test. All of the groups were matched for gender and level of education. All of the participants were free of any neurological disorder, cardiovascular disease, and identifiable ocular disease, and they had normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity. No abnormalities were detected on the fundoscopic examination or optical coherence tomography examination. Smokers had lower color discrimination compared with nonsmokers (p < .015). Deprived smokers presented lower discrimination than smokers and nonsmokers. The largest differences were observed for medium and long wavelengths. These results suggest that cigarette smoking, chronic exposure to its compounds, and withdrawal from nicotine affect color discrimination. This highlights the importance of understanding the diverse effects of nicotine on attentional bias.

Resumo O objetivo desta pesquisa foi adaptar a Structured Interview for Assessing Perceptual Anomalies (SIAPA) para o Brasil para ser utilizada como instrumento de autorrelato. Utilizou-se uma amostra não probabilística de 854 universitários, a maioria do sexo masculino (51,4 %) e com idades entre 16 e 65 anos (M = 23,7; DP = 6,8). Após a tradução e validação semântica da SIAPA, testaram-se os parâmetros de validade e precisão por meio de análises fatoriais, coeficientes alfa de Cronbach e análises via Teoria de Resposta ao Item (TRI). Os resultados confirmaram a adequação psicométrica da medida, apontando uma solução unidimensional com altas cargas no fator geral e alta consistência interna (α = 0,88; Ω = 0,88). Acredita-se que o objetivo proposto tenha sido satisfeito, de modo que, ao final da pesquisa, contou-se com uma medida válida e fidedigna que pode ser utilizada, tanto para rastreio quanto para pesquisa, para compreender e diagnosticar anomalias perceptuais.

Background: Psychiatric conditions are common in individuals with tinnitus, so the ways individuals cope with such conditions and personality can influence the characteristics of tinnitus. Purpose: The study aims to investigate the direct and indirect effects of resilience, personality traits and psychiatric symptoms on the tinnitus perception. Research Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional, and observational field study involving quantitative results. Study Sample: Thirty-seven individuals who sought the tinnitus care service (mean age = 44.6 years; SD = 11.7 years), with chronic tinnitus for more than six months. Data Collection and Analysis: The specific anamnesis of tinnitus, adult self-report, resilience scale, big five inventory, tinnitus handicap inventory (M=45.0; SD= 24.1) and visual analog scale (M=6.4; SD= 2.7) were used. Psychoacoustic measurements (loudness: M=25.4; SD= 12.8) of tinnitus were performed to characterize the condition in terms of pitch and loudness. The study analyzed the relationship between tinnitus (annoyance, severity, and loudness), psychiatric symptoms, personality, and resilience. Results: Resilience did not influence tinnitus severity (BCa: -1.12 to 0.51), annoyance (BCa: -0.10 to 0.11), or loudness (BCa: -0.44 to 0.28) when mediated by anxiety and depression. Additionally, there was only a direct effect of resilience for annoyance (t=-2.14, p=0.03; BCa: -0.10 to 0.11). There was no direct influence of anxiety and depression on the tinnitus severity (b = 0.53, p> 0.05), annoyance (b = -0.01, p> 0.05) or loudness (b = 0.11, p> 0.05). However, there was an association of personality traits (neuroticism) with the tinnitus severity (b = 1.16, 95% CI: 0.15-2.17; t = 2.53, p = 0.02) and annoyance (b = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.003-0.24; t = 2.09, p = 0.04). Conclusions: Resilience and psychiatric symptoms did not have a direct or indirect influence on the tinnitus annoyance, severity, or loudness, with only a direct association of resilience and annoyance, and neuroticism trait with the tinnitus annoyance and severity. Our results suggest that it is essential patients with high neuroticism be conducted to develop personalized treatment.