[A multidiscipline clinical and biological approach to the study of psychotic types of autistic spectrum disorders in children].

The current problem of heterogeneity of psychotic types of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) is reviewed. The authors present results of a multidiscipline psychopathological, pathopsychological, neurophysiological and immunological examination of 87 patients, aged from 3 to 14 years, with psychotic types of ASD: childhood psychosis (CP) and atypical childhood psychosis (ACP). Significant differences in clinical presentations of CP and ACP that were correlated with pathopsychological, neurophysiological and immunological disorders were found. These findings support different nosological entities of these types of ASD.

[Clinical and neurophysiological aspects of severe forms of autism in children].

The aim of the study was to elucidate fundamentals for the phenomenon of universality of childhood autism by comparison of clinical and neurophysiological features of its severest forms--children endogenous autism (CEA) and Rett's syndrome (RS). Each group included 20 patients. Both groups were similar by age-at-disease-onset, clinical appearances during the disease course and dynamics of psychopathological syndromes. The theta-rhythm is common for CEA and RS at the disease stage with marked signs of disease acuity, autism, regress and, therefore, may be regarded as a marker of severity and development delay. The universality of autism phenomenon in its severe forms was confirmed both at the clinical and neurophysiological levels.

[Typology of disordered eating behaviour (anorexia nervosa with bulimia and vomitomanic disturbances) in children and adolescents]. / Tipologiia narushenii pishchevogo povedeniia (nervnaia anoreksiia s bulimiei i vomitomanicheskimi rasstroistvami) u detei i podrostkov.

Eighty children (66 girls and 14 boys), aged 6-16 years, with syndrome of anorexia nervosa (AN) have been studied. Two nosologic groups: pathological age crisis of childhood and adolescence (F50.0-F50.2 in ICD-10)--30 patients and slow-progressive schizophrenia (schizotypical disorder, F21.3-F21.4)--50 patients are determined. The latter group was divided according to syndrome types: syndrome of AN (28 patients); AN syndrome with predominant bulimia (11 patients); AN syndrome with dominating bulimia and vomitomanic disturbances (11 patients). Syndrome structure was determined by the stages of the course, syntropy character with other psychopathological disorders and process of their reduction. Psychotic disorders in patients of the third type were most pronounced. In each group, statistically significant EEG features, comparing to control age-matched group, were revealed. The severer were psychopathological symptoms, the less was an amount of organized and the more--desynchronized "flat" EEG.

[An elevation in the level of autoantibodies to nerve-growth factor in the blood serum of schizophrenic children]. / Povyshenie urovnia autoantitel k faktoru rosta nervov v syvorotke krovi detei, bol'nykh shizofreniei.

The level of autoantibodies (AAB) to nerve growth factor (NGF) was examined in blood of mentally healthy children, children with early children schizophrenia as well as with Kanner's and Asperger's syndromes too. The elevated titer of AAB to NGF was determined in blood of children with acute, active state of disease; meanwhile the same titer wasn't changed in the state of stable remission or steady defective state as compared with control group. The correlation was found between the level of AAB to NGF and the degree of disease progression. The correlations which were revealed between AAB to NGF level and peculiarities of the clinical state of patients permitted to use this index as the objective marker of both the acuteness and the severity of the patient's state.

[The resonance EEG reactions in rhythmical photostimulation and the changes in functional status]. / Rezonansnye EEG-reaktsii pri ritmicheskoi fotostimuliatsii i izmeneniia funktsional'nogo sostoianiia.

Changes in EEG fine structure in the occipital areas, heart rate, and breath pattern were recorded in 10 male volunteers under photic stimulation with slowly varying frequency in the range of lower or higher EEG alpha-subbands. Self-ratings (on the scale SAN-self-assessment of state of health, activity, and mood) of the functional state, general activity, and mood were obtained before and after stimulation. EEG effects of such photostimulation were represented by the resonance EEG responses of discrete spectral EEG components, frequencies of which periodically coincided with varying rate of flashes. Resonance alpha-enhancement levels depended on the initial individual EEG alpha-voltage and stimulation frequency. Average changes in objective and subjective parameters did not differ between the conditions of lower and higher frequencies of stimulation but were significantly different and of opposite signs when the subjects gave higher and lower self-ratings of positive stimulation effect regardless of the stimulation frequency.

[The characteristics of the coordinated activity of functionally identified hypothalamic neurons under different motivational-emotional states]. / Osobennosti soglasovannoi deiatel'nosti funktsional'no identifitsirovannykh neironov gipotalamusa pri raznykh motivatsionno-émotsional'nykh sostoianiiakh.

Simultaneous impulse activity of pairs of neurons in hypothalamus was analysed in different natural functional states of rats (hunger, satiation after food deprivation, cry of a victim) and those induced by electrical stimulation of the emotionally positive (lateral hypothalamus, lateral preoptic area) and negative (dorso-medial tegmentum) reinforcing hypothalamic structures. Two classes of neurons were separated according to the pattern of their activity determined by the motivational state or reinforcement. Characteristic features were revealed in the patterns of conjugate activity of the functionally identified neurons. They were determined by the dominance of motivational or emotional component in the behaviour of an animal and manifested in a specificity of temporal delays in impulsation of one of the neurons in respect to the other one, in magnitude and number of positive and negative correlations. The results suggest the different ways of realization of the motivational and reinforcing hypothalamic influences mediated by the neurons of the motivational and reinforcing systems, on the cortical processes at different stages of learning which also differ in the balance between the motivational and emotional components of the animal behaviour.

