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Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki 2019There is now general agreement that lack of insight is not merely a fundamental aspect of delusions and hallucinations, or just a symptom of psychotic disorders but...
There is now general agreement that lack of insight is not merely a fundamental aspect of delusions and hallucinations, or just a symptom of psychotic disorders but rather a multi-dimensional construct. Several different components of insight have been proposed and empirically examined during the last three decades, such as the ability to recognize that one has a mental illness, the capacity to relabel unusual mental events as pathological, the specific attribution of one's symptoms to having a mental illness, awareness of illness' consequences, and compliance with treatment.1 Insight impairment is an important prognostic factor in schizophrenia, impacting negatively on medication adherence, treatment outcome, and social functioning.2 Although largely investigated in schizophrenia and other psychoses, insight impairments are observed in many, if not all, mental disorders. Varying levels of awareness of mental illness and/or of specific symptoms are expected in patients with bipolar disorders, Alzheimer disease and other neurocognitive disorders, obsessive-compulsive (OCD) and related disorders.1,3 While in DSM-5 an "insight" specifier was incorporated for OCD, body dysmorphic and hoarding disorder, patients' insight has been found ranging from good to absent in other disorders, such as depressive disorders,4 eating disorders,5 and even specific6 and social7 phobias. Moreover, impaired insight is a common reason that many people with clinical depression or anxiety disorders never seek appropriate treatment and most of the people with addictions and personality disorders fail to recognize and address their problems even when the consequences are devastating: personal suffering, broken relationships, and physical health problems. Depending on the disorder and reflecting different conceptual approaches, many different terms are used to describe lack of insight, such as poor self-awareness, denial, anosognosia (mainly in neurological deficits, e.g. hemiplegia), ego-syntonic symptoms, or even self-deception. At any rate, as an aspect of self-knowledge, insight has psychological (defense mechanisms, coping strategies), social and cultural facets. On the other hand, the attitudes and behaviours towards one's illness are products of inference processes and therefore can be influenced by cognitive dysfunctions. Previous research in schizophrenia showed correlations between neurocognitive functions and insight measures but the strength of this association is rather weak.8 Social cognition may be a crucial cognitive determinant of impaired insight in schizophrenia. The correct attitude toward morbid change in oneself relies on the capacity to reflect upon self from the perspective of the other (i.e., "to see ourselves as others see us"). This capacity is clearly linked to the ability to understand mental states (e.g., beliefs, knowledge, and intentions) of others, that is, theory of mind or mentalizing. Recent research has shown that mentalizing deficits may substantially contribute to insight impairment in schizophrenia.9 This effect could be further examined in the broader context of patient's failures in metacognition, i.e. the general ability to think about thinking, and their relationships with insight impairment in schizophrenia. Mentalizing and introspection are closely related developmentally and it is yet unclear which one is the primary ability: we are able to understand others and then apply this understanding to ourselves or we are able to reflect on ourselves and then apply this reflection to others. A recent line of research in schizophrenia is based on the distinction introduced by Beck et al10 between clinical insight (i.e., awareness of illness) and cognitive insight, which describes a metacognitive ability, specifically patients' flexibility towards their beliefs, judgements and experiences. The self-report Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) examines two subcomponents: self-certainty, assessing overconfidence about being right (e.g. "I know better than anyone else what mycomponents: self-certainty, assessing overconfidence about being right (e.g. "I know better than anyone else what my problems are"), and self-reflectiveness, assessing willingness to accept external feedback and recognition of dysfunctionalreasoning style (e.g. "Some of the ideas I was certain were true turned out to be false"). Cognitive insight in thisform describes two related but distinct aspects of metacognition in patients with psychosis, differentially associated withclinical insight, symptoms, treatment outcomes, and functioning.11 Another method for assessment of similar metacognitiveskills also used in schizophrenia is a scale (Metacognition Assessment Scale - Abbreviated, MAS-A) that is administeredthrough a specific interview and examines the capacities of self-reflectivity, understanding of the other individuals'mental states, and using metacognitive knowledge to respond to psychosocial challenges. Lysaker and colleaguesfound recently that metacognitive deficits assessed with MAS-A predict impaired insight in schizophrenia independentof symptoms.12 It is questionable whether BCIS and other methods used so far to assess self-reflection in psychoses arevalid and useful for patients with non-psychotic disorders.11 However, the metacognitive conceptualization of insightmight contribute to a new research framework for insight impairments across mental disorders. According to this approach, poor insight is in part a failure of self-reflection, i.e. the process by which we synthesizeand comprehend ideas about ourselves. This may be due to general deficits in metacognitive abilities (self-reflectivity,mentalizing) or may represent limited, domain-specific, or transient dysfunctions in metacognitive processes. Insight hasto be thought of as a relational concept, that is insight into something: insight into illness, current syndrome, specificsymptoms, pathological personality traits, social difficulties etc.1,3 In an integrated model of insight across mental disorders,aspects of metacognition interacting with multiple other (clinical, neurocognitive, emotional, and social) factorsdetermine patient's ability to correctly process information into self-awareness. The identification of these factors andtheir interactions may be a fruitful field in the research of insight.
