RESUMEN
Effects of fluphenazine on electrodermal activity (EDA) and heart rate (HR) were studied in patients with schizophrenia and normal control subjects during rest periods, presentation of innocuous tones, and a reaction time (RT) task. Two types of analyses were used: (1) between-group analyses-patients taking placebo were compared with patients taking fluphenazine and with control subjects using only data from the first test session; and (2) within-subject analyses-the same patients were tested when taking fluphenazine and when taking placebo. Results showed higher resting EDA and HR and smaller increments to task performance in placebo patients than in control subjects. Fluphenazine attenuated EDA levels but not the tonic response. Fluphenazine attenuated the HR response but did not affect HR level. Placebo patients were electrodermally hyporesponsive to the RT stimuli but not to simple tones. Fluphenazine markedly attenuated responsivity to simple tones but it attenuated responsivity less for RT stimuli. Testing medicated patients may thus produce misleading results with respect to many, but not all, purported autonomic markers of diagnosis in schizophrenia studies.
Asunto(s)
Antipsicóticos/farmacología , Antipsicóticos/uso terapéutico , Flufenazina/farmacología , Flufenazina/uso terapéutico , Frecuencia Cardíaca/efectos de los fármacos , Esquizofrenia/tratamiento farmacológico , Adulto , Antiparkinsonianos/uso terapéutico , Benzotropina/uso terapéutico , Electrocardiografía , Femenino , Flufenazina/efectos adversos , Humanos , Masculino , Trastornos Parkinsonianos/inducido químicamente , Trastornos Parkinsonianos/tratamiento farmacológico , Tiempo de Reacción/efectos de los fármacosRESUMEN
Several studies have shown that cortical damage, especially to the right hemisphere and to frontal lobes, may attenuate skin conductance responses selectively to psychologically significant stimuli. We tested this hypothesis in 32 patients with frontal lesions, verified by computer assisted tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and 45 healthy controls. Patients and controls were given a protocol which included a rest period, a series of innocuous tones, and a reaction time task. Patients were given a second protocol in which they viewed slides with positive and negative emotional content and neutral slides. Results showed attenuated electrodermal activity (EDA) during task instructions and smaller skin conductance responses to reaction-time stimuli in patients compared to controls but few differences under passive conditions or in orienting responses to simple tones. Patients with lateral prefrontal and paraventricular lesions were especially low in EDA in the reaction time task, and those with right and bilateral lesions in the cingulate gyrus and/or frontal operculum had attenuated EDA in both protocols. We conclude that the effects of certain frontal lesions are on the psychological response to significance which is indexed by EDA rather than directly on EDA per se.
Asunto(s)
Lesión Encefálica Crónica/fisiopatología , Emociones/fisiología , Lóbulo Frontal/fisiopatología , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/fisiología , Adulto , Análisis de Varianza , Nivel de Alerta/fisiología , Atención/fisiología , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Femenino , Lóbulo Frontal/lesiones , Lóbulo Frontal/patología , Giro del Cíngulo/lesiones , Giro del Cíngulo/fisiopatología , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Vías Nerviosas/lesiones , Vías Nerviosas/fisiopatología , Orientación/fisiología , Corteza Prefrontal/lesiones , Corteza Prefrontal/fisiopatología , Tiempo de Reacción/fisiología , Análisis de Regresión , Descanso/fisiologíaRESUMEN
The nature of deficits in attention in closed head injury (CHI) was studied by three reaction time (RT) paradigms given to 20 patients who had a CHI 2 or more years previously and to 25 controls. We studied the effects of temporal uncertainty by varying the length and regularity of the preparatory interval, the effects of stimulus modality uncertainty on simple RT to tones and lights, and the effects of response selection in choice RT. The CHI group showed slower and more variable RT than controls under all conditions. In addition, a long preparatory interval on the preceding trial retarded RT more in the CHI group, and they showed greater effects of stimulus modality uncertainty. Both of these findings suggest a difficulty in shifting attention to unexpected stimuli. These greater effects on RT of variations of attention or preparation in CHI may account for their greater within-subject variability possibly due to frontal lobe damage.
