PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSIVITY AND BEHAVIOR IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

本研究旨在探讨植物神经系统（ANS）的作用 活动、注意力和信息处理及其 病理学、病因学和预后的相互关系 精神疾病和研究其潜在的生物学和 心理过程。 ANS活动通过外周测量进行评估 例如皮肤电导、心率和皮肤温度。 受试者 测试条件下休息，提出的音调，和性能 尤其是注意力的反应时间测试。 最新发现：1）在精神分裂症患者中， 氯氮平，尽管与安慰剂相比具有更大的临床获益， 传统的精神抑制剂，并没有改善反应时间的措施， 关注 然而，有证据表明， 的信息处理，这是通过减少 幻觉。 2)一种典型的低抗胆碱能神经安定药 作用，氟奋乃静，降低ANS基线和选择性衰减 皮肤电导定向反应简单的音调相比，其 在反应时间任务中对信号刺激的反应的影响。 这 研究表明，一些精神分裂症的标志物报告在他的研究中， 可能是由于精神抑制药物。3)青少年 儿童期发作的精神分裂症表现出过度的静息态ANS活动， 低于正常的ANS活动在一项任务，低反应性，新的 和有意义的刺激，以及不规则的习惯过程。 这些 结果与我们先前在成人精神分裂症患者中的发现相似，但 甚至比成人的数据更一致，这表明这是一个更 服务于疾病的形式。 它们与其他地方的很不一样 儿童和成人精神病理学的类型。 未来计划：将成年精神分裂症患者组与正常对照组进行比较， 情感障碍患者和闭合性头部损伤患者 和额叶损伤的实验方案相同 研究差异 与症状相关的ANS活动和注意力。 探讨 通过将这些变量与 生物胺从CFS和大脑结构和活动， 通过CT、MRI和PET扫描显示。

This project investigates the roles of autonomic nervous system (ANS activity, attention, and information processing and their interrelationships in the pathology, etiology, and prognosis of psychiatric disorders and studies their underlying biological and psychological processes. ANS activity is assessed by peripheral measures such a skin conductance, heart rate, and skin temperature. Subjects are tested under conditions of rest, presentation of tones, and performance on various tasks, especially reaction time tests of attention. Recent findings: 1) In schizophrenic patients the atypical neuroleptic clozapine, despite greater clinical benefit compared to placebo and conventional neuroleptic, did not improve reaction time measures of attention. However, there was evidence that it increased the efficiency of information processing, and this was mediated by a reduction of hallucinations. 2) A typical neuroleptic with low anticholinergic action, fluphenazine, reduced ANS baselines and selectively attenuated skin conductance orienting responses to simple tones compared to its effects on responses to signal stimuli in a reaction time task. This study shows that some of the markers for schizophrenia reported int he literature may be due to neuroleptic drugs. 3) Adolescents with Childhood-onset Schizophrenia show excessive resting ANS activity but lower than normal ANS activity during a task, low responsivity to novel and meaningful stimuli, and an irregular course of habituation. These results are similar to our previous findings in adult schizophrenics, but even more consistent than the adult data, suggesting that this is a more serve form of the illness. They quite distinct from those seen in other types of child and adult psychopathology. Future plans: Compare the adult schizophrenic group to normal controls, patient with affective disorders, and patients with closed head injuries and frontal lobe lesions tested on the same protocol. Study differences in ANS activity and attention in relation to symptoms. Investigate biological mechanisms by correlating these variables with metabolites of biogenic amines from CFS and with brain structure and activity as revealed by CT,MRI, and PET scans.