Bruce Wexler

..Verbal memory deficits have been reported in many studies of patients with schizophrenia. We evaluated the specificity of these deficits by comparing patients and control subjects on several verbal and nonverbal auditory memory tests...

..The authors' goal was to evaluate the possibility of treating brain and behavioral aspects of verbal memory dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia through cognitive exercises...

..Identification of brain activity associated with craving is important for understanding the neurobiology of addiction...

..The verbal memory tests were easier than the non-verbal memory tests for controls, thus deconfounding task difficulty and deficit specificity...

..Instead, the goal is to provide the rationale for the progression of our studies, describe the methods, and summarize the results, so that readers may understand, critique, and improve upon what we have done...

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..These findings may have implications for understanding the high rates of smoking in schizophrenia and for developing pharmacotherapies for cognitive deficits and nicotine dependence in schizophrenia...

..The present study aimed to determine whether NET could enhance functional outcomes among schizophrenia and schizoaffective patients in a community mental health center receiving community-based vocational services...

..There were no significant group differences on the word serial position task at any time point. Results indicate that computerized training can lead to sustained improvements on some, but not all, training tasks...

..These preliminary data suggest that in schizophrenics, neuropsychological deficits are associated with smoking cessation treatment failure...

..Results suggest that these clients require more specialist contact because of failure to adequately engage natural supports at work...

..Results indicate that work outcomes were enhanced by NET training. Effects were greatest for NET responders. Findings support the efficacy of cognitive training when it is integrated into broader rehabilitation programs...

..Augmenting vocational services with a multifaceted cognitive remediation program may improve cognition in participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder...

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..Identifying neural activity associated with stress and stress-induced cocaine craving is important in understanding the neurobiology of cocaine craving and relapse...

..This physiological activation was a better predictor of relapse than subjective reports of craving, and may be a useful target for treatment development...

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..Logistic regression using SAT-MC scores correctly classified 75% of both samples. Results suggest that this measure may have promise, but alternative versions will be needed before it can be used in pre-post or longitudinal designs...

..An improved understanding of the neural correlates of gambling urges in PG would advance our understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying PG and would help direct research into effective treatments...

..Future research manipulating task demands (e.g. memory load) or the affective valence of the stimuli may be useful in understanding the observed changes in hemispheric advantage...

..These results suggest that smoking abstinence differentially alters VSWM in schizophrenic vs. control smokers, and that cigarette smoking has beneficial effects on VSWM in schizophrenic, but not control, smokers...

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..The study also provides a feasible method to study brain correlates of emotional stress processing in healthy individuals and clinical samples...

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..The neural correlates of the evoked emotion are multiple, widely distributed, and inclusive of areas important in many cognitive tasks. Positive and negative emotional responses include activation of common and distinctive brain regions...

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..These findings emphasize the importance of verbal learning for benefiting from psychosocial and cognitive rehabilitation interventions, and suggest the development of alternative rehabilitation strategies for those who do not benefit...

..These results provide the first evidence of criterion-related validity for the PCET and are part of a growing literature suggesting a relationship between performance on measures of executive function and work skills...

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..The findings add to growing evidence for the existence of a subgroup of schizophrenia having a specific verbal memory deficit that is not limited to working memory, but extends to learning and recall of verbal material...

..The intact WCST subgroup had greater functional capacity than either "strong" or "poor" learners. These subtypes may have implications for response to behavioral treatment interventions...

..This is further evidence that atypical depression is a biologically distinct subtype and underscores the importance of this diagnostic distinction for neurophysiologic studies...

..The goal of the study was to evaluate changes in full-scale intelligence quotient and neurocognitive test performance over a 10-year interval in patients with schizophrenia...

..Identification of such subgroups is essential for future studies of etiology and treatment. ..

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..Both projects provide opportunities to develop and apply skills in measurement of inter-regional brain connectivity and in use of new analytic software. ..

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..In this project we will use new knowledge from social neuroscience research and newly developed brain imaging procedures to study brain aspects of the patient problems in social-emotional function. ..