Asunto(s)
Atención , Daño Encefálico Crónico/diagnóstico , Daño Encefálico Crónico/psicología , Traumatismos Cerrados de la Cabeza/complicaciones , Tiempo de Reacción , Adulto , Daño Encefálico Crónico/etiología , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Traumatismos Cerrados de la Cabeza/psicología , Humanos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Periodo Refractario PsicológicoRESUMEN
Skin conductance (SC) and heart rate (HR) were recorded in two experiments in persons who had suffered a closed head injury (CHI) at least 2 years previously and in control subjects. Experiment 1 consisted of a rest period, a series of innocuous tones, and a short simple reaction time (RT) task. Experiment 2 consisted of initial and final rest periods and a longer RT task with constant and variable preparatory intervals. The results from both protocols showed no group differences in HR, SC levels, or SC fluctuations during rest periods, but the SC variables increased less to the task instructions in the CHI group. There were no differences in SC response frequency or magnitude to innocuous tones, but the CHI subjects had fewer SC responses to the RT stimuli in both experiments. SC responses to both innocuous tones and RT stimuli had longer latencies in the CHI group. The results show that selective deficits in tonic and phasic autonomic responding to meaningful, significant, or demanding situations and stimuli are long-term sequelae to CHI. These attenuated activation increases may be related to inadequate mobilization of processing resources and to behavioral deficits shown by these patients.
Asunto(s)
Sistema Nervioso Autónomo/fisiopatología , Traumatismos Cerrados de la Cabeza/fisiopatología , Desempeño Psicomotor/fisiología , Estimulación Acústica , Adulto , Femenino , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/fisiología , Frecuencia Cardíaca/fisiología , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Tiempo de Reacción/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Saccadic reaction time (RT) has been shown to be unimpaired in schizophrenia. Could this be due to its not requiring controlled information processing? The authors gave 49 schizophrenia patients and 34 controls manual and saccadic RT tasks with preparatory intervals of 1, 3, and 5 s given in regular and irregular sequences. If saccades require mainly automatic processes, they should not be affected by variations in the preparatory interval that are mediated by controlled processing. The manual task showed typical slower RT and larger preparatory interval effects in patients than in controls. Although the saccadic task showed significant effects of both the preparatory interval and the preparatory interval on the preceding trial similar in kind to those in manual RT, there were no group differences in these or in RT. The results are attributed to greater stimulus-response compatibility in the saccadic task, which puts fewer demands on working memory.
Asunto(s)
Atención , Desempeño Psicomotor , Tiempo de Reacción , Movimientos Sacádicos , Esquizofrenia/diagnóstico , Psicología del Esquizofrénico , Adulto , Nivel de Alerta , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Recuerdo Mental , Persona de Mediana Edad , Valores de ReferenciaRESUMEN
The hypothesis of continuity between childhood-onset and adult schizophrenia was tested by comparing the performance of 15 patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia and 52 age-matched controls on 2 reaction time paradigms that have been used to study adult schizophrenia. On simple reaction time to tones with regular and irregular preparatory intervals of 2, 4, and 8 s, patients showed greater effects of the length of the preparatory interval in the regular condition and greater effects of the preparatory interval (girls only) and the preceding preparatory interval in the irregular series. On simple reaction time to random lights and tones, patients were faster on ipsimodal sequences than cross-modal sequences compared with controls. Overall, patients were much slower than controls in both paradigms. The results suggest similar attention dysfunction as is found in adult schizophrenia and thus are consistent with the continuity hypothesis.
