Few studies have investigated the relationship between schizophrenia and frontotemporal dementia.

To investigate this relationship through a clinicopathological investigation of young-onset frontotemporal dementia and a review of the case literature.

Cases of young-onset frontotemporal dementia were identified within the local brain bank. The clinical course and pathological findings were collated. For the literature review, cases of frontotemporal dementia identified through Medline were selected according to defined criteria. The demographic, clinical, pathological and genetic characteristics of cases presenting with a psychotic illness were identified.

In the case series, 5 of 17 patients with frontotemporal dementia had presented with a psychotic illness (schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder n=4, bipolar disorder n=1) an average of 5 years prior to the dementia diagnosis. Patients with schizophrenia exhibited changes consistent with TDP-43 and ubiquitin-positive frontotemporal dementia. In the cases review, a third of patients aged 30 years or under and a quarter of those aged 40 years or under had been diagnosed with psychosis at presentation.

Patients with young-onset frontotemporal dementia may be diagnosed with a psychotic illness years before the dementia diagnosis is made. These findings have implications for clinicians and for our further understanding of the neurobiology of psychotic illness.

There is widespread belief in a ‘cycle’ of child sexual abuse, but little empirical evidence for this belief.

To identify perpetrators of such abuse who had been victims of paedophilia and/or incest, in order to: ascertain whether subjects who had been victims become perpetrators of such abuse; compare characteristics of those who had and had not been victims; and review psychodynamic ideas thought to underlie the behaviour of perpetrators.

Retrospective clinical case note review of 843 subjects attending a specialist forensic psychotherapy centre.

Among 747 males the risk of being a perpetrator was positively correlated with reported sexual abuse victim experiences. The overall rate of having been a victim was 35% for perpetrators and 11 % for non-perpetrators. Of the 96 females, 43% had been victims but only one was a perpetrator. A high percentage of male subjects abused in childhood by a female relative became perpetrators. Having been a victim was a strong predictor of becoming a perpetrator, as was an index of parental loss in childhood.

The data support the notion of a victim-to-victimiser cycle in a minority of male perpetrators but not among the female victims studied. Sexual abuse by a female in childhood may be a risk factor for a cycle of abuse in males.

There is evidence that psychopathology in mothers may be associated with dysfunctional mother–infant interactions.

To investigate mother–infant relations when mothers have borderline personality disorder.

Eight mothers with borderline personality disorder and twelve mothers without psychiatric disorder were videotaped interacting with their 2-month-old infants in three successive phases of interaction: face-to-face play; an episode when the mother adopted a ‘still face’ and was unreactive; and a period when play interactions were resumed. The videotapes were rated by judges blind to the diagnostic group of the mother.

The mothers with borderline personality disorder were more intrusively insensitive towards their infants. During the still-face period, their infants showed increased looking away and dazed looks. Following this, mother–infant interactions were less satisfying and their infants showed dazed looks and lowering of affect.

The diagnosis of borderline personality disorder is associated with a particular pattern of mother–infant interaction. The infants' responses to the still-face challenge might suggest dysfunctional self-regulation, but the developmental significance remains to be assessed.

Generations of epidemiologists have documented an association between low socio-economic status (SES) and depression (variously defined), but debate continues as to which is the causative factor.

To test the extent to which social causation (low SES causing depression) and social selection (depression causing low SES) processes are in evidence in an inter-generational longitudinal study.

Participants (n=756) were interviewed up to four times over 17 years using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS).

Low parental education was associated with increased risk for offspring depression, even after controlling for parental depression, offspring gender and offspring age. Neither parental nor offspring depression predicted later levels of offspring occupation, education or income.

There is evidence for an effect of parental SES on offspring depression (social causation) but not for an effect of either parental or offspring depression on offspring SES (social selection).

Both traditional and atypical antipsychotics have been hypothesised to be effective in schizophrenia through limbic and cortical D2 dopamine receptor blockade.

To investigate this hypothesis with the D2/D3-selective positron emission tomography (PET) probe [76Br]-FLB457.

PETscans were performed on 6 controls and 18 patients with schizophreniatreated with haloperidol or with risperidone, clozapine, amisulpride or olanzapine.

The D2 dopamine receptor blockade was high in the temporal cortex with both haloperidol and atypical antipsychotics. The atypicals, however, induced a significantly lower D2 binding index than haloperidol in the thalamus and in the striatum.

Results suggest that cortical D2 dopamine receptors are a common target of traditional and atypical antipsychotics for therapeutic action. Higher in vivo binding to the D2 receptors in the cortex than in the basal ganglia is suggested as an indicator of favourable profile for a putative antipsychotic compound.

