ABSTRACT
We report a case of somnambulism successfully treated with sansoninto. A 55-year-old woman had an initial episode of somnambulism in childhood, which recurred in her early 20s along with development of psychotic manifestations. The patient was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder and coexisting Crohn's disease. At the age of 55, she began to show nocturnal wandering tendencies and we prescribed yokukansan at 2.5 g/day, though the symptoms only temporarily improved. Following a switch to sansoninto at 7.5 g/day, the symptoms disappeared. Based on our experience with this case, we speculate that the Heart component of the five viscera theory in traditional Chinese medicine plays a key role in somnambulism.
ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to test our preliminary in vivo evaluations of central cholinergic abnormalities in schizophrenia patients. Short latency afferent inhibition (SAI) is based on coupling peripheral nerve stimulation with motor cortex Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), which has been shown to be a putative marker of central cholinergic activity. Methods: We evaluated SAI in 5 patients with schizophrenia and 5 healthy subjects. Results: The level of SAI was significantly lower in the patients with schizophrenia than in the controls (p=0.008). Conclusion: Our findings suggest involvement of central cholinergic neurotransmission in schizophrenia, which indicates a possible approach for treatment of cognitive dysfunction related to the disease.