Selective Attention Effects on the Reflex Blink

Past work has shown that facilitation of reflex blinking accompanies cardiac deceleration when the attention of subjects is directed to a reflex-eliciting stimulus. The present studies showed that when warning stimuli directed attention instead to weak (tactile) stimuli presented simultaneously with reflex-eliciting (acoustic) stimuli, cardiac deceleration was still present but reflex magnitude was unchanged or inhibited. However, latency to reflex onset remained facilitated, i.e., latency and magnitude changes were discordant. The findings were interpreted as evidence for two independent processes: a process capable of selectively enhancing or attenuating sensory input and a non-selective process presumably facilitating motor pathways.     

长沙市初中生网络成瘾的心理社会因素调查

目的:调查长沙市初中生网络成瘾的发生率,探讨家庭和学校环境、应付方式对中学生网络成瘾的影响。方法:对长沙市的552名初中生进行问卷调查,应用Young网络成瘾诊断量表、家庭关怀度量表、学校满意度量表、应付方式问卷、焦虑、抑郁自评量表进行评估。结果:①580名初中生中,网络成瘾者38人(男生30人,女生8人),网络成瘾的发生率为6.55%。②网络成瘾与未成瘾学生在对学校和家庭满意度、应付方式方面有显著性差异(P<0.05)。③网络成瘾学生的焦虑、抑郁总分均显著高于未成瘾学生(P<0.05)。结论:感觉不到家庭的关怀、对学校生活不满意,焦虑、抑郁严重,遇到应激事件时采用消极的应对方式的初中生容易发生网络成瘾。     

强迫症患者认知功能与病期的关系

目的：探讨强迫症的认知功能障碍与病期的关系。方法：分别用韦氏记忆测验，数字划销测验和威斯康星卡片分类测验评估25例急性强迫症和36例慢性强迫症患者的记忆、注意和执行功能。结果：急性强迫症患者的记忆测验中记图和数字划销测验中第二阶段失误率显著性较慢性强迫症差，其余两组间记忆测验、划销测验和威斯康星卡片分类测验各量表分无显著性差异。结论：强迫症的认知功能与病期无明显相关。     

用于评价动物社交偏好程度的新方法

目的：利用一种改进的三箱社交装置评价动物的社交偏好程度,并探索该方法的可行性。方法：采用注意力缺陷多动障碍(ADHD)大鼠作为社交障碍模型动物,以同源大鼠（WKY)大鼠和Wistar大鼠作为对照组,模型组采用治疗ADHD的临床常用中成药小儿黄龙颗粒（1.88 g/kg、3.75 g/kg）灌胃给药16 d。利用改进的三箱社交箱,以待测鼠在陌生鼠侧密切交流区的时间、频次、路程及相关比例作为行为学指标,检测该方法对社交行为评价的可行性。结果：与Wistar大鼠组比较,模型组大鼠与WKY组大鼠在密切交流区域及有陌生鼠侧区域的时间显著减少（P<0.01）,其他指标如频次、路程及比例也均有不同程度减少,小儿黄龙颗粒两剂量均能增加模型大鼠上述各指标数值。结论：该方法能准确捕捉动物的社交行为特征,实现对动物社交偏好程度的全面、客观评价。     

Nocturnal Paroxysmal Dystonia with Short-Lasting Attacks: Three Cases with Evidence for an Epileptic Frontal Lobe Origin of Seizures

The epileptic or nonepileptic origin of nocturnal paroxysmal dystonia (NPD) has been debated. We studied three patients with frequent attacks during non-REM sleep. During prolonged video-EEG monitoring, two patients had a convulsive seizure after a typical NPD episode and on these occasions EEG showed epileptiform discharge. In the three patients, attacks occurred repeatedly with different intensity, representing "fragments" of the same seizure. These fragments of the attack could occur periodically every 20-40 s. We postulate that short NPD attacks are actually epileptic seizures originating from the frontal lobes. The rhythmicity of the episodes may be due to rhythmic oscillation of cortical function during non-REM sleep.     

