Neurology was there in 1865

In 1865 Americans saw the end of the Civil War, and their president, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated. Slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment. The Atlantic cable linking Europe and the United States was completed. Bismarck and Napoleon III had a meeting resulting in Prussian supremacy in Germany. Lister had shown that antiseptic surgery was feasible and great surgical advances were made possible. Maxwell published his treatise defining the laws that related electricity to magnetism. Mendel's laws of heredity were formulated, and Pasteur saved the silk industry by curing silkworm disease. Alice in Wonderland was written by Lewis Carroll; Twain, Whitman, Homer, Inness, Wagner, and Rimsky-Korsakov all added to our cultural heritage.     

Time-linked impairment in schizophrenic reaction time performance.

Reports on the disruptive influence of uncertain visual probe stimuli on schizophrenic reaction time performance as a function of both the time since the onset of the probe stimuli and the pathology level of the Ss. Two studies were conducted, using 32 process schizophrenics, 16 reactive schizophrenics, 16 nonschizophrenic patients (alcoholic, immature personality, and depression diagnoses), and 16 normal controls. Mean ages of Ss ranged from 28.2 to 37.1 yrs. Probe trials were imbedded within standard series of regular reaction time trials. Both process and reactive schizophrenics were impaired by this stimulation on trials with only a 1-sec preparatory interval. Process schizophrenics showed impairment at the longest (9-sec) trials following recovery at midrange durations. The midrange recovery and long trial impairment of the process schizophrenics was a pattern strongly related to degree of pathology. The same U-shaped pattern—early and late impairment with intermediate recovery—and a similar relationship of the reaction time pattern to pathology level were found again in a 2nd sample of process schizophrenics who were given less intense visual stimulation on the probe trials. The U-shaped patterns obtained for the process schizophrenics in both studies are thought to reflect inadequate modulation of inhibitory controls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Redundancy-associated deficit in schizophrenic reaction time performance.

Examined the influence of information redundancy on the reaction-time performance of 3 groups of females: 36 hospitalized schizophrenics defined as process or reactive by the Elgin Prognostic Rating Scale; 18 nonschizophrenic psychiatric-patient controls; and 18 normal hospital staff controls. The influence of information redundancy was assessed by manipulating the degree of regularity in the presentation of preparatory interval (PI) durations. Runs of 2 and 4 identical PIs, defined as low and high redundant sets, respectively, were embedded in an irregular order of trials to test the influence associated with regular presentation. In contrast to previous analyses showing that the irregular vs. regular presentation condition interacts with PI duration, the interaction was found for process patients only. This interaction took the form of a "crossover" in which the regular PI trials yielded worse performance than the irregular trials at long PI durations; the opposite was true for short durations. Redundant PIs tended to show an improved performance immediately and then, for the process group only, a progressive loss on successive trials. An interpretation in light of D. Shakow's (see record 1965-08514-001) "set theory" and an inhibitory process explanation are disucssed. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of biological and social motivation on schizophrenic reaction time.

Reaction times of schizophrenic and normal Ss were determined under instructions to respond as fast as possible to a buzzer signal. Half of the Ss were retested immediately under the same conditions, while the other half were shocked on the responding finger simultaneously with the buzzer. Schizophrenics' RTs improved significantly under shock conditions. Disturbances in schizophrenic RT are "partially accounted for by defective social motivation and… a biological deficit may be involved in the reactions of more chronic schizophrenics." 21 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between latency and redundancy-associated deficit in schizophrenic reaction time performance.

Evaluated the independence of 2 well-established measures of information-processing difficulties in process schizophrenics, namely, reaction time measures of latency and redundancy-associated deficit. Training exercises were designed to improve the speed of reaction time performance in 16 male Ss (average age 32.5 yrs). These exercises were successful in reducing latency over the course of training and from pre- to posttraining assessments to levels falling around the range of performance expected of normals. Redundancy-associated deficit, however, did not change from pre- to postassessment, indicating that this index is not a simple reflection of latency and is not responsive to training procedures involving positive motivation. Intercorrelations of the 2 indexes also showed that these measures were independent, at least within the process end of the schizophrenic spectrum. Furthermore, the 2 measures correlated with different types of S factors. Latency measures correlated with measures of chronicity, and the redundancy-deficit measure was correlated with prognosis. Findings help to clarify the utility of reaction time indexes as markers of various aspects of schizophrenic pathology. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of hypnotic time distortion upon free-recall learning.

Attempted, by using hypnosis to modify the perception of the passage of clock time, to alter the amount of effective time available to Ss for free-recall learning. 80 undergraduate and graduate students served as Ss, in 8 experimental groups of 10 each. It was hypothesized that if effective time is manipulated successfully by hypnotic instructions designed to produce time distortion, Ss receiving instructions designed to stretch 3 min into 10 should perform as well in a free-recall learning task as Ss allotted 10 min of nominal time and better than Ss allotted 3 min of nominal time for the task. This was found to be the case. Results are compared to those of previous studies, and limitations of the investigation are mentioned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is there a protein ligase?

