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Biomedical subjects

D D Dougherty

Publications and source records attributed to D D Dougherty.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Cerebral metabolic correlates as potential predictors of response to anterior cingulotomy for obsessive compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: As interventions for severe, treatment-refractory obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), neurosurgical procedures are associated with only modest efficacy. The purpose of this study was to identify cerebral metabolic correlates as potential predictors of treatment response to anterior cingulotomy for OCD. METHODS: Clinical data were analyzed in the context of a retrospective design. Subjects were 11 patients who underwent stereotactic anterior cingulotomy for OCD. Symptom severity was measured using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) before and at approximately 6 months postoperative. Preoperative F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) data were available. Statistical parametric mapping methods were used to identify loci of significant correlation between preoperative regional cerebral metabolism and postoperative reduction in Y-BOCS scores. RESULTS: One locus within right posterior cingulate cortex was identified, where preoperative metabolism was significantly correlated with improvement in OCD symptom severity following cingulotomy. Specifically, higher preoperative rates of metabolism at that locus were associated with better postoperative outcome. CONCLUSIONS: A possible predictor of treatment response was identified for patients with OCD undergoing anterior cingulotomy. Further research, utilizing a prospective design, is indicated to determine the validity and reliability of this finding. If confirmed, an index for noninvasively predicting response to cingulotomy for OCD would be of great value.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Neural substrates of anorexia nervosa: a behavioral challenge study with positron emission tomography.

OBJECTIVE: To delineate functional brain abnormalities associated with anorexia nervosa (AN). STUDY DESIGN: Positron emission tomographic measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were performed on 8 female patients with AN and 8 healthy female control subjects during exposure to 3 types of stimuli: high-calorie foods, low-calorie foods, and non-food items. Heart rate and internal state analog scale scores were also obtained. Stereotactic transformation and statistical parametric mapping techniques were used to analyze imaging data. RESULTS: During the high-calorie condition, control subjects reported a significant desire to eat, whereas subjects with AN reported elevated anxiety and exhibited increases in heart rate. Patients with AN had elevated bilateral medial temporal lobe rCBF compared with control subjects. Planned comparisons for group-by-condition interactions demonstrated greater activation within left occipital cortex and right temporo-occipital cortex for the high-calorie versus low-calorie contrast in patients with AN compared with control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Our finding of elevated rCBF within bilateral medial temporal lobes is similar to published results in patients with psychotic disorders and may be related to the body image distortion common to AN. The high-calorie food phobia exhibited by patients with AN appears to be associated with exaggerated responses in visual association cortex, as has been previously observed in studies of specific phobias.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Longitudinal follow-up of naturalistic treatment outcome in patients with trichotillomania.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the longitudinal course of treatment outcome in patients with trichotillomania. The authors conducted a second follow-up assessment on a cohort of hair pullers previously studied. METHOD: Forty-four subjects completed a hair-pulling questionnaire and paper-and-pencil measures of hair-pulling severity and impact, psychosocial functioning, depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Mean time elapsed between the first and second follow-up assessment was 2.5 years (index evaluation to first follow-up = 3.5 years). RESULTS: Twenty-seven subjects (61.4%) had active treatment since the first follow-up. No significant changes in hair pulling, depression, anxiety, or psychosocial functioning were reported from first to second follow-up. Self-esteem scores significantly worsened during this period (p = .000). A trend toward worsening also existed for psychosocial impact scores. Comparison of scores at index evaluation with second follow-up still showed significant improvement over time for hair pulling (p = .001) but significant worsening in self-esteem (p = .000). Treatment and responder status were unrelated to clinical functioning, with the exception of depression and psychosocial impact. CONCLUSION: Although hair pullers exhibit initial improvement with treatment, scale scores plateau or worsen by second follow-up. Significant worsening in self-esteem at second follow-up may be related to the absence of further improvements in hair-pulling severity. Future research should focus on the interrelationships among self-esteem, depression, and hair pulling during treatment for this disorder.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

Activation of anterior paralimbic structures during guilt-related script-driven imagery.

BACKGROUND: Several recent neuroimaging studies have examined the neuroanatomical correlates of normal emotional states, such as happiness, sadness, fear, anger, anxiety, and disgust; however, no previous study has examined the emotional state of guilt. METHODS: In the current study, we used positron emission tomography and the script-driven imagery paradigm to study regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during the transient emotional experience of guilt in eight healthy male participants. In the Guilt condition, participants recalled and imagined participating in a personal event involving the most guilt they had ever experienced. In the Neutral condition, participants recalled and imagined participating in an emotionally neutral personal event. RESULTS: In the Guilt versus Neutral comparison, rCBF increases occurred in anterior paralimbic regions of the brain: bilateral anterior temporal poles, anterior cingulate gyrus, and left anterior insular cortex/inferior frontal gyrus. CONCLUSIONS: These results, along with those of previous studies, are consistent with the notion that anterior paralimbic regions of the brain mediate negative emotional states in healthy individuals.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Neuroanatomy of human appetitive function: A positron emission tomography investigation.

