Effect of propranolol and phenothiazines on electrodermal orienting and habituation in schizophrenia.
Bilateral electrodermal orienting responses were measured to repeated auditory stimuli in schizophrenic patients and controls. In 3 studies phasic activity to moderate intensity sounds of patients on no drugs or phenothiazines was predominantly hyper- or hypo-responsive. Controls showed moderate or slow habituation. Propranolol was found to facilitate habituation in slow habituators and to reinstate responses in half of non-responders, especially when given as the sole drug. The effects seldom had a counterpart in changes in non-specific responses or levels of skin conductance. Modulatory influences on stimulus and response processing and on lateral asymmetries in responses may underlie propranolol's efficacy in treating schizophrenia.
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D002746:Chlorpromazine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000187:drug effects*; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011433:Propranolol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D011433:Propranolol; D002746:Chlorpromazine