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Biomedical subjects

R D Coursey

Publications and source records attributed to R D Coursey.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Impaired smooth pursuit eye movement: vulnerability marker for schizotypal personality disorder in a normal volunteer population.

Impaired smooth pursuit eye movement has been proposed as a possible biologic marker for schizophrenia. Preliminary studies have suggested that this impairment may be associated with social introversion and related psychopathology in a nonpsychiatric population. To evaluate the relationship between dysfunctional smooth pursuit eye movement and schizophrenia-related psychopathology, the authors screened a new, volunteer sample of 284 male college students for eye tracking accuracy. Volunteers identified as low-accuracy trackers were significantly more likely to be diagnosed (blindly) as having a schizotypal personality disorder by DSM-III criteria than those identified as high-accuracy trackers. The authors suggest that disordered smooth pursuit eye movement may reflect a vulnerability marker for schizotypal personality disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Smooth pursuit eye tracking impairment: relation to other 'markers' of schizophrenia and psychologic correlates.

Smooth pursuit eye tracking impairment has been observed in the major psychoses, particularly schizophrenia. To understand better the relationship of smooth pursuit disruption to personality dispositions linked to psychiatric syndromes and to two other "marker variables" associated with psychosis (low platelet monoamine oxidase [MAO] activity and poor performance on the continuous performance task [CPT]), we studied the psychologic, biochemical, and psychophysiologic correlates of impaired smooth pursuit tracking in two nonpsychiatric patient populations. One sample consisted of 67 volunteers screened for extreme values in a distribution of platelet MAO activities, and the second included 29 volunteers screened for extreme scores on the CPT. An aggregate of about 5% of both samples showed clearly dysfunctional smooth pursuit. Eye tracking dysfunction did not seem to be related to either MAO or CPT performance in either study. Both studies were consistent in showing that subjects with impaired smooth pursuit eye tracking had a psychologic profile characterized particularly by social introversion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

2-year follow-up of subjects and their families defined as at risk for psychopathology on the basis of platelet MAO activities. 2-year follow-up of low platelet MAO.

College students hypothesized as being at risk for psychiatric dysfunction solely on the basis of their MAO platelet activities were briefly interviewed 2 years after completion of initial studies. These 33 low-MAO subjects reported more job instability than 30 high-MAO control subjects. Moreover, the low-MAO males had fallen about half a year behind their high-MAO counterparts in school. No differences in other aspects of social status or psychosocial problems had developed, although the low-MAO subjects smoked significantly more cigarettes and tended to report more major or minor medical problems. While the low-MAO subjects reported no significant decline in their own mental health status during this period, more low-MAO male subjects did report mental health problems in their families, especially depression, alcoholism, and suicide attempts, as well as significantly more mental health interventions among family members, such as psychiatric visits, prescription of psychotropic medication, and psychiatric hospitalization.

Achievement↗
PubMed1980

Psychiatric vulnerability, monoamine oxidase, and the average evoked potential.

College students in two separate studies had platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity determinations and average evoked potential (AEP) measurements taken. On the basis of Minnesota Muliphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) or Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) evaluations, psychopathology, particularly affective disorder, was found to be more prevalent among both persons with the combination of low MAO activity and AEP augmenting and those with high MAO activity and AEP reducing. The same pattern is apparent whether students were selected for extremely high or low MAO activity (study 1) or for elevated or normal MMPI scores (study 2). Some psychiatric patient groups also show this pattern. An interactive model of sensation-seeking and sensory inhibition is presented.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

A comparison of relaxation techniques with electrosleep therapy for chronic, sleep-onset insomnia a sleep-EEG study.

Two methods of relaxation therapy, electromyograph biofeedback and autogenic training, were compared to a nonrelaxation treatment, electrosleep therapy, in reducing sleep latency among 22 chronic, sleep-onset insomniacs. While none of the electrosleep patients improved on all-night laboratory electroencephalographic sleep records or daily home sleep logs, approximately one-half of the relaxation-treated patients showed marked improvement, which was sustained over a 1-month follow-up period. Although some sleep and treatment variables differentiated relaxation therapy responders from nonresponders, external stress appeared to be the most salient factor. Successful and unsuccessful patients could not be differentiated on any of the psychological variables studied.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Parents of high risk subjects defined by levels of monoamine oxidase activity.

