Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J Zubin

Publications and source records attributed to J Zubin.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Negative symptoms: are they indigenous to schizophrenia?

The sudden popularity of positive and negative symptoms (PNS) has probably arisen as a result of the need for an instrument for clustering schizophrenic patients into subgroups that would respond similarly to the various treatments. The relation of PNS to the three major models for the etiology of schizophrenia (disease, socioenvironmental, and vulnerability) has been delineated. The question was raised regarding the indigenous nature of negative symptoms, their permanency, and whether they can be used to test the tenability of the three models. A strategy was suggested for determining whether the negative symptoms are permanent features of schizophrenia by providing techniques for attempting to eliminate them through therapeutic intervention. The need for developing operational criteria for the presence of each symptom was suggested to improve reliability of ratings, and construct validity designs were formulated for increasing their validity. The provision of a valid and reliable scale for negative symptoms and a scientific model for encompassing the various claims for negative symptoms is necessary before progress can be made.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1984

The modality shift effect in schizophrenia: fact or artifact?

We investigated whether the disproportionate slowing of schizophrenic patients on cross-modal relative to ipsimodal sequences in a reaction time task ("modality shift effect") could be attributed to a psychometric artifact, as implied by Chapman and Chapman. Fifteen schizophrenic patients (Research Diagnostic Criteria) and 50 normal controls with no current or past history of psychiatric disorder were tested. Subjects made an identical finger-lift response to brief duration light and sound stimuli of different intensities presented in quasi-random order. The major finding was that psychometric artifact could not account for the disproportionate slowing of the reaction time of schizophrenic patients since the reliabilities and variances of the cross-modal and ipsimodal conditions did not differ in normal controls. Furthermore, the modality shift effect was highly significant for reaction times to both sound and light and for all intensities. Findings were the same when the schizophrenic patients were compared to a matched subgroup of slow-responding normal controls.

Cues↗
PubMed1983

The metamorphosis of schizophrenia: from chronicity to vulnerability.

On the evidence of long-term follow-up studies of cohorts of patients in Europe the outcome of schizophrenia appears to be changing from chronicity to an episodic course with a more favourable outlook. While the reasons for this change are unclear it is suggested that schizophrenia is characterized essentially by a state of vulnerability to the disorder. This vulnerability may or may not give rise to an episode of illness, depending on the incidence of triggering life event stressors and on the moderating influences of social networks, ecological factors, and premorbid personality. The traditional view of schizophrenia as an essentially chronic condition reflects not so much the natural history of the disorder as iatrogenic influences, lack of satisfactory extra-mural care, the accumulation of a relatively small proportion of truly chronic illnesses and the failure to recognize the termination of an episode of illness in patients with poor premorbid personalities. Evidence for the episodic nature of schizophrenia is presented.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1981

How to break the logjam in schizophrenia. A look beyond genetics.

Despite recent advances in methodology, research in schizophrenia has reached an impasse. A new thrust for research in the field is proposed, and ways for testing its validity are indicated. The status of schizophrenia research is evaluated from the vantage point of six current scientific models for its etiology: genetic, ecological, developmental, learning theory, internal environmental, and neurophysiological (including neuroanatomical), Integration of these models is proposed based on the assumption that schizophrenic episodes occur in vulnerable individuals who under sufficient stress develop a time-limited episode from which all but a small proportion recover. However, even the recovered remain vulnerable to future episodes. Potential markers for vulnerability and for the beginning and end of episodes are classified according to the six etiological models from which they emanate. Recent research in vulnerability is summarized, and directions for future research are recommended.

Genotype↗
PubMed1980

A comparison of psychiatric patients and normal controls on the integration of auditory stimuli.

Temporal processing of sensory auditory information was investigated in 27 psychiatric patients and 29 normal controls by measuring forced choice thresholds for the right ear to bursts of noise stimuli of three different durations-4, 32, and 128 msec. Psychiatric patients were found to be 5 dB less sensitive than normal controls. A subsequent analysis compared the normal controls with three subgroups of psychiatric patients differentiated according to symptom profile. Those psychiatric patients whose main symptoms were affective showed a shallower threshold duration integration function than did normal controls. Patients whose major symptoms were delusions of persecution and depersonalization showed a slightly steeper slope than normal controls, whereas patients whose major symptom were hallucinations and lack of insight showed the steepest slope.

Adolescent↗