ABSTRACT
Reduced perceptual span has been suggested to be a cognitive marker of vulnerability to schizophrenia. However, the specificity of this impairment in visual information processing to schizophrenia is not well established. This preliminary study examined perceptual span in schizophrenic and manic patients divided into subgroups with and without active symptomatology. Symptomatic patients had reduced span in comparison with less symptomatic groups, but there were no differences between schizophrenic and manic patients.
Subject(s)
Attention , Bipolar Disorder/psychology , Discrimination Learning , Form Perception , Pattern Recognition, Visual , Schizophrenic Psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The authors measured RBC choline level, plasma choline level, and renal concentrating ability in 26 lithium-treated patients, seven psychiatric control subjects, and seven normal control subjects. An analysis of variance revealed no significant relationship between renal concentrating ability and either RBC choline level or RBC/plasma choline ratio.
Subject(s)
Choline/blood , Erythrocytes/analysis , Kidney Concentrating Ability , Lithium/pharmacology , Mood Disorders/drug therapy , Adult , Aged , Erythrocytes/drug effects , Female , Humans , Kidney Concentrating Ability/drug effects , Lithium/therapeutic use , Male , Middle Aged , Mood Disorders/blood , Mood Disorders/urine , Osmolar Concentration , UrineABSTRACT
The presence of lateral ventricular enlargement in some manic-depressive subjects, as assessed by ventricular-brain ratios (VBRs), has been reported. A study of 27 bipolar patients and 27 individually matched normal controls confirmed that finding. Bipolar patients had significantly larger VBRs than did controls. Clinical measures associated with the presence of ventricular enlargement in the bipolar patients included more frequent hospitalizations and histories of persistent unemployment. Other measures of illness severity or social deterioration were not significantly associated with large VBR.
