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Biomedical subjects

I Alterman

Publications and source records attributed to I Alterman.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

Eye-tracking, attention and amphetamine challenge.

Smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) performance has been linked to nonvoluntary attentional processes. Amphetamine is a psychotropic drug with documented effects on attentional performance. In order to evaluate the relationship between SPEM performance and amphetamine's attentional effects, SPEM performance was measured prior to and following amphetamine administration in five bipolar patients and eight obsessive-compulsive patients. In these 13 patients, amphetamine did not significantly alter the accuracy of SPEM in the two patient groups. However, significant negative correlations were observed in the obsessive-compulsive patients and in the combined patient groups between baseline SPEM impairment and changes in eye-tracking accuracy following amphetamine, i.e. individuals with poorer SPEM accuracy improved while better SPEM performers deteriorated in tracking accuracy during amphetamine treatment.

Attention↗
PubMed1986

Smooth pursuit eye movement disorder and its psychobiologic correlates in unmedicated schizophrenics.

The accuracy of smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEMs) was evaluated electrooculographically in 14 medication-free schizophrenics. Concentrations of monoamine metabolites and gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) were measured in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Ventricular-brain ratios (VBR) were determined by computed axial tomography (CT scan). Premorbid adjustment was evaluated by the Phillips Scale. The SPEMs of eight of the patients were reevaluated after 2 weeks of treatment with either prazosin or pimozide. No consistent significant correlations were found between SPEM accuracy and CSF metabolite concentrations, VBR, or premorbid adjustment. SPEM accuracy was not correlated with number of days off medication and was significantly correlated when measured before and during medication.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Obsessive-compulsive disorder and serotonin: is there a connection?

Reports of the antiobsessional efficacy of clomipramine have led to a "serotonin hypothesis" of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). To test this hypothesis, 16 outpatients with DSM-III OCD were studied using several measures of serotonergic function. Platelet 3H-imipramine binding and serotonin uptake were not significantly different between the OCD patients and a normal, age-matched control group. The level of the metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was significantly higher in a small cohort of obsessionals compared with healthy volunteers, possibly reflecting increased brain serotonin turnover. In a direct test of the role of serotonin uptake in clomipramine's antiobsessional effects, the serotonin uptake inhibitor zimelidine was compared with the noradrenergic uptake inhibitor desipramine in a double-blind, controlled study. Zimelidine reduced CSF 5-HIAA, but was clinically ineffective in this group. Desipramine had weak but significant clinical effects. Nonresponders to zimelidine or desipramine improved significantly during a subsequent double blind trial of clomipramine. These findings demonstrate that pharmacological blockade of serotonin reuptake alone is not sufficient for an antiobsessional response.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Obsessive-compulsive disorder. A double-blind trial of clomipramine and clorgyline.

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder who met DSM-III criteria and who had been ill for at least one year were studied in a double-blind, randomized, crossover comparison of the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine hydrochloride and the monoamine oxidase inhibitor clorgyline hydrochloride. No significant improvement was evident after four weeks of treatment with placebo prior to the crossover study. Treatment with clomipramine was associated with significant improvement after both four and six weeks in measures of obsessions, anxiety, and depression. Antiobsessional responses to clomipramine did not depend on presence of depression. Improvement was correlated with plasma concentrations of clomipramine, but not with the plasma concentrations of any of its metabolites. No significant improvement was evident for the entire group with clorgyline treatment, although the conditions of individual patients did respond to the drug.

Adult↗