摘要:

Most normal subjects suppress the P50 evoked response to repeated auditory stimulus when paired stimuli are presented, 500 ms apart. The ratio of the amplitude of the response to the second stimulus to that of the first forms a quantitative measure of the activity of a central inhibitory sensory gating mechanism. The variance of this measure in a group of monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs was determined. The calculation of heritability (h2) indicates that a significant portion of the variance (0.44 or greater) is due to heritable factors. This study supports the use of the inhibitory gating of the P50 response as a phenotype for genetic studies of schizophrenia in which a P50 gating abnormality has been identified.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119260

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The mortality of anxiety syndromes between 1972 and 1992 was investigated in a prospective study of a normal population, the 1947 Lundby cohort. 121 persons with anxiety according to the Lundby definition (Anx), and 74 persons with panic disorder with/without agoraphobia (PD-Ag) according to the DSM-III-R, all of them developing their first episode between 1947 and 1972, were analyzed with regard to general mortality and special cause of death. Sex-and age-specific mortality rates for these groups were calculated and compared with the corresponding rates of the cohort’s 1,877 remaining subjects without first episodes of Anx/PD-Ag. In contrast to the females, the annual rates of general mortality in males with Anx/PD-Ag were 1.9/2.2 times higher in the age group 65-84 years, compared with the rates of the non-Anx/PD-Ag groups. They also had an increase in death due to circulatory disorders, most pronounced in males with PD-Ag before the age of 65. There were no suicides in any of the Anx/PD-Ag groups during the observation perio

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119261

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

An association between negative symptoms and frontal cortex abnormalities has been suggested in schizophrenic patients. We tested whether this assocation can be found when patients’ task performance is good and while controlling for possible cortical atrophy. We investigated regional cerebral blood flow with the xenon-133 inhalation method in 9 unmedicated schizophrenic patients at rest and during performance of the Continuous Performance Test. Negative symptoms were quantified with the Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms. All patients could attend to the test and performed it successfully with mean accuracy of 91 ± 8%. Changes of the left hemisphere hyperfrontality ratio were significantly correlated with severity of negative symptoms, especially for the subscales of attention (r = –0.83) and anhedonia (r = –0.70). These results lend further support to the putative association between negative symptoms and physiological abnormalities of the frontal cortex in schizophrenic pa

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119262

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

This study examines the in vivo effects of 2,3-dichloro-α-methylbenzyl-amine (DCMB), a centrally active phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PNMT) inhibitor, on α2-adrenoceptors. Sixty-six rats received either DCMB, SKF2966l, the peripheral PNMT inhibitor, at a dose of 50 mg/kg or saline intraperitoneally. To examine the functional responses of the α2-adrenoceptors to these drugs, changes in spontaneous locomotor activity, concentration of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) in dialysates from the hypothalamus, and the influence of clonidine on growth hormone (GH) secretion were investigated. (1) DCMB increased spontaneous motion of the rat. (2) DCMB increased extracellular MHPG concentration in the hypothalamus verified by micro-brain dialysis. (3) Clonidine failed to stimulate GH secretion in DCMB-treated rats. These results suggest that DCMB has an inhibitory action on the α2-adrenoceptor function in v

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119263

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

EEG records of electroconvulsions were evaluated according to a five-point semiquantitative scale grading the intensity of the paroxysmal activity. A more favorable therapeutic effect of ECT was found to be associated with more pronounced paroxymal activity on the EEG. The role of this finding for the dosage of energy in the convulsive stimulus is discussed.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119264

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The frequency of galactorrhea and the subjective response to it were investigated in 150 schizophrenic patients. The incidence rate was 14% and the prevalence rate 19%. The latency periods between start of neuroleptic medication and manifestation of galactorrrhea were subject to substantial scatter, as were the prolactin values. Patients who had undergone neuroleptic relapse prevention prior to the index episode and/or had been pregnant were affected significantly more frequently by galactorrhea.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119265

