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Biomedical subjects

J E Pugh

Publications and source records attributed to J E Pugh.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Short-term effects of smoking marijuana on balance in patients with multiple sclerosis and normal volunteers.

A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study of inhaled marijuana smoke on postural responses was performed in 10 adult patients with spastic multiple sclerosis (MS) and 10 normal volunteers matched as closely as possible for age, sex, and weight. A computer-controlled dynamic posturographic platform with a video line scan camera measured shoulder displacement in response to pseudorandom platform movements. Premarijuana smoking patient tracking was inferior to that of the normal volunteers as indicated by the higher noise variance of the former. Smoking one marijuana cigarette containing 1.54% delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol increased postural tracking error in both the patients and normal control subjects with both eyes open and closed; this untoward effect was greatest for the patients. The tracking error was also accompanied by a decrease in response speed for the patients with their eyes closed. Marijuana smoking further impairs posture and balance in patients with spastic MS.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Cerebral bigeminy: alternating periodic epileptiform discharges.

The EEG of a patient in coma after an anoxic event showed brief episodes in which two distinct epileptiform discharges of different amplitudes alternated with each other at regular intervals of approximately 1 sec. We have used the term 'cerebral bigeminy' to describe this pattern because its electrographic appearance is similar to cardiac bigeminy. The pattern was present for only part of the entire tracing and was not seen on earlier or later EEGs. This finding suggests that under appropriate circumstances periodic EEG events can occur as a result of reciprocal excitation of spike generators.

Cerebral Cortex↗
PubMed1979

Electrocochleography and experimentally induced loudness recruitment.

The relationship between changes in loudness and the cochlear whole-nerve potential following experimentally produced deafness was studied in an animal model. Reaction time of a subject's response to an auditory stimulus has been shown to be an index of loudness in human experiments and has been adapted to nonhuman primates. In a series of experiments, four macaque monkeys were operantly conditioned to respond to 8-kHz tones over a range of 3--80 dB SPL, and their reaction times to pure tone stimuli were measured. Whole-nerve cochlear action potentials were recorded from chronic inner-ear electrodes. The relationship between behavioral and electrical measures of loudness recruitment were examined in animals with both temporary and permanent noise-induced hearing loss. Loudness recruitment was demonstrated experimentally after a 1-h exposure to a high-intensity 8-kHz octave band of noise. Excellent agreement was observed between the reaction time function and the action potential input-output function at intervals of 0.5, 12, 24, 48, and 84 h after exposure. Permanent hearing loss was produced in some of these animals by a much longer duration of exposure to the 8-kHz octave band of noise. Recruitment was observed in both the behavioral and the electrical measures. Histological studies of these damaged cochleas revealed primarily outer hair cell destruction, with a relative sparing of inner hair cells and nerve supply. The findings of this study are interpreted as strong support for the clinical electrocochleogram as an objective indicator of the presence of loudness recruitment.

Action Potentials↗