- Email: [email protected]
163. SSRI agents normalize autonomic dysregulation in PTSD patients
48S
Thursday Abstracts
BIOLPSYCHIATRY 1998;43:1S-133S
160. EFFECT OF GONADAL’ STEROIDS ON HYPOTHALAMIC-PITUITARY-ADRENAL (HPA) AXIS FUNCTION
significant improvements in rnmd (Bexk Depression Inventory, P=0.005)~d anxiety(Spielbger STAI,P=O.03).Mechanismswhich may explain improvementin cognitiveperformanceand reductionsin mooddisturbancefollowingpsychostimularrttreatmentare discussed.
C.A. Rocal, M. Altemus2, P.J. Schmidtl, P. Deuste#, P. Gold4, D.L. Murphy5 & D.R. Rubinowl
162. MANAGEMENT OF SOMATIZATION
IBehavioralEndocrinologyBranch,NIMH,BethesdaMD 20892; ‘Departmentof Psychiatry,CornellUniversity,New YorkNY 10021; 3UniformedServicesUniversityof the HealthSciences,BethesdaMD 20814;4ClinicalNeumendocrinology Branch,NJMH,BethesdaMD 20892;‘Laboratoryof ClinicrdSciences,NIMH,BethesdaMD 20892 This study investigatesthe individualeffects of hypogonadismand gonadalsteroidreplacementon HPAaxis timctionin healthymale and femalevolunteers.Subjectsparticipatein an exercisestresstestunderthe followingconditions:1) Women(n = 8) - GnRHagonist (GnRH-A) induced hypogonadism,GnRH-A plus estradiol, and GrrRH-Aplus progesterone;2) Men(n = 6) - GrrRH-AplusplaceboandGnRH-Aplus testosterone. The treadmill exercise stress provides a reproducible, quantifiablestressor. During the test, the intensity of the exercise is increasedover 20 minutesuntil subjectsreach 90% of their maximal exerciseconsumption(V02 max).Bloodfor hormonelevelsis drawnat 10 minuteintervals.Results are analyzedby ANOVA-Rand post-hoc Bonfemonit tests. Preliminaryresults in womenindicatea significwt hormoneconditionx time effect (p
161. TREATMENT RESPONSE OF COGNITION AND BEHAVIOR IN ADULT ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER J.A. Norstrand, C.G. Kohler, P.J. Moberg, R.E. Gur & R.C. Gur Brain BehaviorLaboratory,Departmentof Psychiatry,Universityof Pennsylvania,PA 19104 The recentawarenessof continuedattentionaldiftlcultiesintoadulthood arguesthe needfor researchon the effectof psychostimuhrtmedication in AttentionDeficitDisorder(ADD).Ten adultADDsubjects,6 males and 4 females, were diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria, and underwentcomprehensiveneuropsychiatricandneuropsychological testing. Atler initial testing, subjects were treated with psychostimulant medicationover a 12 monthperiod.Repeatrreuropsychologicsl assessment was performedon selectedattentionaland controlmeasureswhen subjectiveimprovementwasreportedonthe ClinicalGlobalRatingScale (CGI).Repeatedmeasuresanalysesrevealedsignificantimprovementon measuresof attention(CPT-VIG:reaction time, p= O.04),of memory (CVLT:Monday1-5,P<0.001; short delay,P=O.O1;semanticclustering,pcO.01)andcategoricalreasoning(BookletCategoryTest,P=O.02), whereascontrolvariables(WAIS-R:Arithmeticand BlockDesign)did not change betweenpre and post testing. Secondaryanalysis sbowed
D. Servan-Schreiber UPMC,ShadysidePittsburgh,PA 15232 Patientswith somatoformconditionsconsumea large amountof health care resources, fmm which they benefit little if at all. Patients with somatizationdisorder incur nine times more health care costs than averagepatients.Yet, theyconstituteas mucbas 3 to 5% of the primary care population(9% of in-patients).Thoughsomatizationhas a long history in psychiatry,most biologicalpsychiatristsfeel ill-equippedto treat such patients or advise their primarycare colleaguesabout management.A review of the literature points to interventionswith good empirical support.Firat, patients shouldhave regular visits with their @rWY C= physician that are not contingent on developingnew symptoms.Thisreducescostsof careby at least50%.Second,individual cognitive-behaviortherapy (CBT)focusingon amplificationof syrnptorna,irrational fear of disease, and effects on behavior does reduce symptoms,improvetlmctioninganddecreasecosts.Tirid, groupCBT provideabenefits comparableto individualcognitivetherapy and haa beenwell-acceptedby patientsin primarycare. Fourth,as muchas 90% of patientswithsomatizationdisorderahavebeenfoundto havea lifetime history of major depressive disorder, suggestinga possible role for antidepressanttherapy. Evidence-baaedintementionsfor sornatoform disorders are now available and should become a routine aspect of psychiatricconsultationsand care.
