Clinical utility rankings of neuropsychologically related journals.

Surveyed designated neurologists of 60 graduate psychology departments and internship training programs to examine the relative importance of 22 journals to the field of clinical neuropsychology. The Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology, the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and Clinical Neuropsychology were judged the most clinically useful. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive symptoms and impaired respiration in sleep.

Documented the relationship between depression and impaired respiration in sleep among 176 males and 160 females (aged 50+ yrs) using the geriatric depression scale (GDS) developed by J. A. Yesavage et al (see record 1984-02939-001), which measures nonsomatic depressive symptoms. Although arbitrarily formed groups of Ss with low and high respiratory disturbance differed on the GDS, mean values and effect size suggested that impaired respiration in sleep was associated with only relatively mild depressive symptoms. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical picture and dynamics of psychopathologic disorders in subacute leuko-and panencephalitis

The report contains the results of clinico-dynamic studies of mental disorders in patients with Schilder's leukoencephalitis and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis after van-Bogart. The authors come to the conclusion that only parallel comparisons of the psychopathological symptomatology with focal neurological signs and a simultaneous study of the EEG and other paraclinical indices may facilitate the differential diagnosis of encephalitis.     

Recognition impaired and association intact in the memory of monkeys after transection of the fornix.

Three rhesus monkeys with transection of the fornix were compared with 3 operated control monkeys in 4 memory tasks. They were tested repeatedly at each task until a stable level of performance was achieved. Ss with transection of the fornix were severely impaired in the 3 tasks that tested recognition memory and unimpaired in a test of pure associative memory which was very similar in all but the essential respects to one of the recognition tasks. It is suggested that damage to the hippocampal system in monkeys causes an anterograde amnesia comparable to that observed in human patients with similar lesions and consisting in a specific deficit of recognition memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time and space orientation in schizophrenics.

The spatial and temporal orientation of a group of 50 schizophrenics is compared with a matched group of 50 normal subjects selected from attendants and applicants for attendants at the Austin State Hospital. The results show that: 1. Schizophrenic S's are significantly poorer than normals on all the space and time orientation tests except that for bodily orientation. 2. The items that differentiate the schizophrenic from the normal have in common the absence of a frame of reference in the immediate perceptual field or to require attention to and retention of complex relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empathic ability in normals and schizophrenics.

"Normals and schizophrenics were asked to predict on a rating scale the responses of three Ss: an associate, a normal, and a psychotic, the latter two persons known only through an observed interview situation. Individuals in each group had previously made self-ratings in terms of the same scale. Deviation scores for members of each group provided a measure of accuracy of prediction (empathy) and the tendency to assume a similarity between oneself and another person (assumed similarity). The control group revealed generally greater empathic ability and greater assumed similarity than did the schizophrenic group." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term visual memory in schizophrenics.

Hypothesized that the deficit of poor premorbid schizophrenics in backward masking is due to interference in short-term visual memory (STVM) because of the tendency to process a pattern mask as if it were a cognitive mask. The hypothesis was tested in a backward-masking picture-recognition paradigm, using data from 32 male psychiatric patients (aged 18–55 yrs) and 14 hospital personnel. The 12 good premorbid schizophrenics, 7 nonschizophrenic psychotics, and normal Ss all showed differential pattern- and cognitive-mask performance. The performances of 13 poor premorbids were equivalent on both mask types. Findings corroborate the hypothesis. It is suggested that integration of stimuli in poor premorbids' sensory storage was intact and that the disruption in processing caused by a pattern mask at 200–300 msec was due to an interference in STVM. It is concluded that the hypothesis of a deficit in perceptual organization best accounts for the apparent disruptions in poor premorbids' STVM. (70 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual selectivity in hallucinatory schizophrenics.

Constructed a manual for categorizing themes present in hallucinations using 10 males and 7 females from 49 actively hallucinating Ss. The authors agreed on the major theme for 30 of 32 remaining Ss, indicating significant interjudge reliability (p     

Formal operations in reactive and process schizophrenics.

Administered E. S. Lunzer's Analogies Test (tapping formal operations) to 40 male process schizophrenics, 15 reactive schizophrenics, and 14 normal controls in a test of the hypothesis that reactive Ss demonstrate more formal operational capacities than process Ss and that normal Ss perform better than both schizophrenic groups. In selecting Ss, an attempt was made to control for age, sex, race, education, length of hospitalization, incidence of addiction problems, number of ECS treatments, and incidence of organic brain pathology. Analyses of variance and covariance supported the basic hypothesis even when differences in general vocabulary level were controlled. Piaget's theory is discussed as providing an explanatory framework for pathological as well as normal cognitive processes. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual recognition in chronic and acute schizophrenics.

