Brains for Dementia Research: Evolution in a Longitudinal Brain Donation Cohort to Maximize Current and Future Value.

Brain banking has a long and distinguished past, contributing greatly to our understanding of human neurological and psychiatric conditions. Brain banks have been operationally diverse, collecting primarily end stage disease, with variable quality clinical data available, yet it is now recognized the most informative brain donations are from those in longitudinally studied cohorts. The Brains for Dementia Research (BDR) cohort and program was for planned brain donation across five UK brain banks and one donation point, with standardized operating procedures, following longitudinal clinical and psychometric assessments for people with no cognitive impairment as well as those with dementia.

Ticking boxes or meaningful partnership - The experience of lay representation, participant and study partner involvement in Brains for Dementia Research.

Brains for Dementia Research is a planned brain donation project with serial assessments during life. Lay input helped conceive and shape Brains for Dementia Research and over time a growing number of lay volunteers have engaged with the project in almost all areas of activity. Lay representatives serve on the management and tissue banking committees, have spoken at recruitment and team events, and have reviewed all public and participant facing communications.

Factors affecting withdrawal and donation attrition in the brains for dementia research cohort.

Objectives: To measure two forms of attrition in a cohort of volunteer brain donors: Withdrawal during life and non-donation at death. To test whether cognitive impairment independently predicts attrition.

Method: Attrition rates were calculated for all registered participants and for all brain donors who had completed a baseline and follow-up assessment of cognition, health, and lifestyle.

A Descriptive Analysis of EtOH Intoxication in our Latino Trauma Patients: An Indication for a Preventive Program.

We sought to determine patterns of injury in our Latino trauma community targeting alcohol (EtOH) intoxication as an influential variable. With the information gained in our culturally specific and culturally sensitive trauma community, we can use the information to fine-tune our trauma preventive medicine programs. Trauma injuries are the third largest contributor to racial disparities in the United States.

A pilot study of potential brain donor satisfaction and attitudes towards telephone assessment.

Objective: Test the feasibility of assessing cognition, psychiatric symptoms and daily living skills of potential brain donors by telephone and compare satisfaction and attitudes across telephone and face-to-face assessment.

Method: Data were collected from 108 healthy participants from the Brains for Dementia Research cohort. Purposive sampling was used to assess feasibility and a randomised control trial design compared satisfaction and attitudes towards telephone and face-to-face assessment.

Immune signatures and disorder-specific patterns in a cross-disorder gene expression analysis.

Background: Recent studies point to overlap between neuropsychiatric disorders in symptomatology and genetic aetiology.

Aims: To systematically investigate genomics overlap between childhood and adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and major depressive disorder (MDD).

Method: Analysis of whole-genome blood gene expression and genetic risk scores of 318 individuals.

Delineating ADHD and bipolar disorder: A comparison of clinical profiles in adult women.

Objective: Overlapping symptoms can make the diagnostic differentiation of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder (BD) challenging in adults using current clinical assessments. This study sought to determine if current clinical measures delineate ADHD from BD in adults, comparing relative levels of ADHD, BD and emotional lability (EL) symptoms.

Methods: Sixty adult women with ADHD, BD or controls were compared on self-report and interview measures for ADHD symptoms, mania, depression, EL, and impairment.

European service perspectives for people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems.

Services for people with intellectual disabilities, in the UK as elsewhere, have changed dramatically over the last 30 years; deinstitutionalisation has probably been the largest experiment in social policy in our time. The vast majority of people with intellectual disabilities, their families and carers have benefited from having a better quality of life as a result of deinstitutionalisation. However, much still needs to be done to integrate this population more into society and to ensure they are offered the appropriate supports to meet their needs.

Assessment of mental health problems in people with intellectual disabilities.

Although it is widely accepted that individuals with intellectul disabilities face an increased vulnerability to developing mental health problems, there is currently a lack of agreement about the most appropriate form of assessment. When applied to people with intellectual disabilities, there is no consensus about which problems should be included in the term "mental health problem," and identifying mental illness is far from straightforward. The adoption of standardized classification systems assumes that individuals with intellectual disabilities have adequate linguistic skills and they present mental health problems in the same way as members of the general population.

Referral trends in mental health services for adults with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders.

Researchers have paid increasing attention to mental health issues in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) over the last decades. However, little is known about how rates of clinical referrals, types of mental health diagnoses and treatment in adults with ASDs and intellectual disability have changed. We examined patterns of change in referral trends to specialist mental health services in south London from 1983 to 2000 (N = 137).

Multiple exposure to life events and clinical psychopathology in adults with intellectual disability.

Background: Relatively few studies have examined the impact of life events on mental health in the field of intellectual disability (ID), despite the possibility that adults with ID and mental health problems might be particularly vulnerable to multiple events.

Aims: To examine the impact of multiple life events on mental health in people with ID.

Method: The sample consisted of 281 men and women with ID consecutively referred to a specialist mental health service in South-East London.

Behaviour management problems as predictors of psychotropic medication and use of psychiatric services in adults with autism.

We examined behaviour management problems as predictors of psychotropic medication, use of psychiatric consultation and in-patient admission in a group of 66 adults with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and intellectual disability (ID) and 99 controls matched in age, gender and level of ID. Overall, people with PDD had higher rates of most DAS behaviour problems and more frequent use of anti-psychotics than matched controls. Logistic regression analyses showed that physical aggression and problems such as pestering staff independently predicted use of anti-psychotics.

Psychopathology in adults with autism and intellectual disability.

There have been few studies of psychopathology in adult with autism. This study examined psychiatric co-morbidity in 147 adults with intellectual disability (ID) and autism and 605 adults with ID but without autism. After controlling for the effects of gender, age, psychotropic medication and level of ID, people with autism and ID were no more likely to receive a psychiatric diagnosis than people with ID only.

Descriptive psychopathology in people with mental retardation.

This article considers variables associated with the presence of a psychiatric diagnosis in those referred to a specialist mental health service for people with mental retardation (MR). Data were collected on 752 newly referred clients. The presence of a psychiatric diagnosis was assessed by two psychiatrists based on International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, criteria.