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Biomedical subjects

S Kuperman

Publications and source records attributed to S Kuperman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Multi-center N400 ERP consistency using a primed and unprimed word paradigm.

A word priming paradigm involving primed, unprimed, and non-word experimental conditions was used to elicit event-related potentials (ERPs) in normal, young adult males in identically equipped electrophysiology laboratories located in 6 different cities in the USA. Analyses of the average amplitude of a specified latency window containing the N400, the N400 peak amplitude, or the latency of the N400 peak amplitude found no differences among laboratory locations. The shape of the N400 ERP wave form was also found to be highly correlated across laboratory sites for each experimental condition. Comparison of the data with analogous word priming paradigms revealed similar patterns for the N400 components and response times in both the primed and unprimed experimental conditions. These findings suggest that the data from all 6 laboratory locations are consistent with each other and are congruous with those found in other N400 studies and will permit pooling of subject data for future research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Bupropion versus methylphenidate in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: In the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the efficacy of the tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitor antidepressants has been compared with that of both placebo and the stimulants (methylphenidate and/or dextroamphetamine). However, the effectiveness of bupropion has been contrasted only with placebo. The primary aim of this study was to contrast the efficacy of bupropion with that of methylphenidate in the treatment of ADHD. METHOD: A double-blind, crossover design was used in this study. After a 14-day medication washout period, 15 ADHD subjects (7 to 17 years old) were randomized to either methylphenidate or bupropion for 6 weeks, washed out for an additional 2 weeks, and then "crossed over" to the other drug. Methylphenidate was titrated to the maximum effective dose of 0.4 to 1.3 mg/kg per day (mean 0.7 mg/kg per day) and bupropion was titrated to an effective dose ranging from 1.4 to 5.7 mg/kg per day (mean 3.3 mg/kg per day). RESULTS: Both methylphenidate and bupropion produced significantly greater (p < .001) and equivalent improvement on the Iowa-Conners Teacher's Rating Scale according to both the subjects' parents and teachers. The same pattern of improvement was also noted for improvement on the Clinical Global Impression Scale, Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test, Continuous Performance Test, Children's Depression Inventory, Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test. CONCLUSIONS: In this double-blind, crossover trial, bupropion and methylphenidate were both effective and did not differ in their overall efficacy as treatments for ADHD.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

P300 hemispheric amplitude asymmetries from a visual oddball task.

The P3(00) event-related potential (ERP) was elicited in 80 normal, right-handed male subjects using a simple visual discrimination task, with electroencephalographic (EEG) activity recorded at 19 electrodes. P3 amplitude was larger over the right than over the left hemisphere electrode sites primarily at anteromedial locations (F3/4, C3/4) for target, novel, and standard stimuli. The N1, P2, and N2 components also demonstrated hemispheric asymmetries. The strongest P3 hemispheric asymmetries for all stimuli were observed at anterior locations, suggesting a frontal right hemisphere localization for initial stimulus processing, although target stimuli produced larger P3 amplitudes at parietal locations that did novel stimuli. The relationships of hemispheric asymmetries to anatomical variables, background EEG activity, and neurocognitive factors are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

P300 from an auditory oddball task: inter-laboratory consistency.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from normal subjects for the purpose of evaluating measurement consistency among six laboratories located in different cities within the United States. At each laboratory location 15 male subjects were tested using a simple auditory stimulus discrimination task and identical electrophysiological equipment and recording methods. Assessment of the N1, P2, N2, and P3(00) potentials from both the target and standard stimuli resulted in no reliable differences among laboratories for component amplitudes, latencies, and scalp distributions. Quantitative evaluation of overall waveform and specific component morphology yielded good to excellent agreement across laboratories. The findings suggest that large-scale inter-laboratory human electrophysiological studies are feasible and may prove of value when using ERPs to evaluate cognitive function in humans.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Adult criminality among formerly hospitalized child psychiatric patients.

