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Biomedical subjects

J Biederman

Publications and source records attributed to J Biederman.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the CSF of schizophrenic patients before and after neuroleptic treatment.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in the CSF were measured in 9 normal individuals, 17 drug-free schizophrenic patients and 10 of these same schizophrenic patients after neuroleptic treatment. There was no significant difference between CSF level of GABA in the control group compared to those in schizophrenic patients; however, 6 of the 7 lowest GABA levels were from schizophrenic patients. There was a significant decline of 12 per cent in mean GABA levels in the CSF after a mean of two months of neuroleptic treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Cyclic AMP in the CSF of patients with schizophrenia.

The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia proposes that schizophrenia is associated with increased brain dopaminergic function. Because dopamine is thought to stimulate the production of cyclic AMP in the brain, we hypothesized that CSF cyclic AMP would be increased in schizophrenia. Cyclic AMP in the CSF was determined in 19 schizophrenic patients who had not received neuroleptic treatment in the preceding two weeks. No significant difference could be shown between CSF cyclic AMP in these patients and CSF cyclic AMP in 10 psychiatrically normal controls.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1976

Cyclic GMP in the CSF of patients with schizophrenia before and after neuroleptic treatment.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cyclic GMP may derive from central cholinergic neurotransmission. Measurement of CSF cyclic GMP may allow evaluation of possible implications of the dopaminergic hyperactivity in schizophrenia proposed by the dopamine hypothesis. The CSF cyclic GMP levels in 27 drug-free schizophrenic patients was measured and compared to that in 9 psychiatrically-healthy individuals. The mean CSF cyclic GMP level of the schizophrenic patients was 23 per cent lower than that of the control group, but this difference did not attain statistical significance. In addition the CSF cyclic GMP levels in a group of 10 schizophrenic patients were compared before and after 2 months of neuroleptic treatment. The mean level of cyclic GMP rose 50 per cent after treatment with phenothiazines (P less than 0.05). These results could indicate some tendency for decreased activity of central cholinergic neurons in schizophrenia as well as a restored dopaminergic-cholinergic balance after neuroleptic treatment.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1976

Neuroleptics reduce spinal fluid cyclic AMP in schizophrenic patient.

Cyclic AMP in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was determined in a group of 10 schizophrenic patients before neuroleptic drug treatment and after a mean of 8 week's antipsychotic drug therapy. For 8 patients with marked to moderate treatment response a significant (p less than 0.01) decline in CSF cyclic AMP was observed. This result is consistent with the theory that blockade of postsynaptic dopamine receptors is a major mechanism of the antipsychotic action of neuroleptic drugs.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Motor preference, major depression and psychosocial dysfunction among children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Since left motor preference has been hypothesized to lead to increased risk for psychopathology and cognitive deficits, it is possible that it may confer greater vulnerability for these problems to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children. Subjects were 6-17 year-old boys with DSM-III-R ADHD (N = 140) and normal controls (N = 120) and their first-degree relatives. Information on motor preference was obtained in a standardized manner blind to the proband's clinical status. Although no excess of non-right motor preference was identified in ADHD probands compared with normal controls, the non-right motor preference observed in ADHD probands was partly familial and was associated with significantly increased risk for major depressive disorder and impaired psychosocial functioning. Non-right motor preference in ADHD probands significantly increases the risk for major depression and impaired psychosocial functioning. These findings raise the possibility of alterations in cerebral dominance which may be implicated in the expression of specific problems in some patients with ADHD. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and to directly assess cerebral functioning in ADHD.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Associations between childhood asthma and ADHD: issues of psychiatric comorbidity and familiality.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper we evaluate the association between asthma and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), addressing issues of comorbidity and familiality by formulating and testing competing hypotheses. METHOD: Subjects were 6- to 17-year-old boys with DSM-III-R ADHD (N = 140) and normal controls (N = 120) and their first-degree relatives. Information on asthma was obtained from the mothers in a standardized manner blind to the proband's clinical status. RESULTS: The risk for asthma did not meaningfully differ between ADHD and control children. Relatives of ADHD probands with and without asthma were at significantly greater risk for ADHD than relatives of normal controls. In contrast, the risk for asthma was significantly elevated only among relatives of children with ADHD plus asthma. CONCLUSIONS: These findings argue against a substantial etiological or pathophysiological relationship between the two conditions but suggest that ADHD and asthma are independently transmitted in families. Thus, the observation of ADHD symptoms in an asthmatic child should not be dismissed out of hand as being a consequence of asthma since many asthmatic ADHD children may actually have ADHD.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: magnetic resonance imaging morphometric analysis of the corpus callosum.

