Adverse Side Effects of Psychotropic Medication and Challenging Behavior: Pilot Work Assessing Impact.

Psychotropic medications are often prescribed to reduce challenging behavior in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Functional analyses (FAs) have demonstrated utility in assessing medication impact on behavior; however, the impact of adverse side effects (ASE) on challenging behavior is under-assessed. The purpose of this study was to develop a methodology, similar to FAs, to explore potential medication ASE impact on challenging behavior in seven individuals with IDD.

Assessing the Impact of Psychotropic Medication Changes on Challenging Behavior of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.

Objective: The use of psychotropic medication to address challenging behavior in individuals diagnosed with intellectual disabilities is common practice; however, very few studies have examined how multiple medication use (or combination treatment) impacts the behaviors these medications are prescribed to treat.

Method: The current study followed eight individuals over a two-year period as they experienced changes in their psychotropic medication regimens. During that time, data from functional analyses and indirect assessments of challenging behavior were collected.

Photosystem I - based biohybrid photoelectrochemical cells.

Photosynthesis is the process by which Nature coordinates a tandem of protein complexes of impressive complexity that function to harness staggering amounts of solar energy on a global scale. Advances in biochemistry and nanotechnology have provided tools to isolate and manipulate the individual components of this process, thus opening a door to a new class of highly functional and vastly abundant biological resources. Here we show how one of these components, Photosystem I (PSI), is incorporated into an electrochemical system to yield a stand-alone biohybrid photoelectrochemical cell that converts light energy into electrical energy.