Seiko Minoshita

Relationship between odor perception and depression in the Japanese elderly

Abstract Odor perception has been studied in patients with various mental disorders; however, no consensus has been reached as to its detection, identification, or pleasantness/unpleasantness of odors especially in patients with depression. One hundred and nineteen normal elderly individuals living at home were exposed to odors of rose, perfume, white ginger, Indian ink, cigarette smoke, milk, feces and orange scent using the scratch and sniff method. They were asked to rate the strength of each odor, its pleasantness or unpleasantness, their liking for it, and their familiarity with it. They were also asked to complete a self‐rating depression scale (SDS). The relationship of the score of each psychological olfactory scale with the SDS score and the difference in the score of each psychological scale between high‐SDS and low‐SDS groups are discussed.

Recognition of affect in facial expression using the Noh Mask Test: Comparison of individuals with schizophrenia and normal controls

Abstract  The purpose of the present study was to compare facial expression recognition in individuals with schizophrenia and normal controls using the Noh Mask Test. Fifteen men with schizophrenia and 15 normal controls were presented with a photograph of a Noh mask rotated either upward or downward from the neutral front‐facing position, and an emotion label, and were requested to judge whether the expression of the mask was congruent with the indicated emotion. Using multidimensional scaling, the facial expression of the Noh mask recognized by the patients and the healthy controls was analyzed in 3‐D: (i) Rejection–Attention; (ii) Pleasant–Unpleasant; and (iii) Awakening–Relaxation. Individuals with schizophrenia had difficulty recognizing that others had intentions of harming them. The Noh Mask Test was found to be useful in discriminating between individuals with schizophrenia and controls in the recognition of facial expression (discriminant ratio: 99.9%).

The Noh mask test for analysis of recognition of facial expression.

A preliminary study on the Noh mask test for analysis of recognition of facial expression was performed. The present study was conducted on 15 normal subjects (mean age: 32 years, SD 9.7 years) as the first step to test for the differences between psychiatric patients and normal subjects. Stimuli were created by photographs of 15 Noh masks at different vertical angles. Subjects were given 12 tasks (12 emotion items), and each task consisted of 15 trials (15 Noh mask images). In each trial, the subject viewed a colour monitor, and was shown an emotion item, followed by a Noh mask image. The subject pressed either the yes or no key to indicate whether the Noh mask image expressed the emotion item. The subject’s response and reaction time to each Noh mask image showed no deviation, although the subject’s response and reaction time to each emotion item showed some deviation. As the vertical angle of the Noh mask changed, normal subjects recognized all emotion items except the ‘uncanny’ expression. Factor analysis of the 15 Noh mask images produced three factors, and the analysis of 12 emotion items produced five factors. Thus, the Noh mask test was simplified to nine images and nine items. Further developments of the Noh mask test may include the evaluation of the dysfunction of perception on delicate facial expression in psychiatric patients.

Masked ambiguity - emotion identification in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder

Both patients with schizophrenia and with a major depressive disorder (MDD) display deficits in identifying facial expressions of emotion during acute phases of their illness. However, specific deficit patterns have not yet been reliably demonstrated. Tasks that employ emotionally ambiguous stimuli have recently shown distinct deficit patterns in patients with schizophrenia compared to other mental disorders as well as healthy controls. We here investigate whether a task which uses an ambiguous Japanese (Noh) mask and a corresponding human stimulus generates distinctive emotion attribution patterns in thirty-two Caucasian patients with schizophrenia, matched MDD patients and healthy controls. Results show that patients with schizophrenia displayed reaction time disadvantages compared to healthy controls while identifying sadness and anger. MDD patients were more likely to label stimuli with basic compared to subtle emotional expressions. Moreover, they showed more difficulties assigning emotions to the human stimulus than to the Noh mask. IQ, age and cognitive functioning did not modulate these results. Because overall group differences were not observed, this task is not suitable for diagnosing patients. However, the subtle differences that did emerge might give therapists handles that can be used in therapy.

Bus hijacking by a pre-schizophrenic: From a viewpoint of criminal romance

Abstract  There are cases in which no clear symptoms of schizophrenia are observed in a person at the time of a crime but are diagnosed to have schizophrenia after the crime due to the appearance of typical symptoms. We present psychiatric evidence of a patient who saw a bus hijacking incident on TV during several years of isolation at home after graduation from junior high school, and was then determined to hijack a bus, and carried out the crime 6 months later. The patient exhibited clear symptoms of schizophrenia 3 days after the crime. This case of a crime committed before the appearance of clear symptoms of schizophrenia was evaluated from the viewpoint of verbrecherromantik or ‘criminal romance’.