0000000000347879
AUTHOR
La Barbera D
showing 19 related works from this author
Schizophrenia polygenic risk score and cannabis use modify psychosis expression in first episode psychosis patients and population controls
2019
AbstractBackgroundDiagnostic categories within the psychosis spectrum are widely used in clinical practice, however psychosis may occur on a continuum. Therefore, we explored whether the continuous distribution of psychotic symptoms across categories is a function of genetic as well as environmental risk factors, such as polygenic risk scores (PRSs) and cannabis use.MethodsAs part of the EU-GEI study, we genotyped first episode psychosis patients (FEP) and population controls, for whom transdiagnostic dimensions of psychotic symptoms or experiences were generated using item response bi-factor modelling. Linear regression was used, separately in patients and controls, to test the association…
Social network and addiction.
2009
In recent decades, the rapid development of innovative Internet-based communication technologies created a new field of academic study among scholars. Particularly, the attention of researchers is focusing on new ways to form relationship-thought social web. Social Network sites constitute a new form of web communities, where people meet and share interests and activities. Due to exponential growth of these sites, an increasing number of scholars are beginning to study the emergent phenomena in order to identify any psychopathological risk related to use of social web, such as addiction. This article examines the recent literature about this issue. In recent decades, the rapid development o…
Assessment of Executive Functions in Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by NeuroVR
2012
Executive functions are often impaired in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). We used a Virtual Reality (VR) version of the Multiple Errand Test (MET) inside a virtual supermarket, in order to evaluate the executive functions in daily life in 10 OCD patients and 10 controls. It is performed in a shopping setting where there are items to be bought and information to be obtained. The specific goal of this study was to implement a tool for the assessment of executive functions
Beyond good and evil: The impact of digital environment in family life
2019
Internet has changed the way we interact with others and has become an essential tool for daily activities. Children and adolescents are the main users of new digital technologies and their first contact with a screen happens increasingly earlier in life. Its premature use can be dangerous: technology represents a “supernormal stimulus” that can act on the brain reward circuit and affect neural development. In this article we describe the effects of technology on the brain, well-being, social and family relationships, highlighting both positive and negative ones: rather than defining a priori any type of technology as “good” or “bad”, we should consider how specific applications are used in…
Cybertherapy meets Facebook, Blogger and Second Life: an Italian experience
2009
Our project is based on the study of Cybertherapy in the international sphere (USA, Northern Europe) and on the application of this discipline to the Italian psychiatric and psychological reality. CyberTherapy can be used as an "aim", referring to it as real and proper therapy, which lives on personalized paths created by a qualified staff, conceived as ludic, for recreational, psycoterapic, and educational purpose. Moreover, Cybertherapy can be used as a "mean" (and in this way we want to propose it) with the aim of making the user, who feels a psychiatric or a psychological uneasiness, to become closer to qualified staff; a considerable advantage of this discipline is to reduce to a minim…
Use of multiple Polygenic Risk Scores for distinguishing Schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and Affective psychosis categories; the EUGEI study
2021
ABSTRACTSchizophrenia (SZ), Bipolar Disorder (BD) and Depression (D) run in families. This susceptibility is partly due to hundreds or thousands of common genetic variants, each conferring a fractional risk. The cumulative effects of the associated variants can be summarised as a polygenic risk score (PRS). Using data from the EUGEI case-control study, we aimed to test whether PRSs for three major psychiatric disorders (SZ, BD, D) and for intelligent quotient (IQ) as a neurodevelopmental proxy, can discriminate affective psychosis (AP) from schizophrenia-spectrum disorder (SSD). Participants (573 cases, 1005 controls) of european ancestry from 17 sites as part of the EUGEI study were succes…
Use of Robotics kits for the Enhancement of Metacognitive Skills of Mathematics: a Possible Approach.
2011
The present study is aimed at analyzing the process of building and programming robots as a metacognitive tool of mathematics. Quantitative data from a study performed on a sample of students attending an Italian secondary school are described. Results showed that robotics activities may be used as a new metacognitive environment allowing students to improve their attitude towards mathematics, and to increase their attitude to reflect on themselves and on their own learning, and their higher-level control components, such as forecasting, planning, monitoring and evaluation exercises and problems related to implementation.
Cognitive assessment of OCD patients: Neurovr vs neuropsychological test
2014
This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Neuro- Virtual Reality as tool for the neuropsychological assessment in OCD patients. We used the neuropsychological battery and a virtual version of the Multiple Errand Test (V-MET), developed using the NeuroVR software, in order to evaluate the executive functions, the ability to plan ahead on complex problem solving tasks in daily life in 30 obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) patients and 30 healthy controls. The results showed the presence of difficulties of OCD patients: lower levels of divided attention and higher levels of errors; higher mean rank of inefficiencies, interpretation failures and rule breaks and longer ti…
Using robotics construction kits as metacognitive tools: A research in an italian primary school
2010
The present paper is aimed at analyzing the process of building and programming robots as a metacognitive tool. Quantitative data and qualitative observations from a research performed in a sample of children attending an Italian primary school are described in this work. Results showed that robotics activities may be intended as a new metacognitive environment that allows children to monitor themselves and control their learning actions in an autonomous and self-centered way.
Clinical correlates of paliperidone palmitate and aripiprazole monohydrate prescription for subjects with schizophreniaspectrum disorders: Findings f…
2020
This study, based on the 'Servizi Territoriali Associati per la Ricerca' (STAR) Network Depot Study nationwide baseline data, explored whether individual symptoms severity and clusters might influence the prescription of paliperidone palmitate 1-month (PP1M) vs. aripiprazole monohydrate. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was used to assess psychopathology and relevant symptoms clusters. Drug Attitude Inventory, 10 items, was used to test attitude towards medications. Adherence to treatments was rated according to the Kemp seven-point scale. We assessed for eligibility 451 individuals and, among them, we included 195 subjects (n = 117 who started PPM1 and n = 78 aripiprazole monohydr…
Decision Making and Cognitive Behavioral Flexibility in a OCD Sample: a Study in a Virtual Environment
2015
Neuropsychological disorders are common in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) patients. Executive functions, verbal fluency and verbal memory, shifting attention from one aspect of stimuli to others, mental flexibility, engaging in executive planning and decision making, are the most involved cognitive domains. We focus on two aspects of neuropsychological function: decision making and cognitive behavioral flexibility, assessed through a virtual version of the Multiple Errand Test (V-MET), developed using the NeuroVR software.Thirty OCD patients were compared with thirty matched control subjects. The results showed the presence of difficulties in OCD patients with tasks where the goal is n…