Compared schizophrenic and normal groups on their speed in recognizing the identity of pictorial stimuli which gradually came into sharper focus from an initially blurred appearance. The chronic schizophrenic group (N = 20) showed slower recognition than the acute schizophrenic (N = 20) or normal groups (N = 40), but the groups did not differ in amount of prerecognition hypotheses or time of 1st response. The differences in perceptual recognition speed seem related to certain clinical differences between the acute and chronic schizophrenic, particularly with regard to the impact of external perceptual stimuli vs. internally generated ideation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transfer learning in chronic schizophrenics.

Compared reversal shift, where the assignment of stimuli to categories changed but the relevant dimension did not change, and extradimensional shift, where a different dimension was made relevant after training. 28 chronic schizophrenics were trained to the same consecutive correct response criterion in a 3-choice form or color discrimination and shifted to 1 of 4 possible transfer tasks. It was found that (a) extradimensional shift took more trials and errors to criterion than reversal shift, and (b) more perseveration as compared to other errors were made by the total sample. The need for a uniform methodology and an evaluation of S selection factors when investigating the performance of schizophrenics is discussed. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recall and recognition free learning in schizophrenics.

Administered recall and recognition learning tasks to 30 schizophrenic and 30 nonschizophrenic psychiatric inpatients. The schizophrenics were inferior to the nonschizophrenics in the number of correct items reproduced on the recall tests, but the 2 groups did not differ significantly in the number of correct items identified on the recognition tests. The schizophrenics made more intrusion errors on both the tests of recall and recognition. Compared to the nonschizophrenics, the schizophrenics' intrusion errors were more marked on the recall than on the recognition tests: the Groups * Tasks interaction was significant. Results are related to a theory of overinclusion in schizophrenia, developed to account for schizophrenic deficits in a communication task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal affect and conformity behavior in schizophrenics.

A group of 28 schizophrenics Ss was equated with a group of 28 normal Ss on the factors of age and education. Each S was then tested as to the number of affectual relationships he produced on 4 Thematic Apperception Test cards. A measure of his conformity to social influence was obtained by a measure of his behavior in a group situation in which he was asked to compare the length of lines in an optical illusion study. An analysis of the data by means of multiple X2 design showed a significant interaction among all 3 factors: mental health, conformity, and affect. The factors of mental health and conformity interacted to a greater extent than did any other 2 factors taken together. Conformity and affect were more closely related to the factor of mental health than they were to each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Iconic imagery in overinclusive and nonoverinclusive schizophrenics.

R. A. Knight et al (1977) found a significant relation among schizophrenics between good picture-recognition memory and R. W. Payne's index of overinclusion as measured by the Object Classification Test (OCT). The present experiment addressed the problem of what specific stages in information processing might be involved in the differences among schizophrenics in visual memory. It investigated iconic imagery in schizophrenia, using a modification of G. Sperling's paradigm with 41 males in a psychiatric ward of VA Hospital. Ss were divided into 3 groups of schizophrenics (overinclusives, middle inclusives, and underinclusives) and a nonpsychotic control group on the basis of their OCT responses. Results show that the overinclusive schizophrenics and nonpsychotics had an adequate iconic store—they performed better in partial report than in full report, and information in the partial report decayed rapidly. The middle-inclusive and underinclusive schizophrenics, however, were significantly inferior in using this first visual process—their partial-report information decay was found. Findings are discussed in relation to the several theories of schizophrenics' cognitive deficit. (1? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acute poisoning with dextropropoxyphene. Clinical symptoms and plasma concentrations

Twenty-four undergraduate male volunteers participated in an experimental designed to assess the effect of voluntary control of heart rate deceleration on skin conductance level. One group of subjects received heart rate feedback training and a second group performed a tracking task. Because heart-rate feedback was presented via a visual display, the tracking task group was included to control for display monitoring influences on heart rate. Results demonstrated feedback mediated acquisition of learned control of heart rate slowing. More importantly, the heart-rate slowing performance was accompanied by increases in skin conductance level. This 'fractionation' of physiological responding suggests the presence of a physiological response pattern which may counter initial attempts to produce greater magnitude slowing effects.     

Perceived maternal nurturance and control of process schizophrenics, reactive schizophrenics, and normals.

Attempted to compare the amount of maternal nurturance and control as measured by A. B. Heilbrun (see 38:5) in 3 S groups 33 male process schizophrenics, 33 male reactive schizophrenics, and 198 normal male undergraduates. Ss were administered the "Parent Attitude Research Instrument . . . measuring control and the Parent-Child Interaction Rating Scale . . . measuring nurturance." Results support the hypothesis "of nurturance differences being present between the mothers of process schizophrenics and mothers of reactive schizophrenics" and "the process-reactive distinction in regard to differences in prior family interaction." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlation of positive symptoms exclusively to hyperperfusion or hypoperfusion of cerebral cortex in never-treated schizophrenics