163. SSRI AGENTS NORMALIZE AUTONOMIC DYSREGULATION IN PTSD PATIENTS H. Cohen, M. Kotler, U. Loewenthal, M. Matar & Z. Kaplan MentalHealthCenter,Anxiety& StressResearchUnit, Facultyof HealthSciences,Ben GurionUniversityof the Negev,Beer-Sheva Israel Background:Spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) haa recentlybeen shownto be a reliable noninvasivetest for quantitative assessmentof cardiovascularautonomicregulatoryresponses,providing a dynamicmap of sympatheticand parasympathetictone. Alterationsin autonomicfunction we associated with a variety of physiologicand pathophysiologicprocessesand may contributesubstantiallyto morbidity and mortality. Our previousstudyof PTSDpatientsshowsthat they had significantly lower HRV comparedto controls, reflecting a basal autonomicstate characterizedby increasedsympatheticand decreasedparasympathetic tone.Thepresentstudyset outto applythis toolto PTSDpatientstreated with SSRIagents,in orderto assessthe relationshipbetweenHRVand clinicalrvsponse. Methods: Standardized heart rate analysiswas carriedout in nine FTSD
patientstreatedwitlrSSRI’Sagentscomparedto a matchedcontrolgroup of nine healthy vohurttma, and compared to nine mrfreatedPT’SD patients,basedon a 15minuterecordingof ECGwhileresting.
Thursday Abstracts
Results: Our preliminaryresults showthat the HRVparametersindicat-
ing autonomicdysregulation,which characterize FIWD patients, are normalizedby use of SSRI’S.Neitherthe clinicalimplicationsof these findings, nor their physiologicalmechanisms are clear at present, althoughwe presumethat they reflect a centraleffect,as the peripheral automaticeffects of SSRI’Sare relativelynegligible.
164. NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING IN BIPOLAR AND SCHIZOPHRENIA GROUPS C.G. Kohler, C.L. Swanson, J.D. Ragland, R.E. Gur & R.C. Gur BrainBehaviorLaboratory,Departmentof Psychiatry,Universityof Pennsylvania,PA 19104 Schizophreniaand bipolar disorder are commonpsychiatriciilnesses with similar symptomatology,which emerge in young adulthoodand tend to run a life-longcourse.In an effort to advancethe understanding of neurobiologicaldifferences,we compareda biprh group(n= 11)to a schizophreniagroupmatchedfor certaindemographicvariables(age, sex, race, durationof illness and education).Subjectswere diagnosed according to DSM-fV criteria baaed on the Structured Diagnostic Interview (SCID: First et al.1995) and underwenta comprehensive researchevaluationincludingpsychiatricratingsandneuropsychologicrd evaluationperformedby trainedandexperiencedpsycfriaticand neuropsychologicaltesters.Bipolarand schizophreniagroupswere compared withrespectto neuropsychological performancestandardizedto a healthy controlgroup.Testsof Analysisof Variance(ANOVAs)wereperformed on neuropsychologicalperformanceusing bipolar and schizophrenia ~oups as independentvariables and the followingdomain scores as dependentvariables:abstraction,attention,verbalmemory,spatialmemOrY,language,spatial abilities, sensoryand motoric.On neuropsychological performsmcebipch and schizophreniagroups differed in the domainof languageonly,wherethe schizophrenia@oupperformedmore poorly than the nonschizophreniagroup. The difference in language functionwillbe furtherexploredby separatingthevariousSubtestswhich comprisethe globalscore.
