Eileen Joyce - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Eileen Joyce

The British Journal of Psychiatry, 2005

Behavioural Neurology, 2013

Background: Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a chronic childhood-onset neuropsychiatric di... more Background: Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a chronic childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder with a significant impact on patients' health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). Cavanna et al. (Neurology 2008; 71: 1410-1416 developed and validated the first disease-specific HR-QOL assessment tool for adults with GTS (Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome-Quality of Life Scale, GTS-QOL). This paper presents the translation, adaptation and validation of the GTS-QOL for young Italian patients with GTS. Methods: A three-stage process involving 75 patients with GTS recruited through three Departments of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry in Italy led to the development of a 27-item instrument (Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome-Quality of Life Scale in children and adolescents, C&A-GTS-QOL) for the assessment of HR-QOL through a clinician-rated interview for 6-12 year-olds and a self-report questionnaire for 13-18 year-olds. Results: The C&A-GTS-QOL demonstrated satisfactory scaling assumptions and acceptability. Internal consistency reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha > 0.7) and validity was supported by interscale correlations (range 0.4-0.7), principal-component factor analysis and correlations with other rating scales and clinical variables. Conclusions: The present version of the C&A-GTS-QOL is the first disease-specific HR-QOL tool for Italian young patients with GTS, satisfying criteria for acceptability, reliability and validity.

Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Apr 1, 2008

A growing literature supports a role for neurocognitive deficits such as impaired decision-making... more A growing literature supports a role for neurocognitive deficits such as impaired decision-making in the development and maintenance of addictive behaviour. On the basis of these findings, it has been suggested that measures of neurocognitive functioning may be applied to the task of predicting clinical outcome in drug addiction. This in turn may have relevance for differentiating treatment based on individual patient needs. To explore this hypothesis we obtained neurocognitive measures of planning, impulsivity and decision-making from 37 opiate dependent individuals within 6 weeks of starting a community drug treatment programme and we followed them up 3 months into the programme. Performance on two tests of decision-making, but not on tests of planning, motor inhibition, reflection impulsivity or delay discounting, was found to predict abstinence from illicit drugs at 3 months with high specificity and moderate sensitivity. In particular, two thirds of the participants performing normally on the Cambridge Gamble Task and the Iowa Gambling Task, but none of those impaired on both, were abstinent from illicit drugs at follow up. Other neuropsychological, psychiatric or psychosocial factors measured in this sample did not explain this finding. The results are discussed in terms of the brain circuitry involved and the potential implications for the planning of treatment services for opiate dependence.

Schizophrenia Research, Sep 25, 2013

Background: It has been consistently demonstrated that delusions are related to jumping to conclu... more Background: It has been consistently demonstrated that delusions are related to jumping to conclusions (JTC), a data-gathering bias and potential candidate endophenotype of psychosis. Recent research suggests that JTC may be a marker of treatment response. However, we know little about the factors contributing to the occurrence of this reasoning bias. This study investigated the relationship between JTC and hypothesised deficits in working memory, employing standard well-validated neuropsychological tests, in people with current delusions. Method: One hundred and twenty six people with schizophrenia spectrum psychosis and current delusions were assessed for current symptoms, and tested for JTC. We compared performance on tests of working memory in those with the reasoning bias and those without. Results: As expected, 30-40% of this sample of people with current delusions showed the JTC bias. There were no differences in premorbid IQ between those with and without the JTC reasoning bias. However, the performance of the JTC group was significantly worse on tests of working memory. Conclusions: The JTC data-gathering bias is associated with impairments in working memory. New nonpharmacological interventions for people with delusions, designed to improve data gathering, may benefit from incorporating strategies to overcome deficits in working memory.

Schizophrenia research. Cognition, 2016

It has been suggested that positive psychotic symptoms reflect 'aberrant salience'. Previ... more It has been suggested that positive psychotic symptoms reflect 'aberrant salience'. Previously we provided support for this hypothesis in first-episode schizophrenia patients, demonstrating that delusional symptoms were associated with aberrant reward processing, indexed by the Salience Attribution Test (SAT). Here we tested whether salience processing is abnormal in schizophrenia patients with long-standing treatment-refractory persistent delusions (TRS). Eighteen medicated TRS patients and 31 healthy volunteers completed the SAT, on which participants made a speeded response to earn money in the presence of cues. Each cue comprised two visual dimensions, colour and form. Reinforcement probability varied over one of these dimensions (task-relevant), but not the other (task-irrelevant). Participants responded significantly faster on high-probability relative to low-probability trials, representing implicit adaptive salience; this effect was intact in TRS patients. By contras...

In Journal of Psychopharmacology Sage Publications Ltd, Aug 1, 2011

British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 1993

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1521 Pedi 2007 21 3 243, May 30, 2007

Previous studies have identified neuropsychological deficits in individuals with antisocial perso... more Previous studies have identified neuropsychological deficits in individuals with antisocial personality disorder and/or psychopathy. Few studies have examined neuropsychological functioning in individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), and no studies have yet investigated cognitive and emotional function in male prisoners with BPD. In this study, we compared the risky decision-making of 17 participants with a history of serious violent or sexual offenses and a diagnosis of DSM-IV BPD with that of 17 participants with similar offending histories but personality disorders other than BPD. Those with BPD exhibited altered processing of information about potential losses (punishment) when the probability of gains (reward) was high; they also increased their choice of risky options even in circumstances where this was clearly avoidable. These data suggest that individuals with a diagnosis of BPD and a history of serious offenses have problems integrating different reinforcement signals when choosing between risky actions, perhaps reflecting corticolimbic dysfunction as an underlying mechanism in BPD.