OBJECTIVE: The following study seeks to document possible differences in corpus callosal area and shape between children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and controls. METHODS: Fifteen carefully diagnosed right-handed male subjects with ADHD with overactivity symptomatology were compared to 15 right-handed male control subjects. The corpus callosum was divided into seven areas on the midsagittal slice of a magnetic resonance image with shape analysis also conducted. RESULTS: An exploratory shape analysis showed no significant differences in shape between the groups. No group differences were found in the area, length, or anterior regions of the corpus callosum. The ADHD subjects were found to have significantly smaller posterior corpus callosum regions than the control group, with the splenium accounting for most of the variance between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The splenial area of the corpus callosum is smaller in children with ADHD than in a sample of normally developing children. These smaller areas may relate to commonly seen sustained attention deficits which in turn negatively impact on the development of more advanced levels of attention such as self-regulation. Further study of the regions surrounding the splenial area is suggested to determine whether they are correlated in size to the smaller corpus callosum.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cardiovascular findings in adolescent inpatients with anorexia nervosa.

Left ventricular function, resting electrocardiograms, and Holter recordings were systematically examined in 25 consecutively hospitalized, seriously ill, emaciated adolescents with anorexia nervosa. We failed to observe serious arrhythmias, abnormal prolongation of QT interval, conduction abnormalities, or depression in left ventricular systolic function.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioral inhibition in childhood: a risk factor for anxiety disorders.

Childhood antecedents of anxiety disorders in adulthood remain poorly understood. We have, therefore, examined from longitudinal and familial perspectives the relationship between behavioral inhibition in children and anxiety disorders. We review a series of studies describing the association between behavioral inhibition and anxiety disorders in two independently ascertained and previously described samples of children. One sample was cross-sectional and clinically derived (Massachusetts General Hospital at-risk sample), and the other was epidemiologically derived and longitudinal (Kagan et al. longitudinal cohort). Our studies have found that (1) children of parents with panic disorder with agoraphobia, either alone or comorbid with major depressive disorder, are at increased risk for behavioral inhibition; (2) children identified as having behavioral inhibition have high rates of childhood-onset anxiety disorders themselves; (3) behavioral inhibition is associated with familial risk for anxiety disorders; (4) children with behavioral inhibition and anxiety disorders have greater familial loading of anxiety disorders; (5) children who remain inhibited over time are at highest risk for anxiety disorders in themselves and their families; and (6) these differences between inhibited children and not-inhibited controls become more robust at 3-year follow-up. Our research strongly indicates that behavioral inhibition is an identifiable early childhood predictor of later anxiety disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychopathology in preadolescent children at high risk for substance abuse: a review of the literature.

Despite the high prevalence of the psychoactive substance use disorders (PSUDs), relatively little is known about the childhood antecedents of these disorders. To examine this issue a comprehensive review of the English-language literature on studies of preadolescents (< 12 years) who subsequently developed PSUDs or were offspring of parents with PSUDs was undertaken. In all, nine longitudinal studies and 13 cross-sectional studies were identified. Data from studies of subjects at high risk for PSUDs indicate that children of parents with PSUDs are at increased risk for the development of temperamental, personality, non-PSUD psychiatric, cognitive, and psychosocial disturbances. Longitudinal studies also indicate that children with these neuropsychiatric disturbances are at increased risk for the development of PSUDs in adolescence and adulthood. We conclude that neuropsychiatrically impaired children of parents with PSUDs may represent those at highest risk for later development of PSUDs. Because these neuropsychiatric disorders are potentially treatable, their identification may lead to effective early intervention strategies.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder familial?

Using two sources of data, we review methodologic issues pertinent to family studies of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to evaluate whether such studies define attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a familial disorder. We systematically evaluate the relevant literature and provide a detailed overview of the Massachusetts General Hospital family-genetic studies of attention deficit disorder as defined in DSM-III and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as defined in DSM-III-R. The available literature, and our double-blind, controlled studies indicate that attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are familial. Moreover, the pattern of transmission of comorbid disorders suggests that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is, from a familial perspective, distinct from anxiety disorders and learning disabilities. In contrast, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with conduct disorder appears to be a familial subtype, and major depression appears to be a variable expression of the familial predisposition to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although the available literature provides strong evidence for the familial transmission of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the mode of transmission requires further clarification. In addition, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder appears to be genetically heterogeneous, indicating that more work is needed to delineate genetically homogeneous subtypes and to describe the range of expression of their underlying genotypes. Family-genetic studies will continue to clarify the etiology and nosology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Is attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults a valid disorder?

Concerns have been raised regarding the validity of the diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults. The purpose of this report is to evaluate critically whether this diagnosis in adults meets acceptable standards for diagnostic validity. A systematic search was conducted of the psychiatric and psychological literature for empirical studies dealing with adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder with childhood onset. These studies were examined for evidence of descriptive, predictive, and concurrent validity. The literature shows that this disorder can be reliably diagnosed in adults and that the diagnosis confers considerable power to forecast complications and treatment response. In addition, evidence is mounting for genetic transmission, specific treatment responses, and abnormalities in brain structure and function in affected individuals. Evidence from the literature is increasingly pointing to the validity of adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Adult↗