OBJECTIVE: The mediating neuroanatomy of human appetitive function is poorly understood. A state induction paradigm was employed, in conjunction with positron emission tomography, to test the hypothesis that limbic/paralimbic regions respond to the desirability of food stimuli. METHODS: Eight normal subjects were studied during each of three conditions, involving visual exposure to high-caloric food, low-caloric food, and nonfood stimuli. Subjective indices of hunger were measured via analog scales. RESULTS: Planned contrasts demonstrated significant increases in desire to eat and decreases in left temporoinsular cortical blood flow during the high-caloric versus control conditions. DISCUSSION: Results implicate the temporo-insular cortex in normal appetitive function, suggesting that activity within this region is associated with the desirability or valence of food stimuli, prior to ingestion. These data will provide a broad foundation for future studies of patients with eating disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Anger in healthy men: a PET study using script-driven imagery.

BACKGROUND: An understanding of the neurobiological basis of normal emotional processing is useful in formulating hypotheses regarding the pathophysiology of psychiatric illnesses. METHODS: This study examined the mediating functional neuroanatomy of anger in eight healthy men. Narrative scripts were developed from autobiographical information to induce anger and neutral states. The subjects imagined the content of the narrative scripts to induce anger during positron emission tomography to measure normalized regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Psychophysiologic responses and subjective ratings of emotional state were measured for each condition. Statistical parametric maps were constructed to reflect the Anger versus Neutral state contrast. RESULTS: Anger was associated with activation of the left orbitofrontal cortex, right anterior cingulate cortex affective division, and bilateral anterior temporal poles. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the subjective experience of anger is associated with rCBF increases in anterior paralimbic regions of the brain.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Neural activation during sexual and competitive arousal in healthy men.

To investigate the mediating neuroanatomy of positively valenced arousal, we used script-driven imagery in conjunction with positron emission tomography to measure relative regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during sexual and competitive arousal, as well as neutral comparison states. Subjects were eight healthy right-handed men. Psychophysiologic responses and subjective ratings confirmed that the desired state manipulations were achieved. Statistical parametric mapping revealed similar patterns of rCBF changes for both positively valenced arousal conditions: increases were found within anterior cingulate and anterior temporal cortex as well as the ventral globus pallidus; decreases were found within widespread heteromodal association areas. These results complement findings from studies of other normal and pathological emotional states, and provide new insights regarding the neural substrates of pleasurable arousal in healthy men.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Pharmacologic specificity of antidepressive activity by monoaminergic neural transplants.

Previous studies in our laboratory have demonstrated the ability of monoaminergic transplants in the rat frontal cortex to produce antidepressive activity in both the learned helplessness model and the forced swimming test, as well as to increase monoamine levels in the implanted frontal cortex. These findings implicate increased cortical levels of norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5-HT) in the antidepressive activity of monoaminergic transplants. The goal of the present study was to characterize the pharmacologic mechanisms involved in the monoaminergic graft-induced antidepressive activity. Immobility scores in the forced swimming test (FST) were assessed after transplantation of 5-HT-containing pineal gland tissue, NE-containing adrenal medullary tissue, a combination of both tissues, or sciatic nerve (control) into the rat frontal cortex and compared to non-transplanted and chronic imipramine-treated rats. Monoaminergic transplants and imipramine treatment significantly reduced immobility scores in the FST in contrast to control transplanted or untreated animals. All groups were assessed pharmacologically with the adrenergic antagonists phentolamine (alpha) and propranolol (beta), and serotonergic antagonists metergoline (5-HT1/5-HT2) and pirenperone (5-HT2). Serotonergic antagonists, particularly the 5HT2 antagonist, blocked the reduction in FST immobility induced by the pineal implants. Adrenergic antagonists not only blocked FST immobility reductions in adrenal medullary grafted animals, but over-compensated for the adrenal transplants, producing a large increase in immobility. The FST reduction induced by pineal and adrenal cografts was blocked by all four monoaminergic antagonists. FST immobility scores in control transplanted and non-transplanted animals were not altered by any of the antagonists. The immobility reduction produced by chronic imipramine treatment was blocked significantly only by propranolol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adrenal Glands↗