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Biomedical subjects

S H Ferris

Publications and source records attributed to S H Ferris.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

The Global Deterioration Scale for assessment of primary degenerative dementia.

Cognitive decline associated with old age and consistent with the diagnosis of primary degenerative dementia is a unique clinical syndrome with characteristic phenomena and progression. The authors describe a Global Deterioration Scale for the assessment of primary degenerative dementia and delineation of its stages. The authors have used the Global Deterioration Scale successfully for more than 5 years and have validated it against behavioral, neuroanatomic, and neurophysiologic measures in patients with primary degenerative dementia.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1982

Diagnosis and assessment of the older patient.

Despite the enormous medical and psychiatric importance of mental illness among the elderly, clinicians generally are not trained in the phenomenology and presentation of the major mental disorders that occur primarily in this age group. The authors describe the presenting symptoms and course of four conditions--senescent forgetfulness, primary degenerative dementia (considered as the confusional phase and dementia phase), geriatric depression, and multi-infarct dementia--with emphasis on differential diagnosis. The clinical examination of the patient is the most important feature of any diagnostic and assessment program; because of the wide prevalence and in many ways unique aspects of mental illness among the elderly, all but the smallest psychiatric programs should have at least one clinician who specializes in assessment of geriatric problems.

Aged↗
PubMed1981

Central amine metabolism in Alzheimer's disease: in vivo relationship to cognitive deficit.

Levels of the amine metabolites homovanillic acid (HVA) and methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) were measured in the cerebrospinal (CSF) fluid of drug-free patients with Alzheimer's disease and compared to levels in a group of controls. No significant differences were found in CSF HVA and MHPG, although the Alzheimer's group was severely demented. Platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzyme kinetics were measured and did not differ between controls and Alzheimer patients. The degree of dementia did not show any significant correlation with the levels of HVA or MHPG. It was concluded that, unlike previous reports in the literature, the dementia of Alzheimer's disease was not related to changes in central catecholamine metabolism nor was it associated with increased platelet MAO activity.

Aged↗
PubMed1981

Acquisition and retention of categorized material in normal aging and senile dementia.

The "shopping list task" is a new verbal learning task with a high degree of face validity for elderly subjects. Learning and delayed recall performance were examined for three groups of subjects: young normals (n = 63, median age = 21), elderly normals (n = 44, median age = 69) and mild to moderately impaired senile dementia patients (n = 60, median age = 70). The young normal subjects performed best of the three groups in both initial learning and delayed recall measures. The elderly normals showed significant decrements in learning and recalling the list items (p less than .01). The impaired elderly showed much greater performance decrements in both learning and recall. None of the subjects showed a deficit in delayed recognition. These results suggest that both storage and retrieval difficulties occur in normal aging and dementia. The recognition test results suggest that recall deficits evidenced by both elderly groups are in large part due to faulty retrieval mechanisms. Since the shopping list task discriminated well among the three groups, it has potential for memory assessment in clinical settings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

An overview of pharmacologic treatment of cognitive decline in the aged.

The most widely known substances that have been investigated for treating cognitive deterioration in the aged are cerebral vasodilators, Gerovital H3, psychostimulants, "nootropics," neuropeptides, and neurotransmitters. The rationale for the choice of specific agents has shifted as our conceptions regarding the origins of cognitive decline have changed; we now know that most cognitive deterioration occurs independently of arteriosclerotic vascular changes. Substances currently being investigated because of their effects on brain electrophysiology, on neurohumoral processes, or on central neurotransmitters show promise.

Anticoagulants↗
PubMed1981

Changes in membrane potential of cultured porcine and human thyroid cells in response to thyrotrophin and other agents.

Thyrotrophin (TSH), cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP and 1-methyl-3-isobutyl-xanthine (MIX) promoted the reassociation of isolated porcine and human thyroid cells into follicular structures in culture and stimulated the uptake of radio-iodide. Monolayer cells were present in all cultures, but in decreasing proportions as the concentration of stimulator was increased. The resting membrane potential of porcine thyroid cells cultured for 4 days in the presence of TSH was -54 +/- 3.6 (mean +/- S.D.) mV for follicular cells and -31 +/- 2.6 mV for monolayer cells. In the absence of TSH, only monolayer cells were present and their membrane potential was -24 +/- 2.0 mV. Removal of hormone by washing resulted in hyperpolarization to -70 +/- 2.9 mV (follicular cells) or -59 +/- 3.4 mV (monolayer cells). Subsequent replacement of TSH, or addition of cyclic AMP, MIX, prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) or long-acting thyroid stimulator immunoglobulin resulted in depolarization of previously hyperpolarized cells, to approximately the membrane potential observed before washing. Incubation in MIX resulted in enhanced sensitivity to the depolarizing effect of TSH. Cells cultured in the absence of TSH were unresponsive to TSH or other stimulators. The membrane potential of human thyroid cells behaved similarly in response to TSH, to hormone removal and replacement, and to MIX and PGE1.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗
PubMed1980

Computed tomography evaluations of brain-behavior relationships in senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

Neuropathological investigations have demonstrated brain-behavior relationships in senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT), but CT studies have not produced consistent findings. We hypothesized that these discouraging results were in part due to limitations in the methods of CT scan evaluations, and to non-homogeneity of patient populations. The present study examined 43 out-patients with the presumptive diagnosis of SDAT using 37 cognitive test measures and 3 independent CT evaluation strategies. The CT methods included a new rank ordering procedure and two previously used techniques, physical measurement and 4-point rating. Highly significant (p less than or equal to 0.01) brain-behavior correlations were attained using the ranking and rating procedures for evaluation of ventricular and cortical pathology. It was found that rank ordering has high interrater reliability and is superior to the other methods for the evaluation of the ventricular system. The physical measurement of the third ventricle is the single most powerful linear correlate of cognitive impairment. Measurement of cortical sulci are of no correlational significance. Multiple regression analyses indicated that global assessments are the best cognitive predictors of both ventricular and cortical pathology. Thus the present study has demonstrated brain-behavior relationships in vivo in SDAT.

Aged↗
PubMed1980

Facial recognition memory deficits in normal aging and senile dementia.

Recognition memory for faces was studied in 167 subjects comprised of young normals, elderly normals and elderly senile dementia patients with mild to moderate cognitive impairment. A continuous recognition paradigm was used which required an "old-new" decision to be made for each facial stimulus. The design of the stimulus sequence produced delay intervals of .5, 1, 2, and 4 min between the first and second presentations of each face, and a long delay of 40 min was also evaluated. A signal detection analysis revealed large recognition memory deficits at all delay intervals for the two elderly groups as compared to the young normals, but no differences between the normal and impaired elderly groups. In addition, there were no group differences in response criterion. The results suggest a deficit in nonverbal encoding/storage due to normal aging but no further deficit due to mild to moderate senile dementia. The data also fail to confirm an age-related increase in "cautiousness" in recognition memory tasks.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Minor physical anomalies in young psychotic children.

The authors examined three groups of children for minor physical anomalies: 52 autistic children, 34 nonautistic siblings of these patients, and 29 normal controls. The total number of anomalies and the weighted score were significantly higher in the autistic children. The formation of these anomalies in the first three months of fetal life may concur with the developmental deviation of the central nervous system in some of these individuals.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