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Biomedical subjects

Franz Resch

Publications and source records attributed to Franz Resch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Stereotyped topography of different elevated contingent negative variation components in children with migraine without aura points towards a subcortical dysfunction.

Increased negativity during contingent negative variation (CNV) is thought to reflect abnormal neural activation in adult migraineurs' attention related processing. Findings in childhood and adolescence have yielded less clear results. This study characterizes the age-dependent development of CNV topography in migraine during childhood in order to elucidate the origin and cerebral generators of described CNV elevations. A large sample of children with primary headache (migraine with/without aura, tension type headache) and healthy controls aged 6-18 years was examined in a CNV paradigm using 64-channel high resolution DC-EEG. Patients were tested for diagnose-related topographic group differences of initial CNV (iCNV), late CNV (lCNV) and postimperative negative variation (PINV). All three CNV components of 6-11-year-old migraineurs without aura showed elevated negativity over the supplementary motor area (SMA) and around the vertex. Migraine children lacked age-dependent development of late CNV around Cz as previously reported. However, they showed a normal development of late CNV over pre-/primary motor cortex (MI). There was no marked elevation of iCNV amplitude over frontal areas (orienting reaction) nor specific amplitude elevations over "motor" or "sensory" areas during sustained attention (late CNV). Additional "pre-mature" activation e.g., in the locus coeruleus (leading to diffuse cortical activation summing up to a maximum over the vertex) or the basal ganglia (interacting with SMA) explained the rather stereotyped CNV elevation around the vertex better than a specific implication of the cortical systems responsible for orienting, motor preparation or sensory attention.

Brain Mapping↗
PubMed2006

Frontal lobe involvement in the processing of meaningful auditory stimuli develops during childhood and adolescence.

Auditory event-related N1b reflects attention-related processing in bilateral temporal auditory cortex. Frontal contributions indicating an orienting reaction have been suggested. We analyzed the maturation of frontal contributions to the auditory event-related potential following the warning stimulus in a contingent negative variation (CNV) task by high-resolution current source density mapping and spatio-temporal source analysis in 80 healthy subjects and 121 primary headache patients (migraine with/without aura, tension type headache) from 6 to 18 years; as increased orienting responses and disturbed maturation have been described in migraineurs. A selective local increase of N1b with age occurred at mid-frontocentral leads. This increase could not be explained sufficiently by overlapping bilateral temporal sources but pointed towards additional frontal activation over the supplementary motor area (SMA) in adolescents which was absent in children. A second frontal N1 component peaked about 50 ms later, showed an earlier maturation and has been suggested to reflect early response selection processes in the anterior cingulate. Primary headache patients showed the same component structure and developmental trajectory as healthy subjects without significant influences of differential diagnosis. We conclude that: (1) Brain maturation crucially influences N1b. (2) Two frontal lobe N1 components can be dissociated in their maturational trajectory. (3) Early SMA activation could be elicited by rare auditory stimuli from about 12 years on, allowing fast sensory-motor coupling without previous categorical stimulus classification. (4) Primary headache patients did not differ in their maturation of frontal or temporal contributions to N1b when elicited by moderately loud short tone bursts.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2006

Emotional stress in pregnancy predicts human infant reactivity.

BACKGROUND: Infant distress to novelty at 4 months of life has previously been identified as an important predictor of longer term emotional development in childhood and adolescence. AIM: To investigate the relationship between prenatal stress and infant reactivity to unfamiliar visual, auditory and olfactory stimuli. STUDY DESIGN: Maternal emotional stress, life events and medical adversities during pregnancy and maternal personality characteristics were assessed by interview, questionnaire and patient charts at 2 weeks postnatal age. Postnatal maternal psychopathology was assessed at 2 weeks and 4 months postnatal age. Infant outcome was examined 4 months postnatally. SUBJECTS: 102 mother-infant pairs were recruited in local obstetric units, complete datasets were available for 96 mother-infant-pairs. OUTCOME MEASURE: Infant reactivity to unfamiliar stimuli was assessed when the infants were 4 months postnatal age. RESULTS: Maternal prenatal emotional stress was significantly associated with infant affective reactivity to novelty. Maternal postnatal psychopathology did not have an influence on affective infant reactivity. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide evidence for an impact of maternal emotional stress in pregnancy on early infant distress to novel stimuli, a behavioral trait whose stability throughout childhood and adolescence has previously been demonstrated.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Association of behavioral inhibition with hair pigmentation in a European sample.

