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Biomedical subjects

N Hansell

Publications and source records attributed to N Hansell.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Genetics of cognition: outline of a collaborative twin study.

A multidisciplinary collaborative study examining cognition in a large sample of twins is outlined. A common experimental protocol and design is used in The Netherlands, Australia and Japan to measure cognitive ability using traditional IQ measures (i.e., psychometric IQ), processing speed (e.g., reaction time [RT] and inspection time [IT]), and working memory (e.g., spatial span, delayed response [DR] performance). The main aim is to investigate the genetic covariation among these cognitive phenotypes in order to use the correlated biological markers in future linkage and association analyses to detect quantitative-trait loci (QTLs). We outline the study and methodology, and report results from our preliminary analyses that examines the heritability of processing speed and working memory indices, and their phenotypic correlation with IQ. Heritability of Full Scale IQ was 87% in the Netherlands, 83% in Australia, and 71% in Japan. Heritability estimates for processing speed and working memory indices ranged from 33-64%. Associations of IQ with RT and IT (-0.28 to -0.36) replicated previous findings with those of higher cognitive ability showing faster speed of processing. Similarly, significant correlations were indicated between IQ and the spatial span working memory task (storage [0.31], executive processing [0.37]) and the DR working memory task (0.25), with those of higher cognitive ability showing better memory performance. These analyses establish the heritability of the processing speed and working memory measures to be used in our collaborative twin study of cognition, and support the findings that individual differences in processing speed and working memory may underlie individual differences in psychometric IQ.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Approaching long-term neuroleptic treatment of schizophrenia.

Neuroleptic therapy can prevent some acute episodes and may improve the level of function in some cases of chronic schizophrenia. The hazards of tardive dyskinesia require a rigorous design for any long-term use of neuroleptics. The protocol includes narrow indications, demonstrations of efficacy and necessity, and arrangements for surveillance, cooperation, and emergency. Patient instruction improves the precision of medication use and may increase adaptive efforts during episodes.

Antiparkinson Agents↗
PubMed1978

Services for schizophrenics: a lifelong approach to treatment.

Mental health services in the 1960s reflected then-current beliefs in the effectiveness of crisis-oriented services and broad social programming to treat and even prevent serious mental disorders. The result was an unwarranted emphasis on the single-episode user of services and lack of interest in patients such as schizophrenics who needed repeated services. Numerous more recent studies indicate that many cases of schizophrenia have a heritable biological component and respond well to neuroleptic medication. For effective out patient treatment of schizophrenics who might otherwise be repeated users of hospital service, the author advocates a program of continuous, or nearly continuous, neuroleptic medication, combined with counseling and social and crisis services. The patient would be educated to take a role in self-regulation of medication, within a prescribed range, which would appear to improve safety, precision, and reliability.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1977

Outpatient treatment of schizophrenia.

The authors discuss the treatment of 575 schizophrenic patients over the past 15 years. They describe a shift the patients have experiences from reliance on inpatient treatment to heavy use of outpatient services. The have found that effective outpatient treatment for these patients involves a program of nearly continuous administration of neuroleptic medication combined with counseling and social and crisis services. A major component of the outpatient management of these schizophrenic patients is the education of the patients in how to regulate their own medication within a prescribed range. This educational component appears to add a measure of precision that enhances the safety and reliability of the treatment program.

Adolescent↗