QEEG alpha 1 changes after a single dose of high-potency neuroleptics as a predictor of short-term response to treatment in schizophrenic patients.

Baseline quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) characteristics and their changes after a single test dose of either haloperidol or clopenthixol were investigated in a group of 29 schizophrenics as possible predictors of short-term response to those drugs. On baseline QEEG assessment, responders (R) to subsequent treatment showed fewer slow and more fast activities than nonresponders (NR). A large overlap between R and NR with respect to these measures was observed, however, revealing their practical inadequacy to predict short-term response in individual patients.

Pineal response to isoproterenol in rats chronically treated with electroconvulsive shock.

Chronic electroconvulsive shock (ECS) has been shown to induce a downregulation of beta 1-adrenergic receptors in the rat cerebral cortex. Because the secretion of melatonin in the pineal gland is regulated primarily by beta 1-adrenoceptors, in the present study we investigated the effect of chronic administration of ECS on pineal beta-adrenergic responsiveness to isoproterenol. To this purpose, young adult male rats received once daily for 8 days ECS (80 mA, 0.

The human pineal gland responds to stress-induced sympathetic activation in the second half of the dark phase: preliminary evidence.

Previous reports by our group and by others showed that the human pineal gland is unresponsive to stress-induced systemic sympathetic activation either during the day or 3 hrs after the beginning of darkness. In the present study, we investigated whether a longer period of dark exposure is required to demonstrate a stimulatory effect of stress-induced sympathetic activation on the human pineal gland. For this purpose, plasma melatonin levels were measured in six healthy men (aged 25-34 yrs) both in resting condition and before and after a physical exercise performed between 02.

Computerized EEG topography findings in schizophrenic patients before and after haloperidol treatment.

An increase of delta and fast beta activity in schizophrenic patients when compared with normal controls has been consistently reported. Topography of these abnormalities, in particular a possible frontal localization of delta, and their relationship to drug treatment and clinical status are still debated. In order to assess these issues, a multilead CEEG investigation was carried out in a group of 20 DSM-III-R schizophrenics, both before and after haloperidol treatment.

Melatonin and cortisol secretion in patients with primary obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Plasma levels of melatonin and cortisol were measured over a 24-hour period in seven patients with primary obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and seven matched healthy control subjects. In OCD patients, the 24-hour secretion of melatonin was reduced as compared with that in healthy control subjects, whereas its circadian rhythm was preserved. In addition, in OCD patients, the overall secretion of cortisol was higher than that in control subjects, but there was no change in the circadian pattern of cortisol secretion.

Depressed nocturnal plasma melatonin levels in drug-free paranoid schizophrenics.

The 24-h profiles of plasma melatonin and cortisol were evaluated in 7 drug-free male paranoid schizophrenics and in 7 healthy subjects matched to the patients for age, sex, body weight, height and season of testing. Blood samples were obtained at 20.00, 22.

Physical stress in the middle of the dark phase does not affect light-depressed plasma melatonin levels in humans.

The human pineal gland has been shown to be unresponsive to stress-induced sympathetic activation during the day. However, the effects of stress on human melatonin production have received little investigation at night, when the pinealocytes should be physiologically responsive to noradrenergic stimulation. For this purpose, plasma melatonin and cortisol levels were measured in 7 healthy men (aged 25-34 years), both in resting condition and before and after a physical exercise performed between 23.

Blunting by chronic phosphatidylserine administration of the stress-induced activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in healthy men.

The effect of chronic administration of phosphatidylserine derived from brain cortex on the neuroendocrine responses to physical stress has been examined in a placebo-controlled study in 9 healthy men. Phosphatidylserine 800 mg/d for 10 days significantly blunted the ACTH and cortisol responses to physical exercise (P = 0.003 and P = 0.

CEEG mapping in drug-free schizophrenics. Differences from healthy subjects and changes induced by haloperidol treatment.

A topographic CEEG investigation was carried out in 20 drug-free, DSM-IIIR diagnosed schizophrenics and in a group of matched healthy controls. The effects of acute and chronic haloperidol treatment were then assessed in the patient group. On the baseline recording, schizophrenics showed a widespread increase in delta, theta 1 and beta 3 amplitude.

Lateralization patterns of event-related potential and performance indices in schizophrenia: relationship to clinical state and neuroleptic treatment.

In a previous study we assessed lateralization patterns of verbal stimuli processing, by means of behavioural and neurophysiological measures, in a sample of drug-free schizophrenics and one of normal controls. The main findings obtained were the following: (1) a right visual field (RVF) advantage on reaction time (RT) and late positive complex (LPC) peak of the ERPs in normal subjects but not in schizophrenics; (2) a left visual field (LVF) significant advantage on P360 and slow wave (SW) amplitude in schizophrenics but not in controls; (3) a significantly longer RT and smaller P360 and SW for RVF stimuli in schizophrenics as compared to normals; (4) a significant contralateral effect of visual field on N180 at both the left and the right parietal site in normal controls and only at the right parietal site in schizophrenics. As a further step of this investigation we re-tested 9 schizophrenics after 28 days of haloperidol treatment.