165. CALLOSAL SIGNAL INTENSITY AND TREATMENT-NAIVE PEDIATRIC OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
BIOLPSYCHIATRY 1998;43:1S-133S
49s
(.994+.006) at F(,,S7)=4.73; P=.036. This abnorrnafityin S1 was localizedto the genu region connectingventral PFC and striatum,the anteriorgenufor tfreOCDgroup(.991+.007)”whichwas also less than control (.995+.007) at F(1:37)=5.47; p=.025, with no abnormality observedin middleor posteriorgenuregions.GenuS1was alsoinversely correlatedwithOCDsymptomseverity(r = -.55,p=.013) butnotillness duration.GenuS1correlatedpositivelywithgenuarea (r= .52,p=.020) in OCDpatientsbutnotcontrols.Increasedgenumyelinationobservedin OCDpatientsmayaltersignaltmnaductionandfinction of VPFC-striataf circuitry.
166. DEVELOPMENT OF A NEUROTENSIN AGONIST CROSSING THE BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER B. Cusackl, B. M. Tylerl, A. Fauq2, D. McCormick, B. Lacyl & E. Richelsonl *Neuropsychopharmacology and 2NeuroehemistryResearch,Mayo Foundationfor MedicalEducationand Research,Jacksonville,Florida 32224;3MayoProteinCore Facility,MayoClinic,Rochester, Minnesota55595 The tridecapeptide,neurotensin(NT), is found in the centraf nervous systemas well as in the gastrointestinaltract. Manyof its physiological propertiesare similar to those exhibitedby atypical neuroleptics.We havefoeusedon developinga NT analogthat will cross the bloodbrain barrierandremainresistantto peptidases.Ourpreviousstructureactivity studiesrevealedthe importanceof stericbulk constraintsat position11 of the parentneurotensin(8-13).Particularly,with respeetto the human formof the NT receptor,we foundthat the bindingof NT anafogswere sensitiveto stericbulkchangesandalignmentat position11of theparent neurotensin(8-13)hexapeptide.We report the synthesis of a novel hexapeptidebaaedon the parentneurotensin(8-13)witha ~ of 7 rrMat the clonedhighaffinityhumanNT receptor,whileat the rat NT receptor the ~ = 0.6 rrM.Intraperitoneal(i.p.) administrationof this NT anafog resultedin dramaticbody temperatureloweringand antinociceptionat dosesas lowas 0.5mg/kgin rata.At 1mg/kgdose,ratsexhibiteda potent analgesicandhypothermiceffect.Usinga cutofftimeof 30see(hotplate latency),maximumphysiologicaleffect at this dose was 100%for up to 2 hoursafter administration.Bodytemperaturelowering(rectaftemperature) was greaterthan -2.5°Cfrom 20- 120rninu~s after ip administration.These phannacologicafand behavioralresults, demonstratethe NT agonistpropertiesof this hexapeptideand provide supportfor its potentialuse as an atypicalneuroleptic.(Supportedby MayoFoundation and U.S.P.H.S.grant MH27692from N.I.M.H.)
F.P. Mac Masterl, D.R. Rosenberg, M.S. Keshavan2, E.L. Dick2 & W.W. Bagwe112 ‘WayneState UniversitySchoolof Medicine,Detroit,MI and ‘Universityof PittsburghMedicalCenter,Pittsburgh,PA., USA Obsessivecompulsivedisorder (oCD) is a prevalentand chronically disablingdisorderusuallyemergingduringchildhood.Previously,significantanatomicabnormalitieswerefoundin the corpuscallosum(CC) regionconnectingventralprefrorrtaJcortex(VPFC)and shiatum(genu) in treatment-naivepediatric OCD patients comparedto controls.We hypothesizedthat this abnormalitymightrefleet aberrantmyelinization. We examinedCC signalintensity(S1),an indexof myelinizationof the CC.We comparedthe S1fromrnidsagittalmagneticresonanceimagesof 21 treatment-naiveOCDpatients,7.2-17.7years, and 21 case-matched healthycontrolsto examineregionalCC signrdintensityof the anterior, middfeand posteriorgenu,body,isthmus,and the anterior,middfeand the posterior splenii. Merm total genu S1 for the patient group (.993+.006) was significantlyless than the total genu S1 of controls
167. CONTEXTUAL EFFECTS IN THE ABILITY OF ADHD ADULTS TO PROCESS VISUAL STIMULI D. Feifel, E. Granholm, T. Reza, W. Perry, A. Sarkin & J. Sprock Universityof California,San Diego,La Jolla, CA 92093 Difficultypayingattentionto details and a tendencyto be distractedby saJient environmentalstimuli are characteristics of ADHD patients (DSM-IV)whichmayleadto impairmentsin attendingto variousaspects of complexhierarchically-organized visual stimuli.To test this hypoth-
Thursday Abstracts
BIOLPSYCHIATRY 1998;43:1S-133S
160. EFFECT OF GONADAL’ STEROIDS ON HYPOTHALAMIC-PITUITARY-ADRENAL (HPA) AXIS FUNCTION
significant improvements in rnmd (Bexk Depression Inventory, P=0.005)~d anxiety(Spielbger STAI,P=O.03).Mechanismswhich may explain improvementin cognitiveperformanceand reductionsin mooddisturbancefollowingpsychostimularrttreatmentare discussed.
