Faculty Bibliography

Presents the N Scale from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (P

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is thought to result from nigrostriatal dopaminergic supersensitivity secondary to prolonged neuroleptic exposure. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that the opiate antagonist naloxone can acutely reverse a haloperidol-induced hyperdopaminergic state. In a trial of high-dose naloxone, 20 patients with TD received i.v. naloxone (20 mg, 40 mg, and placebo) under double-blind conditions. At baseline and at regular postdrug intervals, patients were evaluated using a battery of motor, clinical, and neuropsychological measures to study effects on neurological, behavioral, and cognitive functions. There was a significant improvement in involuntary movements at 30 min postnaloxone, together with improvement in clinical ratings at that time point, as well as some cognitive changes. The implications of these findings for the putative functional relationship between dopaminergic and enkephalinergic systems in the nigrostriatal area are discussed

The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was developed out of the need for a well-operationalized method of assessing these syndromes in schizophrenia, including their relationship to one another and to global psychopathology. We surveyed 82 acute and chronic schizophrenics to analyze the psychometric properties of the four PANSS scales. The interrater reliabilities were in the 0.80's, and significant correlations emerged with corresponding criterion measures. The PANSS positive and negative scales were inversely intercorrelated once their shared association with general psychopathology had been partialed out. The results support the scales' reliability, criterion-related validity, and construct validity, while cross-validating some of our previous findings