Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback rapidly ameliorates schizophrenia symptoms: A case report of the first session.

A 38-year-old army officer started therapy in 2020 with a four-year history of auditory hallucinations and delusions of reference, persecution and grandeur, symptoms that were resistant to traditional antipsychotic medications. He follows an integrative psychotherapy program that aims to reduce his anxiety, continues his antipsychotic medications, and has Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback. After his initial assessment he had a 40 min session of Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback before any other kind of intervention.

Long lasting effects of chronic heavy cannabis abuse.

Background And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of short-term memory impairment and schizophrenia-like symptoms in heavy and systematic cannabis users and the association between the severity of abuse and the longevity of its persistent symptoms after refraining from such use.

Methods: A complete psychiatric examination and a psychometric evaluation were performed in 48 solely cannabis users. Additionally, head hair samples were analyzed and the detected cannabinoids levels were correlated with the psychometric findings.

Does family interrelating change over the course of individual treatment?

Interrelating is a combination of each person's relating towards a specified other and each person's view of the other's relating towards him/her. Negative interrelating is a maladaptive form of interrelating. The study aims to (1) compare the negative interrelating within the families of neurotic and psychotic psychotherapy outpatients; (2) examine whether individual treatment has a beneficial effect upon negative interrelating; (3) examine whether the improvement extends beyond the patients' interrelating with their parents (i.

Interrelating within the families of young psychotherapy outpatients.

Interrelating is a combination of relating to and being related to by another. The Couple's Relating to Each Other Questionnaires (CREOQ) and the Family Members Interrelating Questionnaires (FMIQ) measure negative forms of both self and other relating, across a close/distant and an upper/lower axis. These were used to measure the interrelating between the parents of young adults, and between young adults and their parents, in a sample of young, Greek, psychotherapy outpatients and a comparable sample of non- patients.

The Greek version of the Revised Person's Relating to Others Questionnaire (PROQ2-GR): psychometric properties and factor structure.

The Revised Person's Relating to Others Questionnaire (PROQ2) is a self-administered questionnaire of 96 items for measuring a person's negative relating. Its eight scales correspond to the eight octants of the theoretical structure called the interpersonal octagon, which is based upon the assumption that relating occurs along a horizontal, close-distant axis and a vertical, upper-lower axis. The present study concerns the Greek translation of the questionnaire called the PROQ2-GR.

What kind of research can we realistically expect from the practitioner?

This article attempts to revitalize the scientist-practitioner model of psychotherapy by focusing on the research component of the model. Specifically, it takes a realistic look at the types of research that can be conducted by clinicians in an effort to motivate them to engage regularly in clinical research. Towards this end, five experienced scientist-practitioners explore the advantages, disadvantages, and potential of practitioner-initiated research.

Audiologic and psychological profile of Greek patients with tinnitus--preliminary findings.

Tinnitus is a common complaint among people who suffer from auditory disorders. Altering the patients' response to tinnitus and the development of coping techniques are the most important goals of the therapeutic or suppression methods. This is the first study in the Greek population to investigate the personality characteristics and coping techniques of tinnitus patients.

Gabaergic mechanisms and anxiety: an overview and a new neurophysiological model.

GABA is one of the principal inhibitory neurotransmitters in the mammalian brain and an ever increasing wealth of information suggests that GABAergic mechanisms have a special role in the neurophysiology of anxiety. All of the most commonly used antianxiety drugs (the benzodiazepines, the barbiturates, ethanol) selectively enhance only GABA-mediated synaptic transmission. Furthermore, the relative affinities of pharmacologically active benzodiazepines for the benzodiazepine receptor correlate well with their ability to antagonize GABA-modulin (the endogenous inhibitor of GABA receptors) in vitro, as well as with their ability to potentiate GABA-mediated electrically evoked cortical inhibition in vivo.

High doses of diazepam improve neuroleptic-resistant chronic schizophrenic patients.

According to the two currently most popular biological hypotheses, schizophrenic symptoms result from a hyperactivity in dopaminergic neurotransmission or from a hypoactivity in GABAergic neurotransmission. Since diazepam is known to reduce dopamine release and to potentiate GABA, the possible beneficial effects of diazepam were tested in ten hospitalized chronic schizophrenic patients who were resistant to standard neuroleptic treatment. High doses of diazepam, up to 200 mg/day initially, but smaller maintenance doses (less than 55 mg/day diazepam in eight of the ten patients) were added to the previous neuroleptic medication of these patients.

