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Biomedical subjects

C T Gualtieri

Publications and source records attributed to C T Gualtieri.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Neurobehavioural performance of adults with closed-head injury, adults with attention deficit, and controls.

The symptoms experienced by people with mild closed-head injury (mCHI) and by people with attention deficit disorder (ADD) are similar in many aspects. We examined the performance of 26 adults with mCHI, 23 adults with ADD, and 25 matched controls on four functional areas: (1) simple motor response, (2) response speed and attention, (3) complex perceptual-motor performance, and (4) memory and learning. Analyses of variance and multivariate analyses of variance were used to compare the performance of the three groups. Test results were also plotted to examine patterns of performance and similarities between the groups. Both groups with mCHI and ADD had significantly more difficulty than controls with sustained attention. However, whereas the group with mCHI was characterized by generalized slowness in their response times, the group with ADD was characterized by impulsivity or an inability to regulate their attention and responses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

The problem of tardive akathisia.

Akathisia is a disorder characterized by restlessness and dysphoria. Neuroleptic-induced akathisia is one of the acute extrapyramidal reactions caused by neuroleptic drugs, and tardive akathisia (TDAK) is a tardive dyskinesia (TD) variant caused by long-term neuroleptic treatment. Since TDAK is a movement disorder with a psychological dimension, it merits consideration as one of the behavioral variants of TD. TDAK is considered in light of an ongoing, prospective study in mentally retarded people. It is discussed in terms of the "cognitive" functions of the basal ganglia, and the known consequences of other diseases of the basal ganglia that almost invariably cause behavioral and cognitive deterioration.

Akathisia, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1991

The functional neuroanatomy of psychiatric treatments.

The attraction of this kind of model-building is its rigor. There is an unhealthy indiscipline to psychiatry as long as it remains purely phenomenologic. Clouds are described, then other clouds; then they are related, one to another; then new clouds form, and they too are described. It is a process that could go on forever, but it is too nebulous to win support for very much longer. In contrast, psychiatry that is based on etiopathogenesis, on brain maps, has rigor. It is either true or untrue, like the three models presented above. If it is true, like the frontal lobe hypothesis of dopamine agonists, it will lead somewhere. If it is only a small part of the truth, like the kindling theory of temporal lobe drugs, it will be supplanted, before long, by a more cogent hypothesis. What is more attractive about this kind of thinking, however, is the practical side of it. The KBS hypothesis of autism is not simply an idle exercise. It is a guide to a specific approach to behavioral treatment and a warning to eschew the mindless search for a pharmacologic "bullet." Theories, like every other living thing, have to do something useful before they are ultimately set aside. At least this one lends some common sense to day-to-day events.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Clinical and neuropsychological effects of desipramine in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Desipramine is a tricyclic antidepressant with demonstrated efficacy for some children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this controlled study, clinical improvement was noted in a group of 12 ADHD children. There also were neuropsychological effects associated with desipramine treatment: a small but significant decline in motor performance and an improvement in long-term verbal memory. The decline in motor performance may be of only limited clinical significance, but it is an effect that desipramine seems to share with other tricyclic antidepressants. The improvement in memory performance is an effect it shares with the psychostimulants.

Affect↗
PubMed1990

Pharmacotherapy for self-injurious behavior: preliminary tests of the D1 hypothesis.

1. The D1 dopamine hypersensitivity model of self-injurious behavior leads to a testable clinical hypothesis: that the mixed D1/D2 dopamine antagonist fluphenazine may improve the symptoms of self-injurious patients. 2. The hypothesis was tested in an open pilot trial in six patients and a partially controlled trial in nine patients. 3. Some degree of clinical improvement was observed in eleven of the fifteen. 4. The trials represent a partial affirmation of the D1 hypothesis. However, it is also clear that conventional methodology for psychopharmacologic research is inappropriate for the proper clinical evaluation of self-injurious patients. The proper method should include the following elements: i) An epidemiologically representative sample ii) A naturalistic study environment iii) A longitudinal design with long-term follow-up iv) Concurrent behavioral ratings using direct observations and a reliable, treatment-sensitive rating scale. 5. Before subjects enter a clinical trial of an experimental medication, a neuropsychiatric differential diagnosis should be applied to limit the diversity of the sample.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Pharmacotherapy for self-injurious behavior: preliminary tests of the D1 hypothesis.