Topics: Cognition Disorders; Humans; Mental Disorders; Metacognition; Schizophrenic Psychology; Self Concept
PubMed: 31115349
DOI: 10.22365/jpsych.2019.301.13 -
Bipolar Disorders Mar 2022The association between impaired social cognition and bipolar disorder (BD) is well established. However, to our knowledge, there has not been a recent systematic review... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
The association between impaired social cognition and bipolar disorder (BD) is well established. However, to our knowledge, there has not been a recent systematic review that characterizes disparate dimensions of social cognition in BD. Herein, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the literature on core aspects of social cognition (i.e., Theory of Mind, emotion recognition, and social judgment) to identify potential areas of impairment.
METHODS
Online databases (i.e., PubMed, Cochrane Libraries, PsycINFO) and Google Scholar were searched from inception to May 2021. Studies with populations ages ≥16 with DSM-IV or DSM-5 defined BD (I or II) either in a euthymic or symptomatic state were included. The risk of bias was measured using the ROBINS-1 tool, and the quality of the sources was evaluated using GRADE criteria. The results of the studies were quantitatively measured by synthesizing Hedge's g effect sizes through a random effects meta-analytic approach.
RESULTS
A total of 29 studies were included in the final review (i.e., 12 studies on the Theory of Mind, 11 on emotion recognition, and 6 on social judgment). Overall, results demonstrated social cognition to be moderately impaired in individuals with BD (d = 0.59). The individual domains ranged in effect size (0.38 < d < 0.70), providing evidence for variation in impairment within social cognition.
DISCUSSION
Individuals with BD exhibit clinically significant deficits in social cognition during euthymic and symptomatic states. Social cognition impairments in individuals with BD are an important therapeutic target for treatment discovery and development.
Topics: Bipolar Disorder; Cognition; Cognitive Dysfunction; Cyclothymic Disorder; Humans; Social Cognition; Theory of Mind
PubMed: 34825440
DOI: 10.1111/bdi.13163 -
Handbook of Clinical Neurology 2019Over the past 150 years, the frontal lobes (FLs) have been implicated in the neural mediation of both normal and abnormal moral conduct and social behavior (MCSB).... (Review)
Review
Over the past 150 years, the frontal lobes (FLs) have been implicated in the neural mediation of both normal and abnormal moral conduct and social behavior (MCSB). Despite the remarkable advances that have permeated this period up to the present, a comprehensive account of the neural underpinnings of MCSB has stubbornly defied the best minds of psychology, psychiatry, and neurology. The goal of this chapter is to review a few practical and conceptual achievements that have proved heuristically valuable as an impetus for further advance of knowledge. In virtually all cases in which MCSB was compromised by brain damage, the injuries were located (i) in the prefrontal cortices, (ii) in their connections with the temporal poles and anterior insula, or (iii) in related subcortical structures and pathways, such as the thalamic dorsomedial nucleus or the anterior thalamic radiation. The clinicoanatomic associations among these structures originated the "frontal network systems" concept, which satisfactorily explains the occurrence of classical FL syndromes in patients with lesions outside the prefrontal cortices. Overall, clinicoanatomic observational studies and experimental evidence from patients with acquired sociopathy/psychopathy indicate that abnormalities of MCSB are the final common pathway of single or mixed impairments of subordinate psychologic and neural domains that support MCSB. Independent studies on normal volunteers concur with this view, indicating that MCSB is shaped by the dynamic interplay of subordinate psychologic domains, such as moral sensitivity and judgment, and their neural correlates.
