Pain and faulty breathing: a pilot study

The purpose of this pilot study was to observe both relaxed and deep breathing patterns in a convenience sample to determine the incidence of normal versus faulty patterns of respiration. These observations were then combined with respondent answers to a survey on pain history to determine if there is any correlation between faulty breathing and musculo-skeletal pain patterns. If such a correlation can be made, then we propose that clinicians working with chronic pain patients may have improved outcomes if they address and correct faulty breathing patterns. Based on this study, it is suggested to include the evaluation and treatment of faulty respiration in the rehabilitation of chronic musculo-skeletal conditions, most notably cervical pain.     

Long-latency auditory event-related potentials in schizophrenia and in bipolar and unipolar affective disorder.

Long-latency auditory event-related potentials were examined in 96 subjects with schizophrenia, 99 with bipolar affective disorder and 48 with major depressive (unipolar) disorder, and compared with 32 in-patient and 213 normal controls. The latency of the P3 component was significantly greater in the schizophrenic and bipolar subjects compared to other groups. The difference was stable with respect to clinical state at the time of testing and was not due to age differences or the effect of psychotropic medications. The results support the clinical distinction between bipolar and unipolar affective disorders, but also show that P3 change is not specific to schizophrenia and found in bipolar but not unipolar affective disorder.     

Eye-tracking dysfunction in the affective psychoses and schizophrenia.

Smooth pursuit eye movements to a sinusoidally moving target were recorded using the electro-oculogram in 49 subjects with bipolar disorder, 19 with major depressive disorder and 61 with definite schizophrenia, and compared with 145 normal controls. The signals were analysed in the frequency domain to yield a signal to noise ratio that is known to relate to accuracy of smooth pursuit. Smooth pursuit was found to be significantly poorer in schizophrenics than in bipolars, major depressed or controls. Eye-tracking performance was independent of the effects of neuroleptics, tricyclic antidepressants or lithium, and was not altered by the severity of depression in the affective psychoses. There was a small, but significant worsening of smooth pursuit with age in controls and schizophrenics, but this did not account for the group differences. The results support the view that among the major psychoses eye-tracking dysfunction is specific to schizophrenia.