Biomedical subjects

W C Corning

Publications and source records attributed to W C Corning.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Aberrant interhemispheric alpha coherence on electroencephalography in schizophrenic patients during activation tasks.

Thirty schizophrenic patients (20 medicated, 10 off medication) were compared with 30 normal controls subjects matched for age, sex, handedness and intelligence. During the performance of a frontal activation task, normal subjects showed increased interhemispheric coherence between anterior brain regions. Schizophrenic patients did not show the same amount of bilateral anterior activation. During the performance of right hemisphere cognitive activation tasks, normal subjects and medicated schizophrenic patients showed significantly reduced bilateral interhemispheric coherence patterns, while the drug-free schizophrenic patients showed a trend towards this same pattern. It is suggested that these findings provide additional evidence for an aberrant functional organization of the brain in schizophrenia.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

The relationship of cortical activation to alternating autonomic activity.

It has been proposed that it is possible to selectively activate the cerebral hemispheres, thereby enhancing lateralized cognitive abilities. A proposed method of achieving selective activation is by altering nasal congestion/decongestion (nasal cycle), which is believed to effect a contralateral change in hemispheric activation through the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This hypothesis was tested in 4 right-handed male and 6 right-handed female undergraduate students. Subjects were untrained in specific breathing techniques but were aware of the experimental hypothesis. Four 1 min samples of EEG were recorded in each of 4 experimental conditions in which nasal decongestion was altered by having subjects lie in the lateral recumbent position and occluding the contralateral nare. Cortical activation and laterality were examined using ratios of the low beta (12-18 Hz) and high alpha (10-12 Hz) bandwidths relative to each other and between hemispheres. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed non-significant changes in the alpha and beta bandwidths across the 4 experimental conditions. Although changes in hemispheric activation have been postulated for all subjects, this study does not support such changes in subjects untrained in breathing techniques.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Frontal and non-frontal lobe neuropsychological test performance and clinical symptomatology in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenic subjects performed significantly worse on neuropsychological tests of frontal lobe function but not on tests of non-frontal lobe function when compared to a matched group of normal subjects. Correlations expected between frontal lobe neuropsychological test performance and negative symptoms were not found.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Coherence on electroencephalography and aberrant functional organisation of the brain in schizophrenic patients during activation tasks.

Thirty schizophrenic patients (20 medicated, 10 off medication) were compared with 30 normal control subjects matched for age, sex, handedness, and intelligence. During the performance of left-hemisphere cognitive activation tasks, normal subjects had significantly increased EEG alpha coherence in areas related to left focal frontal sites, with decreases in temporal and posterior areas. Schizophrenic patients did not show the same degree of focal activation of left frontal areas. During the performance of right-hemisphere cognitive activation tasks, normal subjects and schizophrenic patients had similar patterns of right posterior increases in alpha coherence. Discriminant analyses were able to classify 81.4% of all subjects correctly. It is suggested that the findings indicate an aberrant functional organisation of the brain in schizophrenia, particularly affecting the left hemisphere.

Arousal↗

PubMed1986

EEG "maturational lag" profiles: follow-up analyses.

Nineteen children who had EEG diffuse slow frequency profiles suggesting a maturational lag were retested 1 to 2 years later receiving both EEG and psychometric assessments. They were compared to 18 children who also had been tested previously but did not have the slow frequency profile. Children with the maturational lag profile displayed varying degrees of EEG developmental change upon retest; i.e., some showed the expected developmental change while others remained the same. Within this group, there were significant relationships between the degree of EEG change and psychometric scores. Those that demonstrated the most EEG change had higher psychometric indices, and these relationships were not obtained in the comparison group. These findings suggest developmental heterogeneity with respect to brain maturation as measured by the EEG and also suggest that test-retest EEG data can clarify a maturational lag diagnosis.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1982

EEG slow frequency and WISC-R correlates.

On the basis of slow frequency indices obtained from computerized EEG assessments, 36 children were ranked the highest and 23 the lowest in a heterogeneous population of children involved in a brain-behavior assessment program. WISC-R results show the high or excess slow frequency group to have low verbal and normal performance subtest scores, while those with the least slow frequency activity were above normal on verbal and performance scores. Discriminant function analyses of the WISC-R profiles significantly separated the two EEG groupings, with the Information Subtest and Verbal IQ the best discriminating measures. The results suggested that diffuse EEG slow frequency reflected a "maturational lag." Cluster analyses showed that the subtest profile was constant independently of IQ. Other findings indicated that the presence of excessive slow frequency activity was associated with less electrophysiological and psychometric differentiation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1979

Taximetric strategies applied to psychiatric classification.

This article discusses limitations inherent in using unilevel behavioral descriptors as the basis for the construction of psychiatric classifications. As an alternative we consider the advantages of the polythetic classification strategy as suggested by Sokal and Sneath (1963) in their description of a "numerical taxonomic" approach. They argue for the development of naturally occurring, empirically defined classes rather than categories based on single domains of behaviors such as psychiatric symptoms. Typically the research into a topic such as schizophrenia starts with a behaviorally defined class of individuals who show schizophrenic symptoms, contrasted with a nonschizophrenic control group. These groups are then tested for aberrations in other systems of functioning (blood, neurophysiological, hormonal, attentional functioning, and the like). The approach offered here requires a classificatory strategy that treats data from all levels of functioning as equivalent in forming the classes of individuals rather than as secondary to the defining symptomatic attributes. Particular emphasis is given to the choice of measures with sufficiently broad and sensitive features to find natural classes. A set of standards is given for the selection of a test battery that might be used in a polythetic approach to the investigation of schizophrenia. Finally, the utility and limits of statistical clustering techniques for handling multilevel data banks are discussed.

Cultural Characteristics↗

PubMed1977