bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antipsychotic medication, D2 dopamine receptor blockade and clinical response: a 123I IBZM SPET (single photon emission tomography) study
Authors: Pilowsky L. S. , Costa D. C. , Ell P. J. , Murray R. M. , Verhoeff N. P. L. G. , Kerwin R. W. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe hypothesis that poor response to antipsychotic medication is due to inadequate occupancy of central D2 receptors was tested in vivo. We assessed striatal D2 dopamine receptor availability for binding with the specific ligand 123I IBZM by single photon emission tomography (SPET) in two groups of DSM-III-R diagnosed schizophrenic patients on typical antipsychotic medication, and a group of healthy controls (N = 20). Patients were characterized by clinical ratings as antipsychotic responders (N = 10) or non-responders (N = 8). Dynamic single slice SPET, at a slice chosen to include the basal ganglia, began immediately following intravenous injection of 185 MBq 123I IBZM. Semiquantitative analysis generated indices of D2 receptor availability for binding. There was no difference in striatal D2 receptor availability between the patient groups, both showing a similar degree of occupancy by antipsychotic medication compared to the control group. Thus, poor clinical response does not appear to be accounted for by differential blockade, or inadequate occupancy of striatal dopamine D2 receptors by antipsychotic medication.
Desperate remedies: a Gothic tale of madness and modern medicine
Authors: Scull Andrew 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe theory that many diseases were produced by focal infection or chronic sepsis enjoyed a brief vogue in general medicine in the first quarter of the twentieth century. This paper explores its practical applications in psychiatry, which extended well into the 1930s. The analysis focuses particularly closely on the activities of Henry A. Cotton at the Trenton State Hospital in New Jersey.
Tachistoscopic tests of colour naming and matching in schizophrenia: evidence for posterior callosum dysfunction?
Authors: David A. S. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisNeuropsychological studies have shown that the integrity of the posterior corpus callosum is necessary for accurate colour naming in the left visual field (LVF) and colour matching across hemifields. Using this model, 22 schizophrenics, 14 depressive and 16 healthy matched controls were given a battery of tachistoscopic tests of colour perception. The schizophrenics made significantly more errors, in naming colours in the LVF compared to depressives, and in matching colours across fields compared to depressives and normals. There were no differences between groups for right visual (RVF) colour naming or matching within right and left visual fields. These findings support the hypothesis that trans-callosal transmission may be impaired in schizophrenia and are unlikely to be due to a specific disorder of colour perception, neuroleptic drugs or generally impaired performance. Those schizophrenics whose LVF naming errors exceeded RVF errors were more likely to have first rank symptoms and showed less cerebral atrophy but did not differ on other variables. The techniques described may be useful for further research into interhemispheric function in schizophrenia.
The positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia reflect impairments in the perception and initiation of action
Authors: Frith C. D. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe CNS maintains a fundamental distinction between actions elicited by external stimuli and actions elicited by internal goals (acts of will). As a result the intact organism can monitor centrally three aspects of its own actions: (1) the action appropriate to current external stimulation (stimulus intention or meaning); (2) the action appropriate to current goals (willed intention); and (3) the action which was actually selected (corollary discharge). In Type I (acute) schizophrenic patients, intentions of will lead to actions, but these willed intentions are not monitored correctly. This apparent discrepancy between will and action gives rise to experiential (1st rank) positive symptoms (e.g. delusions of control and passivity). In Type II (chronic) patients, intentions of will are no longer properly formed and so actions are rarely elicited via this route. This gives rise to behavioural negative signs (e.g. poverty of speech).The behaviour of Type II schizophrenics has surface similarities to that shown by patients with Parkinson's disease and patients with frontal lobe lesions in that all three types of patient show a relative deficit of actions elicited by willed intentions. Dopamine blocking drugs reduce positive symptoms in Type I patients precisely because they induce Parkinsonism, i.e. reduce the likelihood of actions being initiated by willed intentions. This in turn reduces the likelihood that actions will occur for which the patient had no awareness of his intention to act.
Evaluation of out-patient counselling compared with general practitioner care following overdoses
Authors: Hawton Keith , McKeown Steve , Day Alexandra , Martin Pauline , O'Connor Marianne , Yule Jackie 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisIn a randomized prospective treatment study, 80 overdose patients (not requiring intensive psychiatric intervention) received either brief out-patient counselling or were returned to the care of their general practitioners with advice on management. There was little difference in outcome between the two groups. However, two sub-groups of patients benefited more from out-patient counselling than from general practitioner care, these were: (a) women, and (b) patients with dyadic problems. Counselling following overdoses should be focused on groups of patients such as these who are most likely to benefit from it. Further work is needed to identify treatment approaches that will help other groups who take overdoses, especially men.
