Psychomotor, neuroendocrine and behavioural effects after oral administration of levodopa in normal volunteers.

The oral administration of a single dose of levodopa (L-dopa) in 10 healthy human male subjects induced cognitive, not motor, changes during figure-copying tasks that were unrelated to the neuroendocrine and behavioural effects of levodopa. Results point to a decrease in alertness induced by levodopa.

Effects of PhD examination stress on allopregnanolone and cortisol plasma levels and peripheral benzodiazepine receptor density.

Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) density in blood platelets and plasma allopregnanolone concentration in humans were determined following acute stress as represented by PhD examination. Fifteen healthy PhD students participated. Heart rate, blood pressure, plasma allopregnanolone, plasma cortisol, and PBR density were measured at different time points.

Correlated measures in longitudinal analysis of daily drug use patterns in a general intensive care unit.

Purpose: The objective of the present study is to compare two different study designs (with and without corrections for correlated measures) to identify possible determinants of psychotropic drug use in an intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: In a logistic regression analysis, odds ratios (OR) were calculated for days in which patients were exposed to psychotropics compared with non-exposed days. In order to adjust for correlated measures, logistic regression with a logistic binomial model was applied.

Zolpidem is not superior to temazepam with respect to rebound insomnia: a controlled study.

This randomised controlled trial was conducted to compare zolpidem to an equivalent dose of temazepam with respect to subjective rebound insomnia after cessation of 4 weeks of treatment in chronic insomnia (zolpidem 10 mg, n=79; temazepam 20 mg, n=84). Both agents improved total sleep time (TST) as well as sleep onset latency (SOL) significantly during the 4 treatment weeks. Prevalence rates for rebound insomnia, defined as a worsening of TST or SOL of more than 40% compared to baseline, were 27% for TST and 53% for SOL in the Zolpidem condition and 26% and 58%, respectively, in the temazepam condition.

Long-term benzodiazepine users in family practice: differences from short-term users in mental health, coping behaviour and psychological characteristics.

Background: Contrary to short-term use, long-term benzodiazepine use is undesirable. Nevertheless, its prevalence is high. To prevent long-term use, it is important to know which short-term users are at risk of becoming long-term users.

Homocysteine metabolism and B-vitamins in schizophrenic patients: low plasma folate as a possible independent risk factor for schizophrenia.

Two apparently unrelated disorders, neural tube defects (NTD) and schizophrenia showed increased risks in birth cohorts exposed to famine during early gestation. NTD is associated with impaired folate metabolism. We investigated whether schizophrenia is also linked with a dysfunctional folate metabolism.

Predictors of relapse after discontinuation of long-term benzodiazepine use by minimal intervention: a 2-year follow-up study.

Background: Long-term results of minimal intervention strategies to cut down benzodiazepine use are not available.

Objective: To evaluate the relapse rate over a two-year period and to search for predictors of relapse among patients who quit benzodiazepine use after receiving a discontinuation letter.

Methods: Baseline assessment and prospective monitoring of the medical records of 109 patients who quit long-term benzodiazepine use after a minimal intervention strategy in general practice.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Benzodiazepine Craving Questionnaire.

Aim: To assess the scalability, reliability and validity of a newly constructed self-report questionnaire on craving for benzodiazepines (BZs), the Benzodiazepine Craving Questionnaire (BCQ).

Setting And Participants: The BCQ was administered once to a sample of 113 long-term and 80 former long-term general practice BZ users participating in a large BZ reduction trial in general practice.

Measurements: (1) Unidimensionality of the BCQ was tested by means of the Rasch model.

The hypothalamus in episodic brain disorders.

Episodic brain disorders (EBD) form an intriguing group of neurological diseases in which at least some of the symptoms occur in attacks. The hypothalamus integrates many brain functions, including endocrine and autonomic control, and governs various body rhythms. It seems a likely site in which the initiation of attacks of EBD can be modulated.

Tapering off long-term benzodiazepine use with or without group cognitive-behavioural therapy: three-condition, randomised controlled trial.

Background: Benzodiazepine withdrawal programmes have never been experimentally compared with a nonintervention control condition.

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of tapering off long-term benzodiazepine use in general practice, and to evaluate the value of additional group cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).

Method: A 3-month randomised, 3-month controlled trial was conducted in which 180 people attempting to discontinue long-term benzodiazepine use were assigned to tapering off plus group CBT, tapering off alone or usual care.

Cross-validation, predictive validity, and time course of the Benzodiazepine Dependence Self-Report Questionnaire in a benzodiazepine discontinuation trial.

The Benzodiazepine Dependence Self-Report Questionnaire (Bendep-SRQ) measures the severity of benzodiazepine (BZ) dependence on four domains: awareness of problematic use, preoccupation with the availability of BZ, lack of compliance with the therapeutic regimen, and withdrawal. Although promising results of the Bendep-SRQ have been obtained in cross-sectional studies, no attention has been paid to its clinical relevance during BZ withdrawal, i.e.

Differences in health status between long-term and short-term benzodiazepine users.

Background: Despite generally accepted advice to keep treatment short, benzodiazepines are often prescibed for more than six months. Prevention of long-term benzodiazepine use could be facilitated by the utilisation of risk indicators for long-term use. However, the characteristics of long-term benzodiazepine users described in the literature are based on studies in which long-term users were compared with non-users.