Among 170 preadolescent children (138 males, 32 females) admitted to the University of Iowa Psychiatric Hospital between 1970 and 1983, 23 males (17%), had adult prison records at follow-up in 1990. Assaultive behavior in childhood predicted adult imprisonment (odds ratio = 4.96, 95% confidence interval 1.8-13.8, p = 0.002), as did criminality in a biological parent (odds ratio = 4.0, 95% confidence interval 1.3-12.4, p = 0.015). Diagnosis, including conduct disorder, was not correlated with outcome. Among these young children, male gender, violence, and parental criminality identified persons at high risk for adult imprisonment. Psychiatric hospitalization in childhood is a risk for adult disturbance, including sociopathy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Treatment of ADHD with fluoxetine: a preliminary trial.

Nineteen children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder were treated with fluoxetine hydrochloride. The drug was administered in an open-label fashion for 6 weeks. At completion of the study, nearly 60% were judged to be at least moderately improved. No effects on appetite or weight were observed, and side effects were minimal. These findings suggest that fluoxetine may prove to be an alternative treatment for some attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Neuroimaging in child and adolescent psychiatry.

Although less well studied in child and adolescent psychiatry than in adult psychiatry, brain imaging has significantly altered psychiatric research and practice. This review focuses on the modalities that are used to image the brain. These include structural imaging techniques of computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as functional imaging techniques of computed electroencephalography (CEEG), positron emission tomography (PET), and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The technologies are reviewed, strengths and weaknesses of modalities discussed, and research progress reported.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Bipolar disorder in a prepubescent child.

Early onset bipolar affective disorder (BAD) is a relatively rare psychiatric disturbance in childhood and early adolescence. Its diagnosis is difficult due to the presentation of symptoms suggestive of other psychiatric illnesses. The literature on BAD in children is reviewed with emphasis on the clinical picture, predictive factors, and pharmacotherapy. Illustrations of these points are made through the use of a case report of a boy who first presented with symptoms at age 7.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Forebrain structure in infantile autism.

Researchers implicate central nervous system dysfunction in infantile autism, but postmortem examinations and in vivo brain imaging studies have produced conflicting results concerning the neuronal systems involved. Magnetic resonance imaging--a new modality of in vivo brain imaging--was used to investigate the cerebral and thalamic structure of 105 autistic patients. Compared with the control group, there was an overall difference in the forebrain morphology of the autistic subjects due to subtle but statistically significant differences in the anterior ventricular horns, lateral ventricles, and the right lenticular nucleus. These results, when considered with previous studies of cerebral structure, suggest that there are subtle alterations in the forebrain of autistic patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Excess mortality among formerly hospitalized child psychiatric patients.

Mortality was investigated in 881 male and 450 female formerly hospitalized child psychiatric patients in a four- to 15-year follow-up. Death from natural causes was not increased, but death from unnatural causes occurred at a rate more than twice as high as expected based on age- and sex-matched comparisons with the general population of the state of Iowa. Increased risk of unnatural death was found in five of eight psychiatric diagnostic categories but was significant only for Mental Reasoning, a category that combined patients with organic mental disorders, schizophrenia, or mental retardation. Clinical variables associated with an excess rate of unnatural death included age 15 years or older at the time of admission, the absence of a second psychiatric diagnosis, the presence of previous psychiatric hospitalizations, and the presence of a seizure disorder. Among the 23 unnatural deaths, the 11 (47.8%) suicides were excessive, but accidents and homicides were not.

Accidents↗
PubMed1988

Morphological evidence for brainstem involvement in infantile autism.

Previous neurophysiological and neuroanatomic studies suggest brainstem dysfunction in infantile autism. Therefore, we investigated the brainstem structure of autistic patients by planimetric analysis of midsagittal magnetic resonance imaging scans. We found the entire brainstem and one component--the pons--to be statistically significantly smaller in the autistic group when compared with medical controls. We also noted no correlation between brainstem size and age in the autistic group--a correlation that was found in the control group. These data present morphological evidence of brainstem involvement in the infantile autism syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Enzyme activity and behavior in hyperactive children grown up.

