RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Schizophrenics show deficits in sensorimotor gating, as measured by prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle (PPI). The goal of this investigation is to further characterize PPI and habituation deficits in schizophrenia, and to examine whether differing subgroups of schizophrenics would show comparable PPI deficits. METHODS: PPI was measured in 24 male schizophrenic subjects (9 acutely decompensated inpatients and 15 stable outpatients) and in 20 age-matched normal control subjects. Schizophrenic subjects were rated for positive and negative symptoms at the time of testing. RESULTS: Schizophrenic subjects showed deficits in prepulse inhibition and habituation as compared to normal subjects. Similar latency facilitation was produced by the prepulse in both groups. Acutely decompensated inpatients and stable outpatients did not differ in percent PPI. PPI did not correlate with severity of positive or negative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that schizophrenic subjects have impaired central inhibitory mechanisms as measured by PPI, and support the hypothesis that periods of relative clinical remission are not accompanied by normalization of sensorimotor gating.
Asunto(s)
Estimulación Acústica , Habituación Psicofisiológica , Reflejo de Sobresalto , Esquizofrenia/fisiopatología , Enfermedad Aguda , Adulto , Análisis de Varianza , Biomarcadores , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Enfermedad Crónica , Electromiografía , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Inhibición Proactiva , Escalas de Valoración Psiquiátrica , Índice de Severidad de la EnfermedadRESUMEN
Oxytocin (OT) is a neurosecretory nonapeptide synthesized in hypothalamic cells, which project to widely distributed sites in the CNS as well as the neurohypophysis. Central OT affects a variety of cognitive, grooming, affiliative, sexual, and reproductive behaviors in animals. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) includes a range of cognitive and behavioral symptoms that bear some relationship to dimensions of behavior associated with OT. Anecdotal data and a recently completed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) study provide evidence that some forms of OCD are related to OT dysfunction. Based on these findings, we hypothesize: 1) that some forms of OCD are at the extreme end of a range of normal behaviors that are mediated by OT and related systems; and that 2) some normal cognitive, affiliative, and sexual behaviors contain elements that are similar to features of OCD. Alternative hypotheses are considered, and a series of predictions are presented concerning the relationship between central OT and the onset, course, treatment response, and response to challenge procedures seen in this form of OCD.