LONGITUDINAL CLINICAL AND NEUROCHEMICAL STUDIES ON SCHIZOPHRENIC AND MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PSYCHOSES
SAMUEL BOGOCH M.D., PH.D.,
KARL T. DUSSIK M.D.,
CHRISTA FENDER M.D., , and
PETER CONRAN M.D.1
1 The Neurochemical Research Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, Mass.
Macromolecular glycolipids and glycoproteins of the nervous system itself are being investigated in terms of their chemical structure, histological localization, and physiological function. Parallel "doubleblind" clinical and quantitative neurochemical studies in psychiatric patients and controls have indicated a high degree of chemical individuation of these nervous system constituents, which may have relevance to individuality. In addition, distinctive patterns of these constituents have been observed in chronic brain syndrome, manic, depressive, and schizophrenic patients, and controls. These new quantitative methods provide a unique opportunity to study longitudinally primary correlations between neurochemical and clinical events in individual patients.
