"Slowed Processing of Facial Emotions May Predict Psychosis Conversion" - Fran Lowry
Slowed processing and identification of facial emotions appears to predict the conversion to fill-blown schizophrenia in high-risk youth with prodromal psychotic symptoms, new research shows. The finding of slower reaction times in converters, especially delays in verbal identification of emotions, suggests language disturbance may underlie this association, a finding that suggests testing for reaction times may help predict which patients are at greatest risk of developing schizophrenia. "That is the holy grail — to stop kids from converting. The more we know about predictive factors, the more we hope to find ways to prevent that from happening,” said Zarina Bilgrami, BA, project coordinator for the Program in Psychosis Risk at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The findings were presented at the first annual Congress of Schizophrenia International Research Society 2019. The study’s senior investigator, Cheryl Corcoran, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has researched the prodromal phase that precedes schizophrenia onset and has identified those at clinical high risk.
— Zarina R. Bilgrami, BA, Project Coordinator, Program in Psychosis Risk, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
— Cheryl M. Corcoran, MD, Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai