Somatization disorder (SMD) is a chronic condition characterized by multiple complaints which are not due to any apparent organic illness but frequently involve pain. This study employs computer-aided imaging technologies to examine brain function in thousandths of a second (event-related brain potentials) and over a number of minutes (regional cerebral blood flow). Fourteen patients with SMD and 14 normal controls were investigated. Results from both studies suggest that patients with SMD have a dysfunction in the processes of attention, compared to normal controls.
Several studies have suggested that delays in the latency of the P300 ERP component are highly sensitive and specific to dementia and that ERP measurements may become a useful clinical tool in aiding diagnosis. This study examines the sensitivity of P300 measurements to dementia and addresses several methodological issues that limit previous research. Twenty-four patients with dementia diagnosed according to ICD-10 criteria were compared with 100 normal controls, 31 of whom were older than 60. An auditory oddball paradigm was employed to elicit the P300. Mean P300 latency did not differ significantly between the two groups. When individual subjects were examined only 13% of patients with dementia fell outside the two standard error band of the regression of P300 latency on age derived from controls. Thus, this study has not demonstrated clinically useful abnormalities of the P300 component in dementia.
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