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Biomedical subjects

L Jacobs

Publications and source records attributed to L Jacobs.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Visual allesthesia.

A patient with a right parietooccipital arteriovenous malformation experienced paroxysmal illusory left homonymous transpositions of objects viewed in the right homonymous field. The illusory images were palinoptic, persisting for up to 15 minutes after the real objects were no longer in view. She had left homonymous hemiachromatopsia and a right parietooccipital epileptogenic focus. Episodes of visual allesthesia were accompanied by other manifestations of seizures. Administration of anticonvulsant medications resulted in cessation of electroencephalographic epileptogenic activity and disappearance of all clinical manifestations of seizures, including visual allesthesias. Cerebral irritation and seizures, a defective but not blind half-field of vision, and experience of palinoptic images are essential components of some cases of visual allesthesia. The phenomenon may result from interhemispheric transfer of a visual percept from a normal to an irritated parietooccipital lobe, which then retains it as a palinoptic image.

Adult↗

Three primitive reflexes in normal adults.

One or more of three primitive reflexes (palmomental, snout, and corneomandible) was elicited in 50.5% of 105 normal subjects in the third through the ninth decades of life. The reflexes appeared in a patterned fashion with advancing age. The palmomental reflex appeared earliest and was the most frequent reflex elicited at all ages. The snout and corneomandibular reflexes appeared at later ages and were elicited less frequently. The palmomental and snout reflexes often occurred alone, but the corneomandibular was elicited only when one or both of the other reflexes was also present. These reflexes appear to be normal phenomena in a significant proportion of the healthy population.

Adult↗

Three primitive reflexes in parkinsonism patients.

One or more of three rimitive reflexes (palmomental snout, and corneomandibular) was elicited in 63.8% of 58 parkinsonism patients in the sixth through ninth decades of life. The incidences of the palmomental and snout reflexes in parkinsonism patients did not differ significantly from the incidences in 60 normal subjects of similar ages. The incidence of the corneomandibular reflex in parkinsonism patients was approximately 2 1/2 times greater than the incidence observed in the normal subjects. The high incidence of the corneomandibular reflex in parkinsonism appears to be related to the disease, but the incidences observed for the palmomental and snout reflexes can be attributed to aging.

Adult↗

Gray matter enhancement: a computerized tomographic sign of cerebral hypoxia.

An important computerized tomographic (CT) pattern is described, in which selective enhancement of cerebral gray matter occurs after intravenous administration of contrast medium. Analysis of 76 cases displaying the enhancement pattern revealed that the phenomenon occurs in diseases characterized by hypoxia, and may be attributed to regional vascular dysautoregulation. Eighty percent of these patients had primary cerebrovascular disease (infarctions or transient ischemic attacks); 20% with other disorders also had evidence of cerebral ischemia or infarction. When hypoxia progressed to infarction, the enhancement was accompanied by one or more parenchymal areas of decreased density. However, in transient ischemic attacks, it occurred without other parenchymal abnormality and represents the first recognized CT sign of cerebral hypoxia. Enhancement was observed within 3 weeks of onset in 80% of cases, but in 20% it persisted for up to 4 months, indicating a protracted state of dysautoregulation.

Adolescent↗

A note on the pathology of anhedonia.

Tested the hypotheses that anhedonia afflicts only a minority of schizophrenics and is bimodally distributed among them by comparing the Anhedonia scale distributions of schizophrenic and psychiatric control samples (N = 90). Only 45% of the schizophrenics produced scores higher than those characteristic of the controls. While the schizophrenics' distribution appeared to be bimodal, its irregularity precluded a definitive assessment of the bimodality hypothesis. The correlation between age and Anehodina was positive for anhedonics but not for non-anhedonic schizpohrenics or controls; these findings suggest that anhedonia is a mildly progressive disorder among those schizophrenics who experience it.

Adult↗

Correlates of alpha, beta and theta wave production.

Studied the correlations of alpha, beta and theta time densities with psychological and psychophysiological variables in a psychiatric population (N = 76). The correlations of the EEG variables with measures of adjustment were small and barely exceeded chance expectations. Alpha and beta were correlated positively with pain threshold, while beta was related inversely to blood pressure. Theta was correlated positively with blood pressure and negatively with pulse rate. The implications of these findings for EEG biofeedback treatment were discussed.

Adult↗

An MMPI sign to separate organic from functional psychiatric patients.

Evaluated the utilities of all 90 possible unweighted additive/subtractive two-scale MMPI combinations as indices to separate brain-damaged from functional patient groups in a Veterans Administration psychiatric hospital. One index, Hs-PT, showed more promise than any of the other 89. Hs-PT mean scores were significantly higher among organics than among alcoholics, neurotics, affective psychoses, character disorders, process schizophrenics or reactive schizophrenics. Interpretative information on the Hs-PT index was presented.

Affective Symptoms↗

Systems releasing action therapy with alcoholics: an experimental evaluation.

