Despite predictions that neuroscientific discoveries would revolutionize psychiatry, decades of research have not yet led to clinically significant advances in psychiatric care. For this reason, an increasing number of researchers are recognizing the limitations of a purely biomedical approach in psychiatric research. These researchers call for reevaluating the conceptualization of mental disorders and argue for a non-reductionist approach to mental health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychological trauma is highly prevalent among psychiatric disorders, however, the relationship between trauma, neurobiology and psychopathology is not yet fully understood. The cerebellum has been recognized as a crucial structure for cognition and emotion, however, it has been relatively ignored in the literature of psychological trauma, as it is not considered as part of the traditional fear neuro-circuitry. The aim of this review is to investigate how psychological trauma affects the cerebellum and to make conclusive remarks on whether the cerebellum forms part of the trauma-affected brain circuitry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Individuals with Substance Use Disorders (SUD), are vulnerable to the psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first study to assess risk factors of adverse mental health outcomes during lockdown in a SUD population.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted through an online survey that was completed by 303 individuals with SUD, attended in the Addiction Unit of University of Barcelona Clínic Hospital.
Cannabis is the third most used psychoactive substance worldwide. The legal status of cannabis is changing in many Western countries, while we have very limited knowledge of the public health impact of cannabis-related harms. There is a need for a summary of the evidence of harms and risks attributed to cannabis use, in order to inform the definition of cannabis risky use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground-The cerebellum has been recently suggested as an important player in the addiction brain circuit. Cannabis is one of the most used drugs worldwide, and its long-term effects on the central nervous system are not fully understood. No valid clinical evaluations of cannabis impact on the brain are available today.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCannabis is the most used illicit substance in the world. As many countries are moving towards decriminalization, it is crucial to determine whether and how cannabis use affects human brain and behavior. The role of the cerebellum in cognition, emotion, learning, and addiction is increasingly recognized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMitochondria are a major target for aging and are instrumental in the age-dependent deterioration of the human brain, but studying mitochondria in aging human neurons has been challenging. Direct fibroblast-to-induced neuron (iN) conversion yields functional neurons that retain important signs of aging, in contrast to iPSC differentiation. Here, we analyzed mitochondrial features in iNs from individuals of different ages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTyrosine kinases are important regulators of synaptic strength. Here, we describe a key component of the synaptic vesicle release machinery, Munc18-1, as a phosphorylation target for neuronal Src family kinases (SFKs). Phosphomimetic Y473D mutation of a SFK phosphorylation site previously identified by brain phospho-proteomics abolished the stimulatory effect of Munc18-1 on SNARE complex formation ("SNARE-templating") and membrane fusion Furthermore, priming but not docking of synaptic vesicles was disrupted in hippocampal -null neurons expressing Munc18-1 Synaptic transmission was temporarily restored by high-frequency stimulation, as well as by a Munc18-1 mutation that results in helix 12 extension, a critical conformational step in vesicle priming.
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