Publications by authors named "A N Voineskos"
Background: Given the widespread adoption of smartphone technologies, digital health strategies to address schizophrenia spectrum disorders hold considerable promise. However, there are relatively few trials of digital health interventions for schizophrenia. The App for Independence (A4i) is a multi-function digital platform co-designed by people with schizophrenia, their families, and service providers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Schizophrenia (SCZ) shows differences in brain structure and symptoms between men and women, suggesting distinct neurobiological factors linked to sex.
- The study analyzed MRI data from nearly 6,000 participants to explore the effects of sex and diagnosis on the shape of deep brain regions in individuals with SCZ compared to healthy controls.
- Results indicated that women with SCZ had more pronounced shape abnormalities than men, but there were no significant interactions between diagnosis and sex, highlighting the need for further exploration of sex-related differences in schizophrenia's neurobiology.
Article Synopsis
- Older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at increased risk for cognitive decline, making effective interventions crucial.
- This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of combining cognitive remediation (CR) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on cognitive decline in older adults with remitted MDD (rMDD) and/or MCI.
- Results indicated that this intervention slowed cognitive decline over time but did not lead to immediate improvements in cognition after 2 months.
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) Treatment Reduces Variability in Brain Function in Schizophrenia: Data From a Double-Blind, Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial.
Christin Schifani Colin Hawco Zafiris J Daskalakis Tarek K Rajji Benoit H Mulsant Aristotle N Voineskos
Schizophr Bull
October 2024
Article Synopsis
- There is growing awareness that differences in brain function among individuals can significantly impact the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatments for schizophrenia.
- A study analyzed data from a clinical trial where participants received either active or sham rTMS targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex while performing a working memory task.
- The findings indicated that active rTMS increased brain activity in the left DLPFC and reduced individual variability in activation patterns, which was connected to better attention performance.
Article Synopsis
- This study examined the neural connections associated with depressive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum disorders using data from neuroimaging and a trial of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).
- By analyzing the data, three distinct functional brain circuitry patterns were identified that correspond to different symptom profiles: a general depressive factor, a factor for negative symptoms, and a guilt-related depression factor.
- The findings highlight the complexity of these symptoms and suggest that rTMS can effectively reduce general depressive symptoms, but not those specifically related to guilt or negative symptoms.