Effects of asthma on stability of Wisconsin card sorting test measures A twin study

BACKGROUND： The four measures used to assess the stability of the Wisconsin card sorting test （WCST）, that is, the number of preservative errors, percentage of preservative errors, number of categories completed, and the number of trials to complete the first category, reflect the function of the frontal lobe. OBJECTIVE： This study was designed to investigate the effects of asthma on the stability of WCST measurements through the use of a twin study, and to analyze whether egg-type difference exists. DESIGN： A cohort study. SETTING： Mental Health Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. PARTICIPANTS： Fifty-nine pairs of twins, aged 6-16 years, were primarily selected from schools between August 2005 and February 2007 and the WCST and Zygosity identification test was applied. Twins with achromatopsia, severe upper limb diseases, somatic diseases, or mental disorders were excluded. According to disease history of asthmatic attack, children were assigned into asthma （n = 16） and non-asthma （n = 43） groups. METHODS： Four WCST measurements were determined in the 59 pairs of twins, and egg-type differences were identified in conjunction. RESULTS： All 59 pairs of twins were included in the final analysis. Among the pairs of twins, 28 （48.5 %） were monozygotic twins, and 31 （52%） were dizygotic twins. Among the monozygotic and dizygotic twins, the number of preservative errors and percentage of preservative errors were significantly higher in the asthma group than in the non-asthma group （P 〈 0.05）. However, there was no significant difference of each corresponding measure between the monozygotic and dizygotic twins （P 〉 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Asthma may affect the stability of WCST measures, but egg-type differences do not exist.

Processing Environmental Stimuli in Paranoid Schizophrenia:Recognizing Facial Emotions and Performing Executive Functions

Objective To study the contribution of executive function to abnormal recognition of facia expressions of emotion in schizophrenia patients. Methods Abnormal recognition of facial expressions of emotion was assayed according to Japanese and Caucasian facial expressions of emotion （JACFEE）, Wisconsin card sorting test {WCST）, positive and negative symptom scale, and Hamilton anxiety and depression scale, respectively, in 88 paranoid schizophrenia patients and 75 healthy volunteers. Results Patients scored higher on the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Scales, displayed lower JACFEE recognition accuracies and poorer WCST performances. The JACFEE recognition accuracy of contempt and disgust was negatively correlated with the negative symptom scale score while the recognition accuracy of fear was positively with the positive symptom scale score and the recognition accuracy of surprise was negatively with the general psychopathology score in patients. Moreover, the WCST could predict the JACFEE recognition accuracy of contempt, disgust, and sadness in patients, and the perseverative errors negatively predicted the recognition accuracy of sadness in healthy volunteers. The JACFEE recognition accuracy of sadness could predict the WCST categories in paranoid schizophrenia patients. Conclusion Recognition accuracy of social-/moral emotions, such as contempt, disgust and sadness is related to the executive function in paranoid schizophrenia patients, especially when regarding sadness.