Biological psychiatry
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Biological psychiatry · Oct 1991
HLA DR2 in narcolepsy with sleep-onset REM periods but not cataplexy.
To determine the association of HLA DR2 in patients with narcolepsy without cataplexy, a case-control study was performed. Patients receiving the diagnosis of narcolepsy without cataplexy had excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and polysomnographic findings consistent with narcolepsy but no clinical evidence of cataplexy. Of 28 patients identified, 12 agreed to return for HLA typing. ⋯ The odds ratio obtained from logistic regression indicated a strong association between narcolepsy without cataplexy and HLA DR2. To control for potential confounding variables, multivariate models were constructed to explore the joint effects of HLA DR2 and each one of the covariates (age, sex, and race), their possible combinations, and the effect of all three covariates. The odds ratios decreased minimally and the association between the disease and HLA DR2 remained significant.
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Biological psychiatry · Oct 1991
Skin conductance orienting response in unmedicated RDC schizophrenic, schizoaffective, depressed, and control subjects.
In an evaluation of the skin conductance orienting response (SCOR) as a marker for schizophrenia, skin conductance (SC) activity was studied in 36 Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) schizophrenic (SCZ), 17 schizoaffective--mainly schizophrenic (SA), 24 depressed (DEP), and 25 psychiatrically well control (CONT) subjects. All subjects were unmedicated. Data are presented from four paradigms: a series of 1 s 70 dB tones in a no-task habituation paradigm; a similar series of 103 dB tones; a series of tones with a button-press (reaction time) task; and a loud white noise stimulus (without task). ⋯ SCZ subjects did not show increased responsivity to more intense and to task-relevant stimuli, although SA subjects did show such increases. DEP subjects showed some evidence of autonomic hyperarousal (higher tonic SC level, trend toward more spontaneous SC responses). The overall pattern of results does not support SCOR to neutral, moderate-intensity tones as a specific marker for schizophrenia, although there was some evidence for a generalized decrease in autonomic responsivity to stimuli.