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Biomedical subjects

W H Wilson

Publications and source records attributed to W H Wilson.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Chronicity and a low anteroposterior gradient of cerebral blood flow in schizophrenia.

Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured with the 133xenon inhalation technique in 27 patients with schizophrenia of less than 5 years' duration and in 27 patients with schizophrenia of more than 12 years' duration, under resting conditions. Similar measurements were also performed in 54 normal control subjects matched for age and sex. Patients with schizophrenia of long duration had lower anteroposterior gradients of CBF than patients with schizophrenia of short duration and matched control subjects. Covarying out age and end-tidal levels of CO2 did not alter the results.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Anxiety and cerebral blood flow.

The relationship between anxiety and cerebral blood flow (CBF) is of considerable clinical and research significance. Although a considerable amount of information is available on mechanisms through which anxiety may influence CBF, this topic has not received much attention in psychiatry. Earlier techniques for the measurement of CBF were cumbersome and invasive. With the advent of noninvasive techniques, study of CBF in psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, became easier, and a number of such studies have been conducted. In this article the literature on psychophysiological and clinical aspects of changes in CBF associated with anxiety is reviewed.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1989

Sex roles and regional cerebral blood flow.

Several investigators have reported higher resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) in females as compared to males. The relationship between sex roles as quantified by Bem's Sex Role Inventory and CBF was evaluated in 106 right-handed, physically and mentally healthy, drug-free volunteers. CBF was measured noninvasively with the 133xenon inhalation technique. The CBF values correlated inversely with age and positively with carbon dioxide levels, confirming previous reports. Females obtained significantly higher CBF values than males; the differences tended to be most obvious in frontal regions. Males and females who scored high on femininity showed higher CBF as compared to low-femininity subjects even after the effect of sex was covaried out. High masculine sex role tended to be associated with lower CBF, but the effect was less clear.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Regional cerebral blood flow changes associated with amyl nitrite inhalation.

Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF), mood states and somatic symptoms were measured before and after inhalation of amyl nitrite in 10 physically healthy volunteers with a prior history of using volatile nitrites for recreational purposes. CBF was measured with the same technique, under identical laboratory conditions, in an equal number of normal volunteers. During CBF measurements, blood pressure, pulse rate, respiratory rate and end-tidal levels of carbon dioxide were monitored. The amyl nitrite group and the control group were compared on CBF, rating scale scores and physiological indices via analysis of variance. Amyl nitrite inhalation was associated with significant global increases in CBF, while the control group did not show any change. Pulse rate increase was the only physiological change associated with administration of the drug. Subjects who received the drug reported significant decrease in anger, fatigue and depression and increased palpitation, breathing difficulty, dizziness and headache. Changes in the rating scale scores, physiological indices, and somatic symptoms after amyl nitrite did not correlate with regional CBF change.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1989

Acute changes in cerebral blood flow associated with marijuana smoking.

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured in experienced (ES) and inexperienced (IS) marijuana smokers with the 133xenon inhalation technique before and after smoking both a high-potency marijuana cigarette and a placebo marijuana cigarette. CBF was measured twice under resting conditions in a control group. Mood states before and after marijuana smoking were quantified with the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Analyses of POMS factors after smoking marijuana revealed IS had an increase in anxiety while ES had a decrease. IS also had a significant increase in depression and decrease in vigor, but neither variable changed in the ES. After marijuana, CBF decreased in IS, but in ES, it increased in comparison with the 2 control runs. In both IS and ES, CBF changes following placebo administration were similar to those associated with marijuana smoking. However, in IS, the marijuana-induced CBF decrease was significantly higher than that associated with placebo. There were no statistically significant differences between the CBF increase seen after placebo and marijuana in ES. Anxiety, anger, fatigue, confusion and depression had significant negative correlations with CBF while vigor correlated positively, but the anxiety factor was the only one to account for a significant percentage of the change (parital correlation) in hemispheric CBF.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Changes in cerebral blood flow and mental state after amphetamine challenge in schizophrenic patients.

Changes in regional cerebral blood flow and behavioral and physiological indices were monitored after intravenous administration of d-amphetamine sulfate and placebo in groups of patients with schizophrenia and normal volunteers. Amphetamine administration was associated with decreased anxiety, emotional withdrawal, depressed mood, blunted affect and increased excitement in the patients. Subjects who received amphetamine showed significant increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and reduction in end-tidal carbon dioxide. Post-amphetamine cerebral blood flow was decreased equally in both patients and controls. The blood flow change, however, did not show any regional variations.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Responses to hypercarbia induced by acetazolamide in panic disorder patients.

CO2 inhalation has been reported to induce panic attacks in panic disorder patients. State anxiety, somatic symptoms of anxiety, physiological changes, and cerebral blood flow (CBF) were monitored in panic disorder patients before and after intravenous injections of 1 g of acetazolamide (13 patients) and saline (10 patients), given under double-blind conditions. In spite of significant hypercarbia, as evidenced by increased CBF in the former group, only one subject reported panic and even that attack did not meet DSM-III-R criteria. There was only one significant difference between the drug and placebo groups; the acetazolamide group experienced significantly more dizziness.

