meranda leung - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by meranda leung

Research paper thumbnail of Affective Experience and Motivated Behavior in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Evidence From Clinical and Nonclinical Samples

Neuropsychology, Sep 17, 2016

Individuals with schizophrenia have been found to exhibit emotion-behavior decoupling, particular... more Individuals with schizophrenia have been found to exhibit emotion-behavior decoupling, particularly with respect to anticipated, rather than experienced events. However, previous research has focused on how emotion valence translates into motivated behavior, ignoring the fact that emotion arousal should also modulate emotion-behavior coupling. Few studies have examined emotion-behavior coupling in prepsychotic conditions. This investigation aimed to examine the nature and extent of emotion valence- and arousal-behavior coupling across the schizophrenia spectrum. We examine how emotional valence and arousal couple with behavior in 3 groups of individuals (25 individuals with chronic schizophrenia; 27 individuals early in the disease course, and 31 individuals reporting negative schizotypal symptoms). Participants completed a task using slides to elicit emotion and evoke motivated behavior. We compared participants with their respective matched control groups to determine differences ...

Research paper thumbnail of Patients with bipolar disorder show differential executive dysfunctions: A case-control study

Psychiatry Research, 2016

Executive deficits in euthymic bipolar I disorder were examined in a fractionated manner based on... more Executive deficits in euthymic bipolar I disorder were examined in a fractionated manner based on the "Supervisory Attentional System" (SAS) model, and the relationship between the degree of executive impairment and the demographic and clinical characteristics of bipolar I participants was explored. A battery of neurocognitive tests capturing specific components of executive function was administered on 30 patients with bipolar I disorder in euthymic state, and compared with 30 healthy controls who were matched by age, gender and IQ. A differential impairment in executive function was demonstrated in euthymic bipolar I participants by using a fractionated approach of the SAS. Euthymic bipolar I patients were found to have significantly poorer performance in immediate and delayed visual memory; and in the executive domains of "initiation", "sustained attention", and "attention allocation and planning". Those with a greater number of executive impairments had lower IQ and higher negative sub-scores on PANSS. These findings might provide a the basis for further studies on identifying the executive components that are associated with particular disease characteristics of bipolar disorder, and those with poorer functional outcome, so that rehabilitation can be focused on the selective domains concerned.

Research paper thumbnail of Facial emotion perception abnormality in patients with early schizophrenia

Schizophrenia Research, 2013

Background: Deficit in facial emotion perception is an important social cognitive impairment in s... more Background: Deficit in facial emotion perception is an important social cognitive impairment in schizophrenic patients, and it is one of the key determinants of functional outcome in schizophrenia. However, the moderating effect of social context and the boundary of perceptual categories of facial emotion perception remain unclear. Method: A total of 36 schizophrenic outpatients in their early stage of illness and 43 healthy controls were recruited for evaluation of social and clinical characteristics, neurocognitive profiles, and facial emotion categorization (FEC) performance. FEC was assessed by a computer-based program with 120 trials, in which social context was presented in the form of a preceding question, in order to simulate the conditions of being praised (positive), blamed (negative), or inquiry (neutral), while the participants were asked to judge a photograph derived from one of the five facial images in a happy-angry emotion continuum. The FEC data was inserted into a logistic function model with subsequent analysis by repeated measures ANOVA and the shift point and slope as outcome measures. Results: Schizophrenic patients were significantly more likely to perceive ambiguous and subtle facial expressions as happy, rather than angry, in all three social contexts. However, the interaction effects between group and context for FEC performance was not significant. Conclusions: Schizophrenic patients, even in their early stage of illness, appear to have abnormal perceptions of facial emotion categories, which may explain some of their abnormal social interactions and disabilities. This study provides additional information in understanding social cognitive deficits among schizophrenic patients.

Research paper thumbnail of Affective Experience and Motivated Behavior in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Evidence From Clinical and Nonclinical Samples

Neuropsychology, Sep 17, 2016

Individuals with schizophrenia have been found to exhibit emotion-behavior decoupling, particular... more Individuals with schizophrenia have been found to exhibit emotion-behavior decoupling, particularly with respect to anticipated, rather than experienced events. However, previous research has focused on how emotion valence translates into motivated behavior, ignoring the fact that emotion arousal should also modulate emotion-behavior coupling. Few studies have examined emotion-behavior coupling in prepsychotic conditions. This investigation aimed to examine the nature and extent of emotion valence- and arousal-behavior coupling across the schizophrenia spectrum. We examine how emotional valence and arousal couple with behavior in 3 groups of individuals (25 individuals with chronic schizophrenia; 27 individuals early in the disease course, and 31 individuals reporting negative schizotypal symptoms). Participants completed a task using slides to elicit emotion and evoke motivated behavior. We compared participants with their respective matched control groups to determine differences ...

Research paper thumbnail of Patients with bipolar disorder show differential executive dysfunctions: A case-control study

Psychiatry Research, 2016

Executive deficits in euthymic bipolar I disorder were examined in a fractionated manner based on... more Executive deficits in euthymic bipolar I disorder were examined in a fractionated manner based on the "Supervisory Attentional System" (SAS) model, and the relationship between the degree of executive impairment and the demographic and clinical characteristics of bipolar I participants was explored. A battery of neurocognitive tests capturing specific components of executive function was administered on 30 patients with bipolar I disorder in euthymic state, and compared with 30 healthy controls who were matched by age, gender and IQ. A differential impairment in executive function was demonstrated in euthymic bipolar I participants by using a fractionated approach of the SAS. Euthymic bipolar I patients were found to have significantly poorer performance in immediate and delayed visual memory; and in the executive domains of "initiation", "sustained attention", and "attention allocation and planning". Those with a greater number of executive impairments had lower IQ and higher negative sub-scores on PANSS. These findings might provide a the basis for further studies on identifying the executive components that are associated with particular disease characteristics of bipolar disorder, and those with poorer functional outcome, so that rehabilitation can be focused on the selective domains concerned.

Research paper thumbnail of Facial emotion perception abnormality in patients with early schizophrenia

Schizophrenia Research, 2013

Background: Deficit in facial emotion perception is an important social cognitive impairment in s... more Background: Deficit in facial emotion perception is an important social cognitive impairment in schizophrenic patients, and it is one of the key determinants of functional outcome in schizophrenia. However, the moderating effect of social context and the boundary of perceptual categories of facial emotion perception remain unclear. Method: A total of 36 schizophrenic outpatients in their early stage of illness and 43 healthy controls were recruited for evaluation of social and clinical characteristics, neurocognitive profiles, and facial emotion categorization (FEC) performance. FEC was assessed by a computer-based program with 120 trials, in which social context was presented in the form of a preceding question, in order to simulate the conditions of being praised (positive), blamed (negative), or inquiry (neutral), while the participants were asked to judge a photograph derived from one of the five facial images in a happy-angry emotion continuum. The FEC data was inserted into a logistic function model with subsequent analysis by repeated measures ANOVA and the shift point and slope as outcome measures. Results: Schizophrenic patients were significantly more likely to perceive ambiguous and subtle facial expressions as happy, rather than angry, in all three social contexts. However, the interaction effects between group and context for FEC performance was not significant. Conclusions: Schizophrenic patients, even in their early stage of illness, appear to have abnormal perceptions of facial emotion categories, which may explain some of their abnormal social interactions and disabilities. This study provides additional information in understanding social cognitive deficits among schizophrenic patients.