Results obtained from experiments dealing with mammalian, bacterial, phage and mitochondrial protein biosynthesis as well as certain enzymatically performed amino acid replacement studies on Kunitz trypsin inhibitor strongly suggest that protein ligation may be occuring in vivo. Amino acid substitution experiments prove the reversibility of endopeptidase reactions, and protein ligation is the reverse of endopeptidase reaction. These experiments are discussed in detail and the suggestion is made that ligation may also be useful in the repair of certain essential proteins which may become damaged.     

Effects of a "reformed sinner" and a "lapsed saint" strategy upon trust formation in paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenic patients.

Compared paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenic patients, as well as a normal sample, on: (1) capacity to form a trusting relationship with an unknown other, and (2) the relative efficacy of a "reformed sinner" vs. a "lapsed saint" strategy in inducing trusting and trustworthy behavior in these samples. 48 Ss played a 2-person bargaining game for 30 trials and were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 strategies. Several game-playing styles differentiated the 3 samples. The paranoids, as contrasted with the nonparanoids and 24 normals, were more likely to be "cooperative" when dealing with a lapsed saint and more "exploitative" when confronted with a reformed sinner. Results reflect the paranoids' conflicting attitudes toward discrepancies in power. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multipotentiality among the intellectually gifted: "It was never there and already it's vanishing."

The theory of work adjustment was used as a conceptual framework in evaluating the concept of multipotentiality, taken from the psychological literature on counseling intellectually gifted individuals (viz., those with high-flat ability and preference profiles that may lead to career indecision and distress). An examination of over 1,000 intellectually gifted students (top 1%) in 4 separate cohorts, assessed with the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the Study of Values, and J. L. Holland's (1985) six interest themes, revealed little empirical support for the prevalence of multipotentiality within intellectually talented adolescents (     

An autobiography of a schizophrenic experience.

This article is based on an unpublished autobiography written in the spring of 1951, shortly after the author returned home from the second of three episodes of her schizophrenic experience. She recounts in some detail her background and the events leading up to her illness. In writing of her schizophrenic episode, she describes the onset stage; the formation of the delusional system; feelings of anger, aggression, fear, and sympathy; her religious identifications and death fantasies; symbolism and inspirations; and, her chief personality changes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is there a menopausal metabolic syndrome?

Estradiol-17 beta has beneficial effects on a range of metabolic risk factors for coronary heart disease and the decline in estrogen concentrations at the menopause would be expected to have adverse effects. Review of the literature on effects of the menopause and of estradiol-17 beta provides evidence for the following changes occurring at or after the menopause: increased total cholesterol and triglycerides; decreased high density lipoprotein (HDL) and HDL subfraction 2; increased low density lipoprotein, particularly in the small, dense subfraction; increased lipoprotein (a); increased insulin resistance; decreased insulin secretion; decreased insulin elimination; increased android fat distribution; impaired vascular function; increased factor VII and fibrinogen, and reduced sex-hormone binding globulin. Many of these changes will themselves have adverse effects on other metabolic risk factors. This complex of inter-correlated adverse changes in metabolic risk factors justifies identification of a distinct menopausal metabolic syndrome which originates in estrogen deficiency and which could contribute to the increased risk of coronary heart disease seen in postmenopausal women. Estrogen replacement can diminish the expression of this syndrome.     

Is there really a schizophrenogenic parent?

Therapists who treat schizophrenics (SCZs) generally report a parenting interaction different from that usual to neurotic patients. Communication deviance, measured from parental interaction, the Rorschach Inkblot Test, and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) has been found to characterize parents and adoptive parents of SCZs. Expressed emotion (intrusive hostility) of parents increases rehospitalization. Genetic factors, at most, represent increased vulnerability. Pathogenesis, based on clinical observations, is measured from the TAT and is defined as the degree to which the parent unconsciously acts in terms of the parent's needs without regard to the potentially conflicting needs of the child. In a series of studies (e.g., R. G. Meyer and B. P. Karon, 1967) mothers of normals averaged 35% pathogenic. Mothers of SCZs averaged 65% pathogenic. Fathers of SCZs were nearly as high. Clinical examples of the meaning of pathogenesis are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is there a duty to die?

OBJECTIVE: To review appendectomy cases in children at a small community hospital and to compare with experience at larger centers. DESIGN: A five-year retrospective study. SETTING: Bartlett Regional Hospital, Juneau, Alaska. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Records of children age 14 and younger who underwent appendectomy from 1991 through 1996 were reviewed; 79 charts were found. Cases were grouped as simple appendicitis, advanced appendicitis, and appendectomy without appendicitis. Variables considered included: length of symptoms at first contact, time from onset until surgery, presence or absence of classical symptoms, post-operative complications, length of hospital stay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: 51 cases (64.6%) of simple appendicitis, 22 cases (27.9%) of advanced disease, and 6 cases (7.6%) of normal appendix occurred. Advanced disease was high (66.7%) in children less than 5, and low (22.7%) in ages 10-14. Parental delay > 48 hours in seeking care was a significant factor in advanced disease, professional delay (time from first exam until surgery) was not. Post-surgical complications occurred in 7 (31.8%) cases of advanced disease and in none of the cases with simple appendicitis. Advanced disease cases had an average hospital stay of 8.59 days (+/-2.92) vs. 3.86 days (+/-1.46) for simple appendicitis. Review of appendicitis in children at this hospital compared favorably with the experience at larger medical centers.