Additionally, motor adverse effects of antipsychotic treatment can not be considered as isolated physical side effects, but have severe implications for other aspects of the patients’ well-being. The results also suggest that objectively measured parameters of motor performance represent the influences of motor Ion Channel Ligand Library price disturbances on subjective well-being Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical much more closely than the expert rating, the ESRS. Thus, the use of quantitative methods in the assessment of motor disturbances of schizophrenicpatients might be very useful and promising. How can motor disturbances be measured? Most studies on psychomotor performance in schizophrenic patients have restricted their work

to the assessment of motor disturbances by using clinical ratings, such as the ESRS,16 the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS),18 the Barnes Akathisia Scale“ (BAS),19 and others.

Almost, all clinical trials on antipsychotic treatment, have used one or more of these clinical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical ratings for the detection of motor side effects. More Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical specific studies on psychomotor disturbances in schizophrenic patients additionally used clinical observations and ratings of the performance of special motor tasks. For example, a common test for subtle psychomotor disturbances and disturbed motor coordination in schizophrenic patients is the performance of diadochokinetic movements. This is tested by asking

the patient, to alternate between pronation and supination of the hand. Motor disturbances in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical schizophrenic patients can also be detected by analyzing the patient’s handwriting, as shown by Haase as early as the 1950s in his tests of the effects of neuroleptic treatment, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical on writing.20 Some authors have observed clinical pictures of gait, disturbances in schizophrenic patients. However, despite the high frequency of dysfunctional motor performance in schizophrenic patients, very few studies have attempted to quantify these disturbances by using an objective method.21,22 The lack of studies on quantitatively measured spatial and temporal parameters of motor performance in schizophrenic patients is mirrored by the lack of knowledge on the pathogenesis of motor disturbances in psychiatric Oxymatrine diseases in general. In this context, we introduced a three-dimensional ultrasonic movement, analysis system into our investigations on psychiatric disorders. Three-dimensional ultrasonic movement analysis In our studies, spatial and temporal parameters were assessed with the Zebris CMS70P; MA70P3 system (Zebris Medical Systems, Tubingen, Germany). This three-dimensional movement analysis system can be flexibly used in the assessment, of spatial and temporal parameters of various movements. We used it, mainly for the analysis of gait and hand movements.