Investigating the effectiveness of oral ketamine on pain, mood and quality of life in treatment resistant chronic pain.

Introduction: Chronic pain is defined as pain lasting longer than 3 months. This often causes persistent emotional distress and functional disability that is refractory to conventional treatments. Emerging evidence suggests that oral Ketamine therapy may have a specific role in managing treatment-resistant chronic pain.

A Pilot Study of Adolescents with Psychotic Experiences: Potential Cerebellar Circuitry Disruption Early Along the Psychosis Spectrum.

A berrant connectivity in the cerebellum has been found in psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia corresponding with cognitive and motor deficits found in these conditions. Diffusion differences in the superior cerebellar peduncles, the white matter connecting the cerebellar circuitry to the rest of the brain, have also been found in schizophrenia and high-risk states. However, white matter diffusivity in the peduncles in individuals with sub-threshold psychotic experiences (PEs) but not reaching the threshold for a definitive diagnosis remains unstudied.

Microstructural changes along the cingulum in young adolescents with psychotic experiences: An along-tract analysis.

Psychotic experiences (PEs) such as hallucinations and delusions are common among young people without psychiatric diagnoses and are associated with connectivity and white matter abnormalities, particularly in the limbic system. Using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in adolescents with reported PEs and matched controls, we examined the cingulum white matter tract along its length rather than as the usually reported single indivisible structure. Complex regional differences in diffusion metrics were found along the bundle at key loci following Bonferroni significance adjustment (p < .

Childhood Trauma, the HPA Axis and Psychiatric Illnesses: A Targeted Literature Synthesis.

Studies of early life stress (ELS) demonstrate the long-lasting effects of acute and chronic stress on developmental trajectories. Such experiences can become biologically consolidated, creating individual vulnerability to psychological and psychiatric issues later in life. The hippocampus, amygdala, and the medial prefrontal cortex are all important limbic structures involved in the processes that undermine mental health.

MRI volumetric changes in hippocampal subfields in psychosis: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The hippocampus has for long been known for its ability to form new, declarative memory. However, emerging findings across conditions in the psychosis spectrum also implicate its role in emotional regulation. Systematic reviews have demonstrated consistent volume atrophic changes in the hippocampus.

Blame it on the pump.

Although intrathecal pumps may lead to spinal symptoms that are likely related to the pump itself, the case presented herein underscores the importance of casting a broad differential diagnosis at the time of initial presentation.

Reduced hippocampal volume in adolescents with psychotic experiences: A longitudinal population-based study.

Aims: Smaller hippocampal volumes are among the most consistently reported neuroimaging findings in schizophrenia. However, little is known about hippocampal volumes in people who report psychotic experiences. This study investigated differences in hippocampal volume between young people without formal diagnoses who report psychotic experiences (PEs) and those who do not report such experiences.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy across chronic pain disorders: a systematic review protocol synthesising anatomical and metabolite findings in chronic pain patients.

Background: Chronic pain is pain greater than 3 months duration that may result from disease, trauma, surgery, or unknown origin. The overlap between the psychological, behavioural, and management aspects of pain suggest that limbic brain neurochemistry plays a role in chronic pain pathology. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) can evaluate in vivo brain metabolites including creatine, N-acetylaspartate, myo-inositol, choline, glutamate, glutamine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid in chronic pain; however, a comprehensive systemic review of metabolite expression patterns across all brain areas has yet to be performed.

Papez's Forgotten Tract: 80 Years of Unreconciled Findings Concerning the Thalamocingulate Tract.

The thalamocingulate tract is a key component of the Papez circuit that connects the anterior thalamic nucleus (ATN) to the cingulum bundle. While the other white matter connections, consisting of the fornix, cingulum bundle and mammillothalamic tract, were well defined in Papez's original 1937 paper, the anatomy of the thalamocingulate pathway was mentioned only in passing. Subsequent research has been unable to clarify the precise anatomical trajectory of this tract.

The Hippocampus in Depression: More Than the Sum of Its Parts? Advanced Hippocampal Substructure Segmentation in Depression.

Background: Hippocampal volume reduction is the most replicated finding in neuroimaging studies of major depressive disorder (MDD). Varying hippocampal volume definition is a well-established problem in this field. Given that hippocampal function can be mapped onto anatomically defined substructures and that detailed examination of substructure volumes is now possible, we examined different hippocampal composite measures in MDD to look for hippocampal markers of MDD.

A comprehensive regional neurochemical theory in depression: a protocol for the systematic review and meta-analysis of 1H-MRS studies in major depressive disorder.

Background: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a non-invasive analytical technique that investigates the presence and concentrations of brain metabolites. In the context of major depressive disorder (MDD), MRS has revealed regional biochemical changes in GABA, glutamate, and choline across different brain compartments. Technical and methodological advances in MRS data acquisition, in particular proton-based H-MRS, have resulted in a significant increase in the incidence of reports utilizing the technique for psychiatric disorder research and diagnosis.

Awakening Neuropsychiatric Research Into the Stria Medullaris: Development of a Diffusion-Weighted Imaging Tractography Protocol of This Key Limbic Structure.

The Stria medullaris (SM) Thalami is a discrete white matter tract that directly connects frontolimbic areas to the habenula, allowing the forebrain to influence midbrain monoaminergic output. Habenular dysfunction has been shown in various neuropsychiatric conditions. However, there exists a paucity of research into the habenula's principal afferent tract, the SM.