Asunto(s)
Atención , Tiempo de Reacción , Esquizofrenia Infantil/diagnóstico , Adolescente , Adulto , Niño , Estudios de Cohortes , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Escalas de Valoración Psiquiátrica , Esquizofrenia Infantil/clasificación , Esquizofrenia Infantil/psicologíaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To examine the validity of diagnostic criteria for a subgroup of children with atypical psychosis (n = 19), designated here as "multidimensionally impaired." These children are characterized by poor attention and impulse control, psychotic symptoms, and poor affective control. METHOD: Children and adolescents (n = 19) meeting our criteria for multidimensionally impaired syndrome with onset of psychotic symptoms at or before age 12 years were identified from a total of 150 in-person screenings for very early-onset schizophrenia between 1990 and 1996. We compared the premorbid adjustment, family history, follow-up status, and laboratory measures for a subgroup of these children with those of (1) a rigorously defined group of 29 children with DSM-III-R schizophrenia and (2) 19 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. RESULTS: Patients with multidimensionally impaired syndrome and patients with very early-onset schizophrenia shared a similar pattern of early transient autistic features, postpsychotic cognitive decline, and an elevated risk of schizophrenic-spectrum disorders among their first-degree relatives. This pattern was not seen in the attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder group. In contrast to very early-onset schizophrenia, the multidimensionally impaired group had significantly poorer scores on the Freedom From Distractibility factor on the WISC-R, a less deviant pattern of autonomic reactivity, and no progression to schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the distinction of the multidimensionally impaired cases as separate from those with other psychiatric disorders, and there is somewhat greater evidence to suggest that this disorder belongs in the schizophrenia spectrum.
Asunto(s)
Déficit de la Atención y Trastornos de Conducta Disruptiva/clasificación , Trastorno Autístico/clasificación , Psiquiatría Infantil , Trastornos Psicóticos/epidemiología , Esquizofrenia Infantil/clasificación , Terminología como Asunto , Adolescente , Análisis de Varianza , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Distribución de Chi-Cuadrado , Niño , Estudios de Cohortes , Comorbilidad , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Síndrome , Estados Unidos/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Consistent abnormalities in peripheral indicators of autonomic activity, ie, skin conductance (SC) and heart rate (HR), have been reported in adult-onset schizophrenia. Herein, we use these markers to test the hypothesis of continuity between childhood-onset schizophrenia and adult-onset schizophrenia. METHODS: Skin conductance and HR were recorded from 21 severely ill children and adolescents (mean age, 14.1 years) with childhood-onset (< or = 12 years) schizophrenia (patient group) and from 54 age-matched controls (control group) during a rest period, a series of innocuous tones, reaction time instructions, and a simple warned reaction time task. RESULTS: During rest, patients had higher rates of spontaneous SC responses (SCRs) and HRs than controls, but their SC level was marginally lower and declined more slowly over time. Half of the patients, compared with 4% of the controls, failed to give SC-orienting responses to the first 2 tones. Patients who responded had impaired SCR magnitudes, and their habituation was more erratic than that of controls. The increase in SC level and SCR frequency at the onset of the task period was greatly attenuated in the patients, so that both variables were higher in controls. Patients had smaller SCRs and anticipatory HR responses to the reaction time stimuli. Skin conductance nonresponding was associated with negative and total symptoms, and spontaneous SCR frequency was associated with positive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show similar abnormalities in autonomic nervous system activity in childhood-onset schizophrenia to those found in adult chronic schizophrenia, thus supporting the hypothesis of continuity of the childhood and adult forms of the illness. Comparisons with data from other childhood disorders suggest that the combination of low-elicited SC activity with high levels of spontaneous SC activity may be specific to schizophrenia.
Asunto(s)
Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel , Frecuencia Cardíaca , Esquizofrenia Infantil/diagnóstico , Adolescente , Adulto , Edad de Inicio , Sistema Nervioso Autónomo/fisiología , Biomarcadores , Niño , Enfermedad Crónica , Femenino , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/fisiología , Habituación Psicofisiológica/fisiología , Frecuencia Cardíaca/fisiología , Humanos , Masculino , Orientación/fisiología , Escalas de Valoración Psiquiátrica , Tiempo de Reacción/fisiología , Esquizofrenia/diagnóstico , Esquizofrenia Infantil/psicología , Índice de Severidad de la EnfermedadRESUMEN
Electrodermal activity and heart rate were recorded during rest, simple tones, and a reaction time task in 43 male and female adolescents and children with obsessive compulsive disorder and 30 male adolescents and children with disruptive behavior disorders who had lumbar cerebrospinal fluid drawn during the same week. Partial correlations controlling for age and sex showed that in the obsessive group metabolites of serotonin and dopamine, but not of norepinephrine, were positively correlated with electrodermal responsivity, most consistently in the reaction time task. This result was not replicated in disruptive boys. Adrenocorticotropic hormone was positively related to electrodermal activity and heart rate throughout the session. The results for the obsessive adolescents suggest that nigrostriatal dopamine turnover and central serotonin turnover affect electrodermal activity, generally confirming and extending conclusions from pharmacological studies. Diagnosis may affect these relationships.
