[Concentration of attention and learning processes in patients with schizophrenic psychosis. Part I. Attention disorders]. / Procesy koncentracji uwagi i uczenia sie u pacjentów z rozpoznaniem psychozy schizofrenicznej. Czesc I. Zaburzenia uwagi.

Test of the ability to focus attention on the task at hand revealed attention deficits in each group of patients under study. The decision taking time in simple reaction test was longest in schizophrenic patients, significantly longer then in patients with affective disorder. It was also fund that chronic schizophrenics performed relatively better in the vigilance test then patients hospitalized for the first time.

[Concentration of attention and learning processes in patients with schizophrenic psychosis. Part II. Process of acquisition of verbal material]. / Procesy koncentracji uwagi i uczenia sie u pacjentów z rozpoznaniem psychozy schizofrenicznej. Czesc II. Procesy zapamietywania materialu werbalnego.

All examined patient groups did worse in tests of auditory acquisition of new verbal material than healthy controls. Long term schizophrenic patients scored lower in these tests than those hospitalized for the first time.

[Evaluation of psychomotor agility during the period of withdrawal symptom dissipation in patients with alcohol dependence type 1 and 2 or Cloninger's]. / Ocena sprawnosci psychomotorycznej w okresie ustepowania objawów abstynencyjnych u pacjentów z uzaleznieniem od alkoholu typu 1 i 2 wg Cloningera.

28 alcohol dependent men were examined three times (on the 1st, 3rd or 4th and 7th day of withdrawal). The results confirmed the reported differences in the course of withdrawal syndrome in type 1 and type 2 alcoholics. Patients with type 2 alcoholism had more pronounced psychophysiological and cognitive disturbances. Tremor was more intensive in these patients and their reaction time was slower. Also, impaired estimation of passing time lasted longer, but at the same time their mood improved faster with the diminished intensity of withdrawal symptoms than in patients with type 1 alcoholism. The results confirm the possibility of diverse etiology in alcohol dependence.

[The comparison of psychophysiological tension between patients with neurotic depression and healthy subjects]. / Porównanie napiecia psychofizjologicznego u osób z psychogennym zespolem depresyjnym i u osób zdrowych.

It seems possible that lability of psychophysiological tension measured by W index indicates psychogenic etiology of the depressive syndrom.

[Assessment of changes in physiological status of alcohol-dependent patients in the course of 10-day detoxication treatment]. / Ocena zmiany stanu fizjologicznego pacjentów uzaleznionych od alkoholu w okresie 10-dniowego leczenia detoksykacyjnego.

Heart rate, respiratory rate, postural muscle tone and tapping in 14 alcohol dependent patients (type II ac. Cloninger) during 10 days of detoxification were investigated. Despite subjective mood increased, no longer observed were tachycardia and clinical symptoms of alcohol withdrawal; increased muscle tonus and faster respiration rhythm were observed. The observed physiological changes in alcohol dependent patients after 10 days of abstinence suggest that continuation of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy after detoxification in acute alcohol withdrawal is recommended.

[Psychophysiological characteristics and metabolic indices of neurotransmitter metabolism in patients ill with endogenous depression]. / Cechy psychofizjologiczne a wskazniki metaboliczne przemiany substancji przekaznikowych u chorych z depresja endogenna.

Research was conducted upon 28 patients with a diagnosis of endogenous depression after their pharmacological treatment with imipramine or chlorimipramine. The investigation considered the interrelationship between psychophysiological parameters (heart rate, respiration rhythm, postural muscular tension) and the indices of the cholinergic and adrenergic systems (kinetic parameters of choline transport in the blood; Vmax, the activity of plasmic pseudocholinesterase, Che; blood acetylcholinesterase AChE, monoaminoxidase in blood platelets, MAO; and dopamine beta hydroxylase DBH). The results indicate that during relapse of endogenous depression there occurs an imbalance in the cholinergic-adrenergic systems which may be the result of some somatic symptoms typically found in the depression syndrome. The appearance, after pharmacotherapy, of a correlation between the indices of the activity of the cholinergic system with the respiratory rhythm suggest that the part played by the cholinergic mechanism in the regulation of autonomic processes normalizes itself during the course of successful therapy. The appearance of characteristic correlations between the activity of the cholinergic and adrenergic systems and the psychophysiological parameters in the presence of relatively low psychological stress seems to accompany successful treatment with imipramine and chlorimipramine.