Behavioral inhibition, a temperamental trait signalling a predisposition to childhood and adolescent anxiety disorders, is slightly more frequent in America among Caucasian children having blue irises. This paper examines a community sample of 101 German toddlers assessed for behavioral inhibition in a standardized laboratory procedure. Hair pigmentation was found to be significantly associated with behavioral inhibition in the sense that blond children exhibited higher fear scores. As in American samples, blue-eyed children had a higher fear score than did other children, but this difference was not statistically significant.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed2006

Does successful training of temporal processing of sound and phoneme stimuli improve reading and spelling?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to measure and train auditory temporal processing in children with dyslexia and to examine whether there was a transfer of improved auditory temporal processing to reading and spelling skills. METHODS: Computer-based procedures to measure and train temporal processing of sound and phoneme stimuli were developed. Test-scores for a normal control group consisting of 8-year-olds were established. Second graders with dyslexia were included in the training condition and divided into three groups: a control group, a group specifically trained in sound processing, and a third group specifically trained in phoneme processing. After an initial diagnostic procedure, both training groups received specific training every day for 4 weeks. All children, regardless of the group, received the same standard reading training programme designed for children with dyslexia at school. Outcome measures were assessed immediately after training as well as 6 and 12 months later. RESULTS: Tests for temporal processing of sound and phoneme stimuli proved to be highly reliable. Children with dyslexia (N = 44) showed impaired auditory processing of sound and phoneme stimuli compared to normal controls (N = 51). There was a specific significant improvement in sound, respectively phoneme, processing for the training groups immediately after the end of training. The improvement of phoneme processing remained stable after 6 months and as a trend after 12 months. After 6 and 12 months of training, children of all three groups improved significantly in reading no matter what group. In spelling, the sound training group had a slight advantage after 6 months, which was not stable after 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Auditory temporal processing could be trained effectively at the sound and phoneme levels. However, no significant stable transfer of these improved abilities on reading and spelling exceeding the effect of the school-based standard training was demonstrated.

Child↗
PubMed2006

[The effectiveness of body-oriented methods of therapy in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): results of a controlled pilot study].

OBJECTIVES: Randomized controlled studies on the effectiveness of body-oriented methods of treatment for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are lacking. Our aim was to compare the effectiveness of two methods of treatment (yoga for children vs. conventional motor exercises) in a randomized controlled pilot study. METHODS: Nineteen children with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD (according to ICD-10 criteria) were included and randomly assigned to treatment conditions according to a 2x2 cross-over design. Effects of treatment were analyzed by means of an analysis of variance for repeated measurements. RESULTS: For all outcome measures (test scores on an attention task, and parent ratings of ADHD symptoms) the yoga training was superior to the conventional motor training, with effect sizes in the medium-to-high range (0.60-0.97). All children showed sizable reductions in symptoms over time, and at the end of the study, the group means for the ADHD scales did not differ significantly from those for a representative control group. Furthermore, the training was particularly effective for children undergoing pharmacotherapy (MPH). CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this pilot study demonstrate that yoga can be an effective complementary or concomitant treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The study advocates further research into the impact of yoga or body-oriented therapies on the prevention and treatment of ADHD.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed2006

[Temperament and character profiles of female adolescent patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa].

OBJECTIVE: Based on the personality model outlined by Robert C. Cloninger, studies in adult patient samples demonstrated that according to distinct personality profiles patients with anorexia nervosa could be differentiated from those with bulimia nervosa, as well as from healthy controls. The current study examines whether these personality-related differences also exist in adolescent patients with eating disorders and a short duration of illness. METHOD: The sample studied consists of 73 consecutively admitted female patients aged 12 to 18 years, with eating disorders. The German version of the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI) was administered to 29 patients with anorexia nervosa, restricting type (AN-R), to 16 patients with anorexia nervosa, binge-eating/purging type (AN-B), and to 28 patients with bulimia nervosa (BN). RESULTS: Different temperamental factors were most pronounced between AN-R and BN patients, whereas AN-B patients exhibited a personality profile between those of AN-R and BN. BN patients scored higher on Novelty Seeking but lower on Persistence than AN-R patients. In contrast to AN-R patients, both BN and AN-B patients scored lower on Self-Directedness. CONCLUSIONS: The current results of differential temperamental dimensions in adolescent patients with eating disorders tended to be similar to findings for adult patients, which strengthens the assumption that distinct personality factors underlie the different subtypes of eating disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Effect of high-dose cortisol on memory functions.

