Effectiveness of a Video-Based Intervention on Reducing Perceptions of Fear, Loneliness, and Public Stigma Related to COVID-19: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

During the first peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, we investigated the impact of digital interventions to reduce COVID-19 related fear, loneliness, and public stigma. We recruited and randomly assigned 988 United States residents to: 1) no intervention 2) informational sheet to learn about COVID-19, 3) (2) AND video encouraging digital social activity, 4) (2) AND video sensitizing to COVID-19 related stigma (registered in Clinicaltrials.gov).

Transgender Women's Barriers, Facilitators, and Preferences on Tailored Injection Delivery Strategies to Administer Long-Acting Injectable Cabotegravir (CAB-LA) for HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).

Long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) is in advanced stages of clinical trials. Under the standard protocol, CAB-LA is injected into the gluteal muscle by a healthcare provider every eight weeks. To explore transgender women's barriers and facilitators to tailored delivery strategies-including self-injection and injection in "drop-in" centers-we completed in-depth interviews with N = 15 transgender women in New York City.

Pharmacologic interventions for antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of trials using the Arizona sexual experience scale.

Background: Despite the prevalence of antidepressant-related sexual side effects, comparisons of treatments for these problematic side effects are lacking.

Methods: To address this, we performed a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis to compare interventions for antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction in adults. Using PubMed and clinicaltrials.

Author Correction: Divergence in the metabolome between natural aging and Alzheimer's disease.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Behavioral and neurobiological effects of GnRH agonist treatment in mice-potential implications for puberty suppression in transgender individuals.

In the United States, ~1.4 million individuals identify as transgender. Many transgender adolescents experience gender dysphoria related to incongruence between their gender identity and sex assigned at birth.

Divergence in the metabolome between natural aging and Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and debilitating neurodegenerative disorder and one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Although amyloid plaques and fibrillary tangles are hallmarks of AD, research suggests that pathology associated with AD often begins 20 or more years before symptoms appear. Therefore, it is essential to identify early-stage biomarkers in those at risk for AD and age-related cognitive decline (ARCD) in order to develop preventative treatments.

Prescription psychostimulants for the treatment of stimulant use disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Rationale: Agonist-based pharmacologic intervention is an accepted approach in treatment of opioid and tobacco use disorders.

Objectives: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate usefulness of an agonist approach as treatment of (psycho)stimulant use disorder (PSUD).

Methods: We reviewed PubMed/Medline, LILACS, and ClinicalTrials.

Forty-five years later: the challenge of optimizing assertive community treatment.

Purpose Of Review: Assertive Community Treatment is an established evidenced based practice that provides intensive community treatment for individuals with severe mental illness with recurrent hospitalizations and/or homelessness. Emerging evidence indicates limitations in its implementation in terms of to the original ACT model and its current relevance.

Recent Findings: Findings from recent studies (2018-2020) reveals challenges with implementation centered around basic implementation activities, such as changes in the psychosocial context of individuals with SMI, clinicians' abilities to demonstrate competencies with new practices, and ongoing evolution of mental health systems of care worldwide.

Sex-specific neurobiological actions of prophylactic (R,S)-ketamine, (2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine, and (2S,6S)-hydroxynorketamine.

Enhancing stress resilience in at-risk populations could significantly reduce the incidence of stress-related psychiatric disorders. We have previously reported that the administration of (R,S)-ketamine prevents stress-induced depressive-like behavior in male mice, perhaps by altering α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR)-mediated transmission in hippocampal CA3. However, it is still unknown whether metabolites of (R,S)-ketamine can be prophylactic in both sexes.

The role of APOE4 in Alzheimer's disease: strategies for future therapeutic interventions.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia affecting almost 50 million people worldwide. The ε4 allele of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the strongest known genetic risk factor for late-onset AD cases, with homozygous carriers being approximately 15-times more likely to develop the disease. With 25% of the population being carriers, understanding the role of this allele in AD pathogenesis and pathophysiology is crucial.

