A highly accurate symmetric optical flow based high-dimensional nonlinear spatial normalization of brain images.

Spatial normalization plays a key role in voxel-based analyses of brain images. We propose a highly accurate algorithm for high-dimensional spatial normalization of brain images based on the technique of symmetric optical flow. We first construct a three dimension optical model with the consistency assumption of intensity and consistency of the gradient of intensity under a constraint of discontinuity-preserving spatio-temporal smoothness.

Investigating microbleeding in cerebral ischemia rats using susceptibility-weighted imaging.

Purpose: To detect the distribution and prevalence of cerebral microbleeding (CMB) in rats after acute ischemic stroke using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI).

Method: After middle cerebral artery occlusion, 3T MR scanning was performed on 10 rats at 4h and 24h after ischemia. T2-weighted images (T2WI), T2 maps and diffusion-weighted images (DWI) were generated to estimate the severity of the brain ischemia.

Testing the drug substitution switching-addictions hypothesis. A prospective study in a nationally representative sample.

Importance: Adults who remit from a substance use disorder (SUD) are often thought to be at increased risk for developing another SUD. A greater understanding of the prevalence and risk factors for drug substitution would inform clinical monitoring and management.

Objective: To determine whether remission from an SUD increases the risk of onset of a new SUD after a 3-year follow-up compared with lack of remission from an SUD and whether sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric disorders, including personality disorders, independently predict a new-onset SUD.

Achieving cannabis cessation -- evaluating N-acetylcysteine treatment (ACCENT): design and implementation of a multi-site, randomized controlled study in the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network.

Despite recent advances in behavioral interventions for cannabis use disorders, effect sizes remain modest, and few individuals achieve long-term abstinence. One strategy to enhance outcomes is the addition of pharmacotherapy to complement behavioral treatment, but to date no efficacious medications targeting cannabis use disorders in adults through large, randomized controlled trials have been identified. The National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network (NIDA CTN) is currently conducting a study to test the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) versus placebo (PBO), added to contingency management, for cannabis cessation in adults (ages 18-50).

Automated assessment of the quality of diffusion tensor imaging data using color cast of color-encoded fractional anisotropy images.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data often suffer from artifacts caused by motion. These artifacts are especially severe in DTI data from infants, and implementing tight quality controls is therefore imperative for DTI studies of infants. Currently, routine procedures for quality assurance of DTI data involve the slice-wise visual inspection of color-encoded, fractional anisotropy (CFA) images.

Frequency of reporting of adverse events in randomized controlled trials of psychotherapy vs. psychopharmacotherapy.

Background: Psychopharmacology and psychotherapy are the two main therapies in mental health. It is common practice to consider adverse events (AEs) of medications, but it's not clear this occurs with psychotherapy.

Aim: This study investigates the frequency with which reports of AEs occur in clinical trials using either psychopharmacology alone, psychotherapy alone, or combined approaches.

Genetic variation in brain-derived neurotrophic factor val66met allele is associated with altered serotonin-1A receptor binding in human brain.

Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) regulates brain synaptic plasticity. BDNF affects serotonin signaling, increases serotonin levels in brain tissue and prevents degeneration of serotonin neurons. These effects have hardly been studied in human brain.

Variability in the prevalence of adult ADHD in treatment seeking substance use disorder patients: results from an international multi-center study exploring DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria.

Background: Available studies vary in their estimated prevalence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in substance use disorder (SUD) patients, ranging from 2 to 83%. A better understanding of the possible reasons for this variability and the effect of the change from DSM-IV to DSM-5 is needed.

Methods: A two stage international multi-center, cross-sectional study in 10 countries, among patients form inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment centers for alcohol and/or drug use disorder patients.

Antiretroviral medication: an emerging category of prescription drug misuse.

Background And Objectives: Prescription drug abuse has been a focus of public health concern over the past two decades with many studies addressing patterns of narcotic analgesic abuse and diversion. Most research in this domain has centered on controlled substances with known abuse liability. However, the scientific literature has been virtually silent regarding other prescribed medications with previously undocumented addictive potential, such as antiretroviral (ARV) medications for treatment of human immunodeficiency virus.

Modulation of motor cortex excitability in obsessive-compulsive disorder: an exploratory study on the relations of neurophysiology measures with clinical outcome.

Low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to supplementary motor area (SMA) showed clinical benefit in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here we tested whether clinical improvement was associated with enhanced cortical inhibition as measured by single and paired-pulse TMS variables. In 18 OCD patients receiving 4 weeks of either active or sham rTMS in a double-blind randomized trial, we assessed bilateral resting and active motor thresholds (RMT and AMT), cortical silent period (CSP), short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF).