Asunto(s)
Sistema Nervioso Autónomo/fisiopatología , Frecuencia Cardíaca/fisiología , Trastorno Obsesivo Compulsivo/líquido cefalorraquídeo , Trastorno Obsesivo Compulsivo/fisiopatología , Adolescente , Niño , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Tiempo de Reacción/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Electrodermal activity and heart rate were recorded from 55 children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and 58 normal subjects in a protocol that included rest and mild stress periods, and nonsignal and signal stimuli, to determine if autonomic activity might be involved in the pathogenesis of OCD or might be related to important clinical differences. Few differences were observed between OCD and normal subjects despite adequate power to detect small differences due to the large number of subjects. Thus, autonomic activity appears not to be an important etiological factor in childhood OCD. However, electrodermal activity showed consistent positive correlations with ratings of the severity of OCD symptoms (but not with anxiety or depression ratings), suggesting that severely afflicted cases are autonomically sensitive to OCD-related stimuli or, conversely, that low electrodermal activity may be protective of symptom severity. Patients with a coexisting tic disorder (not Tourette's syndrome) had larger electrodermal responses to a novel stimulus and higher heart rate variability than those without tics but did not differ from normal subjects. These few differences seem insufficient to support the hypothesis of a separate etiology of OCD cases with a coexisting tic disorder.
Asunto(s)
Trastorno Obsesivo Compulsivo/diagnóstico , Adolescente , Factores de Edad , Femenino , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel , Frecuencia Cardíaca , Humanos , Masculino , Trastorno Obsesivo Compulsivo/complicaciones , Escalas de Valoración Psiquiátrica , Tiempo de Reacción , Factores Sexuales , Trastornos de Tic/complicacionesRESUMEN
Two reaction time (RT) paradigms were used to study clozapine's effects on sustained and selective attention compared to fluphenazine and placebo in 25 chronic schizophrenic patients. Sensory dominance was studied via simple and choice RTs to lights and tones, and on double-stimulus trials in which the two stimuli were presented simultaneously. Although 8 of the 25 patients could not perform the RT tasks when taking placebo, there were no effects of clozapine on simple or choice RT compared to placebo or fluphenazine. Subjects on all 3 treatments showed visual dominance: faster RT to lights than to tones on choice and double-stimulus trials. However, clozapine reduced this by means of a selective increase in RT to lights. Clozapine reduced failures to respond to the tone on double-stimulus trials. This was shown to be due to reductions in hallucinations. Clozapine does not generally improve attention, but it may increase the ability of schizophrenic persons to process nondominant or unattended stimuli possibly by increasing the efficiency of resource allocation. This may be partially mediated by a reduction in hallucinations.
