Patients with schizophrenia are normally treated with one of several antipsychotic medications that differ from one another in the areas of the brain they affect including the dorsal striatum, a subcortical section of the forebrain, and the prefrontal cortex (PFC), located in the anterior part of the frontal lobes. Two different tests of implicit memory, the probabilistic classification learning (PCL) and the Iowa gambling task (IGT), have been shown to rely on the dorsal striatum and the PFC, respectively. Studies have previously shown that patients with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics that affect the dorsal striatum (e.g., risperidone), have altered performance on the PCL, and those treated with antipsychotics that affect the PFC (e.g., clozapine), have altered performance on the IGT. We tested the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia treated with olanzapine would have a poorer performance on the IGT, but not the PCL, when compared with controls. This study aimed to clarify conflicting results from prior experiments observing the effects of olanzapine on implicit memory in people with schizophrenia. We also hypothesized that performance of patients taking aripiprazole would be comparable to those taking risperidone, or an FGA; however, we were unable to recruit a sufficient amount of participants to test this hypothesis. Patients with schizophrenia, a mental disorder characterized by a breakdown in relation between thoughts, emotion, and behavior, treated with olanzapine were recruited through local psychiatric clinics or using a newspaper ad. Administration of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) preceded a brief questionnaire of demographic information. Participants were tested on the PCL and the IGT using a personal computer. Results revealed poorer performance on both the MMSE and BPRS for patients when compared with controls. Patients taking olanzapine were impaired in learning the PCL but not the IGT when compared with controls. Results suggest that olanzapine acts on the PFC to augment IGT performance but further studies are needed. / Thesis (Master, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2013-07-23 15:09:21.55

Em Glosa (1986), romance do escritor argentino Juan José Saer (1937-2005), a relação privilegiada entre os personagens é a amizade. A (re)construção do vínculo acontece de forma singular ao longo do livro. Esse vínculo influencia nas perspectivas de um grupo de amigos que tentam reconstituir os acontecimentos de uma celebração - um churrasco em que se comemora um aniversário - desde o relato dos protagonistas que não estiveram presentes até as versões dos participantes do evento. Entretanto, as percepções e lembranças da festa não são suficientes para formar uma história próxima do que aconteceu. Pelo contrário, as glosas dos participantes da mesma festa não se complementam e se confirmam, mas se sobrepõem e se contradizem. Sendo assim, a rede de amigos que se encontra para conversar e discutir é o tecido básico sobre o qual as histórias se constroem. A partir disso, analisamos as possibilidades e limites do relato de lembranças compartilhadas e, ao mesmo tempo, múltiplas, como contribuição para o estabelecimento e manutenção de relações de amizade na narrativa, mesmo quando os amigos se dispersam principalmente por causa da última ditadura militar argentina. / In Glosa (1986), a novel by Argentine writer Juan José Saer (1937-2005), the privileged relationship between the characters is the friendship. The (re) construction of this bond happens in an unique way throughout the piece. This affection influences on the perspective of a group of friends who try to reconstitute the moments of a celebration - a barbecue in which a birthday is celebrated - according to the version of the main characters who were not present until the memories of the participants of the event. However, the perceptions of the party are not enough to build a reliable story of what really happened. On the other hand, the points of view about the same party do not complement each other, nor they are fact-checked, but they overlap and contradict each other. So the network of friends who meet to talk and discuss is the basic background in which stories are built. That said, we analyze the possibilities and limits of the narration of these shared and, at the same time, multiple memories as a contribution to the creation and maintenance of the characters friendship in the novel, even when friends are spread out mainly because of the last Argentine military dictatorship.

Em Glosa (1986), romance do escritor argentino Juan José Saer (1937-2005), a relação privilegiada entre os personagens é a amizade. A (re)construção do vínculo acontece de forma singular ao longo do livro. Esse vínculo influencia nas perspectivas de um grupo de amigos que tentam reconstituir os acontecimentos de uma celebração - um churrasco em que se comemora um aniversário - desde o relato dos protagonistas que não estiveram presentes até as versões dos participantes do evento. Entretanto, as percepções e lembranças da festa não são suficientes para formar uma história próxima do que aconteceu. Pelo contrário, as glosas dos participantes da mesma festa não se complementam e se confirmam, mas se sobrepõem e se contradizem. Sendo assim, a rede de amigos que se encontra para conversar e discutir é o tecido básico sobre o qual as histórias se constroem. A partir disso, analisamos as possibilidades e limites do relato de lembranças compartilhadas e, ao mesmo tempo, múltiplas, como contribuição para o estabelecimento e manutenção de relações de amizade na narrativa, mesmo quando os amigos se dispersam principalmente por causa da última ditadura militar argentina. / In Glosa (1986), a novel by Argentine writer Juan José Saer (1937-2005), the privileged relationship between the characters is the friendship. The (re) construction of this bond happens in an unique way throughout the piece. This affection influences on the perspective of a group of friends who try to reconstitute the moments of a celebration - a barbecue in which a birthday is celebrated - according to the version of the main characters who were not present until the memories of the participants of the event. However, the perceptions of the party are not enough to build a reliable story of what really happened. On the other hand, the points of view about the same party do not complement each other, nor they are fact-checked, but they overlap and contradict each other. So the network of friends who meet to talk and discuss is the basic background in which stories are built. That said, we analyze the possibilities and limits of the narration of these shared and, at the same time, multiple memories as a contribution to the creation and maintenance of the characters friendship in the novel, even when friends are spread out mainly because of the last Argentine military dictatorship.