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T Bougerol

Publications and source records attributed to T Bougerol.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Executive/attentional performance and measures of schizotypy in patients with schizophrenia and in their nonpsychotic first-degree relatives.

Previous studies of executive/attentional functions have found impairments in nonpsychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia. The aims of this study were: (1) to replicate these findings by three laboratory measures of attention/information processing - a continuous performance test (DS-CPT), a forced-choice span of apprehension task (SPAN), and a digit symbol substitution test (DSST), and by a series of neuropsychological tests sensitive to prefrontal cortical damage - Trail Making A and B, verbal fluency (VFT), Stroop Color and Word Test (Stroop), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST); (2) to investigate whether such executive/attentional deficits are associated with schizotypal traits assessed using the social anhedonia, physical anhedonia, perceptual aberration and magical ideation scales (Chapman, L.J., Chapman, J.P., Raulin, M.L. 1976. Scales for physical and social anhedonia. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 85, 374-382; Chapman, L.J., Chapman, J.P., Raulin, M.L., 1978. Body-image aberration in schizophrenia. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 87, 399-407; Eckblad, M., Chapman, L.J., 1983. Magical ideation as an indicator of schizotypy. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 51, 215-225). In both patient and relative groups, performance was significantly poorer on the DSST, VFT and Trail B, and the reaction time on the SPAN was significantly longer. These neuropsychological impairments were present as much in siblings as in parents of schizophrenic patients; age did not appear to cancel differences between the relative and control groups. In the relative group, the four scores of schizotypy were at an intermediate level between those of patient and control groups, and the social anhedonia and perceptual aberration scores tended to be significantly different between the relative and the control groups. Only two significant correlations were found between the neuropsychological performance and the measures of schizotypy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Attentional deficits in patients with schizophrenia and in their non-psychotic first-degree relatives.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether non-psychotic relatives of schizophrenic probands have deficits in sustained attention as measured by the Continuous Performance Test, Identical Pairs version (CPT-IP) and whether such deficits are associated with negative schizotypal personality disorders. The study subjects were 23 schizophrenic probands, 45 of their first-degree relatives and 36 normal controls. For each subject, attention was assessed during five conditions (2 standard, 2 slow, 1 easy) of visual stimuli (numbers and shapes). Schizotypy status was determined with the physical anhedonia and social anhedonia scales of Chapman et al. (Chapman, L.J., Chapman, J.P., Raulin, M.L., 1976. Scales for physical and social anhedonia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 42, 374-382). The CPT-IP sensitive index d' in the standard shape condition was significantly lower in schizophrenics and in their relatives than in controls. For all d' values, the percentage of impaired first-degree relatives was at an intermediate level between patients and control individuals. Furthermore, the schizophrenic probands made more random errors in the standard and in the slow number conditions than the other two groups. None of the schizotypy measures correlated with the CPT-IP deficits. These results suggest that spatial sustained attention deficit may be a vulnerability marker for schizophrenia; however, this deficit and the negative dimension of schizotypal personality disorders may be distinct traits.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[Cycloid psychoses].

Cycloid psychoses constitute an original classification originally proposed by Leonhard and comprising clinical pictures intermediate between schizophrenic psychoses and bipolar disorders. The exact situation of these disorders in psychiatric classifications has been the subject of debate, and their existence is still questioned. Only schizo-affective psychoses have been accepted as autonomous. Treatment of cycloid psychoses most often consists of neuroleptics but also mood regulators, particularly those having anti-epileptic effects Lastly, prognosis of these disorders usually is not as poor as that of schizophrenia and is marked by a cycloid course, with symptom-free periods between episodes.

Humans↗
PubMed1997

A combination of plant extracts in the treatment of outpatients with adjustment disorder with anxious mood: controlled study versus placebo.