Asunto(s)
Atención/efectos de los fármacos , Percepción Auditiva/efectos de los fármacos , Clozapina/administración & dosificación , Dominancia Cerebral/efectos de los fármacos , Flufenazina/administración & dosificación , Tiempo de Reacción/efectos de los fármacos , Esquizofrenia/tratamiento farmacológico , Psicología del Esquizofrénico , Percepción Visual/efectos de los fármacos , Adulto , Clozapina/efectos adversos , Discinesia Inducida por Medicamentos/etiología , Femenino , Flufenazina/efectos adversos , Alucinaciones/tratamiento farmacológico , Alucinaciones/psicología , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Escalas de Valoración PsiquiátricaRESUMEN
Skin conductance (SC) and heart rate (HR) were measured during rest, a series of tones, and a reaction time task in 34 boys with disruptive behavior disorder to ascertain (a) if this broadly defined group differed from control boys (n = 33) and (b) if there were differences within the spectrum related to component diagnoses or to target behaviors. Disruptive boys had higher resting HR than controls, due largely to those without a subdiagnosis of conduct disorder. Disruptive boys showed a smaller increment in SC response frequency for task instructions. They did not show a general deficit in phasic SC reactivity but habituated to signal stimuli at a faster rate than did controls. However, their SC response latencies were shorter despite slower motor reaction time. Responsivity variables were similar in boys with and without a subdiagnosis of conduct disorder. The data are not compatible with the hypothesis of low autonomic nervous system (ANS) baselines in disruptive boys but partially suggest low ANS reactivity. They generally support the validity of the disruptive behavior disorder spectrum. Correlations with measures of aggression and impulsivity suggest that individual differences within the spectrum might be more fruitfully described by behavior dimensions than by conventional subdiagnosis.
Asunto(s)
Nivel de Alerta/fisiología , Atención/fisiología , Sistema Nervioso Autónomo/fisiopatología , Trastornos de la Conducta Infantil/fisiopatología , Adolescente , Agresión/fisiología , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/diagnóstico , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/fisiopatología , Niño , Trastornos de la Conducta Infantil/diagnóstico , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/fisiología , Humanos , Conducta Impulsiva/diagnóstico , Conducta Impulsiva/fisiopatología , Masculino , PsicofisiologíaRESUMEN
Peripheral indicators of autonomic nervous system activity, including electrodermal activity and heart rate, were studied in 25 chronic schizophrenic patients given clinical trials of clozapine, a standard neuroleptic (fluphenazine), and placebo. The protocol included a rest period, presentation of nonsignal tones, and a reaction time task. Clozapine markedly attenuated electrodermal base levels and both phasic and tonic electrodermal responsivity compared to placebo, and somewhat less consistently compared to fluphenazine. Both electrodermal and vasoconstrictive orienting responses to tones were reduced. Elevated heart rate and reduced heart rate variability were also observed in patients taking clozapine. Many of these effects can be accounted for by clozapine's anticholinergic and antihistaminic properties. There was evidence that a smaller autonomic response to the mild stress of task performance and larger heart rate responses to nonsignal tones on the alternate treatments were predictive of a good clinical response to clozapine. These results suggest that when on alternate treatments good clozapine responders show more psychophysiological signs of pathology than clinical nonresponders.
Asunto(s)
Antipsicóticos/uso terapéutico , Clozapina/farmacología , Clozapina/uso terapéutico , Flufenazina/farmacología , Flufenazina/uso terapéutico , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/efectos de los fármacos , Esquizofrenia/tratamiento farmacológico , Adulto , Antipsicóticos/clasificación , Antipsicóticos/farmacología , Sistema Nervioso Autónomo/efectos de los fármacos , Enfermedad Crónica , Electrodos , Femenino , Frecuencia Cardíaca/efectos de los fármacos , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Placebos , Escalas de Valoración Psiquiátrica , Esquizofrenia/diagnóstico , Psicología del Esquizofrénico , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
A 2-year prospective follow-up study of 100% (N = 29) of a sample of children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders found that the baseline lumbar cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolite concentration and autonomic nervous system activity predicted some subsequent outcomes. The 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentration significantly predicted severity of physical aggression during follow-up. The skin conductance level significantly predicted institutionalization. Correlations were in predicted directions with lower cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations and autonomic activity correlated with poor outcome. Moreover, in multivariate analyses, which included nonlaboratory measures as predictors, cerebrospinal fluid and autonomic measures still contributed significantly to the prediction. However, hypothesized predictions of cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations for suicide attempts and of low autonomic nervous system activity for arrests were not supported thus far. Patients are still at risk; consequently, these results must be considered preliminary. Nonetheless, the results suggest that further investigation of relationships between biological factors and outcome of children with disruptive behavior disorders is warranted.
