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Biomedical subjects

G Fein

Publications and source records attributed to G Fein.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Flurazepam effects on sleep EEG. Visual, computer, and cycle analysis.

Analysis of sleep effects of flurazepam hydrochloride on four normal subjects confirmed that this drug substantially suppresses both REM and stage 4 sleep. Computer analysis disclosed that delta wave amplitude was greatly reduced by flurazepam. However, low density delta wave activity (ie, stage 2 sleep, which was increased in duration beyond the reduction in stage 4), permitted the number of delta waves and the time they occupied per night to remain at baseline levels. This finding suggests that sedative-hypnotics increase total sleep time by slowing the metabolic processes of sleep so that a longer sleep duration is required for the same biological effects. New observations on the induction times of REM and stage 4 effects are also presented. In general, the distortions in sleep EEG produced by flurazepam qualitatively resemble, but are quantitatively greater than, those produced by barbiturates in equivalent hypnotic doses.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

An optical scan system for encoding and tabulation of visually scored sleep data.

A system for computer-assisted encoding, tabulation and analysis of visually scored sleep data is presented. The main features of the system are: (1) The use of computer-readable optical scan sheets for direct encoding of the sleep data. This eliminates the need for a separate transcription and/or key-punching operation. (2) The development of a visually scored data base, organized by NREM and REM periods, which contains all items of visually scored data indexed by time and/or page of occurrence in the sleep record. The advantages of this new system are: (a) the low cost per night of operation; (b) the facilitation of analysis of cycle phenomena and testing of new hypotheses that would usually involve retabulation of the data; and (c) the facilitation of analysis of real-time correlates of visually scored sleep stages.

Computers↗
PubMed1979

Cytotoxic antibody to cells infected with measles virus in serum and cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis and control patients.

Sera and cerebrospinal fluids (CSFs) from 66 patients selected from a larger sample of multiple sclerosis (MS) and control patients were studied for presence of complement-dependent cytotoxic (CT) antibody against baby hamster kidney cells infected with measles virus, strain Lec. The MS group contained 26 patients with clinically definite disease and 7 with probable MS. Seventeen of the 33 patients selected from the MS group had hemagglutination-inhibiting (HI) antibody to measles virus in their CSFs. Specimens from 33 control patients with other identifiable neurological disorders were matched according to the time of specimen sampling and with the age of the donors. Seven of the controls had HI CSF antibody. The serum CT geometric mean antibody titer of the MS group was approximately twofold higher than that of the control group. Forty-two percent of the MS group and 18% of the control group had CT antibody in the CSF. With the exception of the ratio of one control patient, the serum/CSF ratios of CT antibody from all patients were 128 or less. Nine CSFs (six MS and three control specimens) had CT antibody but no detectable HI antibody. Conversely, 12 CSFs (eight MS and four control specimens) had HI antibody but no detectable CT antibody. Five patients in the MS group with both kinds of CSF antibodies had reduced CT ratios but normal HI ratios. The results suggest that the two tests detect CSF antibodies reactive with different antigens. In this study, where less than half of the MS patients displayed CSF CT antibody, it is unlikely that such antibodies play an active role in the pathogenetic mechanism operative in the disease.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1978

Effects of exercise on sleep.

We tested the hypothesis that EEG sleep stages 3 and 4 (slow-wave sleep, SWS) would be increased as a function of either acute of chronic exercise. Ten distance runners were matched with 10 nonrunners, and their sleep was recorded under both habitual (runners running and nonrunners not running, 3 night) and abruptly changed (runners not running and nonrunners running, 1 night) conditions. Analyses of both visually scored SWS and computer measures of delta activity during non-rapid eye-movement (NREM) sleep failed to support the SWS-exercise hypothesis. The runners showed a significantly higher proportion and a greater absolute amount of NREM sleep than the nonrunners. The runners showed less rapid eye-movement activity during sleep than the nonrunners under both experimental conditions, indicating a strong and unexpected effect of physical fitness on this measure. Modest afternoon exercise in nonrunners was associated with a strong trend toward elevated heart rate during sleep. Mood tests and personality profiles revealed few differences, either between groups or within groups, as a function of exercise.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Flurazepam effects on slow-wave sleep: stage 4 suppressed but number of delta waves constant.

Repeated administration of flurazepam reduced stage 4 sleep (high delta-wave concentration) but produced a greater increase in stage 2 duration so that total sleep time was increased. Computer analysis revealed that the increased amount of stage 2 (low delta-wave concentration) sleep provided a number and duration of delta waves sufficient to offset the loss of delta activity in stage 4. However, the amplitude of the average delta wave was reduced. These results demonstrate the value of direct quantification of delta-wave activity, the variable that underlies visual classification of slow-wave sleep into stages 2 to 4. They also give rise to new hypotheses regarding the relative absence of side effects in spite of profound stage 4 suppression by flurazepam and the mechanisms by which total sleep time is increased by this drug.

Anti-Anxiety Agents↗