Statistics and the nature of depression
Authors: Dunn G. , Sham P. , Hand D. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA critical examination is made of the role that statistical methods have played in the understanding of depression. The development of instruments for measuring depression is illustrated by reference to the Beck Depression Inventory and the Hamilton Rating Scale. The controversy over the existence of one or two types of depression is examined from the perspective of the statistical tools used. Some of the problems in studies of the heritability of depression are outlined. The development of clinical trials of depression is examined, with particular reference to ECT and maintenance therapy, and the role of meta-analysis is discussed.
Assessing the risk of Alzheimer's disease in first-degree relatives of Alzheimer's disease cases
Authors: Korten A. E. , Jorm A. F. , Henderson A. S. , Broe G. A. , Creasey H. , McCusker E. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisFamily history of Alzheimer's disease (AD) was investigated using a telephone re-interview of 99 cases and 116 controls selected from a case–control study of 170 matched pairs. It was found that the family history method used in the initial interview was satisfactory in identifying first-degree relatives and assessing their ages of birth and death, but the number of first-degree relatives suffering from AD was probably under-estimated. Family history of AD was confirmed as a risk factor for AD. Higher estimates of cumulative incidence were obtained among case relatives than among control relatives. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that a familial form of AD is more common in those with earlier onset AD (before age 75) in those who display early, prominent features of aphasia or apraxia, or that an AD gene may be sex-linked. The curves for cumulative incidence showed no tendency to reach an asymptote, as is implied by the theory that some forms of AD are due to the action of an autosomal dominant gene. Estimates of lifetime risk by age 90 were within the range found by other investigators. Much larger samples of the very old are needed to obtain estimates of total lifetime risk with smaller standard errors.
Road traffic noise, noise sensitivity and psychological disorder
Authors: Stansfeld Stephen A. , Sharp Dan S. , Gallacher John , Babisch Wolfgang 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe relationship between traffic noise exposure and psychological morbidity was assessed using the population-based Caerphilly Collaborative Survey of 2398 men from Caerphilly, South Wales. The findings showed that traffic noise exposure levels were strongly associated with annoyance to noise. Noise-sensitive men were more likely to be highly annoyed by noise exposure than less noise-sensitive men. There was no direct association between noise exposure level and psychological morbidity but there were provocative interactions with noise sensitivity. The role of noise sensitivity is discussed as an indicator of vulnerability to environmental stressors and a measure of negative affectivity and over-reporting.
The dissociation of explicit and implicit memory in depressed patients
Authors: Bazin N. , Perruchet P. , De Bonis M. , Féline A. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisTwenty-three in-patients fulfilling DSM-III-R criteria for major depressive disorder were submitted to a standard cued recall test, and to a word-stem completion test devised to assess the effect of the initial presentation without the explicit retrieval of the words being necessary. Results show that depressed patients are impaired on the cued recall task in comparison with controls matched for sex, age, and educational level. However, the two groups do not differ in the word-stem completion task. This dissociation between explicit and implicit expressions of memory disappeared when patients recovered, although they were still hospitalized and under psychotropic medication. These results are examined in the light of the distinction between effortful and automatic processes.
Tarantism, dancing mania and demonopathy: the anthro-political aspects of ‘mass psychogenic illness’
Authors: Bartholomew Robert E. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThis study questions the widely held assumption that the phenomenon known as mass psychogenic illness (MPI) existsper sein nature as a psychiatric disorder. Most MPI studies are problematical, being descriptive, retrospective investigations of specific incidents which conform to a set of pre-existing symptom criteria that are used to determine the presence of collective psychosomatic illness. Diagnoses are based upon subjective, ambiguous categories that reflect stereotypes of female normality which assume the presence of a transcultural disease or disorder entity, underemphasizing or ignoring the significance of episodes as culturally conditioned roles of social action. Examples of this bias include the mislabelling of dancing manias, tarantism and demonopathy in Europe since the Middle Ages as culture-specific variants of MPI. While ‘victims’ are typified as mentally disturbed females possessing abnormal personality characteristics who are exhibiting cathartic reactions to stress, it is argued that episodes may involve normal, rational people who possess unfamiliar conduct codes, world-views and political agendas that differ significantly from those of Western-trained investigators who often judge these illness behaviours independent of their local context and meanings.
A longitudinal study of bereavement phenomena in recently widowed elderly men
Authors: Byrne G. J. A. , Raphael B. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA three-phase longitudinal design was used to study bereavement phenomena in a cohort (N = 78) of recently widowed elderly Australian men. One group of 57 widowers was compared with a second group of 21 widowers on a waiting list. A brief, interviewer-administered, structured questionnaire was used to rate the frequency of 22 self-reported bereavement phenomena. The prevalence and temporal evolution of these phenomena are described. Half of a subgroup of elderly widowers reporting high levels of bereavement phenomena at 6 weeks post-bereavement went on to exhibit persistent or chronic grief at 13 months post-bereavement. The prevalence of persistent or chronic grief throughout the first 13 months post-bereavement was 8·8%. Income, education and expectedness of the death were all negatively correlated with frequency of self-reported bereavement phenomena at 6 weeks post-bereavement. In a multiple regression analysis only expectedness of the death contributed significantly to prediction of the frequency of bereavement phenomena at 6 weeks post-bereavement. Widowers who were unable to anticipate their wife's death, even when their wife had suffered a long final illness, had a more severe bereavement reaction.