多动行为偏异儿童血5-羟色胺测定及其意义

目的　探讨心理卫生偏异 (简称行为异常 )多动行为偏异儿童 (简称多动 )与正常儿童血 5 -羟色胺 (5 -HT)含量差别。方法　用Achenbach儿童行为量表筛查并根据因子分分类对 30例行为异常儿童进行血 5 -HT含量测定 ,与 30例正常儿童对照组比较。结果　行为异常组血 5 -HT含量与正常组比较 ,无显著差异。而多动组与正常组比较 ,有显著差异 (P <0 .0 5 )。内向型因子组与正常组比较 ,有显著差异 (P <0 .0 5 )。结论　多动行为偏异儿童血 5 -HT含量明显降低 ,心理卫生偏异内向型组血 5 -HT含量明显升高。     

Hyposensitivity of peripheral α-adrenoceptors in respiratordependent amyotrophic lateral sclerosis assessed by intravenous norepinephrine infusion

Intravenous norepinephrine infusion test was performed in eight patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) supported by respirators and nine control subjects, to examine -adrenoceptor function of peripheral resistant blood vessels. Baseline plasma norepinephrine concentrations in ALS patients were significantly higher than those in control subjects, indicating basal sympathetic hyperactivity (normal 218.2 ± 59.7 pg/ml; ALS 450.0 ± 288.4 pg/ml). The stimulus-response curves in the patients were similar to those in control subjects, and there were no significant differences between mean gains of the stimulus—response curves in both groups (normal 18.7 ± 5.5; ALS 15.2 ± 11.2). However, three ALS patients, two of whom had circulatory fluctuation and sympathetic hyperactivity, revealed lower gain levels than the mean minus 2 SD in control subjects (4.7, 1.1 and 3.7). This indicates hyposensitivity or down-regulation of the -adrenoceptor function of peripheral blood vessels in these ALS patients. For early detection of sympathetic hyperactivity and prediction of circulatory collapse, it would be useful to measure the plasma norepinephrine concentration and the gain of the norepinephrine infusion curve in respirator-dependent ALS patients.     

Neuronal mechanisms of the attentional dysfunctions in senile dementia and schizophrenia: two sides of the same coin?

Deficits in early stages of information processing, specifically the inability to disattend irrelevant stimuli and to selectively allocate processing resources (i.e., hyperattention), have been associated with the development of psychotic symptoms. Opposite deficits, i.e., the failure to attend and select stimuli, and to divide attention (i.e., hypoattention), represent a major variable in the development of dementia. The hypothesis that hyperattention and hypoattention are mediated via cortical cholinergic hyperactivity and hypoactivity, respectively, is discussed. Several lines of evidence support the role of cholinergic hyperactivity in the development of psychotic symptoms, including the therapeutic effects of anticholinergic drugs in schizophrenic patients, the psychotic effects of chronic exposure to irreversible cholinesterase inhibitors, and the worsening of psychotic symptoms as a result of the treatment with cholinomimetic compounds. The potent impairments of attentional abilities as a result of the administration of muscarinic antagonists in intact subjects, and the attentional effects of cholinomimetic compounds in demented patients are two examples of the evidence that supports the role of cholinergic hypofunction in the cognitive impairments of dementia. A neuronal model of dopamine-GABAergic modulation of cortical acetylcholine is proposed on the basis of evidence indicating that nucleus accumbens dopamine, via a GABAergic pathway to the substantia innominata of the basal forebrain, modulates cortical acetylcholine release. The available evidence confirms several predictions derived from this model, including the dopaminergic regulation of cortical acetylcholine (ACh) release, the bidirectional modulation of this release by benzodiazepine receptor (BZR) agonists and inverse agonists, and the antipsychotic effects of BZR agonists. Bidirectional deviations in the activity of cortical cholinergic inputs are hypothesized to represent a major neuronal substrate of the attentional dysfunctions associated with, or even underlying, the development of psychotic symptoms and dementia. The walk of a stranger on the street could be a sign to me which I must interpret. Every face in the windows of a passing streetcar would be engraved on my mind, all of them concentrating on me and trying to pass me some sort of message. McDonald N (1960) Living with schizophrenia. Can Med Assoc J 82:218–227 Today my mother did not recognize me. Dette U (1991) Ein langer Abschied. Der Verlauf einer Alzheimer-Krankheit. (A long farewell. A case of Alzheimer's disease). Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt [in German]