[The analogous self-rating scale of affect as a tool in the assessment of change of clinical status of patients with endogenous depression syndrome. A comparison with the Hamilton depression scale]. / Analogowa skala samooceny nastroju jako narzedzie do oceny zmian stanu klinicznego chorych z endogennym zespolem depresyjnym. Porównanie ze skala depresji Hamiltona.

The authors compare the results of the analogous self-rating scale of affect with self report of affect (Hamilton Scale) in 57 patients with depression during the course of affective disorder. The ASRA seems to be particularly useful in the assessment of improvement in patients with slight or moderate depression.

Activity of some enzymes in the cortex of the cat with pretrigeminal brainstem transection.

The visual and somatic sensory cortex were investigated. The activity of acetylcholinesterase and lactate dehydrogenase was similar in the pretrigeminal and non-operated cats. The activity of these two enzymes, as well as that of choline acetyltransferase, butyrylcholinesterase and acid phosphatase was similar 3 and 8 h after the pretrigeminal transection. Results support the possibility of utilizing the pretrigeminal cat for investigations of biochemical correlates of learning.

Sleep-waking cycle in the cerveau isolé cat.

The experiments were performed on ten chronic low cerveau isolé cats: in eight cats the brain stem transection was prepontine and in two cats, intercollicular. The preparations survived from 24 to 3 days. During 24-36 hr sessions the ECoG activity was continuously recorded, and the ocular and ECoG components of the orienting reflexes to visual and olfactory stimuli were studied. 2. Three periods can be recognized in the recovery process of the low cerveau isolé cat. They are called acute, early chronic and late chronic stages. The acute stage lasts 1 day and the early chronic stage seems to last 3 weeks at least. During the acute stage the ability to desynchronize the EEG, either spontaneously or in response to sensory stimulations, is dramatically impaired and the pupils are fissurated. Thus the cat is comatous. 4. During the early chronic stage, although the ECoG synchronization-desynchronization cycle and the associated fissurated myosis-myosis cycle already exist, the episodes of ECoG desynchronization occupy only a small percentage of time and usually develop slowly. Visual and olfactory stimuli are often ineffective. Thus the cat is semicomatous. In the late chronic stage the sleep-waking cycle is present. The animal can be easily awakened by visual and olfactory stimuli. The intensity of the ECoG arousal to visual stimuli and the distribution of time between alert wakefulness, drowsiness, light synchronized sleep and deep synchronized sleep are similar to those in the chronic pretrigeminal cat. The recovery of the cerveau isolé seems to reach a steady level when the sleep-waking cycle becomes similar to that present in the chronic pretrigeminal cat. During the whole survival period the vertical following reflex is abortive.

Chronic pretrigeminal and cerveau isolé cats.

Ten pretrigeminal and ten cerveau isole cats were observed chronically. During 24-36 h sessions EEG activity was continuously recorded and the EEG and ocular responses to visual and olfactory stimuli were studied. In the pretrigeminal cat acute and chronic stages were distinguished, and in the cerveau isole, acute, "early chronic" and "late chronic" stages. During the acute stage, the pretrigeminal cat is continuously awake, whereas the cerveau isole is comatose. During the "early chronic stage", which lasted at least about 3 weeks, the cerveau isole is semicomatose. During the chronic stage in the pretrigeminal cat and the "late chronic stage" in the cerveau isole, the sleep-waking cycle is present. In both preparations alert wakefulness, drowsiness, light .synchronized sleep and deep synchronized sleep occupy, respectively, about 30 percent, 45 percent, 15 percent and 10 percent of the time. Thus, synchronized sleep is strikingly reduced in comparison with an intact cat, while desynchronized sleep is absent.