Pre-treatment cortisol awakening response predicts symptom reduction in posttraumatic stress disorder after treatment.

Dysfunction of the HPA-axis has frequently been found in the aftermath of trauma exposure with or without PTSD. Decreasing HPA-axis reactivity to different stress cues has been reported during PTSD treatment. The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is a well-validated, standardized measure of HPA-axis reactivity which can be easily acquired in the clinical setting.

Frequently asked questions on epilepsy, pregnancy and lactation: a EURAP-NL report.

Purpose: To describe the questions addressed by participants and physicians to the International Registry of Antiepileptic Drugs and Pregnancy centre in The Netherlands (EURAP-NL).

Methods: All incoming questions during the study period were systematically inventoried. Characteristics of the inquirer, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) indicated, question topic, indication for which AEDs were (to be) prescribed, and timing of the question relative to pregnancy were evaluated.

Exaggerated brain activation during emotion processing in unaffected siblings of patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Schizophrenia is characterized by impaired social cognition, including emotion processing. Behavioral studies have reported impaired performance on various emotion processing tasks, and imaging studies in patients have observed aberrant activity within the underlying neural circuitry. Also, subjects at increased genetic risk of developing schizophrenia, including unaffected siblings of patients, show behavioral impairments in emotion processing.