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Biomedical subjects

S Minoshita

Publications and source records attributed to S Minoshita.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

The alcohol tests for drunken criminals using psychological tests.

In the alcohol test for drunken criminals, we introduced Bender-Gestalt test and Rorschach test for the assessment, and examined their usefulness for the evaluation of intoxication patterns according to Binder's classification. The subjects were 24 drunken criminals who were examined by Mental Hygiene Group, Tsukuba University, for psychiatric evidences. The subjects were divided into the ordinary intoxication group (OI group) and the complicated intoxication group (CI group) on the basis of the behavioral assessment, and the psychological tests were performed before and after drinking. The following results were obtained. 1) Alcohol intoxication induced decrease in R1T, W and VIII + IX + X/R and increase of BGT scores and P%, which indicates that subjects become unable to make comprehensive and delicate responses to the external stimuli. 2) When we classified subjects into increasing and decreasing type on the pattern of changes in the BGT score from before to immediately after drinking in each subject, we found the ratio of increasing type in complicated intoxication is more than in ordinary intoxication significantly. And we found significant group x drinking interaction in F+% and At% of Rorschach test. The F+% significantly decreased only in CI group. The At% in CI group tended upward, but downward in OI group. These findings indicated that complicated intoxication reduced the subject's reality testing, while not in ordinary intoxication. 3) Comparing the effects of personality and intoxication factors in complicated intoxication, intoxication factors were considered to play primary roles. 4) We found association between high BAL and reduction of ego function and imagination, which is represented as significant peak of BALx drinking interaction in the BGT scores, M and FM + m. These observations suggest that the psychological tests as part of the alcohol tests are useful for the evaluation and research of intoxication.

Adult↗

The Noh mask test for analysis of recognition of facial expression.

A preliminary study on the Noh mask test for analysis of recognition of facial expression was performed. The present study was conducted on 15 normal subjects (mean age: 32 years, SD 9.7 years) as the first step to test for the differences between psychiatric patients and normal subjects. Stimuli were created by photographs of 15 Noh masks at different vertical angles. Subjects were given 12 tasks (12 emotion items), and each task consisted of 15 trials (15 Noh mask images). In each trial, the subject viewed a colour monitor, and was shown an emotion item, followed by a Noh mask image. The subject pressed either the yes or no key to indicate whether the Noh mask image expressed the emotion item. The subject's response and reaction time to each Noh mask image showed no deviation, although the subject's response and reaction time to each emotion item showed some deviation. As the vertical angle of the Noh mask changed, normal subjects recognized all emotion items except the 'uncanny' expression. Factor analysis of the 15 Noh mask images produced three factors, and the analysis of 12 emotion items produced five factors. Thus, the Noh mask test was simplified to nine images and nine items. Further developments of the Noh mask test may include the evaluation of the dysfunction of perception on delicate facial expression in psychiatric patients.

Adult↗

Bus hijacking by a pre-schizophrenic: from a viewpoint of criminal romance.

There are cases in which no clear symptoms of schizophrenia are observed in a person at the time of a crime but are diagnosed to have schizophrenia after the crime due to the appearance of typical symptoms. We present psychiatric evidence of a patient who saw a bus hijacking incident on TV during several years of isolation at home after graduation from junior high school, and was then determined to hijack a bus, and carried out the crime 6 months later. The patient exhibited clear symptoms of schizophrenia 3 days after the crime. This case of a crime committed before the appearance of clear symptoms of schizophrenia was evaluated from the viewpoint of verbrecherromantik or 'criminal romance'.

Adult↗

Relationship between odor perception and depression in the Japanese elderly.

Odor perception has been studied in patients with various mental disorders; however, no consensus has been reached as to its detection, identification, or pleasantness/unpleasantness of odors especially in patients with depression. One hundred and nineteen normal elderly individuals living at home were exposed to odors of rose, perfume, white ginger, Indian ink, cigarette smoke, milk, feces and orange scent using the scratch and sniff method. They were asked to rate the strength of each odor, its pleasantness or unpleasantness, their liking for it, and their familiarity with it. They were also asked to complete a self-rating depression scale (SDS). The relationship of the score of each psychological olfactory scale with the SDS score and the difference in the score of each psychological scale between high-SDS and low-SDS groups are discussed.

Aged↗