Biomedical subjects

Verner Knott

Publications and source records attributed to Verner Knott.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Neural effects of nicotine during auditory selective attention in smokers: an event-related potential study.

Acute nicotine has been found to improve task performance in smokers after smoking abstinence, but the attentional processes mediating these improvements are unclear. Since scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) have been shown to be sensitive indicators of selective attention, the effects of acutely administered nicotine were examined on ERPs and concomitant behavioural performance measures in an auditory selective attention task. Ten (6 males) overnight smoking-abstinent cigarette smokers received nicotine gum (4 mg) in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. In a dichotic listening task [which required participants to attend and detect (target) deviant stimuli in one ear and to ignore similar stimuli in the other ear] which included ERP recordings and assessment of response speed and accuracy measures, nicotine gum failed to alter behavioural performance or amplitudes of ERP components sensitive to selective attention [reflected in the N100 and negative difference (Nd) component] or to pre-attentive detection of acoustic change [reflected in the mismatch negativity (MMN) component]. However, nicotine did influence the speed of these voluntary selective processes, as reflected by shortened latencies of the early Nd component. The findings are discussed in relation to the stimulus filter theory of smoking, and with respect to nicotine's actions on involuntary and controlled aspects of selective attention processes.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2004

Event-related potentials in young and elderly adults during a visual spatial working memory task.

The P300 event-related brain potential (ERP) was examined in 14 young (20-29 years of age) and 16 elderly (60-82 years of age) subjects during the performance of a visuospatial memory task requiring recognition of locations. Elderly and young adults exhibited similar recognition accuracy, but recognition reaction times were significantly slower in the elderly. Midline P300 amplitudes recorded in response to visuospatial probe stimuli were significantly attenuated in the elderly, and, depending on the nature of the probe, P300 latency-derived indices indicated that both cognitive and motoric slowness characterized visuospatial recognition in the aged. The results, discussed in relation to neural mechanisms supporting working memory function, suggest that alterations in attention and processing speed may play a role in visual-spatial working memory deficits associated with normal and pathological aging.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Effects of tryptophan depletion on acute smoking abstinence symptoms and the acute smoking response.

Given the putative role of serotonin in the modulation of smoking withdrawal and the central actions of nicotine, this study examined the affective and neuroelectric correlates of smoking abstinence and cigarette smoking following depletion of the serotonin precursor, tryptophan. In a randomized, double-blind two session (tryptophan depletion [TD] vs. nondepletion), placebo-controlled design, spectrally analyzed electroencephalogram (EEG), self-ratings of withdrawal symptoms and mood states were assessed in 18 male cigarette smokers before smoking abstinence, 5 h postsmoking abstinence and again following sham smoking and the smoking of one cigarette. Compared to a nutritionally balanced amino acid (AA) mixture containing tryptophan (i.e., placebo mixture), oral ingestion of a similar mixture devoid of tryptophan resulted in a 70% reduction of plasma tryptophan but failed to alter the appearance or reversal (by acute cigarette smoking) of withdrawal symptoms, negative mood states and increased slow wave EEG in male smokers deprived of cigarettes. These results, although not supporting a role for the serotonergic system in acute smoking and early smoking abstinence symptoms, are discussed in relation to the neuropharmacology of smoking behavior and suggestions for future work.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Effects of acute cholecystokinin infusion on hemispheric EEG asymmetry and coherence in healthy volunteers.

This study investigated the effects of continuous slow infusion of cholecystokinin tetrapeptide (CCK-4), a neuropeptide with panicogenic properties, on functional hemispheric differences, as indexed by quantitative electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry and coherence measures. Twenty-four adult volunteers (15 females and 9 males) were assigned to infusion with either placebo or CCK-4 in a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group design, with EEG being recorded before and during (10 and 40 min) a 60-min infusion period. No significant treatment differences were observed for absolute EEG power but, compared to placebo, CCK-4 infusion increased asymmetry and reduced coherence of slow-wave activity at midtemporal recording sites. These findings support the contention that functional imbalance of the temporal cortex, perhaps mediated by CCK-4, is involved in panic disorder (PD).

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Effects of stimulus modality and response mode on the P300 event-related potential differentiation of young and elderly adults.

The P300 event-related brain potential (ERP) was examined in 14 young (20 - 29 years of age) and 16 elderly (60 - 82 years of age) adult subjects during the performance of auditory and visual discrimination tasks requiring silent counting or key pressing in response to target stimuli. P300 latencies were longer in elderly (vs young) adults and in visual (vs auditory) tasks, and visual tasks elicited larger P300 amplitudes than auditory tasks in both age groups. Neither stimulus modality nor response mode affected P300 differentiation of young and elderly subjects. Steeper P300 anterior-posterior scalp amplitude gradients were seen in the young (vs elderly) adults, regardless of stimulus or response type. Examination of inter-subject variability with the coefficient of variation (CV) statistic found the lowest (i.e., best) CV values to be exhibited in the visual task requiring the counting of target stimuli. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to P300 applications in the clinical assessment of dementia and aging-associated cognitive alterations.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

EEG correlates of acute and chronic paroxetine treatment in depression.

Single dose administration of efficacious antidepressant agents elicit characteristic pharmaco-electroencephalographic (EEG) profiles in healthy volunteers but acute and chronic pharmaco-EEG profiling of antidepressant action in depressed patients has been relatively lacking. This study sought to examine the quantitative topographic EEGs of depressed patients in response to paroxetine treatment. Thirty male patients, meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depression, were examined before and after a single 20 mg dose. These, and an additional 40 patients, were also assessed following 6 weeks of treatment. Eyes-closed resting EEG, collected from 21 scalp sites, was spectrally analyzed to yield regional measures of absolute/relative power and mean frequency in delta, theta, alpha, beta and total spectrum frequency bands. Chronic treatment resulted in a significant reduction in scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), with 80% of treatment completers exhibiting a >50% reduction in depression ratings at the end of the 6th week. Acute paroxetine did not alter EEG in patients but chronic treatment was associated with significant alterations as shown by diffuse decreases in alpha power and increases in slow (delta and theta) and anterior fast (beta) wave power, Mean theta and alpha (occipital) frequency were slowed while mean total frequency was accelerated at frontal sites and decreased at occipital sites. The chronic pharmaco-EEG response pattern reflects both sedating and activating actions in regional specific areas which are relevant to the pathophysiology and the pharmacotherapeutic treatment of depression.

Adult↗