Euphytose (EUP) is a combination of six extracts: Crataegus, Ballota, Passiflora and Valeriana, which have mild sedative effects, and Cola and Paullinia, which mainly act as mild stimulants. This multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled general practice study was carried outpatients with adjustment disorder with anxious mood. The study was coordinated by psychiatrists. Ninety-one patients were included in the EUP group and 91 patients in the placebo group. They all received two tablets three times a day over 28 days (D). Evaluation using the Hamilton-anxiety (HAM-A) rating scale were carried out on D0, D7, D14 and on D28. Comparing the two groups, 42.9% of the patients (EUP group) had a HAM-A score of less than 10 at D28 versus 25.3% in the placebo group (P = 0.012). Changes in the HAM-A score between D0 and D28 were as follows: D0 (EUP: 26.12 +/- 4.0, placebo: 26.27 +/- 4.5), D7 (EUP: 19.65 +/- 5.7, placebo: 21.37 +/- 5.6), D14 (EUP: 15.36 +/- 5.7, placebo: 17.48 +/- 6.7), D28 (EUP: 12.63 +/- 7.3, placebo: 15.2 +/- 8.1). From D7 to D28 there was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.042) between the two treatments, indicating that EUP is better than placebo in the treatment of adjustment disorder with anxious mood.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1996

[Body weight changes under psychotropic treatment].

Weight gain is one of the more common side effects of psychotropic drugs (neuroleptics, antidepressants, lithium, benzodiazepines). This effect depends on the type of drug, doses and length of treatment. It appears gradually and seems linked to the patient's clinical history. Among neuroleptics, phenothiazines and benzamides have the most important effect on weight. Weight gain with lithium is well documented and it does not regress with time. There is actually a controversy about antidepressants direct effects on weight. Current information concerning benzodiazepines is insufficient. Weight gain is not an unavoidable side effect and etiopathogenic mechanisms are not well known. Many hypothesis are discussed (biochemical, pharmacological, psychological and environmental). Weight gain is a complex and multifactorial phenomena.

Feeding Behavior↗
PubMed1996

[Research in psychiatry and legislative restrictions].

Over the last few weeks decades research in psychiatry has undergone a considerable efflorescence. Experimental projects in fields as different as neurobiology or psychopathology, neuro-anatomy or epidemiology, or even cognitive psychology are of course subject to precise conditions which may derive from ethical guidelines as well as different legal systems. These legislative contexts therefore represent a parallel set of restrictions in the path of research activities and may in some cases curb their development. Restrictions of an ethical or deontological type are direct heirs of necessity. They emerged on the eve of the second world war when it became apparent that precisely defined conditions in which research could be conducted in humans were required, and derived for the most part from the recommendations of the Nuremberg Code on the one hand, and the Helsinki declaration on the other. The last version of the Code of Medical Deontology applicable to medical practice in France, and published by decree in September 1995, devoted an article to the question of experimentation. Each country has its own specific legislation which, in France, was explicitly formulated with the publication of the Loi Huriet in December 1988. The European Union is currently attempting to produce a homologous version of the various legislative documents and recommendations should soon be forthcoming which will be applicable to all member countries of the Community. Another area of limitation is less clearly formulated and involves the technical and occasionally methodological framework within research projects take place. Technical demands are highly variable depending on the field of investigation and chiefly revolve around a dogged hunt for statistically significant results (statistical significance sometimes seems to dispense with the need to determine the real meaning of results!); in some cases they too may curb inventiveness. This last type restriction is particularly apparent in drug trials where imperatives of industrial development as viewed by the sponsor may not always coincide with the investigators' desire to mark therapeutic progress. The increasing rigidity of strategies for assessing new substances which has become obvious over the last few years may in the end risk penalizing the discovery of innovative treatments. Promoting a return to clinical practice in the setting of these research projects would indisputably provide some novel solutions. Although many of the restrictions which currently stand in the way of psychiatric research are, so to speak, natural limitations and difficult to debate, excessive formalism in some areas should be spoken out against. Much thought has been given to this subject, a trend which is likely to inject some dynamism into psychiatric research at the dawn of the third millennium just around the corner.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗
PubMed1996

Citalopram versus fluoxetine: a double-blind, controlled, multicentre, phase III trial in patients with unipolar major depression treated in general practice.

