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At least 577 records · Page 32Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Empathic accuracy in adults with a pervasive developmental disorder during an unstructured conversation with a typically developing stranger.

The present paper consists of two parts. In the first part, eleven high-functioning adults with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) participated and were videotaped with a concealed camera while having an initial conversation with a typically developing stranger. Analyses revealed some significant differences with regard to the dyad members' overt behaviours. Contrary to our main hypothesis, analyses of the covert behaviour revealed that the participants with PDD did not differ from the typically developing participants in the ability to infer the thoughts and feelings of their interaction partner. The second part indicated that the inference ability of both groups was independent of the dyad members' behavioural characteristics and the content of the dyad members' thoughts and feelings. Issues addressed in this paper include the relation of scriptal knowledge to social functioning, and the advantage participants with PDD take from more structured interactions compared with less structured interactions.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Impaired processing of brief, rapidly presented auditory cues in infants with a family history of autoimmune disorder.

Studies have shown that individuals with language disorders, such as developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment, exhibit impairments in the processing of brief, successive, or rapidly changing auditory information. It is also the case that a higher rate of autoimmune disorders have been identified in those with language-based learning disorders and, conversely, that individuals with autoimmune disorders show a higher incidence of language-related disorders. The rapid auditory processing (RAP) deficits described for older individuals with language impairments may also be used as a behavioral marker to identify infants at higher risk for language delays. Thus, we were interested in examining RAP abilities in a subset of infants with a positive family history of autoimmune disorders. Eleven infants from our ongoing prospective longitudinal studies were identified based on parental response to a question about the presence of a family history of autoimmune disease and compared to 11 matched controls. The RAP threshold of each infant was assessed at 6 and 9 months of age using a conditioned head-turn procedure (using tone pairs with brief interstimulus intervals) and an auditory-visual habituation-recognition memory task using computer-generated consonant-vowel syllables (/ba/ vs. /da/). A visual habituation-recognition memory task that did not require processing of brief temporal cues was also administered. Group differences emerged on the infant RAP tasks, and on language outcome measures at 12 and 16 months of age. Infants from families with a history of autoimmune disorder had significantly higher (i.e., poorer) RAP thresholds and lower language scores than did control infants, whereas visual discrimination scores did not differ between family history infants and controls. Moreover, when brief auditory cues were necessary for the discrimination of /ba/ vs. /da/, infants with a family history of autoimmune disorder performed significantly more poorly than did controls. These findings lend support to the hypothesis that a similar mechanism, perhaps a neural-immune interaction, may underlie the observed co-occurrence of autoimmune disorders and learning impairments.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1979

Case studies in neuropsychiaatry. II: Conversion pseudodementia.

A patient is described who experienced pseudodementia as a conversion reaction. The patient was considered to be demented originally because of the evidence for profound cognitive impairment elicited on mental state examination. Careful analysis of the patient's verbal production in unstructured situations and of her behavior inthe hospital permitted a clinical diagnosis of pseudodementia to be made, a diagnosis confirmed by response to treatment and long term follow-up. Evidence is presented to support the interpretation of her pseudodementia as a conversion reaction.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The psychologically orientated pediatrician and the provision of psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

The experiences of a consultant pediatrician attempting to introduce into his practice an additional mode of treatment that he wished to offer to some of his patients, namely psychoanalytical psychotherapy, is described. Having previously operated successfully as an analytic psychotherapist with patients referred to him by a child psychiatrist, he attempted to function formally as an analytic psychotherapist with selected patients from his own pediatric practice. However, this significant change of role was not accepted by the children and their parents. Reasons are looked for to explain this finding, the significance of which may be of importance to pediatric practice in general and may have wider implications in the whole area of the doctor/patient relationship.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Marked depression and anxiety in patients with functional dysphonia.

