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Biomedical subjects

S Berent

Publications and source records attributed to S Berent.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Nonlinear pharmacokinetics of CI-912 in adult epileptic patients.

We studied the pharmacokinetics of CI-912 (1,2-benziosoxazole-3-methanesulfonamide) in 10 adults with refractory partial seizures during an open-label pilot study. Plasma and whole blood concentrations were measured by a high-performance liquid chromatograph method after a single dose and up to and at steady state with one or two dosage regimens. Steady-state clearances averaged only 42% (range 20-60%) of single-dose clearances. Vm and Km values of the Michaelis-Menten equation were calculated for 9 of the 10 patients by a new method: Vm averaged 1,272 (range 500-1,973) mg/day and Km averaged 25.1 (range 9.23-52.5) micrograms/ml. The best initial dosage for a new patient is 300 mg CI-912 every 12 h.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Effects of age of onset of partial and generalized seizures on neuropsychological performance in children.

Neuropsychological performance data from 106 children with epilepsy were evaluated to determine the effects of seizure type and age of onset. The performance of children with partial seizures (N = 49) was similar to that of children with generalized seizures (N = 57). Only one of 13 tests showed a significant difference between groups, with children with partial seizures performing better on that test. The effects of age of onset were also similar in the two seizure groups. Children whose seizures began before the age of 5 years performed significantly worse than children whose seizures began later on four measures (Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, Trails A, and Trails B) and performed more poorly, but not significantly so, on the other nine measures in the battery. A breakdown of the partial group into simple partial, complex partial, and secondarily generalized partial seizure groups found a significant difference between the groups on only one variable, but there were suggestions in the data that the performance of the partial secondarily generalized group was worse than the other two groups. These results indicate that variables associated with an early onset of seizures, regardless of type, place a child at risk for cognitive dysfunction.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

Improvement in neuropsychological performance in patients with refractory seizures after intensive diagnostic and therapeutic intervention.

Tests of cognitive, perceptual, motor, and memory function were administered to patients with refractory seizures before and after intensive treatment on a specialized epilepsy unit. Improved test performance related to withdrawal of barbiturates and an overall reduction in the number of antiepileptic drugs but not with reduction of seizure frequency.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Cerebrally lateralized epileptogenic foci and performance on a verbal and visual-graphic learning task.

A set of verbal and visual-graphic learning tasks sensitive to differential cerebral hemisphere impairment was administered to 50 patients with epileptogenic focus localized in either the left or right cerebral hemisphere. Patients with left-hemisphere seizure-foci and those with generalized seizures performed the verbal task significantly more poorly than did patients with right-hemisphere epileptogenic foci. In contrast, there were no significant differences between groups on the non-verbal tasks. Results are discussed in light of findings in the literature relating cognitive dysfunction to epilepsy and with regard to the possible contribution of such dysfunction to patients' complaints.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Rod-and-frame and MMPI scores for a group of female psychiatric inpatients.

75 recently admitted female psychiatric inpatients were given the rod-and-frame task and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). All patients with an admission diagnosis of schizophrenia, organic brain syndrome, or a reported history of alcoholism or previous electroconvulsive therapy were excluded from the study. Personality disturbance, as measured by the MMPI, for the remaining 75 patients, was significantly less severe for extremely high-error (field dependent) rod-and-frame performers than for other patients in the sample. Hospital records and performance on self-rating scales showed, however, that patients with a high rate of error on rod-and-frame performance were subjectively as uncomfortable as the others tested. Results are discussed in terms of the possible contribution of perceptual impairment to the psychological complaints made by these individuals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Test-retest IQ changes of epilepsy patients: assessing the influence of practice effects.

A number of recent studies have emphasized the role of practice effect on test-retest changes in performance often seen on neuropsychological tests. An attempt is made to separate the influence of practice effect from other functional changes in the test-retest differences observed on the WAIS for a sample of adult epilepsy patients. Fifty-eight epilepsy patients were divided into three groups based on their WAIS test-retest score changes. Their corresponding test-retest performance on the Halstead-Reitan Battery and changes in seizure frequency were compared and analyzed. Results indicated that there was a correspondence between improvement in neuropsychological test performance, reduced seizure frequency, and improvement on the WAIS. It was concluded that test-retest changes in neuropsychological test performance reflected changes in psychological functioning of these individuals rather than the influence of practice effect. Some general issues relating to the question of disentangling the influence of practice effect from other functional changes in status were raised and discussed.

Epilepsy↗
PubMed1981

Effects of age of onset of tonic-clonic seizures on neuropsychological performance in children.

Forty-eight children (aged 9 to 15 years) with tonic-clonic seizures were administered a neuropsychological test battery. The children with seizures of early onset (before age 5) were significantly impaired relative to the children with later onset on 8 of the 14 measures in the battery. The deficits were seen on tasks whose requirements included the repetition of a simple motor act, attention and concentration, memory, and complex problem solving. These findings emphasize the need for further research to determine the causal factors of the greater dysfunction seen in the early onset group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Changes in seizure frequency and test-retest scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.

Test-retest performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) of two groups of adult epilepsy patients are presented and compared. In one group, Seizures Improved (SI) group, seizure frequency had decreased during the test-retest interval, and in the other group, Seizures Unimproved (SU) group, the number of seizures had either increased or stayed the same over the test-retest interval. The SI group showed a significant test-retest improvement on WAIS Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, and Full Scale IQ, as well as on eight of 11 WAIS subtests. In comparison, the SU group showed significant increases only on the Performance IQ and Object Assembly subtest. Furthermore, differences between the two groups were observed in the pattern of test-retest changes seen on the Performance measures relative to the Verbal measures. The results suggest that change in seizure frequency is one of the factors associated with test-retest changes in the intellectual functioning of epilepsy patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Tactile-perceptual functioning and academic performance in brain-impaired and unimpaired children.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether tactile perception is a useful predictor of academic performance. 50 control and 42 brain-impaired (epileptic) children were examined. Both groups showed a strong relationship between tactile perceptual integrity and academic achievement. Analyses of extreme groups indicated that academic performance is clearly ordered by tactile perceptual skill not only for children with documented brain impairment but also for a normal control group as well. The implications for additions to the traditional cognitively oriented psychological test battery were discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1977

Tactile-perceptual functioning as a factor in general psychological abilities.

This investigation was designed to study the influence of simple sensory perceptual ability (tactile perception) on various human abilities such as language acquisition, visuo-spatial problem solving, concept formation, motor skills, memory, and learning. Children with documented evidence of impaired brain functions (seizure disorder and corresponding EEG abnormality) and children without evidence or suspicion of neurological impairment were examined. The results suggest that tactile perceptual ability exerts a significant effect on the adequacy of a broad range of human abilities.

Adolescent↗