Two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), citalopram and fluoxetine, both at a daily dose of 20 mg, were compared in patients with unipolar major depression treated in general practice. This was a multicentre, double-blind, randomized trial carried out in France. The duration of treatment was 8 weeks. Patients were assessed by means of the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the 17 items Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and the investigator's Clinical Global Impressions (CGI), Observed and spontaneously reported adverse events were also recorded. A total of 357 patients of both sexes, aged between 21 and 73 years, entered the double-blind phase of the trial. A clear reduction of both the MADRS and the HAMD mean total scores was observed in both treatment groups with no statistically significant differences between treatments. Apart from back pain recorded more frequently in the citalopram group, no significant difference was found between the two treatment groups with regard to adverse events, and both citalopram and fluoxetine were considered to be well tolerated. It was concluded that citalopram was as effective as fluoxetine in the treatment of unipolar major depression. Citalopram showed an earlier onset of recovery than fluoxetine.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[Pharmacotherapy of panic disorder].

The concept of Panic Disorders has itself been developed on the strength of therapeutic effects of drug treatments and it is therefore not surprising that psychotropic medications are currently the main therapeutic tool for this condition. Their use may be indicated in two differing circumstances, as treatment for Panic Attack itself or as a long-term treatment for what is properly called Panic Disorder. The latter scenario is that which has been most actively studied and represents the more original side of the question. Treatment of acute Panic Attack involves administration of sedative anxiolytics, principally benzodiazepines (BZD). Long-term treatment aiming to prevent repeated attacks is the core strategy for treatment for Panic Disorder. For the past fifteen years, a large number of research projects have shown the elective anti-panic efficacy of a number of drugs, principally antidepressants and anxiolytics. The response profile to anti-depressant treatment is characterized by a lag time which is sometimes longer than that observed when they are used solely as antidepressants; frequently they are also less well tolerated which necessitates a very gradual step-up in dosage. The "classic" MAOI (non-selective and irreversible) have a proven anti-panic effect. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) anti-depressants are currently drugs of choice in the treatment of Panic Disorder. Although the anti-panic effect appears to be common to all the various SSRI drugs available, and directly attributable to their mechanism of action, not all of them however have undergone controlled studies. In France, paroxetine is the first anti-depressant in this group to obtain a marketing authorization for this particular indication. The advantages of the SSRI drugs are principally related to their limited adverse effects and lack of toxicity, thereby making them particularly straightforward to use. Benzodiazepines (BZD) are the second group of psychotropic medications which have been shown to be effective in the treatment of Panic Disorder. The major disadvantage of the BZD for this indication is chiefly related to the major risk of promoting a dependency state with the corresponding appearance of a withdrawal syndrome when treatment is stopped. This risk constitutes a major stumbling block to the use of BZD as a first-line treatment for Panic Disorder. Various other drugs have been evaluated in the treatment of Panic Disorder with varying success. The current anti-panic pharmacopoeia therefore appears to be relatively well stocked. In this context, antidepressants-especially the SSRI drugs-are the first-line treatment of choice for Panic Disorders. In all cases, it appears useful to integrate pharmacological treatment within an overall management plan for the patient with Panic Disorder, especially if it is hoped to maintain therapeutic benefit long-term.

Anti-Anxiety Agents↗
PubMed1995

[Interest of recording Event Related Potentials (ERP) in the knowledge of schizophrenic disorders].

