Alterations in auditory processing of speech stimuli during aging in healthy subjects.

Studies of auditory processing during aging in man have not provided a consensus on whether aging affects the ability to process speech stimuli. To evaluate the relationship between speech recognition tasks and age, we examined 36 male subjects between the ages of 21 and 83 years, who were screened for the absence of disease, particularly in the cardiovascular and neurologic systems. Measures were obtained on the following tests: pure tone thresholds, speech reception threshold, speech discrimination, low-pass filtered speech, and binaural fusion.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: a case of 16 years' duration.

A 46-year-old man with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease confirmed postmortem had a 16-year course of very slowly progressing incoordination and mental deterioration, suggesting Alzheimer's disease. The disease course transformed abruptly into a 7-week terminal phase of florid Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Dementing illnesses of unknown cause were present in the patient's paternal lineage.

Low dose bromocriptine: a study of acute effects in chronic mediated schizophrenics.

An acute low oral dose (2 mg) of bromocriptine was administered in a randomized double blind fashion to 11 chronic symptomatic mediated schizophrenic patients. There was an overall improvement for the group on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) following bromocriptine. Plasma homovanillic acid, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, and vanilloyl-mandelic acid concentrations were unchanged after bromocriptine.

Down's syndrome in adults: brain metabolism.

The cerebral metabolic rate for glucose, as measured with positron emission tomography and fluorine-18-labeled 2-deoxy-D-glucose, was significantly higher in four healthy young subjects with trisomy 21 syndrome (Down's syndrome) than the mean rate in healthy young controls. The rate of cerebral glucose utilization in the frontal lobe of a 51-year-old subject with Down's syndrome was significantly lower than the rate in the young subjects with this syndrome, but approximated the rate in middle-aged controls. Thus glucose utilization by the brain appears to be excessive in young adults with Down's syndrome but may decline with age in some brain regions.

Apomorphine response and subtyping of schizophrenia.

(1) We conducted a double-blind study of acute effects of low-dose apomorphine (0.01 mg/kg) in 12 chronic schizophrenic patients. (2) Overall, there was no significant difference in therapeutic response to apomorphine versus placebo.

Assessing the noradrenergic system in normal aging: a review of methodology.

Studies evaluating plasma norepinephrine in the normal elderly have found significant increases as compared to the young and middle-aged individuals. The increased plasma norepinephrine concentrations found during the normal aging process in man may be relevant to both the understanding of drug therapeutics and underlying mechanisms of the noradrenergic system in the elderly. The authors critically review the experimental design of studies that have evaluated plasma norepinephrine and age.

State-related cyclical dyskinesias in manic-depressive illness.

Cyclical dyskinesias in two rapidly cycling manic-depressive patients recurred during depression and disappeared during mania. One case is reviewed in detail including findings of a 2-year follow-up. Spinal fluid biochemical data are presented and discussed.

Low-dose apomorphine reduces serum homovanillic acid concentrations in schizophrenic patients.

This study was carried out to evaluate the postulated dopaminergic auto-receptor regulatory effect in man of low-dose apomorphine. Behavior and serum homovanillic acid concentrations following low-dose apomorphine were investigated. Five medicated chronic schizophrenic patients had serum homovanillic acid concentrations measured by mass fragmentography before and after 0.

Altered hydroxydesipramine concentrations in elderly depressed patients.

Recent reports demonstrate that hydroxy metabolites of desipramine (DMI) have pharmacologic activity and do not just produce side effects. In patients treated with DMI, we determined the ratio of 2-hydroxydesipramine (2-OH-DMI) to drug at steady state. The ratios in the elderly patients were higher than in younger patients, and whereas plasma levels of 2-OH-DMI increased with age, urinary clearances decreased.

Concentrations of desipramine in elderly women.

Seven elderly depressed women were given desipramine, and plasma concentrations of the drug were measured from blood samples drawn after a single dose and during long-term use. The concentrations were no different from those found in younger patients. Aging does not seem to alter the plasma concentration of desipramine, and the authors conclude that the increased incidence and severity of the drug's side effects are probably not due to high drug concentrations.

Voluntary association participation and life satisfaction: replication, revision, and extension.

A secondary analysis of a national sample of American adults is used to examine the correlation between membership in voluntary associations and life satisfaction. It is hypothesized that the influence of membership on overall life satisfaction is indirect: Membership influences organizational satisfaction; in turn, organizational satisfaction influences satisfaction with life as a whole. The findings suggest that the hypothesized pattern of relationships is not ubiquitously present for all four of the older age categories studied.

Age variations in the dimensionality of life satisfaction.

Paralleling the increasing importance of life satisfaction and related concepts in gerontological research has been an increase in the number and kind of operational measures of these concepts. In this context the present research suggests not only that life satisfaction is a multidimensional rather than a unidimensional construct but, of particular gerontological importance, the pattern of multidimensionality varies across age groups. The analysis is based upon a national sample of the adult population of the United States in which 12 different domains of life satisfaction were subjectively assessed by each respondent.