Thirty-one men, originally seen as children for problems with overactivity, distractibility, and impulsiveness, were reevaluated at ages 21-23 years. Subjects were interviewed and tested and provided a blood sample for analyses of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH), monoamine oxidase (MAO), and catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT). A series of Pearson correlations between the biological variables and psychological measures revealed that MAO levels were negatively associated with measures of drug involvement, cigarette use, fire-setting, and sensation seeking; DBH levels were positively associated with measures of sensation-seeking; and COMT levels were negatively associated with a measure of hostility and positively correlated with a measure of impulsiveness.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Excess suicide among formerly hospitalized child psychiatry patients.

The authors report suicide risk among 1331 child psychiatry inpatients followed up for 4 to 15 years in a record-linkage study. Age- and sex-matched comparisons were made with the general population of Iowa (the state from which most of the subjects were selected). Suicide rates were higher than expected for both sexes, but the excess (9 suicides) was significant only for males. No suicides occurred earlier than age 17. The risk of suicide was 80 times that expected for schizophrenic patients and 25 times that expected for patients with organic mental disorders. Unlike follow-up studies of adult inpatients, a significant excess of suicide was not associated with affective disorder, substance abuse, neurosis, or anorexia nervosa. Clinical variables indicating more complicated psychiatric disturbance were associated with an even greater rate of suicide; these variables included multiple hospitalizations, a hospital stay of more than 15 days, and the presence of a medical diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Cerebellar structure in autism.

Several recent reports suggest cerebellar abnormalities in patients with autism. To further investigate the posterior fossa in vivo, we analyzed axial (transverse) and coronal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of autistic patients. The MRI scans were measured at life-size by planimetry. Axial MRI scans of "high level" autistic patients were compared with control scans; there were no differences in the fourth ventricles, vermes, cerebella, and cerebellar-pontine "complexes" between the groups. Coronal MRI scans were also studied. In the coronal scans, the cerebella of autistic patients were proportionally smaller and the fourth ventricles proportionally larger. This suggests that there are morphologic changes in cerebella of autistic children; such alteration may best be viewed in the MRI coronal plane.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Fenfluramine treatment of autism: relationship of treatment response to blood levels of fenfluramine and norfenfluramine.

Nine children meeting DSM-III criteria for infantile autism were treated with fenfluramine hydrochloride or inactive placebo in a double-blind crossover trial that followed the protocol for the fenfluramine multicenter study. Parents of the two children who had had the highest fenfluramine blood levels wished to have their children continue on fenfluramine, although the improvement they saw could not be demonstrated on the various rating instruments employed. The results of the study, while providing minimal support in themselves for the effectiveness of fenfluramine, do raise the possibility that fenfluramine blood levels might be related to treatment response.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Association of serotonin concentration to behavior and IQ in autistic children.

Twenty-five boys meeting DSM-III criteria for infantile autism were evaluated for IQ, age, and behavior score on the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), in order to determine the ability to predic platelet-rich plasma (PRP) serotonin concentrations. Multiple regression techniques were used to adjust the PRP serotonin concentration for medication and whole blood platelet count to allow meaningful comparisons of serotonin concentrations among the autistic children. Though we found no significant correlation between the adjusted serotonin concentration and the IQ, or between the adjusted serotonin concentration and the various ABC scale scores, four individual items of the ABC did correlate with the adjusted serotonin concentration. Individuals with all of these items appear to be more severely affected with the disorder of autism and have a tendency to higher adjusted PRP serotonin concentration.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Desipramine: a possible treatment for depersonalization disorder.

Primary depersonalization disorder is believed to be resistant to treatment. However, we report the successful treatment of a case with desipramine and suggest that, because there is a link between depersonalization and anxiety disorders, tricyclic antidepressants may prove effective for depersonalization.

Adolescent↗