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Biomedical subjects

D I Mostofsky

Publications and source records attributed to D I Mostofsky.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The effect of pain on pentylenetetrazol induced seizures.

Repeated administrations of subconvulsive doses of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) leads to frank convulsions. The number of injections required to bring about such an effect is taken as an index of seizure vulnerability, and was studied in normal rats. This study examined the effect of pain induced by formaline injection or placement on a hot plate on seizure elicitation. The results could be accounted for by the role of arousal and/or endogenous opiates that are generated by the pain induction procedures, wherein the pain appears to provide some elevation of the threshold for seizure vulnerability.

Animals

Acute effects of centrophenoxine short term administration on counting behavior in rats.

This experiment assessed the effects of Centrophenoxine on counting behavior in rats. Intraperitoneal Centrophenoxine injections were given to rats before training on a 20-fixed-consecutive-number schedule of reinforcement. The primary measure was the number of consecutive lever presses. After Centrophenoxine injections, the number of consecutive lever presses was lower relative to baseline measures. The measures of variability indicated that although the consecutive number of responses was lower this could not be accounted for in terms of run length variability. The behavioral pattern produced by the injections was discussed in terms of possible shortterm physiological effects that affect performance.

Analysis of Variance

Dietary restriction: effects on radial maze learning and lipofuscin pigment deposition in the hippocampus and frontal cortex.

Previous studies have shown increased life span and decreased lipofuscin deposition in brain structures when both premature and young adult animals are calorically restricted of an otherwise nutritionally adequate diet. Three-months-old C57BL/6 mice were subjected to 12 months of caloric restriction (2 g/day), and subsequently exposed to a radial maze learning paradigm. Mice in the diet restriction group showed faster learning and higher asymptotic performance on the radial maze task, as well as lower lipofuscin deposition in the neurons of hippocampus and frontal cortex relative to control mice fed ad libitum. The results suggest that dietary restriction has effects on radial maze learning, and this improved behavioral performance was associated with significant reduction in lipofuscin pigment deposition in the neurons of hippocampus and frontal cortex.

Aging

Psychological aspects of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.

The unmistakable symptoms of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome are classically of muscular spasms or tics, often accompanied by uncontrolled verbal outbursts or shouting of obscenities. Anecdotal as well as clinical reports suggest that these patients also suffer some psychological distress. This study used traditional MMPI scales to evaluate the psychopathological features that may underlie or accompany this disorder. In addition, we analyzed individual items of the MMPI to learn more of the phenomenology of this disorder. Data were collected from 29 Tourette patients and 29 normal controls matched for age and sex. A multivariate analysis of the clinical MMPI scales revealed group differences in score profiles. Univariate analyses indicated that Tourette subjects scored higher on the following scales: Schizophrenia, Depression, Psychopathic Deviate, Psychasthenia and Hypochondriasis. The results indicate that Tourette patients are in considerable psychological distress.

Adolescent

Brain iron-deficiency causes reduced learning capacity in rats.

Rats made nutritionally iron-deficient (ID) showed a significant deficit in water-maze learning compared with normal rats. The deficit was substantially greater the longer the rats stayed on the ID diet. The deficit in learning was established prior to any significant decrease in hemoglobin (Hb) level in the blood. Three weeks after the ID rats were placed on a control diet, the Hb level was restored to normal value, but the cognitive deficit remained. Previous studies showed that the behavioral effects of ID are mediated by a decrease in the functional activity of the dopaminergic system. The ID effects on learning and memory may be related to the irreversible diminished dopaminergic neurotransmission that results from ID.

Animals

Neurogenic and hysterical seizures in children and adolescents: differential diagnostic and therapeutic considerations.

For patients whose seizures are not controlled by medication alone, psychotherapeutic intervention can sometimes play a useful adjunctive role in both differential diagnosis and treatment. Diagnostic issues include the differentiation between neurogenic and hysterical seizures as well as the delineation of the possible role of psychogenic stress in triggering neurogenic seizures. Therapeutic considerations focus on the alleviation of precipitating stresses as well as the development of a sense of mastery in the patient.

Adolescent