Stereotypy, schizophrenia and dopamine D2 receptor binding in the basal ganglia
Authors: Pedro B. M. , Pilowsky L. S. , Costa D. C. , Hemsley D. R. , Ell P. J. , Verhoeff N. P. L. G. , Kerwin R. W. , Gray N. S. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisAnimal models suggest a relationship between disturbed striatal dopaminergic function and stereotyped behaviour. Several studies show increased stereotypy in schizophrenic patients compared to normal controls. We investigated the performance of 12 antipsychotic-drug-free schizophrenic patients, and 15 healthy control subjects on a neuropsychological measure of stereotypy – the two-choice guessing task – and correlated this with in vivo striatal dopamine D2 receptor binding, as measured by 123I-iodobenzamide single photon emission tomography. Patients and controls did not differ with respect to the measures of stereotypy derived from the task. However, there was a significant correlation between one of these measures (RR Information) and the degree of striatal D2 receptor binding asymmetry in the patient group only. In view of research connecting striatal and frontal lesions with stereotypy in animals and cognitive inflexibility in humans, these data could suggest a similar disturbance underlying the phenomenon in schizophrenia.
Spouse similarity for psychological distress and well-being: a population study
Authors: Du Fort G. Galbaud , Kovess V. , Boivin J.-F. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisWhile spouse similarity for psychiatric morbidity has been the object of numerous studies, most of these focused on clinical samples and, consequently, the interpretation of their results is limited by the existence of a selection bias. In this study, conducted on a sample of 845 general population couples, significant spouse similarity was observed for psychological distress and well-being, characterized by a marked symmetry in the relation between spouses' scores. The sex differences observed in many earlier studies would appear essentially to be artefactual. Spouse similarity was also found to be significant in the subpopulation of couples married less than two years, which pointed to assortative mating for psychological distress and well-being. While many studies have found educational dissimilarity and age difference between spouses to be associated with certain health variables, such as high blood pressure and coronary heart disease, these variables do not have a significant influence on individual levels of psychological distress and well-being. Spouse similarity for socio-demographic characteristics does not play a significant role in explaining spouse similarity for mental health. Consequently, assortative mating for psychological distress and well-being would appear to be primarily due to personal preference.
Course of multi-impulsive bulimia
Authors: Fichter M. M. , Quadflieg N. , Rief W. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThirty-two consecutively admitted females with bulimia nervosa (purging type) according to DSM-IV and additional impulsive behaviours (multi-impulsive bulimia (MIB)) and 32 age-matched female controls with DSM-IV bulimia nervosa (purging type) (uni-impulsive bulimia (UIB)) were assessed longitudinally on admission and at discharge following in-patient therapy and at a 2-year follow-up. Multi-impulsive bulimics were defined as presenting at least three of the six of the following impulsive behaviours in their life-time in addition to their bulimic symptoms at admission: (a) suicidal attempts, (b) severe autoaggression, (c) shop lifting (other than food), (d) alcohol abuse, (e) drug abuse, or (f) sexual promiscuity. Multi-impulsive bulimics were more frequently separated or divorced, had less schooling and held less-skilled jobs. Except for interoceptive awareness (EDI), which was more disturbed in multi-impulsive bulimics, there were no differences concerning scales measuring eating disturbances and related areas. Multi-impulsive bulimics showed more general psychopathology – anxiety, depression, anger and hostility, psychoticism – differed in several personality scales from uni-impulsive bulimics (e.g. increased excitability and anger/hostility) and had overall a less favourable course of illness. Multi-impulsive bulimics also received more in- and out-patient therapy previous to the index treatment and during the follow-up period. The data support the notion that ‘multi-impulsive bulimia’ or ‘multi-impulsive disorder’ should be classified as a distinct diagnostic group on axis I or that an ‘Impulsive Personality Disorder’ should be introduced on axis II. The development of more effective treatment for multi-impulsive bulimia is warranted.