The D1 dopamine hypersensitivity model of self-injurious behavior leads to a testable clinical hypothesis: the mixed D1/D2 dopamine antagonist fluphenazine may improve the symptoms of self-injurious patients. The hypothesis was tested in an open pilot trial in six patients and a partially controlled trial in nine patients. Some degree of clinical improvement was observed in 11 of the 15 patients. The trials represent a partial affirmation of the D1 hypothesis. However, it is also clear that conventional methodology for psychopharmacologic research is inappropriate for the proper clinical evaluation of self-injurious patients. The proper method should include the following elements: 1. An epidemiologically representative sample. 2. A naturalistic study environment. 3. A longitudinal design with long-term follow up. 4. Concurrent behavioral ratings using direct observations and a reliable, treatment-sensitive rating scale. Before subjects enter a clinical trial of an experimental medication, a neuropsychiatric differential diagnosis should be applied to limit the diversity of the sample.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The differential diagnosis of self-injurious behavior in mentally retarded people.

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is sometimes presented as if it were a unitary behavioral entity. It is this assumption that leads to impunity in clinical trials of SIB patients, who are thought to be a homogeneous group. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. SIB is no more than the occasion for a neuropsychiatric differential diagnosis; first to consider environmental and medical circumstances that may induce SIB; then specific, diagnosable conditions from neurology and psychiatry; then specific syndromes like Lesch-Nyhan and Cornelia de Lange; and then for "idiopathic" cases, the alternative neuro-chemical hypotheses. The goal of differential diagnosis is not only to guide treatment, but also to improve subject homogeneity in clinical trials.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Motor performance in hyperactive children treated with imipramine.

The effects of the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine were evaluated in a study of 9 children with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder. The study was double-blind, placebo-controlled, with three drug conditions, low, medium, and high doses. The focus was on neuropsychological drug effects. Imipramine exerted negative dose-response effects on motor performance (motor speed, motor pursuit), while it improved hyperactive behavior and attention and raised the heart rate slightly.

Arousal↗
PubMed1987

Methylphenidate affects strategic choice behavior in normal adult humans.

The time course of serum concentration and performance on a concurrent probability matching task were evaluated in normal adults receiving 0.15 or 0.3 mg/kg of methylphenidate. The behavioral task, an arcade-like problem-solving game, revealed that drug-treated subjects improved their performance upon repeated testings during pharmacokinetic evaluation at a lower rate than did non-treated controls over the same time span. However, drug-treated subjects failed to adopt the adaptive problem-solving strategies selected by controls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Treatment of chronic closed head injury with psychostimulant drugs: a controlled case study and an appropriate evaluation procedure.

The psychostimulant drugs methylphenidate (MPH) and dextroamphetamine (DEA) have proven efficacy in clinical populations whose primary symptoms include disorders of attention, impulse control, and locomotor hyperactivity. These medications have also been shown to influence in a positive manner cognitive functioning, particularly in the areas of sustained attention and memory. In light of these facts, the psychostimulants MPH and DEA were administered in separate trials to a young man who suffered from similar symptoms secondary to a chronic closed head injury. The medication trials were double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-response studies. Cognitive functions, particularly memory and attention, improved in the active drug conditions. In addition, there was a consistent, positive drug effect across behavioral assessments. This case study emphasizes the importance of studying psychostimulant effects in patients with neuropsychological and behavioral sequelae of closed head injury; it also presents an appropriate methodology for evaluating psychostimulant effects in a clinical research setting.

Adult↗