Biomedical subjects

P Salame

Publications and source records attributed to P Salame.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Does long-term memory deficit relate to patients' slowness in schizophrenia?

INTRODUCTION: The performance of fast and slow schizophrenic patients and matched controls was examined in a delayed free recall task to assess whether the patient's slowness would influence long-term memory (LTM) in a similar way to working memory. METHOD: Twenty-three schizophrenic patients who met DSM-IV criteria and were matched in age and educational level to 23 controls participated. Subjects' reading rate was measured, and a cut-off of mean controls' reading rate minus 2 standard deviations was allowed the identification of 9 slow patients. The memory task comprised a list of 20 unrelated common words presented visually that were to be recalled in any order after a delay of 25-30 minutes filled with unrelated tasks. RESULTS: The overall patients' performance was poor compared with controls, and slow and fast performance was comparable, contrasting with immediate memory tasks in which slow patients were impaired compared with fast patients. CONCLUSION: Patients' slowness does not seem to influence the long-term memory deficit in schizophrenia.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1994

Human core temperature minimum can be modified by ambient thermal transients.

By using slow linear thermal transients (+/- 0.025 degree C/min) of reduced amplitude (+/- 3 degrees C around thermoneutrality), we were able to advance the minimum of human internal temperature (Ti) during nocturnal sleep. During experimental night the minimum of esophageal (Tes) and rectal (Tre) temperature were respectively advanced by 1.6 h (P < 0.01) and 2.6 h (P < 0.001) in comparison to reference night spent at thermoneutrality. It must be emphasized that the provoked advance of nocturnal Ti minimum was not accompanied by any change in sleep latency, efficiency, SWS and REM sleep percentages. The result shows that appropriate ambient temperature transient changes could be used to modify the course of human Ti one of the major biological rhythms usually considered as resistant to sleep-wake rhythm manipulation.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Effects of noise on sleep inertia as a function of circadian placement of a one-hour nap.

The purpose of the present study was to analyse the arousing effects of noise on sleep inertia as a function of circadian placement of a one-hour nap. In a first experiment, we measured the effects of sleep inertia in a neutral acoustic environment after a one-hour nap placed either at 0100 or 0400 on response time during a spatial memory test. In a second experiment were analysed the effects of an intense continuous noise on sleep inertia. The results showed that noise produced a total abolition of sleep inertia after an early nap (0000 to 0100). This may be due to the arousing effect of noise; however, results are less clear after a late nap 0300 to 0400 as noise seems to be ineffective. This result is discussed in terms of either a function of time-of-day effect or of prior sleep intensity. Moreover, our data suggest a possible interaction of noise with partial sleep deprivation leading to a slight deleterious effect those subjects who did not sleep at all.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

Plasma catecholamines and pituitary adrenal hormones related to mental task demand under quiet and noise conditions.

Plasma levels of catecholamines and pituitary adrenal hormones were measured in 20 min samples from eight subjects, in one control session and two experimental sessions, while they performed a short-term memory task under quiet of noise conditions. Performing the task led to significant increase in the plasma levels of cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, whereas no variations in growth hormone and dopamine were observed. Similarly, significant changes occurred in urinary catecholamine excretion. A significant correlation was found between individual plasma cortisol increments and error-rates assessed from an accuracy of recall variable. For adrenaline and noradrenaline, an early response apparently linked with an anticipatory process preceded the task. Exposure to noise did slightly amplify cortisol response to the task, but during the first experimental session, with or without noise, the task elicited greater cortisol increases in all subjects than during the second session. These results provide evidence for a relationship between sympathoadrenocortical activity and attentional demand, whereas cortisol increments seem to be more specifically related to better coping with the task. Frequent hormone level measurements during a prolonged mental task might clarify the complex relationship between time-related bodily hormonal changes, performance and subjective feelings.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