Although research indicates that hightened glucocorticoid levels impair long-term memory functions and may inhibit traumatic memory retrieval in humans, the impact of acutely elevated glucocorticoid levels on learning and attentional functions is still unclear. Furthermore, the effect of glucocorticoids on executive functions as well as the recovery from long-term memory deficits is insufficiently studied. The present study examined memory functions in patients with acute exacerbation of neurological diseases (multiple sclerosis, acute optic neuritis), who were treated with a high dose of glucocorticoids. All patients demonstrated a reversible impairment of long-term memory functions, whereas measures of short-term memory, attentional functions, and alertness remained unaffected. These findings indicate a selective cognitive disturbance, providing further evidence that the memory deficits reflect a receptor-mediated effect of glucocorticoids on hippocampal function thereby supporting a potential association of stress-induced elevated cortisol levels and memory disturbances in trauma-related psychiatric disorders (psychogenic amnesia, PTSD).

Adult↗
PubMed2005

How do children prepare to react? Imaging maturation of motor preparation and stimulus anticipation by late contingent negative variation.

Both the motor system and the frontal executive control system show a late maturation in humans which continues into school-age and even adolescence. We investigated the maturation of preparation processes towards a fast motor reaction in 74 healthy right-handed children aged 6 to 18 years and analyzed the topography of the late component of contingent negative variation (lCNV) in a 64-electrode high density sensor array. While adolescents from about 12 years on showed a bilaterally distributed centro-parietal maximum like adults do, younger children almost completely missed the negativity over the left central area contralaterally to the side of the anticipated movement. The reason, as revealed by current source density, was that only adolescents showed significant evoked activity of the left pre-/primary motor and supplementary/cingulate motor areas, while in contrast both age groups displayed significant current sinks over the right (ipsilateral) centro-temporal area and right posterior parietal cortex. Spatio-temporal source analysis confirmed that negativity over the right posterior parietal area could not be explained by a projection via volume conduction from frontal areas involved in motor preparation but represented an independent component with a different maturational course most likely related to sensory attention. Significant event-related desynchronization of alpha-power over the contralateral sensorimotor cortex was found in the younger age group, indicating that also 6- to 11-year-old children were engaged in motor preparation. Thus, the missing current sink over the contalateral sensorimotor cortex during late CNV in 6- to 11-year-old children might reflect the immaturity of a specific subcomponent of the motor preparation system which is related to evoked (late CNV) but not induced activity (alpha-ERD).

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Estrogen as an adjuvant therapy to antipsychotics does not prevent relapse in women suffering from schizophrenia: results of a placebo-controlled double-blind study.

The expected therapeutic effect of estrogen as an adjunct treatment to antipsychotics in women suffering from schizophrenia for relapse prevention was to be tested under real-life conditions. A multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over study based on an A-B-A-B (and/or B-A-B-A) design was applied. Forty-six hypoestrogenic women with schizophrenia hospitalized for the first time or repeatedly were included in the study. Their average age was 37.9 and they had been suffering from schizophrenia for 8.4 years. During the drug treatment phases, they received a three-phase estrogen-gestagen combination drug (17beta-estradiol+norethisterone acetate) in addition to an antipsychotic drug. Significant effects of the adjuvant hormone replacement therapy on the estradiol levels could be observed, and high and low levels of estradiol prevailed in the active drug and placebo phases, respectively. We did not find any difference either in defined relapse events or in the psychopathology between estradiol replacement and placebo phases. Neither did the required antipsychotic doses or the tolerance data differ between the two phases. Thus, the results of our study do not confirm the hypothesis that a combined estradiol/antipsychotic therapy is superior to an antipsychotic monotherapy for relapse prevention.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed2005

Plasma concentrations of estradiol in women suffering from schizophrenia treated with conventional versus atypical antipsychotics.

