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Biomedical subjects

W Trapp

Publications and source records attributed to W Trapp.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

[Differential indications for atypical neuroleptics: Amisulprid, Clozapin, Olanzapin, Quetiapin und Risperidon. Results of a pilot study of prescription habits in psychiatric clinical usage in the BRD].

With the introduction of atypical neuroleptics, the therapy of schizophrenia has been improved by a group of antipsychotic substances characterized by better tolerability concerning extrapyramidal side effects and higher efficiency against negative symptoms. However, these atypical antipsychotics are not a homogeneous class of drugs but rather represent a group of substances with very different neurobiologic, pharmacologic, and clinical features. This fact and the growing variety of available atypical neuroleptics illustrate the difficulty in choosing the "right" antipsychotic drug for each patient. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate preliminary empirical data for possible differential indication of atypical neuroleptics by a questionnaire-based survey of 192 physicians in ten psychiatric hospitals active in the biological psychiatry work group of the German Federal Directors' Conference.

Antipsychotic Agents↗

First-episode schizophrenics show normal duration and topography of quasistationary EEG segments as compared to controls, during rest as well as during active tasks.

In patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia, both altered temporospatial structure of the EEG and impaired activation during cognitive tasks have repeatedly been demonstrated. The present study evaluates whether similar abnormalities are present in drug-naive first-episode schizophrenics. The EEGs of 32 schizophrenic patients and of 52 healthy controls were recorded during a simple and a complicated motor task, a simple and a complicated auditory stimulus, and during resting periods between the tasks. The temporospatial characteristics were evaluated by adaptive segmentation of EEG, which decomposes an EEG into temporal segments of quasistationary activity. No differences in the temporal and topographic aspects of the EEGs were found between the first-episode schizophrenic patients and the controls, neither during the resting EEGs nor during active tasks. Moreover, the dynamic course of the EEGs, defined as the alternation between task-related changes of temporospatial patterns and the reappearance of resting patterns, was identical in patients and controls. The present findings suggest that while abnormal EEG power spectra seem a consistent finding in treated as well as in never-treated schizophrenics, altered temporospatial patterns and reduced task-related EEG changes are inconsistent signs.

Adult↗

Planning dysfunction in schizophrenia: impairment of potentials preceding fixed/free and single/sequence of self-initiated finger movements.

To test the hypothesis of a planning dysfunction in schizophrenia using a precise temporal definition, the readiness potential (RP), a negative cortical wave preceding self-initiated movements and reflecting motor preparation processes, was studied in patients under stable medication and in controls. The supplementary motor area (SMA), known to be involved in the generation of the RP, has also been implicated in movement selection (fixed versus free) and complexity (single versus sequence). This is the first study using RP for the assessment of the influence of these factors on motor preparation in schizophrenics. Our results show that schizophrenics' RP amplitude is significantly lower than in controls at central and contralateral electrodes. However, RP amplitude increases with task difficulty in both groups, offering important new insight into classical SMA hypoactivation in schizophrenics performing motor tasks. Topographic analysis shows that RP amplitude is, for both groups, significantly higher in sequence than in single movements at fronto-central sites and higher for free than for fixed movements at centro-parietal sites. Finally, RP onset occurs significantly later in schizophrenics than in controls. These results support the view of a motor-preparation and decision-making dysfunction in schizophrenia. They are interpreted within the framework of a fronto-striatal disorder in this disease.

Adult↗

Functional EEG mapping and SPECT in detoxified male alcoholics.

Fifteen alcoholics diagnosed according to DSM-III-R, who were detoxified for at least 2 weeks and showed no clinical withdrawal signs, were investigated with 16 channel EEG mapping during resting, manumotor and music perception conditions, and were compared with 13 control persons. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using hexa-methyl-propilene-amine-oxime (HMPAO) labeled with 99m-technetium (99mTc) as tracer was performed separately (in patients only) and submitted to semiquantitative region of interest (ROI) analysis in 2 slices, 6 and 10 cm above canthomeatal line, respectively. Resting EEG showed increased power values in fast beta frequency band for the detoxified alcoholics. On cortical stimulation, patients showed signs of pathological EEG reactivity. Correlations of EEG parameters to cerebral blood flow (CBF) values (patients only) yielded coefficients around zero for all frequency bands (signs of uncoupling). All findings point to organic brain dysfunctions in these patients which extend beyond the period of withdrawal.

Adult↗

Quantitative EEG analysis during motor function and music perception in Tourette's syndrome.

Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a neurobehavioral disorder of childhood onset that is characterized by motor and vocal tics and associated behavioral disturbances including obsessive-compulsive symptoms. We performed 30 channel quantitative electroencephalograms (EEGs) on 13 Tourette patients and 26 controls and studied both resting and manumotor/music perception activation conditions. Resting EEGs did not show any differences between patients and controls, as known from the literature. However, during simple and complex hand movements, as well as music perception tasks, there were subtle differences predominantly in alpha frequency. They suggested reduced brain activation during motor tasks in frontal and central regions, and on music perception in temporal and parietal regions, respectively. These findings may add evidence to the functional neuroanatomy of Tourette syndrome, affecting more areas than disturbed motor circuits.

Adolescent↗