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Electrodermal responses in the facial region of freely moving rats were recorded bilaterally. After a nociceptive stimulus (ammonia vapor exposure), the response (a transient negative potential followed by a longer-lasting positive potential) attained a similar amplitude on both sides. Surgical sympathetic denervation of facial skin by ipsilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy (SCGx) significantly decreased the electrodermal response. When an inferior cervical ganglionectomy was performed in addition to SCGx, a further decrease in electrodermal response was observed. Pretreatment of unilaterally SCGx rats with atropine blunted the electrical response in the control side to levels similar to those found in the SCGx side. Treatment with phenoxybenzamine or propranolol was ineffective. Skin potential responses were measured in adult rats administered with clomipramine from the 8th to the 21st day of life and exhibiting a long-lasting syndrome resembling human depression. Clomipramine-injected rats developed larger skin potential responses to sound stimulation than controls while responses to ammonia vapor were similar in both groups, as well as the habituation rate after repetitive exposure to ammonia vapor. The results indicate that some of the altered electrodermal responses found in depressed patients are detectable in the clompramine animal model of endogenous depression.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119266

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

An automatic procedure for the online recognition of REM sleep appears to be a necessary tool for selective REM sleep deprivation in depressive patients. To develop such a procedure we applied an artificial neural network to preprocessed single-channel EEG activity. EOG and EMG information was purposely not provided as input to the network. A generalized back-propagation algorithm was used for computer simulation. The sleep profile scored manually according to Rechtschaffen and Kales served as the desired output during the training period and as standard for the judgement of the network output during working mode. Polysomnographic recordings from 5 healthy subjects were pooled to train the network, whereas second-night EEG recordings from the same subjects were used as independent working data sets. We further applied the network to the data of 5 depressive patients without medication and 6 depressive patients treated with amitriptyline. For these groups between 84.9 and 88.6% out of all time periods consisting of 20 s of continuous EEG activity were correctly classified. The indicator function of REM sleep was well approximated by the network output in the course of the night. Especially the REM onset was excellently recognized. The inclusion of patient data in the training set yielded a different network, which was evaluated and compared.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119267

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The comparison of two different modes of data processing and two different approaches to statistical testing both applied to the same set of EEG recordings was the main objective of this pharmacological study. Brofaromine (CGP 11 305 A), a new selective and reversible monoamine oxidase type A inhibitor was used as an example for investigating a potentially antidepressant drug in clinical development. The two modes of pharmaco-EEG (PEEG) data processing differed mainly in the sampling frequency and definition of spectral parameters. Patterns of significant changes were noted in terms of descriptive data analysis using either a nonparametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test or an ANOVA of transformed data, as suggested by Conover and Iman. These data clearly demonstrate that slight discrepancies in the results may simply arise from differences in data processing and statistical approach applied. In spite of these discrepancies, the pattern of brofaromine-induced PEEG changes was very similar regardless of the mode of data handling used.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119268

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Panic attacks are subjectively reported by patients as a cluster of autonomic nervous symptoms. Taken together with the evidence from pharmacological studies focusing on the locus ceruleus and the dorsal raphe nuclei, the hypothesis of brainstem involvement in panic attacks is of major interest. Functional evaluation of the brainstem is carried out using electrophysiological recordings, such as the brainstem evoked potentials. We have investigated the pathophysiology of these parameters in 16 patients fulfilling the DSM III-R criteria for panic disorder (8 females and 8 males) in comparison to a group of 10 normal controls. The patients were found to have two electrophysiological variables significantly different from controls: (a) N3 latency time was reduced (p < 0.05) and (b) the N3–5 interval was prolonged (p < 0.05). The N3 latency period significantly correlated with the Hamilton Anxiety Scale scores (p < 0.005). N3 is a peak reflecting pontine activation, where the locus ceruleus is located. The N3–5 interval reflects evoked potential passage from the pons to the midbrain. In conclusion, our results support previous studies indicating a dysfunction of the locus ceruleus possibly causing disruption of pons-mid-brain transmission in patients suffering from panic disor

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000119269

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1996

数据来源: Karger