BACKGROUND: Low estrogen levels leading to an elevated rate of menstrual dysfunctions such as amenorrhea and irregular menstruation have been described in women with schizophrenia and have often been attributed to antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia. However, there is some evidence that "hypoestrogenism" in schizophrenic women does not occur exclusively under medication with hyperprolactinemia-inducing antipsychotics. While the precise mechanism of low estrogen levels in schizophrenic women has not been elucidated yet, "hypoestrogenism" is of clinical relevance because estrogen seems to endow an antipsychotic-like effect in schizophrenia and thus positively affect the course of illness in schizophrenic women. In addition, low levels of estrogen might have a negative effect on bone mineral density and on the cardiovascular system. METHODS: To test the "hypoestrogenism hypothesis", hormone levels in 75 women with schizophrenia diagnosed according to DSM-IV and ICD-10 were determined in the follicular, periovulatory, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Levels of estradiol, prolactin, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), progesterone, and testosterone were assessed. RESULTS: The serum levels of estradiol were generally reduced during the entire menstrual cycle compared to normal reference values. With low levels of LH over the entire cycle and of progesterone in the luteal phase, anovulatory cycles were assumed. Hypoestrogenism was found in about 60% of the patients in accordance with a strict definition (estradiol serum level below 30 pg/ml in the follicular phase and below 100 pg/ml in the periovulatory phase). To rule out a possible effect of hyperprolactinemia on the gonadal axis and a subsequent effect on estradiol levels from treatment with conventional ("typical") antipsychotics, serum estradiol levels of patients treated with certain atypical antipsychotics known to induce only a mild increase in prolactin, or no increase at all, were compared with those from patients treated with conventional antipsychotics. The data clearly indicate high prolactin levels in the latter, but low levels in the group treated with atypical antipsychotics. In both groups, however, low levels of estradiol compared to normal reference values were measured. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings provide evidence that hypoestrogenism in schizophrenia occurs in women with and without antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia. Further research should be conducted to clarify the cause of hypoestrogenism in schizophrenic women and focus on possible clinical implications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Electroencephalographic response to transcranial magnetic stimulation in children: Evidence for giant inhibitory potentials.

The electroencephalographic response to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) recently has been established as a direct parameter of motor cortex excitability. Its N100 component was suggested to reflect an inhibitory response. We investigated influences of cerebral maturation on TMS-evoked N100 in 6- to 10-year-old healthy children. We used a forewarned reaction time (contingent negative variation) task to test the effects of response preparation and sensory attention on N100 amplitude. Single-pulse TMS of motor cortex at 105% motor threshold intensity evoked N100 amplitudes of more than 100 microV in resting children (visible in single trials), which correlated negatively with age and positively with absolute stimulation intensity. During late contingent negative variation, which involves preactivation of the cortical structures necessary for a fast response, N100 amplitude was significantly reduced. We conclude that (1) N100 amplitude reduction during late contingent negative variation provides further evidence that TMS-evoked N100 reflects inhibitory processes, (2) response preparation and attention modulate N100, and (3) TMS-evoked N100 undergoes maturational changes and could serve to test cortical integrity and inhibitory function in children. Parallels between the inhibitory N100 after TMS (provoking massive synchronous excitation) and the inhibitory wave component of epileptic spike wave complexes are suggested.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[Parent- and teacher-reported behavior problems of first graders].

Parents information about behavior, problems and life situation of children before and after first year of school were analysed and compared with data from teacher reports. At the end of first grade 131 parents were asked about behavior problems of their children using the child behavior checklist (CBCL) and additional items about living condition of the familiy and child. Findings were compared with those of a large epidemiological study conducted one year before in the same area using the same instruments. Additional teacher-reported data about behavior problems and school achievement were included. Comparing data before and after first year of school, no significant change in average CBCL total score could be observed. From parents view oppositional behavior was the most prevalent problem. There was a decrease of social problems. Children became more independent having more contact with peers. More children have their own television and computer at the end of first grade. Prevalence of headache and perfectionism as well as symptoms of tension and irritation increased. The most important problems from teachers' view are lack of attention and concentration affecting 32% of the first graders. Compared to the parents, teachers report only few oppositional and aggressive behavior. Achievement at school and behavior problems are highly correlated. Especially attention problems go along with low achievement at school. Parents' and teachers' ratings show an average correlation of r = .28 with the highest accord for attention problems and school achievement. The results of the study contribute to the question how children deal and cope with the new situation coming to school. The findings of a high rate of attention problems at school and the close relationship between behavior problems and achievement lead to the conclusion that an early prevention of behavior problems is essential to promote school performance.

Child↗
PubMed2004

Dissociative symptoms in schizophrenia: a comparative analysis of patients with borderline personality disorder and healthy controls.