C-EEG brain mapping in DSM-III schizophrenics after acute and chronic haloperidol treatment.

A multi-lead C-EEG investigation was carried out, in order to evaluate changes induced by acute and chronic treatment with haloperidol in DSM-III-R schizophrenics. After the acute treatment the main C-EEG changes were (1) a significant decrease of delta relative power (RP) over all the explored leads and of theta 1 over the occipital leads; (2) an increase in alpha 2 and beta 2 RP, as well as a decrease of beta 3 RP confined to the anterior temporal leads (T3, T4). During chronic treatment, C-EEG changes observed were (1) a significant decrease of delta RP and an increase of theta 1 RP; (2) an increase of alpha 1 and alpha 2 RP; (3) a significant decrease of beta 1, beta 2 and beta 3.

Effects of phosphatidylserine on the neuroendocrine response to physical stress in humans.

The activity of brain cortex-derived phosphatidylserine (BC-PS) on the neuroendocrine and neurovegetative responses to physical stress was tested in 8 healthy men who underwent three experiments with a bicycle ergometer. According to a double-blind design, before starting the exercise, each subject received intravenously, within 10 min, 50 or 75 mg of BC-PS or a volume-matched placebo diluted in 100 ml of saline. Blood samples were collected before and after the exercise for plasma epinephrine (E), norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), cortisol, growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and glucose determinations.

Factors associated with increased noradrenaline levels in schizophrenic patients.

1. CSF NA levels were determined in a sample of DSM III-diagnosed schizophrenics and in a non-psychiatric control group. Schizophrenics with NA levels above and below the median were compared with respect to several clinical, historical, neuropsychological and biological variables.

Physical exercise at night blunts the nocturnal increase of plasma melatonin levels in healthy humans.

The effects of physical exercise on nighttime melatonin secretion have never been investigated in humans. For this purpose, plasma melatonin levels were measured at different times during the day and the night in seven healthy men (aged 26-33 yrs), both in resting condition and before and after a physical exercise performed between 10.40 and 11.

Dexamethasone suppression test in patients with primary obsessive-compulsive disorder and in healthy controls.

The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) was performed in 18 patients (11 women and 7 men) who met the DSM III-R criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), and in 20 healthy volunteers (12 women and 8 men). At 4.00 p.

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among subjects exposed to a natural disaster.

A general practice study was carried out in 3 areas of the province of Naples, in southern Italy: Pozzuoli (PZ), a town exposed to significant seismic events in 1983, Monte Ruscello (MR), a village built to accommodate the victims of the earthquake, and Monte di Procida (MP), a town selected as a control since it is situated near PZ and was not significantly affected by the earthquake. The sociodemographic characteristics of the subjects examined were comparable in the 3 areas. The estimate of the real prevalence of psychiatric disorders according to Diamond & Lilienfeld was found to be higher in PZ and MR than in MP.

Lithium decreases retinal melatonin levels in the frog.

The effect of the acute i.p. administration of lithium chloride (1 mg/kg) and of haloperidol (1 mg/kg) on retinal melatonin levels was studied in light-adapted and dark-adapted frogs of the species Rana esculenta.

Implementing psychiatric reform in southern Italy: the case of Campania.

The implementation of the 1978 psychiatric reform in Campania, the most populated region of Southern Italy, is surveyed, by referring to currently available empirical data. Emphasis is laid on the incomplete development of psychiatric wards within general hospitals and of mental health services, on the lack of residential structures, on the failure to implement comprehensive departments for mental health care, on the increase in the number of admissions to private clinics and on the fact that more than three thousand patients are still in mental hospitals. Moreover, some characteristics of the new services clearly betraying the spirit of the law are pointed out.

A multicenter Italian study of amineptine (Survector 100).

This study reports the antidepressant efficacy and the safety of amineptine (Survector 100) in a national multicenter open clinical trial (32 hospital centers). Three hundred twenty-four patients with depressive disorders, selected according to DSM-III Diagnostic Criteria and INSERM classification, were treated with amineptine (200 mg/day) for 40 days (mean). Amineptine proved to be significantly effective with a rapid onset of action (beginning on the 7th day) on depressive symptoms, as shown by the decrease in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale total score.

Long-term outcome of lithium prophylaxis in patients initially classified as complete responders.

The long-term outcome of lithium prophylaxis was explored in 43 bipolar and 36 unipolar patients who had been classified as complete responders after the first 2 years of treatment. These patients were followed up prospectively for a further period of 5 years (treatment period II), during which their psychopathological state was assessed monthly or bimonthly. Forty-nine patients completed treatment period II, 2 died during this period, 7 did not attend the unit any more and could not be traced, and 21 definitively interrupted lithium treatment before the end of the period.

Lateralization patterns of verbal stimuli processing assessed by reaction time and event-related potentials in schizophrenic patients.

Event-related potentials (ERPs), reaction time (RT), number of errors and number of omissions were recorded by using a visual target detection paradigm in which consonant pairs were presented in a central and in a lateral condition. Fourteen DSM III drug-free schizophrenics and 19 healthy subjects took part in the study. All of them were male and right-handed.