C.A. Rocal, M. Altemus2, P.J. Schmidtl, P. Deuste#, P. Gold4, D.L. Murphy5 & D.R. Rubinowl
162. MANAGEMENT OF SOMATIZATION
IBehavioralEndocrinologyBranch,NIMH,BethesdaMD 20892; ‘Departmentof Psychiatry,CornellUniversity,New YorkNY 10021; 3UniformedServicesUniversityof the HealthSciences,BethesdaMD 20814;4ClinicalNeumendocrinology Branch,NJMH,BethesdaMD 20892;‘Laboratoryof ClinicrdSciences,NIMH,BethesdaMD 20892 This study investigatesthe individualeffects of hypogonadismand gonadalsteroidreplacementon HPAaxis timctionin healthymale and femalevolunteers.Subjectsparticipatein an exercisestresstestunderthe followingconditions:1) Women(n = 8) - GnRHagonist (GnRH-A) induced hypogonadism,GnRH-A plus estradiol, and GrrRH-Aplus progesterone;2) Men(n = 6) - GrrRH-AplusplaceboandGnRH-Aplus testosterone. The treadmill exercise stress provides a reproducible, quantifiablestressor. During the test, the intensity of the exercise is increasedover 20 minutesuntil subjectsreach 90% of their maximal exerciseconsumption(V02 max).Bloodfor hormonelevelsis drawnat 10 minuteintervals.Results are analyzedby ANOVA-Rand post-hoc Bonfemonit tests. Preliminaryresults in womenindicatea significwt hormoneconditionx time effect (p
161. TREATMENT RESPONSE OF COGNITION AND BEHAVIOR IN ADULT ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER J.A. Norstrand, C.G. Kohler, P.J. Moberg, R.E. Gur & R.C. Gur Brain BehaviorLaboratory,Departmentof Psychiatry,Universityof Pennsylvania,PA 19104 The recentawarenessof continuedattentionaldiftlcultiesintoadulthood arguesthe needfor researchon the effectof psychostimuhrtmedication in AttentionDeficitDisorder(ADD).Ten adultADDsubjects,6 males and 4 females, were diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria, and underwentcomprehensiveneuropsychiatricandneuropsychological testing. Atler initial testing, subjects were treated with psychostimulant medicationover a 12 monthperiod.Repeatrreuropsychologicsl assessment was performedon selectedattentionaland controlmeasureswhen subjectiveimprovementwasreportedonthe ClinicalGlobalRatingScale (CGI).Repeatedmeasuresanalysesrevealedsignificantimprovementon measuresof attention(CPT-VIG:reaction time, p= O.04),of memory (CVLT:Monday1-5,P<0.001; short delay,P=O.O1;semanticclustering,pcO.01)andcategoricalreasoning(BookletCategoryTest,P=O.02), whereascontrolvariables(WAIS-R:Arithmeticand BlockDesign)did not change betweenpre and post testing. Secondaryanalysis sbowed
D. Servan-Schreiber UPMC,ShadysidePittsburgh,PA 15232 Patientswith somatoformconditionsconsumea large amountof health care resources, fmm which they benefit little if at all. Patients with somatizationdisorder incur nine times more health care costs than averagepatients.Yet, theyconstituteas mucbas 3 to 5% of the primary care population(9% of in-patients).Thoughsomatizationhas a long history in psychiatry,most biologicalpsychiatristsfeel ill-equippedto treat such patients or advise their primarycare colleaguesabout management.A review of the literature points to interventionswith good empirical support.Firat, patients shouldhave regular visits with their @rWY C= physician that are not contingent on developingnew symptoms.Thisreducescostsof careby at least50%.Second,individual cognitive-behaviortherapy (CBT)focusingon amplificationof syrnptorna,irrational fear of disease, and effects on behavior does reduce symptoms,improvetlmctioninganddecreasecosts.Tirid, groupCBT provideabenefits comparableto individualcognitivetherapy and haa beenwell-acceptedby patientsin primarycare. Fourth,as muchas 90% of patientswithsomatizationdisorderahavebeenfoundto havea lifetime history of major depressive disorder, suggestinga possible role for antidepressanttherapy. Evidence-baaedintementionsfor sornatoform disorders are now available and should become a routine aspect of psychiatricconsultationsand care.
