COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE STUDIES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry,
VA Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, McLean State Hospital
Paul Nestor,Ph.D., Margaret Niznikiewicz, Ph.D., Dean Salisbury, Ph.D., Kevin Spencer, Ph.D., Cynthia Wible, Ph.D.,Ronald Gurrera, MD., James Levitt, M.D., .Martha E. Shenton, Ph.D., Robert W. McCarley,MD.
The major theme of our research program is to examine the mechanisms underlying thought disorder and language impairment in schizophrenia. We use both traditional measures of language functioning as well as cognitive tasks related to language processing, together with event related potential (ERP) measures and functional MRI, to assess the brain-based abnormality which leads to clinically observable thought disorder in schizophrenia. Our current results indicate that processes of activating neural networks involved in semantic processes are abnormal in schizophrenia. The ongoing research focuses on obtaining further evidence of specific language processes which might be involved in producing language dysfunction in schizophrenia patients, as well as developing new tasks which help better delineate the neural substrates of language abnormality.
Key Words. Schizophrenia, MR Image Processing, functional MRI, Event-related potentials (ERP), language dysfunction, semantic networks.
Grant Support. Veterans Administration Merit Review, Cognitive Neuroscience Studies of Schizophrenia (PGN, MN)
Project Sites. Department of Psychiatry, Brain Imaging Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division; Brain Potential Imaging Laboratory; Surgical Planning Laboratory and Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA;
Project Director. Paul G. Nestor, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, and Margaret Niznikiewicz, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston VA Healthcare System, Brockton Division. Mail Address: Psychiatry 116A, 940 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA 02301. Email: margaret _niznikiewicz@http://hms.harvard.edu
Contact Person. Marie Fairbanks, Departmental Administrator. Tel. No. (508) 583-4500, X2479. FAX. (508) 586-0894. E-Mail Address: marie_fairbanks@http://hms.harvard.edu
Training Opportunities. Currently we have two fellows, several junior faculty, and two full-time Research Assistants working in our laboratory. There are numerous opportunities for research training at all levels and we encourage interested undergraduates, graduate students, and fellows to join us in our research endeavors.
Representative Publications.
Niznikiewicz MA, Donnino R, McCarley RW, Iosifescu DV, Ohta H, Levitt JJ, O'Donnell BF, Nestor PG, Wible CG, Kikinis R, Jolesz FA, Shenton ME. Abnormal angular gyrus asymmetry in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 2000;157:428-437.
Niznikiewicz, MA., O'Donnell, B. F., Nestor, P.G., Smith, L., Law, S., Karapelou, M.E., Shenton, M., McCarley, R.W. ERP assessment of visual and auditory language processing in schizophrenia. J Ab Psychol 1997;106:85-94.
McCarley RW, O'Donnell BF, Niznikiewicz MA, Salisbury DF, Potts GF, Hirayasu Y, Nestor PG, Shenton ME. Update on electrophysiology. Intern Rev Psychiatry 1997;9:373-386.
Nestor, P., Kimble, M., O'Donnell, B.F., Niznikiewicz M A., Shenton, M. E., McCarley, R.W. Aberrant semantic activation in schizophrenia: A neuropsychological study. Am J Psychiatry 1998;154:640-646.
Nestor, P.G., Akdag, S. J., O'Donnell, B. F., Niznikiewicz, M.A., Law, S., Shenton, M.E., McCarley, R.W. Word recall in schizophrenia: Connectionist model. Am J Psychiatry 1998;155:1685-1690.
Niznikiewicz, M.A., Shenton, E., M., Voglmaier, M., Seidman, L., Dickey, Ch., Rhodes, R., The, K. McCarley, R. W. Electrophysiological Correlates of Language Processing in Schizotypal Personality Disorder. Am J Psychiatry 1999;156:1052-1058.