A prospective study of widowhood and changes in symptoms of depression in a community sample of the elderly
Authors: De Leon C. F. Mendes , Kasl S. V. , Jacobs S. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThis survey examines changes in depressive symptomatology (CES-D) during bereavement in 1046 elderly subjects, of whom 139 became widowed during follow-up. Depression scores increased during the first year of bereavement, but generally returned to pre-widowhood levels thereafter. However, depression scores remained elevated among young-old widows (65–74year-olds) well after the first year of widowhood. Using cut-off scores, rates of high depressive symptoms remained somewhat elevated over baseline levels. Increases in depression scores during bereavement were not explained by socio-economic variables, health habits and health status. It is concluded that particularly young-old widows are at risk of developing chronic depressive symptomatology during bereavement that may warrant clinical attention.
Autism as a strongly genetic disorder: evidence from a British twin study
Authors: Bailey A. , Le Couteur A. , Gottesman I. , Bolton P. , Simonoff E. , Yuzda E. , Rutter M. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisTwo previous epidemiological studies of autistic twins suggested that autism was predominantly genetically determined, although the findings with regard to a broader phenotype of cognitive, and possibly social, abnormalities were contradictory. Obstetric and perinatal hazards were also invoked as environmentally determined aetiological factors. The first British twin sample has been re-examined and a second total population sample of autistic twins recruited. In the combined sample 60% of monozygotic (MZ) pairs were concordant for autismversusno dizygotic (DZ) pairs; 92% of MZ pairs were concordant for a broader spectrum of related cognitive or social abnormalitiesversus10% of DZ pairs. The findings indicate that autism is under a high degree of genetic control and suggest the involvement of multiple genetic loci. Obstetric hazards usually appear to be consequences of genetically influenced abnormal development, rather than independent aetiological factors. Few new cases had possible medical aetiologies, refuting claims that recognized disorders are common aetiological influences.
ICD-10 mild cognitive disorder: epidemiological evidence on its validity
Authors: Christensen Helen , Henderson A. S. , Jorm A. F. , Mackinnon A. J. , Scott Ruth , Korten A. E. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisCriteria for the diagnosis of ICD-10 Mild Cognitive Disorder (MCD) were applied to a sample of 897 community dwelling elderly participants. Criterion A (the presence of a physical disorder) was met by 44%, Criterion B (report of a cognitive disorder) by 17%, Criterion C (an abnormality in quantified cognitive assessments) by 60%, and Criterion D (exclusion on basis of dementia and other conditions) by 74%. A total of 36 cases (4%) met all four criteria. Correlations between Criteria A and B, and B and C were weak (r = 0·18), and the correlation between Criteria A and C was almost zero (r = 0·02). This suggests that no syndrome exists. Membership of MCD was predicted by a report that memory or intelligence interfered with daily life but not by performance on cognitive tests or by a report of physical illness. Cases of MCD had higher anxiety, depression and neuroticism scores than normal elderly, but did not differ substantially on tests of cognitive functioning. These findings call into question the validity of the ICD-10 diagnosis of MCD.
Can memories of childhood sexual abuse be repressed?
Authors: Pope Harrison G. , Hudson James I. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisWe sought studies which have attempted to test whether memories of childhood sexual abuse can be repressed. Despite our broad search criteria, which excluded only unsystematic anecdotal reports, we found only four applicable studies. We then examined these studies to assess whether the investigators: (1) presented confirmatory evidence that abuse had actually occurred; and (2) demonstrated that their subjects had actually developed amnesia for the abuse. None of the four studies provided both clear confirmation of trauma and adequate documentation of amnesia in their subjects. Thus, present clinical evidence is insufficient to permit the conclusion that individuals can repress memories of childhood sexual abuse. This finding is surprising, since many writers have implied that hundreds of thousands, or even millions of persons harbour such repressed memories. In view of the widespread recent public and scientific interest in the areas of trauma and memory, it is important to investigate further whether memories of sexual abuse can be repressed.
Ten-year follow-up of anorexia nervosa: clinical course and outcome
Authors: Eckert E. D. , Halmi K. A. , Marchi P. , Grove W. , Crosby R. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe clinical course and outcome of anorexia nervosa are presented in a 10-year followup study of 76 severely ill females with anorexia nervosa who met specific diagnostic criteria and had participated in a well-documented hospital treatment study. Information was obtained on 100% of the subjects. A comprehensive assessment was made in 93% of the living subjects in specific categories of weight, eating and weight control behaviours, menstrual function, anorexic attitudes, and psychological, sexual, social and vocational adjustment. Five subjects had died, which gives a crude mortality rate of 6·6%. Standardized mortality rates demonstrated an almost 13-fold increase in mortality in the anorexia nervosa subjects. Only eighteen (23·7%) were fully recovered. Sixty-four per cent developed binge-eating at some time during their illness, 57% at least weekly. Twenty-nine (41%) were still bulimic at follow-up. The high frequency and chronicity of the bulimic symptoms plus the high rate of weight relapse (42% during the first year after hospital treatment) suggest that intensive intervention is needed to help anorexics restore and maintain their weight within a normal range and to decrease abnormal eating and weight control behaviours.