Frontiers in neuroscience, 2016

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disease characterized by a combination of motor and ... more Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disease characterized by a combination of motor and vocal tics. Deep brain stimulation (DBS), already widely utilized for Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, is an emerging therapy for select and severe cases of TS that are resistant to medication and behavioral therapy. Over the last two decades, DBS has been used experimentally to manage severe TS cases. The results of case reports and small case series have been variable but in general positive. The reported interventions have, however, been variable, and there remain non-standardized selection criteria, various brain targets, differences in hardware, as well as variability in the programming parameters utilized. DBS centers perform only a handful of TS DBS cases each year, making large-scale outcomes difficult to study and to interpret. These limitations, coupled with the variable effect of surgery, and the overall small numbers of TS patients with DBS worldwide, hav...

Neuroimage, 2010

Background-Loss of brain volume in first-episode psychosis can be detected using conventional mag... more Background-Loss of brain volume in first-episode psychosis can be detected using conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but subtle changes -not leading to reduction in volume -that may contribute to clinical and cognitive abnormalities, may go undetected. Magnetization transfer imaging (MTI), a technique more sensitive to subtle neuropathological changes than conventional MRI, could yield important information on the extent and nature of structural abnormalities.

In Schizophrenia Bulletin Oxford Univ Press, Mar 1, 2011

In Sun M K Research Progress in Alzheimer S Disease and Dementia Nova Science Publishers Inc New York, Oct 1, 2009

In Schizophr Res Elsevier Science Bv, 1998

Thirty patients, who subsequently received a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia, were examined wit... more Thirty patients, who subsequently received a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia, were examined with CANTAB tests of executive function at presentation and at one year. Severe impairments in planning and strategy use were found at presentation with relative preservation of attentional set shifting {Hutton et al., 1998, Psychological Medicine, in press). At one year, spatial working memory had improved specifically at the harder stages (F(3, 84)-3.8, p=0.013). Change in performance correlated strongly with change in strategy use (r =0.70; p <0.001 ) but not with change in spatial short term memory (r=0.23, ns). In the Tower of London planning task, patients demonstrated faster subsequent thinking time, again at the harder stages (F(3, 81 )=7.31, p<0.0001 ), and achieved more perfect solutions overall ( F( 1, 27) =4.69, p =0.04). Attentional set shifting performance did not improve and, if anything, showed some deterioration (27% failed at baseline, 44% failed at one year: 2i-0.61, ns). Further, there was no improvement on CANTAB pattern and spatial recognition memory tests (t(28)=0.00 and 0.025, ns). At one year, there was improvement in positive symptoms in 9Y¼, of patients but only 39% had reduced negative symptoms, the remainder being worse. No relationships were found between changes in symptoms and neuropsychological function. These data suggest that the ability to plan strategically can improve with treatment early in the course of schizophrenia and that cognitive function changes independently of symptoms.

In Abou Saleh Mm and Katona Cle and Kumar a Principles and Practice of Geriatric Psychiatry Wiley, Jan 11, 2011

Schizophr Res, 1996

for age and pre-morbid IQ, on a battery of tests compiled to assess verbal short term and long te... more for age and pre-morbid IQ, on a battery of tests compiled to assess verbal short term and long term memory. Despite normal performance on conventional tests of verbal short-term memory (Digit Span Forwards/Backwards) implying a sparing of this aspect, short term memory process as measured by the recent performance of the serial position curve, was found to be impaired. Investigation of the effects of priming on recall using Graf's free and cued recall paradigms indicated that, although schizophrenics were impaired on free recall, performance on the cued condition was normal. This indicated that the long term verbal memory deficit in schizophrenia may reflect impaired access rather than a defect in encoding.

J Neurol 261 Pp 2370 2377, Sep 20, 2014

Although functional neurological symptoms are often very disabling there is limited information o... more Although functional neurological symptoms are often very disabling there is limited information on outcome after treatment. Here we prospectively assessed the short-and long-term efficacy of an inpatient multidisciplinary programme for patients with FNS. We also sought to determine predictors of good outcome by assessing the responsiveness of different scales administered at admission, discharge and follow-up. Sixty-six consecutive patients were included. Assessments at admission, discharge and at 1 year follow-up (55 %) included:

Chronobiology International 23 485 495, Feb 1, 2006

Sleep disruption is a commonly encountered clinical feature in schizophrenic patients, and one im... more Sleep disruption is a commonly encountered clinical feature in schizophrenic patients, and one important concern is to determine the extent of this disruption under &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;real&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; life situations. Simultaneous wrist actigraphy, diary records, and repeated urine collection for urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) profiles are appropriate tools to assess circadian rhythms and sleep patterns in field studies. Their suitability for long-term recordings of schizophrenic patients living in the community has not been evaluated. In this case report, we document long-term simultaneous wrist actigraphy, light detection, repeated urine collection, and diary records as a suitable combination of non-invasive techniques to quantify and assess changes in sleep-wake cycles, light exposure, and melatonin profiles in a schizophrenic patient. The actigraph was well-tolerated by the patient, and compliance to diary records and 48 h urine collection was particularly good with assistance from family members. The data obtained by these techniques are illustrated, and the results reveal remarkable abnormal patterns of rest-activity patterns, light exposure, and melatonin production. We observed various rest-activity patterns, including phase-shifts, highly delayed sleep on- and offsets, and irregular rest-activity phases. The period of the rest-activity rhythm, light-dark cycle, and melatonin rhythm was longer than 24 h. These circadian abnormalities may reinforce the altered sleep patterns and the problems of cognitive function and social engagement associated with schizophrenic.

Neuropsychopharmacology, 2010

Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery Psychiatry, Aug 1, 2014