Gender differences in lifetime alcohol dependence: results from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions.

Background: An extensive clinical literature has noted gender differences in the etiology and clinical characteristics of individuals with alcohol dependence (AD). Despite this knowledge, many important questions remain.

Methods: Using the 2001 to 2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (n = 43,093), we examined differences in sociodemographic characteristics, psychiatric and medical comorbidities, clinical correlates, risk factors, and treatment-utilization patterns of men (N = 2,974) and women (N = 1,807) with lifetime AD.

Perinatal depression--the fourth inflammatory morbidity of pregnancy?: Theory and literature review.

Perinatal depression is one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. The biological etiology of this disorder remains in question, despite considerable research into the contributions of hormonal imbalance, the role of monoamines, and dysregulation of the HPA axis. Because inflammation is known to be associated with major depression in men and non-perinatal women as well as with other important morbidities of pregnancy (such as preeclampsia, preterm birth, and gestational diabetes), and because these morbidities may correlate with perinatal depression, inflammation may be a common physiological pathway that can also help explain perinatal depression.

Role of hippocampal neurogenesis in mnemonic segregation: implications for human mood disorders.

Objectives: Although hippocampal neurogenesis has been implicated in mood disorders, the precise role new neurons play in mood regulation is not fully elucidated. Here we examine whether neurogenesis improves mood by facilitating segregation of novel experiences that conflict with older maladaptive memories.

Methods: Study 1: Four groups (N = 9 each) of adult male rats (exposed to stress or control conditions plus antidepressant or placebo) underwent active training on the place-avoidance task (PAT) on week 0; tested on recalling the "Initial PAT" on weeks 4 and 8; learning a subtly "Altered PAT" on week 8; and euthanazed on week 9.

Mental health of African Americans and Caribbean blacks in the United States: results from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

Objectives: Previous epidemiological studies have found lower mood, anxiety, and substance use disorder prevalence in Black Americans, in general, compared with White Americans. We estimated the prevalence and persistence of psychiatric disorders in African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and non-Hispanic Whites.

Methods: We drew data from wave 1 (2001-2002) of the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions, a nationally representative sample of US adults, which included 7529 African Americans, 469 Caribbean Blacks, and 24 502 non-Hispanic Whites.

Acculturation and drug use disorders among Hispanics in the U.S.

The authors' objective was to examine the relationship between degree of acculturation across five different dimensions of acculturation and risk of drug use disorders (DUD) among US Hispanics. Data were derived from a large national sample of the US adult population, the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, collected using face-to-face interviews. The sample included civilian non-institutionalized U.

Randomized sham controlled trial of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for the treatment of panic disorder with comorbid major depression.

Background: In an open-label trial low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) significantly improved symptoms of panic disorder and major depression. Here we present data of a randomized double-blind study.

Methods: Twenty-five patients were assigned 4 weeks of active or sham rTMS to the right DLPFC.

Adapting parent-child interaction therapy to treat anxiety disorders in young children.

Anxiety disorders are prevalent in children 7 years and younger; however, these children generally do not possess developmental skills required in cognitive behavior treatment. Recent efforts have adapted parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), originally developed for disruptive and noncompliant behavior, for young children with anxiety. This article reviews the principles underlying PCIT and the rationale for adapting it to target anxiety symptoms.

Cognitive behavior therapy for the anxiety triad.

This article presents an overview of the existing, as well as newly developed, cognitive behavior therapy methods for treating the child anxiety triad (separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and social phobia). For each disorder of the triad, the authors review diagnostic criteria, clinical presentation, disorder-specific treatment methods and innovations, and future directions for research.

A Virtual Radial Arm Maze for the Study of Multiple Memory Systems in a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Environment.

An increasing number of functional brain imaging studies are employing computer-based virtual reality (VR) to study changes in brain activity during the performance of high-level psychological and cognitive tasks. We report the development of a VR radial arm maze that adapts for human use in a scanning environment with the same general experimental design of behavioral tasks as that has been used with remarkable effectiveness for the study of multiple memory systems in rodents. The software platform is independent of specific computer hardware and operating systems, as we aim to provide shared access to this technology by the research community.

Impulsivity in the general population: a national study.

Objective: The construct of impulsivity is an important determinant of personality differences, psychiatric disorders, and associated risk-taking behaviors. Most existing knowledge about impulsivity comes from clinical samples. To date, no study has estimated the prevalence of impulsivity and examined its correlates in the general population.