Asunto(s)
Trastornos de la Conducta Infantil/diagnóstico , Adolescente , Agresión/psicología , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/líquido cefalorraquídeo , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/diagnóstico , Niño , Trastornos de la Conducta Infantil/líquido cefalorraquídeo , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel , Ácido Homovanílico/líquido cefalorraquídeo , Humanos , Ácido Hidroxiindolacético/líquido cefalorraquídeo , Institucionalización , Masculino , Análisis Multivariante , Probabilidad , Estudios Prospectivos , Índice de Severidad de la EnfermedadRESUMEN
Increased spontaneous fluctuations in skin conductance (SC) in adult schizophrenics have been associated with high expressed emotion (EE) in their relatives. This is the first study in children where parental EE, parental psychopathology, and autonomic activity, indexed by SC levels and reactivity, have been assessed. The subjects were children and adolescents with disruptive behaviour disorders (DBD, n = 35), a psychiatric contrast group with obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD, n = 42) and normal controls (NC, n = 45). Children living in homes with two high-EE parents had higher SC activity during rest period and slower adaptation to relaxation. Fathers' EE and maternal psychiatric diagnosis were related to higher SC activity, especially for the OCD group.
Asunto(s)
Nivel de Alerta , Trastornos de la Conducta Infantil/psicología , Hijo de Padres Discapacitados/psicología , Emociones , Relaciones Padres-Hijo , Adaptación Psicológica/fisiología , Adolescente , Nivel de Alerta/fisiología , Sistema Nervioso Autónomo/fisiopatología , Niño , Trastornos de la Conducta Infantil/diagnóstico , Trastornos de la Conducta Infantil/fisiopatología , Emociones/fisiología , Femenino , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/fisiología , Identidad de Género , Humanos , Masculino , Determinación de la PersonalidadRESUMEN
The anxiogenic effects of yohimbine, a specific alpha-2-receptor antagonist were examined by administering 20 mg yohimbine orally to 8 panic patients on placebo treatment, 7 panic patients on alprazolam treatment and 12 controls using a double-blind randomized design, instructions that minimized the expectancy of experiencing a panic attack and two additional structured situations. Yohimbine induced more pronounced increases in anxiety and panicky ratings, norepinephrine secretion, maximum heart rate and high heart rate variability and decreases in skin temperature in panic patients compared with controls. However, possibly owing to an instructional set and experimental design that distracted patients from unpleasant bodily sensations no panic attacks were observed.
Asunto(s)
Agorafobia/inducido químicamente , Nivel de Alerta/efectos de los fármacos , Norepinefrina/sangre , Trastorno de Pánico/inducido químicamente , Yohimbina/farmacología , Adulto , Agorafobia/fisiopatología , Agorafobia/psicología , Alprazolam/administración & dosificación , Nivel de Alerta/fisiología , Femenino , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/efectos de los fármacos , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/fisiología , Frecuencia Cardíaca/efectos de los fármacos , Frecuencia Cardíaca/fisiología , Humanos , Hidrocortisona/sangre , Masculino , Trastorno de Pánico/fisiopatología , Trastorno de Pánico/psicología , Temperatura Cutánea/efectos de los fármacos , Temperatura Cutánea/fisiologíaRESUMEN
To study the pharmacological induction of stress along with psychological stress and their possible interaction, 20 mg yohimbine and placebo orally were administered to 8 panic patients on placebo treatment, 7 panic patients on alprazolam treatment and 12 controls in a double-blind crossover design. Two structured situations which can be considered as 'neutral' stressors were included: a mental arithmetic task and a continuous performance task. Mental arithmetic induced robust increases in ratings of panicky, anxiety, nervousness, heart rate and electrodermal activity, while the continuous performance task induced increases exclusively in skin conductance reaction. Patients responded to these tasks less than controls with regard to subjective ratings and electrodermal activity. Yohimbine did not potentiate the response to the tasks in the patients. In controls, heart rate during the mental arithmetic task, but not during rest, was increased after yohimbine. In contrast to other yohimbine challenge studies no panic attacks were observed. It is hypothesized that the experimental design together with an instructional set that reduces expectancy factors and the inclusion of structured and time-limited tasks in a challenge paradigm is able to reduce the anxiogenic effects of yohimbine.