[The clinical, neurophysiological and differential diagnostic aspects in a study of severe forms of early childhood autism]. / Klinicheskie, neirofiziologicheskie i differentsial'no-diagnosticheskie aspekty izucheniia tiazhelykh form rannego detskogo autizma.

Clinical, pathopsychological and neurophysiological studies have been carried out in 85 children with infantile autistic psychosis and in 38 girls with Rett's syndrome. New improved differential diagnostic criteria between these two forms of early childhood autism have been suggested. EEG spectral density values in alpha-1, alpha-2, beta and theta subbands are established to be their neurophysiological markers. Special attention was paid to close relationship between ontogenetic neuromorphogenesis of the brain cortical structures (e.g. physiological lysis of cortical cell populations at the age 8-30 months of the child's life) and the defect severity in the onset of illness at the same age range in patients with the studied forms of early childhood autism. The data obtained are discussed in terms of new approaches to understanding pathogenesis of different forms of early childhood autism.

[The clinical and neurophysiological aspects of Rett's syndrome]. / Klinicheskii i neirofiziologicheskii aspekty sindroma Retta.

36 children with Rett's syndrome were examined in respect to the illness stage and psychopathologic trends. It is supposed that relationship of EEG abnormalities to clinical stages reflects gradual involvement of different brain structures in the pathological process. Possibility of temporary interruptions in the disease progression is demonstrated.

[A cross-correlational analysis of the background neuronal pulse trains in surviving slices of the guinea pig neocortex]. / Krosskorreliatsionnyi analiz fonovoi impul'satsii neironov v perezhivaiushchikh srezakh neokorteksa morskoi svinki.

Cross-correlation analysis of interdependence of the background spike activity was carried out for pairs of adjacent neurons simultaneously recorded in the incubated slices of the neocortex of guinea-pig. Statistical correlation of spike discharges was detected in 16 out of 26 recorded pairs of the neurons. Significant correlation was observed mainly in the range of +/- 100 ms from the null point. Cross-correlation had symmetric or asymmetric maxima up to 150 ms long and negative shifts up to 200 ms long. More complex positive-negative types of cross-correlations were also obtained. The data were compared to those known from other authors for the intact brain. The contribution of intrinsic intracortical interactions and extrinsic afferent influences in these correlations of activity is discussed.

[Various neurophysiological aspects of examination of children with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome]. / Nekotorye neirofiziologicheskie aspekty issledovaniia detei s sindromom Zhilia de la Turetta.

EEG mapping was used to study the ECG and brain electric activity in 45 normal children and in 33 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. Significant differences were discovered in the test parameters in groups of patients and normal children as well as in subgroups of patients with different varieties of the syndrome. Analysis of the ECG has shown that 78% of children with typical Tourette's syndrome manifest neurovegetative regulation impairment in the form of bradycardia and cardiac arrhythmia. In tourette-like disorders within the framework of schizophrenia and encephalopathy and in normal test subjects, such alterations occur much more seldom. The data of the EEG mapping and analysis of spectral power of different rhythmic ranges attest to the existence of mainly nonspecific changes in the EEG common to all varieties of the syndrome. At the same time a tendency was recorded toward definite abnormalities in one or another patients' group. The data obtained can be of help for differential diagnosis of the syndrome under study.

[Cross-correlation analysis of the background activity of visual cortex cells separated by different distances in the alert rabbit]. / Krosskorreliatsionnyi analiz fonovoi aktivnosti raznoudalennykh kletok zritel'noi kory u bodrstvuiushchego krolika.

Values of correlation coefficients (CC) and forms of cross-correlation functions of impulse activity were studied in neurones recorded with one microelectrode or simultaneously with two sticked together microelectrodes with tangential distance between tips of 70 and 140 mcm. Three main types of cross-correlation functions were singled out differing by peaks form and modes positions. The greatest variety of forms and the greatest percentage of significantly correlated discharges of cellular pairs were found among the neurones recorded with one electrode. Mean CC of cells recorded with one electrode was significantly greater than mean CC of the neurones recorded with two microelectrodes. Comparison of the character of intercellular correlation with amplitudes of recorded spikes showed that discharges of neurones with greater amplitude mainly forestalled discharges of cells with low amplitude.

[Phasic reactions of visual cortex neurons to different conditions of stimulation with light flashes]. / Faznye reaktsii neironov zritel'noi kory na vspyshku sveta v raznykh usloviiakh stimuliatsii.

In experiments on rabbits in conditions of quiet wakefulness, most of the activation phases in responses of neurones in the visual cortex to diffuse light flashes set in independently of each other within two short time intervals after the stimulus: the early--20 to 40 ms and the late one--190 to 250 ms. In the after-effect of reticular stimulation changes concern mainly the nature of temporal distribution of late activation phases of the specific responses; the early phases do not undergo any substantial reorganization. In quiet wakefulness differences were found in the distribution of activation phases in neuronal responses of different cortical layers, not observed in the after-effect of reticular stimulation.