22q11 deletion syndrome is associated with high rates of psychiatric morbidity, especially schizophrenia. If common neurodevelopmental trajectories characterise 22q11 deletion syndrome and idiopathic schizophrenia, then similar ‘premorbid’ features would be predicted.

To define psychopathology in adolescents and young adults with 22q11 deletion syndrome.

Individuals with 22q11 deletion syndrome (n=25) and age- and IQ-matched comparison participants (n=25), along withtheir parents/carers, completed standardised semi-structured assessments.

Psychiatric disorders were more prevalent among those with the syndrome and included attention deficit, depression and anxiety; nearly half reported transient psychotic experiences. Inappropriate emotionality and disrupted social behaviour were also common. Poor functional adjustment was associated with schizotypal symptoms and was more marked in older individuals. Conclusions 22q11 deletion syndrome is associated with significant psychopathology prior to adulthood. Double the proportion expected to develop schizophrenia reported psychotic phenomena. These findings imply a continuum of developmental disruption in 22q11 deletion syndrome, associated with declining mental health in early adulthood.

Surveys have found that otherwise well individuals report delusional experiences. Previous studies have shown an association between psychotic symptoms and exposure to trauma.

To explore the association between trauma and delusional experiences in a community sample.

Respondents (n = 10 641) were assessed for delusional experiences, exposure to various types of traumatic experiences and the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The endorsement of delusional items was examined in people exposed to traumatic events who did or did not have PTSD.

Exposure to any traumatic event but without the development of PTSD was associated with increased endorsement of delusional experiences (relative risk 2.68, 95% CI 2.18–3.30) and there was a significant dose–response relationship between the number of types of traumatic events and endorsement of such experiences (χ2 =26.74, d.f. =2, P < 0.001). A diagnosis of PTSD further increased endorsement of delusional experiences (RR = 9.24, 95% CI 6.95–12.27). The association between PTSD and delusional experiences remained significant after adjusting for factors associated with psychotic symptoms.

Further investigation into the pathways between trauma, delusions and psychosis may provide insights into shared aetiological mechanisms underpinning these conditions.

Worldwide, 340 million people are affected by depression, with high comorbid, social and economic costs.

To identify potential predictors of effect in prevention programmes.

A meta-analysis was made of 69 programmes to reduce depression or depressive symptoms.

The weighted mean effect size of 0.22 was effective for different age groups and different levels of risk, and in reducing risk factors and depressive or psychiatric symptoms. Programmes with larger effect sizes were multi-component, included competence techniques, had more than eight sessions, had sessions 60–90 min long, had a high quality of research design and were delivered by a health care provider in targeted programmes. Older people benefited from social support, whereas behavioural methods were detrimental.

An 11% improvement in depressive symptoms can be achieved through prevention programmes. Single trial evaluations should ensure high quality of the research design and detailed reporting of results and potential predictors.

It has been suggested that people with psychopathic disorders lack empathy because they have deficits in processing distress cues (e.g. fearful facial expressions).

To investigate brain function when individuals with psychopathy and a control group process facial emotion.

Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging we compared six people scoring ⩾25 on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised and nine non-psychopathic healthy volunteers during an implicit emotion processing task using fearful, happy and neutral faces.

The psychopathy group showed significantly less activation than the control group in fusiform and extrastriate cortices when processing both facial emotions. However, emotion type affected response pattern. Both groups increased fusiform and extrastriate cortex activation when processing happy faces compared with neutral faces, but this increase was significantly smaller in the psychopathy group. In contrast, when processing fearful faces compared with neutral faces, the control group showed increased activation but the psychopathy group decreased activation in the fusiform gyrus.

People with psychopathy have biological differences from controls when processing facial emotion, and the pattern of response differs according to emotion type.

The high risk for dementia in adults with Down's syndrome has been attributed to triplication and overexpression of the gene for amyloid precursor protein (APP). But the wide variation in age at onset must be due to other risk factors.

To identify factors which influence age at onset of dementia in Down's syndrome.

Studies of factors which influence formation of beta-amyloid (Aβ) were reviewed, including atypical karyotypes, susceptibility genotypes, gender and oestrogen deficiency, and individual differences in Aβ peptide levels.

The apolipoprotein E $4 allele, oestrogen deficiency and high levels of Aβl-42 peptide are associated with earlier onset of dementia, while atypical karyotypes and the apolipoprotein E $2 allele are associated with reduced mortality and reduced risk of dementia.

Factors which influence Aβ levels, rather than overexpression of APP, may account for the differences in age at onset of dementia in Down's syndrome.