Topics: Brain Mapping; Humans; Judgment; Morals; Neuropsychological Tests; Prefrontal Cortex; Social Behavior
PubMed: 31590736
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-804281-6.00016-1 -
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland) Nov 2018Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system through which patients can suffer from sensory, motor,... (Review)
Review
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system through which patients can suffer from sensory, motor, cerebellar, emotional, and cognitive symptoms. Although cognitive and behavioral dysfunctions are frequently encountered in MS patients, they have previously received little attention. Among the most frequently impaired cognitive domains are attention, information processing speed, and working memory, which have been extensively addressed in this population. However, less emphasis has been placed on other domains like moral judgment. The latter is a complex cognitive sphere that implies the individuals' ability to judge others' actions and relies on numerous affective and cognitive processes. Moral cognition is crucial for healthy and adequate interpersonal relationships, and its alteration might have drastic impacts on patients' quality of life. This work aims to analyze the studies that have addressed moral cognition in MS. Only three works have previously addressed moral judgement in this clinical population compared to healthy controls, and none included neuroimaging or physiological measures. Although scarce, the available data suggest a complex pattern of moral judgments that deviate from normal response. This finding was accompanied by socio-emotional and cognitive deficits. Only preliminary data are available on moral cognition in MS, and its neurobiological foundations are still needing to be explored. Future studies would benefit from combining moral cognitive measures with comprehensive neuropsychological batteries and neuroimaging/neurophysiological modalities (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging, tractography, evoked potentials, electroencephalography) aiming to decipher the neural underpinning of moral judgement deficits and subsequently conceive potential interventions in MS patients.
PubMed: 30453483
DOI: 10.3390/bs8110105 -
Handbook of Clinical Neurology 2023In the past decades, a growing interest of neuroscience on moral judgment and decision-making has shed new light on the neurobiological correlates of human morality. It... (Review)
Review
In the past decades, a growing interest of neuroscience on moral judgment and decision-making has shed new light on the neurobiological correlates of human morality. It is now understood that moral cognition relies on a complex integration of cognitive and affective information processes that implicate a widely distributed brain network. Moral cognition relies on the coordination of several domain-general processes, subserved by domain-general neural networks, rather than a specific moral cognition system subserved by a specific neural network. In this chapter, we will first briefly review what is currently known about the "moral brain," i.e., the network of brain regions consistently implicated in studies of moral cognition, which include decision-making, affective processing, mentalizing, and perspective-taking processing regions. We will then review the evidence of the impairments found in this network in individuals with psychopathy, a condition whose characteristics indicate profound disturbances in appropriate moral processing. We will present data from neuroimaging studies with forensic/clinical, general population, as well as child and adolescent samples, which seem to converge to support the notion that the moral dysfunction observed in individuals with psychopathy may stem from a disruption of affective components of moral processing rather than from an inability to compute moral judgments per se.