The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of dissociative symptoms in patients with a schizophrenic disorder. The pattern of dissociative experiences was examined in a group of patients with a diagnosis of the schizophrenia spectrum disorder (n = 26; mean age 27.9 years), and a group of patients with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (n = 26; mean age 24.0 years) was compared with normal controls of the general population (n = 1,056; mean age 18.7 years). The degree of self-reported dissociative symptoms was measured using the German version of the Dissociative Experiences Scales. The dissociation scores were significantly higher among patients with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder compared to the group of schizophrenic patients and to the control group. There was no difference in the degree of reported dissociative experiences between the group of schizophrenic patients and the normal volunteers. An analysis of the subdimensions (dissociative amnesia, absorption/imaginative involvement, depersonalization/derealization) of the scale revealed the same strong distinctions between the investigated groups. There was no evidence that dissociative symptoms reflect a specific vulnerability in young schizophrenic patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Specific task anticipation versus unspecific orienting reaction during early contingent negative variation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a warning stimulus in a forewarned reaction time task elicits only an unspecific orienting reaction or task specific motor cortex activity. METHODS: We examined the time-course of alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) as an indicator for primary motor cortex activation in an auditory contingent negative variation (CNV) paradigm with an interstimulus interval of 3 s in healthy subjects between 6 and 18 years using a 64 channel high-density sensor array. RESULTS: We replicated a wide frontal distribution for the initial CNV component (iCNV), while only during late CNV (lCNV) a centro-parietal negativity resembling the 'Bereitschaftspotential' occurred. However, an early alpha-ERD over the central area contralateral to the side of the response movement followed the imperative stimulus already during the iCNV-interval. This early alpha-ERD was highly significantly lateralised and was even more prominent during iCNV than during lCNV indicating an activation of the contralateral sensorimotor cortex already during iCNV. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that early task specific preparatory motor processes (which might reflect the retrieval of a motor program from memory) were elicited by the warning stimulus. These preparatory processes clearly exceeded an unspecific orienting reaction as early alpha-ERD was influenced by the side of the anticipated movement.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2004

Motor processing after movement execution as revealed by evoked and induced activity.

Event-related synchronization (ERS) in the beta frequency band following movement execution has shown that motor processing is not completed yet when a movement ends. It is known that induced and evoked activities reflect different aspects of cortical processing which may result in different time courses. In the current study, we analyzed topography of postimperative negative variation (PINV) in 39 healthy right-handed adolescents in an acoustic forewarned reaction time (contingent negative variation, CNV) task using a 64-electrode high-density sensor array. We dissociated different PINV components in their time course from postmovement beta ERS in order to provide fundamental knowledge about evoked and induced EEG components after movement execution as a basis for further analysis of postmovement processing. A postmovement negativity occurred from about 500 to 1200 ms after the imperative stimulus (peaking about 600 ms after a right-hand button press) at central electrodes, contralateral to the response movement side. Current source density (CSD) analysis confirmed the current sinks over motor areas [contralateral primary motor/premotor and supplementary/cingulate motor area]. The described DC component (motor PINV, mPINV) differed in time course and localization from later "classical" PINV (cPINV) which is thought to reflect contingency reappraisal. mPINV could also be distinguished topographically from a mere delayed CNV resolution. When mPINV and ERS at the same left central electrode were compared, both parameters showed different time courses. Left central mPINV rather paralleled ERS at midcentral electrodes. Therefore, we suggest that the topography of mPINV provides first hints towards an involvement of contralateral primary motor cortex in postmovement processing beyond a mere idling state as reflected by later beta ERS. mPINV could be a useful tool to investigate the role of primary motor cortex in motor-learning processes. The combined analysis of induced and evoked activities seems to be able to elucidate different aspects of cortical connectivity and motor processes following movement.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2004

Pattern-reversal visual-evoked potentials in children with migraine and other primary headache: evidence for maturation disorder?

Recently, evidence for a disturbed maturation of cerebral information processing in migraine came from studies investigating the auditory-evoked contingent negative variation and the auditory-evoked potential from childhood to adulthood. This study is to clarify whether age-dependent development is altered also for the processing of visual stimuli in migraine. Components of pattern-reversal visual-evoked potentials at four different spatial frequencies (which can preferentially activate the magno- and the parvocellular visual system) were compared between children aged 6 and 18 years with primary headache (N = 123; 67 migraine without aura, MO; 32 migraine with aura, MA; 24 tension-type headache, TH) in the headache-free interval and healthy controls (N = 82). Children were divided into two age groups: 6-11 years (pre- and early puberty) and 12-18 years (late and post-puberty). Age-dependent development was normal for N80 and P100 latency in children with primary headache, but altered for N135 latency as indicated by a significant interaction among the factors diagnosis, spatial frequency and age group (P < 0.01). In headache-free controls, N135 latency reduction between pre- and post-puberty age was most pronounced at high spatial frequency. The main 'decline' of N135 latency with increasing age was shifted to lower spatial frequencies in the headache subgroups. The results give evidence that maturation of visual processing is partly disturbed in migraineurs.

Adolescent↗