Described Systems Releasing Action Therapy (SRAT) and a controlled study that evaluated its effectiveness. The therapy combines physical and fantasy exercises and has its roots in the Bioenergetic and Gestalt traditions. To evaluate its effectiveness, 56 patients who were receiving treatment for alcoholism were assigned randomly to therapy and control groups. On 3-week follow-up, the therapy sample showed significantly more improvement than the controls on measures of blood pressure, physical symptoms, anxiety, hysteroid tendencies, disturbed feelings and self-image. Suggestive differences (interactions significant only at the .20 level) in favor of the therapy group also appeared on measures of vital capacity withdrawal, excessive drinking, anhedonia and four neurosis-oriented MMPI scales. However, 6-month follow-up data were relatively unimpressive. The results suggest this type of therapy is an effective one, at least for the short term.

Adult↗

The prediction of outcome from anhedonia and process-reactive scales.

Earlier researchers have suggested that the ability of process-reactive measures to predict future adjustment may result from their relationships to the anhedonia dimension. In the present study the abilities of process-reactive and anhedonia measures, independent of one another, to predict rehospitalization data were compared. After anhedonia scores had been partialed out, schizophrenics' process-reactive scores were correlated modestly with length of the patients' next hospitalization and reclassification as nonschizophrenic. No such significant correlations appeared between anhedonia and adjustment measures after process-reactive scores had been partialed out. Among nonschizophrenics, a sizeable correlation between anhedonia and the probability of later diagnosis of schizophrenia appeared, which suggests that anhedonia may be a useful prodromal marker for schizophrenia.

Adult↗

Quantification of chemical mutagenesis in diploid human fibroblasts: induction of azaguanine-resistant mutants by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine.

The toxic and mutagenic effects of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) on cultured diploid human fibroblasts were studied. When 10(5) cells per 60 mm dish were exposed to MNNG for 4 h in Ham's medium F10 containing 0.02 M HEPES buffer at pH 6.8, MNNG concentrations of less than 1 X 10(-6) M resulted in cell survivals near 100%, while the average survival was less than one percent at concentrations greater than 5 X 10(-6) M. After treatment with MNNG, cells were subjected to selection using optimal conditions for the detection of diploid human fibroblasts that are resistant to the guanine-analogs AG and TG because they contain altered or deficient HPRT. The induced mutant frequency was maximized by allowing a 5 to 7 day post-treatment interval for the expression of the mutant phenotype and by replating the cells at the beginning of selection at a population density of less than 450 cells per cm2. Careful attention was given to counting statistically adequate numbers of mutants and to accurately determining cell survival and replating cloning efficiencies. Independent dose-response experiments gave induced mutant frequencies as high as 7.0 X 10(-4) to 8.8 X 10(-4) mutants per viable cell at about 5% survival, compared to a spontaneous mutation rate of 3.7 X 10(-6) to 7.2 X 10(-6) mutants per cell generation. The AGr mutants observed after treatment with MNNG were phenotypically stable and closely resembled prototype AGr cultures derived from humans who have inherited mutant X-chromosomal alleles for HPRT.

Azaguanine↗

'Silent' brain metastasis from lung carcinoma determined by computerized tomography.

Computerized tomography (CT) was utilized as a preoperative screening procedure in a series of 50 patients with lung carcinoma who were neurologically asymptomatic and whose radionuclide brain scans and skull roentgenograms were normal. Three patients (6%) were discovered to have metastasis (cerebellum, occipital, corpus callosum). The metastatic lesions were only directly visualized after administration of contrast substance. The CT findings greatly influenced the therapeutic planning in these patients, and surgery was avoided in two. When feasible, patients with lung carcinoma should have CT examinations (with contrast administration) prior to thoracic surgery even if they do not have neurologic symtoms.

Adult↗

Myelopathy due to spinal metastasis from adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder.

The first case of a gallbaldder carcinoma with metastasis to dura and epidural space causing myelopathy is described. The mode of metastasis remains obscure because there was no involvement of liver or retroperitoneal veins. It is possible that the spread was by the vertebral venous plexus, which could account for a spinal metastasis in the absence of liver involvement.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Evidence for a dual-factor concept of psychopathological emotional deficit: anhedonia and sensation-seeking.

Correlations between measures of anhedonia and sensation-seeking were calculated in two psychiatric samples. The correlations indicated that, despite their conceptual similarity, the two represent different motivational deficits. Ther correlates appeared to indicate that sensation-seeking represents neurotic inhibition, while anhedonia reflects a separate motivational deficit apparently characteristic of process schizophrenics.

Adult↗

Pain adaptation and emotional deficit.

The pain adaptation rates of high- and low-emotional deficit schizophrenics were compared. Electrical stimulation pain thresholds were calculated and retaken at four intervals after administration of shocks in a learning task. Low scorers on the General Sensation-Seeking and Thrill/Adventure Seeking scales showed significantly less pain adaptation than did their high sensation-seeking counterparts. No differences in level of adaptation appeared between high and low scorers on the Anhedonia scale or three other sensation-seeking scales. The results suggested that the neurotic emotional deficit defined by the sensation-seeking scales may be mediated by inadequate adaptation to painful stimuli.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Diabetes mellitus in normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Seventeen of 33 patients (51.5%) with normal pressure hydrocephalus were discovered to have diabetes mellitus. This was significantly greater than the 12.1% incidence found in age-matched control subjects. The diabetes was not accounted for either by the patients' ages nor by their physical inactivity due to hospitalisation. Diabetes mellitus concurrent with normal pressure hydrocephalus may result from involvement of hypothalamic and brainstem autonomic structures by the expanding ventricles during the evolution of hydrocephalus.

Age Factors↗