BACKGROUND: Studies of schizophrenia by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) have shown both regional cerebral hyperperfusion and hypoperfusion. The aim of this study was to examine the inter-relations between regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), psychopathology, and effects of neuroleptic therapy. METHODS: 24 never-treated patients with acute schizophrenia were examined with hexamethylpropyleneamine-oxime brain SPECT and assessed psychopathologically according to the positive and negative syndrome scale; they were studied again after neuroleptic treatment and psychopathological remission. rCBF values that deviated from those of 20 controls by more than 2 SD were regarded as abnormal. FINDINGS: Both hyperperfused and hypoperfused patterns were found among schizophrenia patients during acute illness. The seven positive symptoms on the symptom scale showed different correlations with rCBF: formal thought disorders and grandiosity correlated positively (and strongly) with bifrontal and bitemporal rCBF; delusions, hallucinations, and distrust correlated negatively (and strongly) with cingulate, left thalamic, left frontal, and left temporal rCBF. Stereotyped ideas as a negative symptom correlated negatively (and strongly) with left frontal, cingulate, left temporal, and left parietal rCBF. After neuroleptic treatment (and reduction of positive symptoms), only negative symptoms correlated exclusively with bifrontal, bitemporal, cingulate, basal ganglia, and thalamic hypoperfusion. INTERPRETATION: Different positive symptoms are accompanied by different rCBF values--some related to hyperperfusion, others to hypoperfusion. This finding may help to explain observed inconsistencies of perfusion patterns in drug-na?ve schizophrenics.     

Medication use patterns among demented, cognitively impaired and cognitively intact community-dwelling elderly people

OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted in order to describe human hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis adaptation in a model of repeated physical stress (endurance training) that causes a moderate increase in cortisol levels. SUBJECTS: We performed the same stimulation tests (adrenal stimulation with ACTH or pituitary stimulation with combined CRH/LVP) in a population of 8 endurance-trained athletes in two distinct situations: resting (baseline cortisol values) and 2 h after the end of strenuous exercise (increased cortisol values) to evaluate the HPA axis sensitivity to endogenous sustained increases in cortisol concentrations. MEASUREMENTS: During these tests, saliva and plasma cortisol (Fs and Fp, respectively) were assessed and compared. RESULT: Cortisol values in both plasma and saliva at the end of 2 h of exercise were significantly higher than in rested controls: Fs 11.5 +/- 1.3 vs 6.5 +/- 0.8 nmol.l-1 and Fp 428 +/- 36 vs 279 +/- 27 nmol.l-1 (post exercise vs post rest sessions, respectively, P < 0.001 for both). After either hormone test (CRH/LVP or ACTH), cortisol levels in plasma and saliva increased similarly when rest was compared to post exercise. Saliva variations (delta %) under exogenous hormone stimulation were dramatically greater than plasma variations. For example, under ACTH stimulation, the relative increments in cortisol were on control day: delta Fs 980 +/- 139 vs delta Fp 218 +/- 43% (saliva vs plasma, respectively, P < 0.05) and on exercise day: delta Fs 605 +/- 89 vs delta Fp 102 +/- 14% (saliva vs plasma, respectively, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In endurance-trained athletes, displaying a moderate but sustained endogenous cortisol increase: (1) ACTH responses following pituitary stimulation are not blunted, (2) cortisol responses following maximal adrenal stimulation are not blunted. Our results favour the hypothesis of a decreased pituitary sensitivity to cortisol negative feedback whereas the hypothesis of a major decreased adrenal sensitivity to ACTH was discarded. The greater ability of saliva assays to detect a cortisol increase strongly supports its use in the study of HPA physiology, whether under basal or dynamic conditions.     

Integration of linguistic ideas in schizophrenics.

S. D. Koh and R. A. Peterson (1978) found that requiring semantic encoding at acquisition facilitated recall for schizophrenics in the same way that it does for normals. It was hypothesized that more complex forms of semantic organization would reveal a deficit in schizophrenics, but not for all subtypes. The paradigm used, developed by J. D. Bransford and J. J. Franks (1971), involves an incidental sentence recognition task in which Ss are presented interrelated parts of a complex idea in acquisition and subsequently tested for their memory of new and old (previously seen) instances of the idea. In the present study, with 56 hospitalized male veterans and 14 college students, normals' and nonpsychotics' patterns of recognition responses reflected the organization of this complex idea, even when they had actually never seen the specific test sentences. All schizophrenics were found to be capable of distinguishing sentences that violated the relations within the complex ideas from those that did not, but only the good premorbid acute patients' responses reflected the integration of part ideas. Poor premorbid acute patients showed an intermediate level of integrating semantic information, and chronic patients were unable to use the interrelations within ideas to organize their memories. (1? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term memory impairment in chronic schizophrenics.

Assessed the short-term memory capacities of 4 chronic, schizophrenic and 4 nonschizophrenic psychiatric patients who served as controls. The information to be remembered was presented both visually and verbally and was later probed for after a variable interval by either visual or verbal cues. Schizophrenics and controls did not differ with respect to which type of cue retrieved more of the information, suggesting that the modality in which the information was stored was the same for both groups. However, schizophrenics were markedly inferior to controls regarding both the initial acquisition of information and the maintenance of it in storage. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)