Diazepam in high doses is effective in schizophrenia.

1. Diazepam in high doses, up to 400 mg per day, was administered to paranoid schizophrenic patients in a double-blind placebo-controlled study. 2.

Cholecystokinin appears to have antipsychotic properties.

1. According to a currently popular biological hypothesis schizophrenic symptoms are caused by a hyperactivity in dopaminergic neurotransmission. Since cholecystokinin (CCK) is a neuromodulator of dopaminergic neurotransmission, the effects of CCK (0.

Benzodiazepine and gaba receptors are functionally related: further electrophysiological evidence in vivo.

1. The effects of five benzodiazepines (Ro 21-3981, flurazepam, chlordiazepoxide, medazepam and clozapine) on GABA-mediated electrically-evoked cortical inhibition were tested. 2.

Sexual behavior of the male schizophrenic: the impact of illness and medications.

The literature concerning the impact of (a) the schizophrenic illness and (b) the neuroleptic drugs (which are the most commonly employed medications for this disorder) on male sexual behavior is critically reviewed in the light of what is currently known about the interaction of both the schizophrenic illness and the neuroleptic drugs with hormones and neurotransmitters known to play a role in male sexual behavior. The effect of the schizophrenic illness on male sexual behavior is unclear, but there are some indications that chronic, severe schizophrenia may exert detrimental effects on many aspects of male sexual behavior. As for neuroleptic drugs, a wealth of evidence suggests that they have many detrimental effects on male sexual behavior.

Ethanol specifically potentiates GABA-mediated neurotransmission in feline cerebral cortex.

Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) potentiates the inhibition of cortical neurons by gamma-aminobutyric acid. This effect is specific, since ethanol does not potentiate inhibiton by glycine, serotonin, or dopamine. These results have implications for alcoholism because (i) gamma-aminobutyric acid mediates anxiolytic mechanisms, and (ii) anxiety is implicated in the etiology of alcoholism.

Benzodiazepines in schizophrenia: a need for reassessment.

The controlled clinical studies that have attempted to evaluate the usefulness of benzodiazepines in the treatment of schizophrenic patients are reviewed. It is concluded that the doses used were probably too small and inadequate to induce an ameliorating effect. Benzodiazepines may be promising candidates for antipsychotic drugs since, by facilitating CABAergic neurotransmission, they diminish dopaminergic neurotransmission.

Effects of microiontophoretically applied flurazepam on responses of cerebral cortical neurones to putative neurotransmitters.

Utilizing standard microiontophoretic techniques and recording extracellularly in cats, we studied the effects of flurazepam, a water-soluble benzodiazepine, on the spike activity of single cerebral neurones and its interactions with several excitatory and inhibitory putative neurotransmitters. Large iontophoretic doses (5--30 nA, 0.1 M solution) of flurazepam induced a depression of spike amplitude.

Factors related to tardive dyskinesia.

The authors found a 31% incidence of tardive dyskinesia among 261 schizophrenic outpatients treated with neuroleptics. Multiple linear logistic regression analysis revealed a higher incidence of tardive dyskinesia among elderly patients, those with longer records of hospitalization, those for whom neuroleptic medication had little therapeutic effect, and those treated with fluphenazine. Patients manifesting tardive dyskinesia tended to have fewer parkinsonian symptoms than those without the disorder, especially when tremors and akathisia were excluded from consideration.

A presynaptic component of the action of iontophoretically applied flurazepam on feline cortical neurones.

The effect of iontophoretically applied flurazepam on the spike activity of pericruciate cortical neurones of the cat was studied. Flurazepam increased cortical inhibition produced either by local electrical stimulation (which is known to release gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) or by iontophoretically applied GABA. Following intravenous treatment with thiosemicarbazide (a GABA-synthesis inhibitor), flurazepam still augmented the action of GABA but was much less effective on electrically evoked cortical inhibition.

Butaclamol in the treatment of schizophrenia. A standard-controlled clinical trial.

A 16-week, standard-controlled, double-blind study was conducted to compare the efficacy of butaclamol with that of fluphenazine in the treatment of 24 newly admitted schizophrenic patients. Statistically significant improvement occurred in the entire population in the total scores of the BPRS and PAS; in the activation, anergia, thought disturbance and hostile/suspiciousness factor scores of the BPRS; and in the scores of 9 of the 12 factors of the PAS. There were no statistically significant differences between the scores of the two treatment groups on the total or factor scores of either scale during the course of the clinical trial.