Acetazolamide↗
PubMed1989

Regional cerebral blood flow correlates of a dichotic listening task.

This investigation was designed to test the hypothesis that ear advantage on a dichotic listening (DL) task of pitch discrimination reflects asymmetries in the metabolic activities of the temporal lobes. Fourteen normal subjects, with either a left-ear advantage (LEA) (n = 9) or a right-ear advantage (REA) (n = 5) on the DL task, underwent measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during a resting baseline condition and during performance on the DL task. For both groups, the DL task was associated with selective and significant increases in rCBF to the contralateral posterior temporal lobe. Our finding of selective rCBF activation with dichotic stimulation may have potential implications for an understanding of the functional organization of the cerebral hemispheres.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1989

Reassessment of state hospital patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenic patients in long-term care programs may not have been carefully diagnosed according to current criteria. As part of a clinical reassessment program at a state hospital, the author randomly assessed 72 patients who carried a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The diagnosis of schizophrenia by DSM-III-R criteria was confirmed in 45 patients. Various organic disorders were diagnosed in seven patients. Four patients had bipolar affective disorder, manic; one patient had schizoaffective disorder, depressed; one patient had a substance use disorder; and two had primary mental retardation or pervasive developmental disorder. Twelve patients had unclear or atypical syndromes.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Diagnostic consultation to a state hospital.

As part of a program to assess the needs of patients in a state hospital scheduled to be closed, a psychiatrist provided consultation for 101 chronically ill patients, including formulation of a principal diagnosis by DSM-III-R criteria. Compared with earlier diagnoses made by the hospital, the consultant diagnosed fewer cases of schizophrenia and more cases of organic mental disorders, affective syndromes, and mental retardation and pervasive developmental disorders. The largest numbers of patients no longer diagnosed as schizophrenic received diagnoses of psychosis not otherwise specified, with further assessment recommended, or organic mental disorder. The author believes consultation programs like this one can help state hospital staff take a fresh look at long-term patients and can provide useful experience for psychiatric residents who assist with such consultations.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Measurement of negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

This article focuses on the measurement of 'negative symptoms'. Standardized scales used to rate negative symptoms are reviewed and compared, as are the individual items which comprise them. The overlap of negative symptoms, akinesia, and depression is explored, and means are suggested to improve the precision of defining and measuring negative symptoms. Flat affect is the only item present in all negative symptom scales and may overlap with depression and akinesia. Inappropriate affect and attentional disturbance should not be considered negative symptoms. Poverty of speech and anhedonia lack unified definitions, and in some scales, they can also be confounded with depression and akinesia. The psychometric properties of most scales have not been sufficiently studied. The lack of long-term studies of stability of the supposedly enduring negative symptoms is especially worrisome. Carpenter's deficit syndrome consisting of non-secondary negative symptoms lasting more than one year is a promising new step to try and address some of these problems.

Humans↗
PubMed1988

Abnormal resting regional cerebral blood flow patterns and their correlates in schizophrenia.

Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured under resting conditions in 108 right-handed schizophrenic inpatients and a matched group of normal controls with the xenon 133 inhalation technique. Forty-six patients were free of all medication for two weeks. There were no significant differences in CBF to the two hemispheres. The patients showed a comparatively reduced anteroposterior (AP) gradient for CBF. Though there were no differences in frontal flow, the patients had higher flow to several postcentral brain regions, bilaterally. Cerebral blood flow in the patients correlated inversely with age and positively with carbon dioxide level. Women had higher flow than men. Duration of the illness was the only significant predictor of the reduced AP gradient in patients. Higher left temporal and right parietal flow were found to be the best discriminators between patients and controls. Mean hemispheric flow to both hemispheres and several brain regions correlated with the total score and the item, unusual thought content, of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. There were no differences in regional CBF between medicated and unmedicated patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Cerebral blood flow changes induced by CO2 in anxiety.

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured twice with the 133Xenon inhalation technique, under resting conditions and during 5% CO2 inhalation, in 13 patients with generalized anxiety disorder and a group of normal volunteers of comparable age and sex distribution. CO2 inhalation was associated with similar increases in end-tidal CO2 (PECO2) and CBF. Neither group showed statistically significant increases in state anxiety. However, when subjects (both patients and controls) who became anxious during CO2 inhalation were compared with those who did not, on associated CBF changes, significant differences emerged. The former showed less marked CBF increase as compared to the latter in the absence of any significant differences between the two groups on PECO2 during the second measurement. Changes in state anxiety and CBF showed a statistically significant inverse correlation for the entire group.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Circadian rhythm of adrenergic regulation of adrenocorticotropin and cortisol secretion in man.

The effects of the alpha-adrenergic agonist methoxamine on the human hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis was assessed by a placebo-controlled study in the morning and one in the evening. A 5-mg iv bolus dose of methoxamine in normal subjects caused a significant rise in plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations in the morning study. However, no significant change in plasma cortisol or ACTH concentrations was noted during the evening study. These studies suggest the existence of a diurnal variation in alpha 1-adrenergic regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