Browsing by Author "Thornton, H. B."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Cognitive changes in alcohol-induced psychotic disorder
    (BioMed Central, 2017-04) Hendricks, Melany L.; Emsley, R. A.; Nel, D. G.; Thornton, H. B.; Jordaan, G. P.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Aims: This study aimed to explore the neuro-cognitive deficits of alcohol-induced psychotic disorder as compared to the cognitive deficits of uncomplicated alcohol ependence. Methods: Participants were recruited from the acute psychiatric admission wards of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch and Stikland and Tygerberg Academic Hospitals in the Western-Cape, South Africa. Participants who met DSM IV TR criteria (American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC, 2000) for Alcohol Dependence and for alcohol-induced psychotic disorder, respectively, were included. Participants who met criteria for another current DSM IV TR Axis I disorder were excluded. A structured interview was done prior to neuropsychological assessment to ascertain current mental state and to obtain relevant demographic detail and history. Neuropsychological assessments were performed and supervised by clinical psychologists at either Tygerberg or Stikland Hospital. Results: The groups were matched demographically with similar period of abstinence prior to assessment. The alcohol-induced psychotic disorder group experienced first psychotic symptoms at age 35. The results reflected statistically significant differences on tasks measuring immediate memory; recall upon delay; exaggeration of memory difficulty and abstract thinking. Conclusion: This study concurs with earlier literature that some cognitive deficits are greater in alcohol-induced psychotic disorder compared to uncomplicated alcohol dependence.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The neuropsychiatry and neuropsychology of Lipoid Proteinosis
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006-12) Thornton, H. B.; Stein, D. J.; Baker, G. A.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Health Sciences. Dept. of Psychiatry.
    Lipoid Proteinosis (LiP) is a rare hereditary disease, which often results in bilateral, symmetrical and circumscribed calcifications in the mesial temporal region (especially the amygdala). While several case studies have been published on individuals with this illness, there have been few systematic investigations of the neuropsychiatry and neuropsychology of a series of patients. Thirty-seven LiP patients were extensively assessed with standardized neuropsychiatric and neuropsychological measures. Of these, 27 patients from the Northern Cape in South Africa were matched (for age, gender, education, language, geographical area) with 53 controls. There was a high incidence of neuropsychiatric disorders in LiP (more than half of the subjects reported a history of depression or anxiety and 12% had a diagnosis of schizophrenia). Despite a wide variance, LiP subjects performed poorly on facial recognition for emotions and on most neuropsychological measures including intelligence, recall and executive functioning. These findings are consistent with involvement of the mesial temporal areas in mood, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms, and in the cognitive-affective processes. Future work aimed at delineating the associations between the clinical and neuropsychological findings reported here, for example, with brain-imaging techniques, is needed.