163. SSRI AGENTS NORMALIZE AUTONOMIC DYSREGULATION IN PTSD PATIENTS H. Cohen, M. Kotler, U. Loewenthal, M. Matar & Z. Kaplan MentalHealthCenter,Anxiety& StressResearchUnit, Facultyof HealthSciences,Ben GurionUniversityof the Negev,Beer-Sheva Israel Background:Spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) haa recentlybeen shownto be a reliable noninvasivetest for quantitative assessmentof cardiovascularautonomicregulatoryresponses,providing a dynamicmap of sympatheticand parasympathetictone. Alterationsin autonomicfunction we associated with a variety of physiologicand pathophysiologicprocessesand may contributesubstantiallyto morbidity and mortality. Our previousstudyof PTSDpatientsshowsthat they had significantly lower HRV comparedto controls, reflecting a basal autonomicstate characterizedby increasedsympatheticand decreasedparasympathetic tone.Thepresentstudyset outto applythis toolto PTSDpatientstreated with SSRIagents,in orderto assessthe relationshipbetweenHRVand clinicalrvsponse. Methods: Standardized heart rate analysiswas carriedout in nine FTSD
patientstreatedwitlrSSRI’Sagentscomparedto a matchedcontrolgroup of nine healthy vohurttma, and compared to nine mrfreatedPT’SD patients,basedon a 15minuterecordingof ECGwhileresting.
Thursday Abstracts
Results: Our preliminaryresults showthat the HRVparametersindicat-
ing autonomicdysregulation,which characterize FIWD patients, are normalizedby use of SSRI’S.Neitherthe clinicalimplicationsof these findings, nor their physiologicalmechanisms are clear at present, althoughwe presumethat they reflect a centraleffect,as the peripheral automaticeffects of SSRI’Sare relativelynegligible.
164. NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING IN BIPOLAR AND SCHIZOPHRENIA GROUPS C.G. Kohler, C.L. Swanson, J.D. Ragland, R.E. Gur & R.C. Gur BrainBehaviorLaboratory,Departmentof Psychiatry,Universityof Pennsylvania,PA 19104 Schizophreniaand bipolar disorder are commonpsychiatriciilnesses with similar symptomatology,which emerge in young adulthoodand tend to run a life-longcourse.In an effort to advancethe understanding of neurobiologicaldifferences,we compareda biprh group(n= 11)to a schizophreniagroupmatchedfor certaindemographicvariables(age, sex, race, durationof illness and education).Subjectswere diagnosed according to DSM-fV criteria baaed on the Structured Diagnostic Interview (SCID: First et al.1995) and underwenta comprehensive researchevaluationincludingpsychiatricratingsandneuropsychologicrd evaluationperformedby trainedandexperiencedpsycfriaticand neuropsychologicaltesters.Bipolarand schizophreniagroupswere compared withrespectto neuropsychological performancestandardizedto a healthy controlgroup.Testsof Analysisof Variance(ANOVAs)wereperformed on neuropsychologicalperformanceusing bipolar and schizophrenia ~oups as independentvariables and the followingdomain scores as dependentvariables:abstraction,attention,verbalmemory,spatialmemOrY,language,spatial abilities, sensoryand motoric.On neuropsychological performsmcebipch and schizophreniagroups differed in the domainof languageonly,wherethe schizophrenia@oupperformedmore poorly than the nonschizophreniagroup. The difference in language functionwillbe furtherexploredby separatingthevariousSubtestswhich comprisethe globalscore.