Topics: Adolescent; Child; Humans; Brain; Cognition; Morals; Judgment; Neurobiology
PubMed: 37633704
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-821375-9.00008-6 -
Degenerative Neurological and... 2018Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that heavily affects postural control, predisposing patients to accidental falls and fall-related injuries, with a relevant burden... (Review)
Review
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that heavily affects postural control, predisposing patients to accidental falls and fall-related injuries, with a relevant burden on their families, health care systems and themselves. Clinical scales aimed to assess balance are easy to administer in daily clinical setting, but suffer from several limitations including their variable execution, subjective judgment in the scoring system, poor performance in identifying patients at higher risk of falls, and statistical concerns mainly related to distribution of their scores. Today we are able to objectively and reliably assess postural control not only with laboratory-grade standard force platform, but also with low-cost systems based on commercial devices that provide acceptable comparability to gold-standard equipment. The sensitivity of measurements derived from force platforms is such that we can detect balance abnormalities even in minimally impaired patients and predict the risk of future accidental falls accurately. By manipulating sensory inputs (dynamic posturography) or by adding a concurrent cognitive task (dual-task paradigm) to the standard postural assessment, we can unmask postural control deficit even in patients at first demyelinating event or in those with a radiologic isolated syndrome. Studies on neuroanatomical correlates support the multifactorial etiology of postural control deficit in MS, with the association with balance impairment being correlated with cerebellum, spinal cord, and highly ordered processing network according to different studies. Postural control deficit can be managed by means of rehabilitation, which is the most important way to improve balance in patients with MS, but there are also suggestions of a beneficial effect of some pharmacologic interventions. On the other hand, it would be useful to pay attention to some drugs that are currently used to manage other symptoms in daily clinical setting because they can further impair postural controls of patients with MS.
PubMed: 30050386
DOI: 10.2147/DNND.S135755 -
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 2016Impaired driving is a major cause of motor vehicle accidents, injury, and fatality. Several classes of medication have been found to affect a driver's cognition,... (Review)
Review
Impaired driving is a major cause of motor vehicle accidents, injury, and fatality. Several classes of medication have been found to affect a driver's cognition, judgment, and reaction time and may put patients at increased risk for accidents and injury. This article will explore medications with side effects posing a potential threat to drivers, including anxiolytics, sedative hypnotics, antihistamines, and antidepressants, as well as describe potential strategies for mitigating or minimizing such risks.
PubMed: 30202255
DOI: 10.1177/1559827615609050 -
International Journal of Psychiatry in... Sep 2022Mental capacity for treatment decisions in psychiatry inpatients is an important ethical and legal concern, especially in light of changes in mental capacity legislation... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Mental capacity for treatment decisions in psychiatry inpatients is an important ethical and legal concern, especially in light of changes in mental capacity legislation in many jurisdictions.
AIMS
To conduct a systematic review of literature examining the prevalence of mental capacity for treatment decisions among voluntary and involuntary psychiatry inpatients, and to assess any correlations between research tools used to measure mental capacity and binary judgements using criteria such as those in capacity legislation.
METHOD
We searched PsycINFO, Ovid MEDLINE and EMBASE for studies assessing mental capacity for treatment decisions in people admitted voluntarily and involuntarily to psychiatric hospitals.
RESULTS
Forty-five papers emanating from 33 studies were identified. There was huge variability in study methods and often selective populations, but the prevalence of decision-making capacity varied between 5% and 83.7%. These figures resulted from studies using cut-off scores or categorical criteria only. The prevalence of decision-making capacity among involuntary patients ranged from 7.7% to 42%, and among voluntary patients ranged from 29% to 97.9%. Two papers showed positive correlations between clinicians' judgement of decision-making capacity and scores on the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment; two papers showed no such correlation.
CONCLUSIONS
Not all voluntary psychiatry inpatients possess mental capacity and many involuntary patients do. This paradox needs to be clarified and resolved in mental health legislation; supported decision-making can help with this task.Key PointsLegislative changes for mental capacity are taking place in many jurisdictions.This is an important human rights issue for many people, including psychiatry inpatients.In our review, we found the prevalence of decision-making capacity varies between 5% and 83.7% in psychiatry inpatients.Not all voluntary inpatients have decision-making capacity.Many involuntary inpatients have mental capacity to make decisions.Supported decision-making can help those with impairments in their mental capacity.
Topics: Humans; Mental Competency; Inpatients; Decision Making; Informed Consent; Psychiatry; Mental Disorders
PubMed: 34941467
DOI: 10.1080/13651501.2021.2017461