Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental ResearchVolume 10, Issue 3 p. 237-240 Assessment of Alcoholism-Related Organic Brain Syndromes with Positron Emission Tomography Jeannette L. Johnson PhD, Corresponding Author Jeannette L. Johnson PhD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.2 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies, Division of Intramural and Clinical Biological Research, Building 10, Room 3C-218. 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892.Search for more papers by this authorBryon Adinoff MD, Bryon Adinoff MD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorJean-Claude Bisserbe MD, Jean-Claude Bisserbe MD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorPeter R. Martin MD, Peter R. Martin MD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorDaniel Rio PhD, Daniel Rio PhD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorJohn W. Rohrbaugh PhD, John W. Rohrbaugh PhD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorElizabeth Zubovic, Elizabeth Zubovic National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorMichael J. Eckardt PhD, Michael J. Eckardt PhD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this author Jeannette L. Johnson PhD, Corresponding Author Jeannette L. Johnson PhD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.2 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies, Division of Intramural and Clinical Biological Research, Building 10, Room 3C-218. 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892.Search for more papers by this authorBryon Adinoff MD, Bryon Adinoff MD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorJean-Claude Bisserbe MD, Jean-Claude Bisserbe MD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorPeter R. Martin MD, Peter R. Martin MD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorDaniel Rio PhD, Daniel Rio PhD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorJohn W. Rohrbaugh PhD, John W. Rohrbaugh PhD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorElizabeth Zubovic, Elizabeth Zubovic National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorMichael J. Eckardt PhD, Michael J. Eckardt PhD National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies. Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this author First published: May 1986 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.1986.tb05082.xCitations: 8 Copyright © 7956 by The American Medical Society on Alcoholism and The Research Society on Alcoholism. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat REFERENCES 1 Horvath TB: Clinical spectrum and epidemiological features of alcoholic dementia, in JG Rankin (ed): Alcohol, Drugs and Brain Damage. Toronto , Addiction Research Foundation, 1975, pp. 1–16. 2 Wells CE: Diagnosis of dementia. Psychosomatics 20: 517–522, 1979. 3 Lishman WA: Cerebral disorder in alcoholism: Syndromes of impairment. 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Local cerebral uptake of deoxyglucose labeled with fluorine 18 was measured by positron emission tomography in 16 patients with schizophrenia and 11 patients with affective disorder. Patients received no medication a minimum of 14 days and an average of 39.8 days. The subjects were administered the deoxyglucose 18F just before receiving a 34-minute 1/s series of unpleasant electrical stimuli to the right forearm while resting with eyes closed in a darkened, acoustically attenuated psychophysiologic testing chamber. Following monitored stimulation in the controlled environment, subjects were scanned and images converted to values of glucose use in micromoles per 100 g per minute according to Sokoloff's model. Data were analyzed with a four-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with independent groups (normals, schizophrenics, and affectives) and repeated measures for slice level (supraventricular, midventricular, and infraventricular), hemisphere (right, left), and anteroposterior position (four sectors). Both normal subjects and patients showed a significant anteroposterior gradient in glucose use with highest values in the frontmost sector. Patients both with schizophrenia and with affective illness showed less of an anteroposterior gradient especially at superior levels, which was statistically confirmed by ANOVA. Absolute glucose levels in patients, which were actually higher in posterior regions rather than lower in frontal regions, were the largest contributors to the effect. Neither group differences in whole brain glucose use nor left-right asymmetries reached statistical significance. These results are consistent with our earlier reports of a relative hypofrontal function in schizophrenia compared with controls. This report extends this finding to affective illness, sharing a lack of diagnostic specificity with many biologic measures.

This chapter discusses the electrophysiological correlates of cognitive dysfunctions in psychiatric patients, including senile dementia. In psychiatric patients, many different features of the attentional processes have been reported to be deficient, including selective attention, vigilance, and switching attentional sets. Abnormalities of the motor system itself, including elevations in creatinine phosphokinease and pathological muscle fibers, have been reported and EMG studies of schizophrenics' reaction time suggest that peripheral factors may be important in differences previously held to be caused solely by central dysfunction. The evoked potential (EP) technique seems particularly appropriate for separating these differing central and peripheral attention factors and for localizing attentional deficits in particular cortical areas. By examining the sensory response at a neurophysiological level, using EP techniques, some of the methodological problems may be partially overcome. Tasks requiring little or no instructions on overt performance can be developed and the need for a motor response obliterated.