165. CALLOSAL SIGNAL INTENSITY AND TREATMENT-NAIVE PEDIATRIC OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
BIOLPSYCHIATRY 1998;43:1S-133S
49s
(.994+.006) at F(,,S7)=4.73; P=.036. This abnorrnafityin S1 was localizedto the genu region connectingventral PFC and striatum,the anteriorgenufor tfreOCDgroup(.991+.007)”whichwas also less than control (.995+.007) at F(1:37)=5.47; p=.025, with no abnormality observedin middleor posteriorgenuregions.GenuS1was alsoinversely correlatedwithOCDsymptomseverity(r = -.55,p=.013) butnotillness duration.GenuS1correlatedpositivelywithgenuarea (r= .52,p=.020) in OCDpatientsbutnotcontrols.Increasedgenumyelinationobservedin OCDpatientsmayaltersignaltmnaductionandfinction of VPFC-striataf circuitry.
166. DEVELOPMENT OF A NEUROTENSIN AGONIST CROSSING THE BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER B. Cusackl, B. M. Tylerl, A. Fauq2, D. McCormick, B. Lacyl & E. Richelsonl *Neuropsychopharmacology and 2NeuroehemistryResearch,Mayo Foundationfor MedicalEducationand Research,Jacksonville,Florida 32224;3MayoProteinCore Facility,MayoClinic,Rochester, Minnesota55595 The tridecapeptide,neurotensin(NT), is found in the centraf nervous systemas well as in the gastrointestinaltract. Manyof its physiological propertiesare similar to those exhibitedby atypical neuroleptics.We havefoeusedon developinga NT analogthat will cross the bloodbrain barrierandremainresistantto peptidases.Ourpreviousstructureactivity studiesrevealedthe importanceof stericbulk constraintsat position11 of the parentneurotensin(8-13).Particularly,with respeetto the human formof the NT receptor,we foundthat the bindingof NT anafogswere sensitiveto stericbulkchangesandalignmentat position11of theparent neurotensin(8-13)hexapeptide.We report the synthesis of a novel hexapeptidebaaedon the parentneurotensin(8-13)witha ~ of 7 rrMat the clonedhighaffinityhumanNT receptor,whileat the rat NT receptor the ~ = 0.6 rrM.Intraperitoneal(i.p.) administrationof this NT anafog resultedin dramaticbody temperatureloweringand antinociceptionat dosesas lowas 0.5mg/kgin rata.At 1mg/kgdose,ratsexhibiteda potent analgesicandhypothermiceffect.Usinga cutofftimeof 30see(hotplate latency),maximumphysiologicaleffect at this dose was 100%for up to 2 hoursafter administration.Bodytemperaturelowering(rectaftemperature) was greaterthan -2.5°Cfrom 20- 120rninu~s after ip administration.These phannacologicafand behavioralresults, demonstratethe NT agonistpropertiesof this hexapeptideand provide supportfor its potentialuse as an atypicalneuroleptic.(Supportedby MayoFoundation and U.S.P.H.S.grant MH27692from N.I.M.H.)
F.P. Mac Masterl, D.R. Rosenberg, M.S. Keshavan2, E.L. Dick2 & W.W. Bagwe112 ‘WayneState UniversitySchoolof Medicine,Detroit,MI and ‘Universityof PittsburghMedicalCenter,Pittsburgh,PA., USA Obsessivecompulsivedisorder (oCD) is a prevalentand chronically disablingdisorderusuallyemergingduringchildhood.Previously,significantanatomicabnormalitieswerefoundin the corpuscallosum(CC) regionconnectingventralprefrorrtaJcortex(VPFC)and shiatum(genu) in treatment-naivepediatric OCD patients comparedto controls.We hypothesizedthat this abnormalitymightrefleet aberrantmyelinization. We examinedCC signalintensity(S1),an indexof myelinizationof the CC.We comparedthe S1fromrnidsagittalmagneticresonanceimagesof 21 treatment-naiveOCDpatients,7.2-17.7years, and 21 case-matched healthycontrolsto examineregionalCC signrdintensityof the anterior, middfeand posteriorgenu,body,isthmus,and the anterior,middfeand the posterior splenii. Merm total genu S1 for the patient group (.993+.006) was significantlyless than the total genu S1 of controls
167. CONTEXTUAL EFFECTS IN THE ABILITY OF ADHD ADULTS TO PROCESS VISUAL STIMULI D. Feifel, E. Granholm, T. Reza, W. Perry, A. Sarkin & J. Sprock Universityof California,San Diego,La Jolla, CA 92093 Difficultypayingattentionto details and a tendencyto be distractedby saJient environmentalstimuli are characteristics of ADHD patients (DSM-IV)whichmayleadto impairmentsin attendingto variousaspects of complexhierarchically-organized visual stimuli.To test this hypoth-