Thirty-seven parents of probands with low platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity levels and 38 parents of high MAO probands were examined for MAO activity, past and present psychopathology, and reported psychopathology in other relatives. Results showed generally positive and significant correlations between parents' and children's MAO levels, significantly greater rates of "high MAO related" disorders in parents and relatives of high MAO probands and of "low MAO related" disorders and symptoms in parents and relatives of low MAO probands. Support for a two-directional monoamine hypothesis of affective disorders is suggested.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1980

Schizophrenia and platelet monoamine oxidase: research strategies.

The most widely replicated neurochemical finding in schizophrenia is that of lower levels of monoamine oxidase (MAO) in the platelets of chronic schizophrenics than in normal controls. Yet, the etiological role of MAO in schizophrenia remains to be demonstrated. The incidence of low MAO in other psychiatric disorders, effects of diet, hormones and drugs, and relationships of platelet MAO to brain levels and genetic mechanisms remain unclear. This article examines factors which make any biological indicator suitable for use as a diagnostic test for schizophrenia and inquires into the methodological pitfalls and unexamined assumptions of various research strategies which use this measure.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1979

Platelet MAO activity and evoked potentials in the identification of subjects biologically at risk for psychiatric disorders.

Individuals potentially at risk for psychiatric disorders were identified by screening 375 college student volunteers for low platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity levels. The lower and upper 10% in MAO activity were administered a personal and family history interview, psychological tests and average evoked response (AER) electroencephalographic procedures. Results indicated that low MAO males and females were socially more active, had more psychiatric contact, and had relatives who were psychiatrically more disturbed than high MAO subjects. Low MAO males had more convictions, experimented more with illegal drugs and had elevated scores on the MMPI. AER criteria further defined a high risk group of low MAO-AER augmenters which had more suicides among their relatives and higher scores on the schizophrenia scale of the MMPI.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Psychological characteristics corresponding to low versus high platelet monoamine oxidase activity.

From an original sample of 375 college students and employees studied for platelet MAO activity, 66 subjects representing the lower and upper deciles of the sample were contacted for further study, including administration of the booklet form of the MMPI. We analyzed what psychological characteristics might be associated with differences in MAO activity and attempted to cross-validate these characteristics by using them to predict the separability of low vs. high MAO subjects. Each subject was randomly assigned to one of two groups in which the low and high MAO subjects were balanced for sex. For 16 women in group A, a MAO scale discriminated low and high subjects with 100% accuracy. For 18 men in group A, a separate MAO scale discriminated with 94% accuracy. To cross-validate these results, the two scales were applied to another population; both discriminated low and high MAO women and men with a combined 97% accuracy. The thematic content of the two scales is discussed in the light of other reports on the psychological characteristics of low and high MAO subjects, including the apparent relationship between the scale content and the clinical features of bipolar affective disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Novelty-seeking, fantasy, and sensitization in chronic insomniacs.

13 chronic primary insomniacs and a matched group of normal sleepers were studied in terms of their level of novelty-seeking, ability to fantasize, and cognitive rumination. All-night electroencephalographic patterns confirmed insomniac-control sleep differences. Chronic insomniacs differed from normal sleepers on a measure of cognitive activity as a defense pattern (Byrne's Repression-Sensitization Scale) but did not differ on measures of need for cognitive stimulation (Pearson's Internal and External Cognition Scales), ability to fantasize (Betts' imagery task), or preference for fantasy (Pearson's Internal and External Sensation Scales).

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1976

The biochemical high-risk paradigm: behavioral and familial correlates of low platelet monoamine oxidase activity.

A population of individuals potentially at risk for psychiatric disorders was identified by screening 375 college student volunteers for low platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity levels. The lower and upper 10 per cent in MAO activity were interviewed and family history data were obtained. Low-MAO probands reported more frequent psychiatric or psychological counseling and problems with the law. Families of low MAO probands had an eightfold increase in the incidence of suicide or suicide attempts over those of high-MAO probands. This suggests that reduced MAO levels, reported previously in patients with affective disorders and chronic schizophrenia, may predict a vulnerability to psychiatric disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Recorded and reported sleep in chronic primary insomnia.

Sleep polygraph and questionnaire data of 18 chronic primary insomniacs were compared with those of 18 age- and sex-matched controls. The insomniacs had significantly longer sleep latencies, less total sleep, less sleep efficiency, more terminal wake time, and less delta sleep. There were significant discrepancies between the insomniacs' and controls' subjective assessments of their sleep and the sleep-polygraph data, but in opposite directions. The insomniacs' recorded sleep also showed more night-to-night variability than that of the controls. However, the controls, in contrast to the insomniacs, reported sleeping worse in the laboratory than at home. Significant differences between insomnia subtypes validly reflected the insomniacs' subjective complaints and were generally in accord with expectations based on them.

Adult↗