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Biomedical subjects

J M Reinisch

Publications and source records attributed to J M Reinisch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Delayed effects of prenatal exposure to phenobarbital on intelligence--Phenemal].

Two double-blind studies were conducted on two independent samples of adult men prenatally exposed to phenobarbital and matched control samples using two different measures of general intelligence (WAIS and a draft board test (BPP)). The two studies included 33 and 81 exposed adult men respectively, and the two control groups included 52 and 101 unexposed men matched on a wide spectrum of maternal variables recorded pre- and perinatally. Based on data from control subjects, regression models were built relating intelligence scores to relevant pre-exposure matching variables. Models generated predicted scores for each exposed subject. Men exposed prenatally to phenobarbital had significantly lower verbal intelligence scores than predicted. Lower socioeconomic status and being the offspring of an unwanted pregnancy increased the magnitude of the negative effects. Exposure which includes the last trimester was the most detrimental. Physicians are urged to use increased caution in prescribing such medications during pregnancy or to premature neonates.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Psychometric properties of the Danish 16PF and EPQ.

A Danish translation of the Cattell's 16PF has been used in studies evaluating the effects of prenatal drug exposure. This paper reports a psychometric analysis of the 16PF and Eysenck's EPQ based on a sample of 558 young Danes. Many 16PF scales had unacceptable psychometric properties (as indicated by coefficient alpha and item--total score correlations), but more satisfactory results were obtained with the EPQ N and E scales. A factor analysis of all 16PF and EPQ scales suggested a six factor solution that roughly corresponds to the second-order factor structure obtained by Krug and Johns (1986). It is concluded that the second-order factor structure should be the basis of interpretation of the 16PF in both practical and research contexts.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

In utero exposure to phenobarbital and intelligence deficits in adult men.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether exposure to phenobarbital in utero is associated with deficits in intelligence scores in adult men and whether the magnitude of the postnatal effect is mediated by exposure parameters and/or postnatal environmental factors. DESIGN: Two double-blind studies were conducted on independent samples of adult men prenatally exposed to phenobarbital and matched control samples using different measures of general intelligence. Based on data from control subjects, regression models were built relating intelligence scores to relevant pre-exposure matching variables and age at testing. Models generated predicted scores for each exposed subject. Group mean differences between the individually predicted and observed scores estimated exposure effects. SETTING: Copenhagen, Denmark. PARTICIPANTS: Exposed subjects were adult men born at the largest hospital in Copenhagen between 1959 and 1961 who were exposed to phenobarbital during gestation via maternal medical treatment and whose mothers had no history of a central nervous system disorder and no treatment during pregnancy with any other psychopharmacological drug. Study 1 included 33 men and study 2, 81 men. Controls were unexposed members of the same birth cohort matched on a wide spectrum of maternal variables recorded prenatally and perinatally. Controls for studies 1 and 2 included 52 and 101 men, respectively. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In study 1: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Danish version); in study 2: Danish Military Draft Board Intelligence Test (Børge Priens Prøve). RESULT: Men exposed prenatally to phenobarbital had significantly lower verbal intelligence scores (approximately 0.5 SD) than predicted. Lower socioeconomic status and being the offspring of an "unwanted" pregnancy increased the magnitude of the negative effects. Exposure that included the last trimester was the most detrimental. CONCLUSION: Phenobarbital exposure during early development can have long-term deleterious effects on cognitive performance. Detrimental environmental conditions can interact with prenatal biological insult to magnify negative outcomes. Physicians are urged to use increased caution in prescribing such medications during pregnancy.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The Prenatal Development Project.

The primary aim of the Prenatal Development Project (PDP) is to evaluate the developmental effects of prenatal exposure to steroid hormones and psychoactive drugs, particularly synthetic progestin, corticosteroids and barbiturates. Data collection has taken place at the Psykologisk Institut, now the Institute of Preventive Medicine, since 1981. The PDP database is unique for its breadth and depth as well as its combination of prospective longitudinal and cross-sectional perspectives. This article describes the database, including subject selection, perinatal information, the comprehensive contemporary evaluation and archival information from Danish registers. The unique matching procedures designed specifically for these projects and data analytic strategies are explained. The value of the PDP database is discussed both in relation to specific project aims (evaluating effects of prenatal drug exposure) and in relation to developmental and psychological research in general.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Effects of prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) on hemispheric laterality and spatial ability in human males.

Ten males exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES), a nonsteroidal synthetic estrogen, during gestation were compared to their matched, unexposed brothers on measures of brain hemispheric specialization for processing nonlinguistic spatial information and cognitive abilities. DES exposure was associated with reduced hemispheric laterality and lowered spatial ability. These data provide direct evidence of a relationship between brain laterality, spatial cognitive ability, and prenatal exposure to hormones in human males. Further, the implications of these findings for understanding sexual differentiation of the human brain are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Hormonal contributions to sexually dimorphic behavioral development in humans.

Nineteen studies on the behavioral effects of prenatal exposure to hormones administered for the treatment of at-risk human pregnancy are reviewed. Because the role of prenatal exposure to hormones in the development of human behavioral sex differences is potentially confounded by society's differential treatment of the sexes, comparisons between exposed and unexposed subjects were evaluated and summarized separately for male and female subjects. Therefore, this review focuses on data for individuals whose prenatal hormone environments were atypical relative to what is normal for their own sex. Overall, it appears that prenatal exposure to androgen-based synthetic progestin exerted a masculinizing and/or defeminizing influence on human behavioral development, whereas prenatal exposure to natural progesterone and progesterone-based synthetic progestin had a feminizing and/or demasculinizing influence, particularly among female subjects. The data on prenatal exposure to synthetic estrogen derive primarily from subjects exposed to diethylstibestrol (DES). DES-exposed male subjects appeared to be feminized and/or demasculinized, and there is some evidence that exposed female subjects were masculinized. These findings are discussed in the context of prenatal hormonal contributions to sexually dimorphic behavioral development both within and between the sexes. Recommendations for the conduct of future research in developmental behavioral endocrinology are presented.

