Acoustic respiration rate and pulse oximetry-derived respiration rate: a clinical comparison study.

Respiration rate (RR) is a critical vital sign that provides early detection of respiratory compromise. The acoustic technique of measuring continuous respiration rate (RR) interprets the large airway sound envelope to calculate respiratory rate while pulse oximetry-derived respiratory rate (RR) interprets modulations of the photoplethsymograph in response to hemodynamic changes during the respiratory cycle. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of these technologies to each other and to a capnography-based reference device.

Think Yourself Thin: Concern for Appropriateness Mediates the Link Between Hypnotizability and Disordered Eating.

There has been no research examining why people with disordered eating tend to be highly hypnotizable. The authors examine the hypothesis that concern for appropriateness mediates the association between hypnotizability and disordered eating. Fifty participants aged 15 to 30 completed the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) and the Concern for Appropriateness Scale (CAS) and were administered the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C (SHSS:C).

Behavioral and cognitive effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor co-agonist D-serine in healthy humans: initial findings.

The efficacy of compounds having agonistic activity at the glycine site associated with the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is presently assessed in psychiatric disorders. In contrast to NMDAR antagonists, the neuropsychiatric effects of NMDAR agonists in the healthy human organism are not known. We studied neuropsychiatric and neurochemical effects of the NMDAR-glycine site obligatory co-agonist d-serine (DSR) in healthy subjects using a randomized, controlled crossover challenge design including a baseline assessment day and two DSR/placebo administration days.

Medical Clowning and Psychosis: A Case Report and Theoretical Review.

The medical clown has become an accepted therapeutic figure in non-psychiatric hospital departments in recent years. However, the potential role of the clown in psychiatry, especially for the treatment of psychosis, has not been investigated. We report here on the functioning of a medical clown in an inpatient psychiatric department.

Hypnotizability is associated with a protective but not acquisitive self-presentation style.

Self-presentation refers to the behavioral strategies a person adopts to convey desired social images of oneself to other people. The Concern for Appropriateness Scale (CAS) measures a defensive and fearful social approach aimed at avoiding social threats whereas the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (RSMS) measures an active and flexible social approach aimed at gaining power and status. In this study, a significant correlation was found between hypnotizability, as measured by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C) scores and CAS (r = .

A randomized add-on trial of high-dose D-cycloserine for treatment-resistant depression.

Antagonism of N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamatergic receptors (NMDAR) may represent an effective antidepressant mechanism. D-cycloserine (DCS) is a partial agonist at the NMDAR-associated glycine modulatory site that at high doses acts as a functional NMDAR antagonist. Twenty-six treatment-resistant major depressive disorder patients participated in a double blind, placebo-controlled, 6-wk parallel group trial with a gradually titrated high dose (1000 mg/d) of DCS added to their antidepressant medication.

Preventive pharmacological treatment --an evolving new concept in schizophrenia.

Treatment for schizophrenia remains one of the major challenges of modern medicine. The development of innovative pharmacological approaches for this disorder can potentially alleviate tremendous human suffering and revolutionize mental health delivery systems. While current treatment guidelines for schizophrenia refer to the post-psychosis onset phase of illness, presently there is a strong resurgent interest in secondary prevention intervention applied during schizophrenia prodrome.

Hypnotizability and sensorimotor gating: a dopaminergic mechanism of hypnosis.

Dopaminergic mechanisms have been theorized to influence hypnotizability and sensorimotor gating. In this study, the authors investigated an association between sensorimotor gating, as measured by prepulse inhibition (PPI), and hypnotizability, as assessed by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C). They found an inverse correlation between the SSHS:C and PPI.

Defensive self-presentation style is associated with reduced prepulse inhibition.

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response is a cross-species measure of sensorimotor gating that provides a valuable tool for assessing the capacity to effectively screen out irrelevant sensory input. Accumulating evidence suggests that PPI deficits may correlate with impairments in social cognition, i.e.

Association between arginine vasopressin 1a receptor (AVPR1a) promoter region polymorphisms and prepulse inhibition.

Arginine vasopressin and the arginine vasopressin 1a (AVPR1a) gene contribute to a range of social behaviors both in lower vertebrates and in humans. Human promoter-region microsatellite repeat regions (RS1 and RS3) in the AVPR1a gene region have been associated with autism spectrum disorders, prosocial behavior and social cognition. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response to auditory stimuli is a largely autonomic response that resonates with social cognition in both animal models and humans.

Hypnotizability and blink rate: a test of the dopamine hypothesis.

Evidence suggests a role for central dopaminergic activity in determining an individual's level of hypnotizability. The authors measured the correlation between blink rate, which has been shown to correlate with central dopaminergic activity, and hypnotizability. Forty-eight healthy participants were evaluated for hypnotizability by the Harvard Group Scales of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C.

Reduced prepulse inhibition is associated with increased hypnotizability.

Hypnosis involves the manipulation of conscious attentional discrimination. The prepulse inhibition (PPI) paradigm assesses primary unconscious information processing. We investigated the correlation between hypnotizability and PPI of the startle reflex.

High glycine levels are associated with prepulse inhibition deficits in chronic schizophrenia patients.

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex, a measure of sensorimotor gating, is decreased in schizophrenia. The validity of a glutamatergic, N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated model of PPI disruption is presently equivocal. The NMDAR antagonist ketamine disrupts PPI in rodents, but may increase PPI in healthy volunteers.