Asunto(s)
Agorafobia/inducido químicamente , Nivel de Alerta/efectos de los fármacos , Trastorno de Pánico/inducido químicamente , Disposición en Psicología , Medio Social , Yohimbina/farmacología , Adaptación Psicológica/efectos de los fármacos , Adaptación Psicológica/fisiología , Adulto , Agorafobia/fisiopatología , Agorafobia/psicología , Nivel de Alerta/fisiología , Atención/efectos de los fármacos , Atención/fisiología , Femenino , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/efectos de los fármacos , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/fisiología , Frecuencia Cardíaca/efectos de los fármacos , Frecuencia Cardíaca/fisiología , Humanos , Masculino , Trastorno de Pánico/fisiopatología , Trastorno de Pánico/psicología , Solución de Problemas/efectos de los fármacos , Solución de Problemas/fisiología , Desempeño Psicomotor/efectos de los fármacos , Desempeño Psicomotor/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Boys with diagnoses in the disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) spectrum and normal controls were tested in two reaction time (RT) experiments. In Experiment I simple warned RT was measured and the length and regularity of the preparatory intervals were varied in order to study sustained attention in the sense of preparation. With age and IQ controlled, DBD boys had slower and more variable RT overall than controls and showed generally more pronounced effects of variations in the length and sequence of the preparatory intervals. The results suggest that DBD boys are subject to lapses of attention which are increased by a relatively long preparatory interval, and that they have a particular problem with temporal uncertainty. In Experiment II some aspects of selective attention were studied in a paradigm in which stimulus modality uncertainty and response selection were varied. DBD boys showed greater effects of modality uncertainty but not response selection than controls. No differences between subdiagnoses within the DBD spectrum could be demonstrated.
Asunto(s)
Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/psicología , Atención , Trastornos de la Conducta Infantil/psicología , Tiempo de Reacción , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/diagnóstico , Niño , Trastornos de la Conducta Infantil/diagnóstico , Conducta de Elección , Aprendizaje Discriminativo , Humanos , Masculino , Desempeño PsicomotorRESUMEN
Correlations between electrodermal and heart rate indices of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and measures of state and trait anxiety were examined in 22 high-risk subjects, who had a parent with bipolar affective disorder, and in controls. Relatively consistent and significant correlations between anxiety and ANS "arousal" at rest and under stress were found in high-risk subjects, but not in controls. Relationships between electrodermal laterality and anxiety, and between electrodermal activity and heart rate, were also observed only in the high-risk group. The data suggest a unique concordance between various manifestations of anxiety in high-risk persons which may effectively increase the salience of stressful events and the sensitization to stress.
Asunto(s)
Trastornos de Ansiedad/genética , Nivel de Alerta/genética , Sistema Nervioso Autónomo/fisiopatología , Trastorno Depresivo/genética , Adolescente , Adulto , Trastornos de Ansiedad/fisiopatología , Trastornos de Ansiedad/psicología , Nivel de Alerta/fisiología , Trastorno Depresivo/fisiopatología , Trastorno Depresivo/psicología , Femenino , Respuesta Galvánica de la Piel/fisiología , Frecuencia Cardíaca/fisiología , Humanos , Masculino , Pruebas de Personalidad , Factores de Riesgo , Medio SocialRESUMEN
The cardinal feature of multiple personality disorder (MPD) is the existence of two or more alter personality states that exchange control over the behaviour of an individual. Numerous clinical reports suggest that these alter personality states exhibit distinct physiological differences. We investigated differential autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity across nine subjects with MPD and five controls, who produced "alter" personality states by simulation and by hypnosis or deep relaxation. Eight of the nine MPD subjects consistently manifested physiologically distinct alter personality states. Three of the five controls were also produced physiologically distinct states, but these differed from those of the MPD subjects. A habituation paradigm demonstrated carryover effects at the ANS levels from one state to the next for both groups.