Perseveration in schizophrenia: failure to generate a plan and relationship with the psychomotor poverty subsyndrome.

Although perseveration in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) has been studied extensively in schizophrenia, the underlying cognitive dysfunctions are not yet clear. In schizophrenia, perseveration has been found to relate to frontal and striatal abnormalities. Therefore, both a failure to generate a plan as seen in patients with frontal abnormalities, or a failure to execute a plan as observed in Parkinson patients, who suffer primarily from striatal abnormalities, could explain perseveration in schizophrenia.

Dependence potential of antidepressants compared to benzodiazepines.

The aim of the present study was to compare the possible dependence potential of antidepressants (ADs) to benzodiazepines (BZDs). The Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), the Benzodiazepine Dependence Self-Report Questionnaire (Bendep-SRQ) and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) were administered to 70 psychiatric outpatient BZD users and 54 psychiatric outpatient AD users. Significantly more Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition Revised (DSM-III-R) as well as International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) past year (PY) and lifetime (LT) dependence diagnoses were made in the BZD group than in the AD group.

The relevance of psychiatric and somatic comorbidity in depressed chronic benzodiazepine users.

Background: Comorbid conditions may add to the burden of depressed patients and hamper their treatment. We therefore investigated the impact of anxiety disorders and somatic comorbidity in a group of depressed chronic benzodiazepine users on disease status, treatment, benzodiazepine history and discontinuation outcome.

Methods: At screening for a discontinuation programme, full psychiatric status was determined using the MINI-interview and psychopathology was assessed using several rating scales.

The long-term outcome of a benzodiazepine discontinuation programme in depressed outpatients.

Objective: To assess longitudinally the prescription of psychotropic drugs in depressed patients after they participated in a benzodiazepine discontinuation programme.

Methods: Two hundred and thirty depressed patients on chronic benzodiazepine therapy took part in a discontinuation programme conducted in 36 general practices. After 2.

Different study criteria affect the prevalence of benzodiazepine use.

Background: Different prevalences of benzodiazepine (BZ) use are described in the literature. The present study assessed the effects of employing various definitions of BZ use and various observation periods on the prevalence rate of BZ use in an open population aged 18-74 years.

Method: In a literature review, prevalence studies were systematically compared.

The Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptom Questionnaire: psychometric evaluation during a discontinuation program in depressed chronic benzodiazepine users in general practice.

Background: The Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptom Questionnaire (BWSQ, Tyrer et al. 1990) has been developed to measure distinct features of the benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. However, psychometric evaluations of this questionnaire are scarce.

Psychomotor slowing, neuroendocrine responses, and behavioral changes after oral administration of meta-chlorophenylpiperazine in normal volunteers.

The mixed 5-HT receptor agonist/antagonist meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP) is known to suppress locomotor activity in mice and rats. This study aimed: (1) to determine whether mCPP induces cognitive and motor changes in normal human volunteers and how these changes relate to the neuroendocrine effects of mCPP; and (2) to compare these cognitive and motor changes to the known cognitive and motor slowing patterns in depression and schizophrenia. A computerized method (used in previous research) analyzed fine motor behavior during figure-copying tasks.

Depression in subjects with and without dementia: a comparison using GMS-AGECAT.

Objective: To compare depression in subjects with and without dementia, adjusting for possible confounders.

Background: The results of comparisons of depression between subjects with and without dementia are inconclusive. Probably confounders play a role.

Huntington's disease: a review of the literature on prevalence and treatment of neuropsychiatric phenomena.

A review was made of the literature on Huntington's disease, including the clinical neurology, recent advances in pathophysiology and genetic mechanisms and psychopathology. It can be concluded that research on the latter is scarce, although the subject is relevant because of the co-occurrence of psychiatric, neurological and genetic phenomena, which may lead to novel concepts in the understanding of brain function. So far, attempts to provide a comprehensive and pragmatic description of the psychopathology of Huntington's disease have been disappointing, probably due to the limitations of the DSM classification system in this disorder.

Cross-validation of the benzodiazepine dependence self-report questionnaire in outpatient benzodiazepine users.

The aim of this study was to cross-validate the Benzodiazepine Dependence Self-Report Questionnaire (Bendep-SRQ), which reflects the severity of benzodiazepine (BZD) dependence. The Bendep-SRQ, Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) Schedules for Clinical Assessments in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), and Addiction Severity Index-Revised (ASI-R) were administered to 102 general practice (GP) patients and 126 psychiatric outpatients who were using BZDs. The scalability and reliability of the Bendep-SRQ scales were reassessed in terms of Rasch homogeneity, subject discriminability, item discriminability, and test-retest stability.

Latent trait standardization of the benzodiazepine dependence self-report questionnaire using the Rasch scaling model.

The aim of the present study was to obtain standardized scores that correspond with the raw scores on the four Rasch scales of the Benzodiazepine Dependence-Self Report Questionnaire (Bendep-SRQ). The eligible normative group for standardization of the Bendep-SRQ scales consisted of 217 general practice (GP) patients, all using benzodiazepines. Two standardization methods were used and compared: "classical standardization," which transforms raw scores into standard scores on the unit normal distribution, and "latent trait standardization," which transforms raw scores into latent trait scores.