Autonomie responsivity following closed head injury.

It has recently been suggested that certain posttraumatic head injury patients exhibit impaired central nervous system arousal mechanisms, which may underlie or contribute to subsequent behavioral and cognitive disturbance. The present study examined skin conductance levels and responsivity in a group of 15 patients recovering from closed head injuries (CHIs) with 15 matched controls. Measurements were taken during rest periods and two activation periods. Activation periods consisted of 1) a series of 80 dB tones; and 2) a cognitive task (Symbol Digit Modalities Test). Patients exhibited significantly lower levels of skin conductance and significantly fewer responses than the control group. Group by task interactions were also significant, indicating that the control group was much more responsive during both activation periods. Skin conductance responsivity in the patient group was not found to be associated with duration of posttraumatic amnesia, behavioral disturbance, or attentional functioning, suggesting that the relationship between decreased autonomic arousal and cognitive or behavioral disturbance following CHI may be coincidental.

The effects of behavior modification vs lithium therapy on frontal lobe syndrome.

An A-B-BC-C single-subject design was used to evaluate the effects of behavior modification (i.e. a token economy program) and lithium therapy on the behavioral symptoms associated with frontal lobe damage in a 21-year-old woman. The design consisted of a baseline, token economy, token economy plus lithium, lithium alone and a 4 month follow-up. There was a significant decrease in inappropriate behaviors after treatment with the token economy program, but no additional change was noted in subsequent phases involving lithium therapy. There was evidence of generalization and maintenance in the home environment, even after lithium therapy was discontinued. The results do not support the use of a combined treatment approach.

Literacy skills of long-term hospitalized mental patients.

The authors tested 48 patients who had lived in a state psychiatric hospital for extended periods to determine their literacy levels. Measures used were the reading test portion of the Adult Basic Learning Examination (ABLE) and selected questions from the Adult Performance Level (APL) test, which attempts to assess competencies necessary to function effectively in society. Nearly half of the patients scored at the fourth-grade level or below on the ABLE, and their scores on the APL were well below norms for other groups. No correlation was found between number of years of hospitalization and test performance. From the findings the authors conclude that both in-hospital and aftercare programs must recognize that literacy level is an important factor in the the rehabilitation or recidivism of patients.

Rat brain and serum lithium concentrations after acute injections of lithium carbonate and orotate.

Eight hours after intraperitoneal injections of 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0m equiv Li kg-1, the serum and brain lithium concentrations of rats were significantly greater after lithium orotate than after lithium carbonate. While little serum lithium remained at 24 h after injection of 2.0 m equiv kg-1 lithium carbonate, two-thirds of the 2 h serum lithium concentration was present 24h after lithium orotate. Furthermore, the 24 h brain concentration of lithium after lithium orotate was approximately three times greater than that after lithium carbonate. These data suggest the possibility that lower doses of lithium orotate than lithium carbonate may achieve therapeutic brain lithium concentrations and relatively stable serum concentrations.