The etiology of functional dysphonia is still unclear, but psychological factors are assumed to play an important role . The purpose of this report is to investigate the impact of depression and anxiety in functional dysphonia. Sixty-one patients with functional dysphonia were screened for additional psychiatric disorders (besides 300.11) by a clinical psychiatric interview. They were then compared with healthy controls, matched by age, sex and occupation, with respect to self-reported symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety, and specific anxiety concerning health. The patients had significantly higher scores than the controls in depressive symptoms, in the symptoms of nonspecific and general anxiety, and in the symptoms of specific anxiety concerning health. Fifty-seven percent of the patients also fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for a mood disorder, an anxiety disorder, or an adjustment disorder. Multivariate analysis of covariance, performed to correct for the influence of co-morbid psychiatric diagnoses on self-rated symptoms of depression and anxiety, confirmed significant differences between patients and controls in the symptoms of depression and specific anxiety concerning "somatic complaints." Both symptoms of depression and anxiety should be taken into consideration in the diagnostic as well as the therapeutic process of patients with functional dysphonia.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Intestinal mucosal permeability and rheumatological diseases.

Rheumatological disorders frequently have gastrointestinal manifestations and, conversely, intestinal disorders frequently have rheumatological manifestations. The possibility of altered intestinal permeability in arthritic patients may provide the bridge needed to link the two organ systems. The normal intestine absorbs nutrients and excludes the remaining material. If the intestine were less discriminating or 'leaky' then material normally excluded would be able to cross the intestinal mucosa into the lamina propria. An inflammatory response to these antigens, be they dietary, bacterial, or viral in origin, could produce either local or systemic disease. This would depend upon the type of immunological response and the cross-reactivity between the host's antigens and the absorbed antigens. This theory could account for the postulated relationship between intestinal abnormalities and the pathogenesis of some forms of arthritis.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal↗
PubMed1981

Psychopathology and hemispheric dysfunction: a review.

In the past 15 years, investigators have attempted to relate psychiatric disorders to our developing knowledge about the asymmetrical organization of the cerebral hemispheres. This paper summarizes the varied, limited, and often conflicting results. The authors suggest that progress in this fascinating and potentially fruitful area will be improved by: a) more critical evaluation of the current literature with regard to its contradictions and to the techniques and theories utilized; b) systematic study of carefully diagnosed, large groups of patients; c) concurrent attempts to identify and carefully assess unusual patients; d) control of laterality measures for drug effects, institutionalization, and such cognitive and affective states as anxiety, depression, paranoia, and psychosis; and e) validation of the localizing value of neuropsychological tests in psychiatric patients by the study of previously diagnosed psychiatric patients with acquired focal brain disease.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic↗
PubMed1989

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of alpidem, a novel anxiolytic of imidazopyridine structure, in chronically anxious patients.

In this double-blind study alpidem, a new imidazopyridine anxiolytic drug, was compared with placebo to assess its efficacy and safety in severely anxious patients at the fixed dose of 150 mg/day (50 mg t.i.d.) for 3 weeks. Fifty-nine patients with a score of at least 18 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HRSA) entered the trial after a 3- to 7-day placebo run-in period. Symptom improvement was evaluated with the HRSA, the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-1 and STAI-2), a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Clinical Global Impression (CGI). Alpidem was more effective than placebo in improving mean HRSA (total score and factorial scores for somatic and psychic anxiety), STAI-1 and STAI-2 and VAS scores. The efficacy index of the CGI was better for alpidem than for placebo. Side effects were negligible in both groups. Alpidem appears to be a new interesting anxiolytic drug devoid of significant sedative effects on mental functions.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed2006

Ictal symptoms of anxiety, avoidance behaviour, and dissociation in patients with dissociative seizures.

OBJECTIVE: To examine anxiety related seizure symptoms and avoidance behaviour in adults with dissociative (psychogenic non-epileptic) seizures (DS) in comparison with a group suffering from partial epilepsy. METHODS: 25 DS and 19 epilepsy patients completed an attack symptom measure, the hospital anxiety and depression scale, the dissociative experiences scale, and the fear questionnaire. RESULTS: DS patients reported the presence of significantly greater numbers of somatic symptoms of anxiety during their attacks than the epilepsy group, despite not reporting subjectively higher levels of anxiety. The DS patients also reported higher levels of agoraphobic-type avoidance behaviour than the epilepsy group. Measures of dissociation were higher in the DS group, who also reported greater symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support a model whereby DS occur as a paroxysmal, dissociative response to heightened arousal in the absence of raised general anxiety levels. The model has practical implications for clinical assessment and treatment: in clinical practice, inquiry about these symptoms may help in the diagnosis of DS; with respect to treatment, the anxiety related symptoms and avoidance behaviour prevalent in DS are a potential focus for a cognitive behavioural approach analogous to that used in the treatment of other anxiety disorders.

Adult↗