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The P3(00) event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by visual stimuli in two visual tasks were assessed in depressed patients (12 patients with major depression and 11 patients with bipolar disorder) and compared with those of 20 age-matched normal controls. At remission, the ERPs from 18 of the depressed patients were again recorded. The visual oddball (VO) paradigm presented both target and standard visual stimuli and the simple visual (SV) paradigm presented a target but no standard visual stimulus. Subjects performed the VO task significantly less accurately than the SV task, as reflected by the behavioral measures (reaction-time and task accuracy). Depressed patients of the bipolar group showed longer P3 peak latency for the VO task and no change in P3 amplitude. No significant differences were found in any other ERP component between the groups. During remission, slowing RTs and reduced P3 peak latencies were observed for both major depression and bipolar disorder groups. Thus, the P3 ERP may be an index of the contribution of the slowed central processing to psychomotor retardation in clinically homogenous samples of depressive patients performing an appropriately demanding task.

The Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI I) has been applied to four groups of patients with Eating Disorders (ED): Anorexic Bulimic Subtype (AB N = 22), Anorexic Restrictive Subtype (AR N = 36); Bulimic (B N = 51) and Other Eating Disorders (OED N = 15), according to the DSM III-R criteria. We have also applied the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40), the Beck Depression Inventory (13 items), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. During their hospital care, the patients have been treated by cognitive-behavioural therapy. The order or decreasing total scores in EDI at the admission is the B subtype, then the AR subtype, then the OED group. In total score, the B and AB improved more than the order groups, between their admission and a second assessment three months later. Body dissatisfaction, Drive for thinness and Interpersonnal distrust are the only subscales for which no group showed a statistical improvement after three months. The B group decreased more in the subscale, than the other groups, particularly in Interoceptive awareness, Ineffectiveness and bulimia.

We have compared the prevalence of Eating Disorders in a population of 69 out-patients with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus including a sample of diabetic young women (average year: 23 years) with two control populations (45 medicine out-patients and 54 girl students). The diabetic population didn't present no more eating disorders--measured by self-report questionnaires (EAT, BITE) than the control population. In a sample of 40 diabetic subjects--having participated in a diagnostic structured interview (LENTCA) based on DSM-III-R criteria: nobody has anorexia nervosa, one woman has bulimia nervosa, the lifetime prevalence of bulimia nervosa not otherwise specified was 21% for men and 43% for women. Bulimia Disorders--measured by self report questionnaire (BITE) and noncompliance were linked with poor glycemic control.

The use of Beck's cognitive therapy showed that some patients obtained no improvement. A few studies have enlightened some prospective factors in response to cognitive therapy. Therefore the purpose of this study is to elicit some M.M.P.I. profiles which could predict the outcome of the therapy. 51 patients were assessed before and after cognitive psychotherapy. Three groups of reactivity were obtained: the responders, partially responders and non responders.

Night-time melatonin secretion was measured in five depressed inpatients with seasonal affective disorder before and after 1-week of morning and evening exposure to bright (3000 lux) and dim (300 lux) light. Analysis of variance by ranks showed no differences in timing of melatonin secretion but statistically significant differences in plasma melatonin levels. There was a decrease of the area under the curve after bright light and a very robust rebound after exposure to dim light. The failure to constitute a parallel group of patients in a crossover design did not permit to control for an ordering effect of light exposure. These findings raise many questions concerning the diurnal sensitivity to different intensities of light in seasonal affective disorder.

There is an increasing incidence of neuro psychological impairment in Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome patients. It is now recognized by certain authors as a 50 per cent (Nollet D. 88). This leads to increasing number of studies. As the AIDS epidemic continue psychiatrists have to become more familiar with this type of manifestations. Five cases of acute onset of neuropsychiatric syndrome are described and compared to an overview of literature. The connection with direct HIV brain involvement is discussed.

Anhedonia, the loss of the capacity of feeling pleasure, was first introduced at the end of the last century by a French psychologist, Ribot, and has been the object of much research, essentially in English, for the last decades, in schizophrenia, in depression, in schizoid disorders. After considering the problems of quantitative evaluation, we review the literature and conclude that anhedonia appears to be a multi-morphological symptom and the are probably several types of anhedonia, which shows the necessity of developing more specific reliable evaluation instruments and of diversifying the approaches. We show the utility, in particular, of a psychophysiological approach using endogenous Evoked Potentials. Then several research directions in psychiatry are discussed: what place has anhedonia in the negative form of schizophrenia? Does anhedonia constitute a specific marker of certain endogenous depressions? Does it constitute a personality trait that predisposes to morbidity?

The aim of this work is to propose a therapeutic model for eating disorders. Among various techniques, emphasis is focused on the importance of the cognitive treatment for in and out patients' eating disorders.