Event Related Potentials (ERP) can be recorded from the scalp and are related to psychic processes induced by some "event". This "event" can be either a physical one or a psychological one. ERP recorded in schizophrenic patients give some informations about pathological changes of attentional mechanisms specifically disturbed by the illness, as many researches shown it. Moreover, changes in the lateralization of brain electrical activities, correlated with some abnormalities observed with brain imaging methods, give some new data on brain tissue disturbances known to be specific of some schizophrenic disorders. Further developments of these psychophysiological methods might contribute to obtain, in the future, a better knowledge of specific pathological mechanisms underlying schizophrenic disorders.

Attention↗
PubMed1994

[Antidepressive agents of recent generation].

In the last decade, progress in psychopharmacology had led to the synthesis of newer antidepressant compounds. Known as "new generation antidepressants", they belong either to classical families of anti-depressants (tricyclics or MAOIs) or to new pharmacological groups. The first ones differ from classical tricyclics or classical MAOIs for the absence of major contraindications for their use (mostly few or no anticholinergic properties for new tricyclics and no dietary restriction rules for new MAOIs). The nontricyclics-non MAOIs antidepressants are, for most of them, particularly well tolerated and safe. The clinical potency of such compounds seems to reach conditions beyond depressive states and they have indeed some specific effects in obsessive-compulsive disorders or other anxiety disorders. In this group, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors seem to represent a major progress in antidepressive therapy. All these advantages invite now the practitioners to use these "new generation antidepressants" as the first choice medication, when treating uncomplicated depressive disorders.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1993

[Treatment of a refractory depressive episode].

In treating refractory depression, we have, firstly, to search for some factors, known to be associated with resistance, like somatic illnesses or drugs which induce depression. In a second time, it is necessary to distinguish refractory depression from insufficiently treated depression. For this purpose: does the treatment fit to the subtype of depression to be treated? Is the dosage of antidepressant sufficient? is the duration of treatment trial long enough? Some strategies can be used to treat resistant depressive patients. Mono Amine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) seem to be sometimes very efficient in the treatment of refractory depressives. In some cases, it is necessary to prescribe high dosages of such drugs or to use them in association with tricyclic antidepressants. It must be emphasized that such associations are sometimes dangerous and must be used cautiously. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) seem to be characterized by a different spectrum of effects than tricyclics. This specificity could be useful in treating refractory depression; ECT are often efficient in such patients and must be done if antidepressants fall to improve the disorder. Adjunction of lithium to antidepressant regimen is efficient in many cases and well documented since a few years. This association is efficacious in almost 30% of refractory depressive disorders. In some cases, adjunctive lithium leeds to improvement of depressive symptoms very quickly, in 2 or 3 days. In other cases, onset of improvement occurs only after the usual time of 2 to 3 weeks. The adjunction of triiodothyronine (T3) to antidepressants is sometimes efficacious and raises some questions about the thyroïd axis function in depressives.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1992

Efficacy and tolerability of moclobemide compared with fluvoxamine in depressive disorder (DSM III). A French/Swiss double-blind trial.

The efficacy and tolerability of moclobemide and fluvoxamine, two new types of antidepressant agents, were compared in a multicentre, double-blind prospective study of patients with a diagnosis of major depressive episode (DSM III). Patients were randomized to receive either moclobemide (150 mg) or fluvoxamine (50 mg) twice daily for 7 days, immediately following a washout period of at least 1 week. Dosages were increased where necessary on day 8, to a maximum of moclobemide 450 mg or fluvoxamine 200 mg and in most cases were maintained at these levels for the remainder of the study period (4-6 weeks). Both treatment groups showed a marked antidepressant effect. While both treatments were well tolerated, moclobemide showed a more favourable side-effect profile than fluvoxamine. Of the 126 patients eligible for evaluation, 34 withdrew from therapy, 22% in the moclobemide group and 30% in the fluvoxamine group. Adverse events were reported in 41.8% of patients treated with moclobemide compared to 60.3% of patients in the fluvoxamine group. Reports of dry mouth and other anticholinergic effects were more frequent among those treated with fluvoxamine. A greater number of gastrointestinal complaints, especially nausea, also occurred in the fluvoxamine-treated patients.

Adult↗