Behavior↗
PubMed1991

A critical note on Lezak's 'best performance method' in clinical neuropsychology.

A fundamental problem in clinical neuropsychology is the estimation of premorbid levels of cognitive functioning. Lezak (1983) described the so-called 'best performance method' of estimating premorbid abilities. Essentially, this method consists in using the highest test scores or the best performance in everyday tasks as the best estimate of premorbid ability. This paper describes three studies of the empirical consequences of using the 'best performance method': The first study demonstrates that application of this method on WAIS subtests leads to a gross overestimation of intelligence as measured by the IQ. The second study corroborates this finding and also shows that overestimation of intelligence leads to systematic errors in the expected performance in neuropsychological tests in normal subjects. Finally, the third study shows that this is also the case in patients with diffuse cerebral atrophy.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

A test of sex differences in aggressive response to hypothetical conflict situations.

Male (n = 289) and female (n = 268) college students were administered the Leifer-Roberts Response Hierarchy (Reinisch Revision) to evaluate the utility of this measure in reflecting sex differences in self-described potential for aggressive response. The Response Hierarchy provides a retrospective estimate of where physical and verbal aggression reside in an individual's hierarchy of possible behavioral responses to hypothetical conflict situations in adolescence. A score is obtained for: (a) physical aggression, (b) verbal aggression, (c) nonaggressive coping, and (d) withdrawal. When asked to respond as they would have or did at age 13 years, verbal aggression was the most frequent response with no significant sex difference in mean scores. Men selected physical aggression significantly more often than women (p less than .001). Using the binomial effect size display (BESD) to illustrate the magnitude of the sex difference, 69% of the men would be classified as physically aggressive (above the median), whereas only 31% of the women would be so classified. It was concluded that the Response Hierarchy consistently demonstrates sex differences among college students in retrospectively reported preference for choosing physical aggression versus other coping strategies as a response to hypothetical interpersonal conflict situations of adolescence.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1982

Early barbiturate exposure: the brain, sexually dimorphic behavior and learning.

Barbiturates, one of the most widely prescribed and abused classes of drugs, reportedly have been prescribed in as many as 25% of pregnancies in the U.S. and Europe over the last 30 years. Nevertheless, there exists little if any data on long-term consequences of prenatal exposure to barbiturates in humans. Evidence from laboratory animals indicates that exposure to barbiturates during early developmental periods results in abnormal neural and biochemical differentiation of the central nervous system, deficits in learning, retarded attainment of developmental milestones, alteration of behavioral and physiological sex differences, increased activity, and decreased responsiveness to aversive and appetitive stimuli. Barbiturates appear to influence the brain via two routes: (1) by direct action on neural tissue; and (2) indirectly by altering hepatic metabolism of steroid hormones. It is concluded that prenatal exposure to barbiturates in human subjects may lead to learning disabilities, decreased IQ, performance deficits, increased incidence of psychosocial maladjustment, and demasculinization of gender identity and sex role behavior in males.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Postnatal gonadal steroid effects on human behavior.

Gonadal steroid hormones, active during fetal life, continue after the birth of a fetus to influence the central nervous system and affect behavior. The characteristically different circulating concentrations of male and female steroid hormones in men and women appear to be partial determinants of certain sexually dimorphic behaviors, interacting in a complex way with psychological and sociocultural factors as well as with other biological factors. This interaction is highlighted in research on testosterone and aggression in men, mood and the menstrual cycle in women, and pubertal sex role reversal in pseudohermaphrodites.

Affect↗
PubMed1981

Prenatal exposure to synthetic progestins increases potential for aggression in humans.

Seventeen females and eight males exposed during gestation to synthetic progestins showed a significantly higher potential for physical aggression than their sex-matched unexposed siblings. Exposure to androgen-based compounds appeared to be most closely associated with aggressive responses. There were no differences in verbal aggression or IQ between exposed and unexposed siblings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Prenatal exposure to prednisone permanently alters fighting behavior of female mice.

Female mice born of mothers administered 100 microgram prednisone on Days 13-18 of gestation attacked a stimulus male significantly sooner following the commencement of testosterone treatment in adult life than did mice born of control mothers. In a second ed postpartum aggression as compared to controls. In both experiments females of the 100 microgram prednisone group showed a reduction in birth weight relative to controls. The effect on body weight did not persist since no differences were observed on Day 21 of life. The data show that prenatal exposure to prednisone permanently modifies the later intraspecific fighting behavior of female mice.

Aggression↗
PubMed1978

Prenatal exposure to prednisone in humans and animals retards intrauterine growth.

Prednisone treatment for infertility and subsequent pregnancy maintenance in humans resulted in a significant decrease in the birth weight of full-term infants and a marked increase in the percentage of newborn infants weighing 2500 grams or less, that is, "light for dates" in comparison to control offspring. A parallel experiment with mice indicated that the reduction of birth weight was caused by exposure to corticosteroids rather than to maternal disease or malfunction.

Animals↗