Optogenetic reactivation of prefrontal social neural ensembles mimics social buffering of fear.

Social buffering occurs when the presence of a companion attenuates the physiological and/or behavioral effects of a stressful or fear-provoking event. It represents a way in which social interactions can immediately and potently modulate behavior. As such, social buffering is one mechanism by which strong social support increases resilience to mental illness.

Prophylactic efficacy of 5-HTR agonists against stress.

Enhancing stress resilience could protect against stress-induced psychiatric disorders in at-risk populations. We and others have previously reported that (R,S)-ketamine acts as a prophylactic against stress when administered 1 week before stress. While we have shown that the selective 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) (serotonin) reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine (Flx) is ineffective as a prophylactic, we hypothesized that other serotonergic compounds such as serotonin 4 receptor (5-HTR) agonists could act as prophylactics.

Prophylactic (R,S)-ketamine selectively protects against inflammatory stressors.

Individuals with peripheral inflammation are a particularly vulnerable population for developing depression and are also more resistant towards traditional antidepressants. This signals the need for novel drugs that can effectively treat this patient population. Recently, we have demonstrated that (R,S)-ketamine is a prophylactic against a variety of stressors, but have yet to test if it is protective against inflammatory-induced vulnerability to a stressor.

An imaging-based risk calculator for prediction of conversion to psychosis in clinical high-risk individuals using glutamate H MRS.

Risk calculators for prediction of conversion of Clinical High-Risk (CHR) individuals to syndromal psychosis have recently been developed and have generated considerable clinical use and research interest. Predictor variables in these calculators have been clinical rather than biological, and our goal was to incorporate a neurochemical imaging measure into this framework and assess its impact on prediction. We combined striatal glutamate H MRS data with the SIPS symptoms identified by the Columbia Risk Calculator as having the greatest predictive value in order to develop an imaging-based risk calculator for conversion to psychosis.

Guanfacine extended-release for cannabis use disorder: a pilot feasibility trial.

: Currently, there are no established pharmacotherapies for cannabis use disorders (CUDs). As a long-acting alpha-2-adrenergic receptor agonist, guanfacine extended-release (G-XR) could be useful in the treatment of CUDs by mitigating withdrawal and improving behavioral control.: To evaluate the feasibility and tolerability of G-XR as a treatment for CUDs.

Amygdalar volume and violent ideation in a sample at clinical high-risk for psychosis.

We previously demonstrated that violent ideation predicts both violent acts and eventual progression to syndromal psychosis in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR). We performed amygdalar surface morphometry analysis on MRI scans from 70 CHR individuals, 21 of whom had violent ideation, 49 of whom did not. CHR individuals with violent ideation have abnormal and asymmetric amygdalar volumes.

Systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis of the efficacy, safety, and biological effects of psychostimulants and atomoxetine in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Objective: Our aim was to summarize the efficacy and safety of atomoxetine, amphetamines, and methylphenidate in schizophrenia.

Methods: We undertook a systematic review, searching PubMed/Scopus/Clinicaltrials.gov for double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled studies of psychostimulants or atomoxetine in schizophrenia published up to 1 January 2017.

Antidepressant but Not Prophylactic Ketamine Administration Alters Calretinin and Calbindin Expression in the Ventral Hippocampus.

Ketamine has been found to have rapid, long-lasting antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant (TR) patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Recently, we have also shown that ketamine acts as a prophylactic to protect against the development of stress-induced depressive-like behavior in mice, indicating that a preventative treatment against mental illness using ketamine is possible. While there is significant investigation into ketamine's antidepressant mechanism of action, little is known about ketamine's underlying prophylactic mechanism.

RbAp48 Protein Is a Critical Component of GPR158/OCN Signaling and Ameliorates Age-Related Memory Loss.

Precisely deciphering the molecular mechanisms of age-related memory loss is crucial to create appropriate therapeutic interventions. We have previously shown that the histone-binding protein RbAp48/Rbbp4 is a molecular determinant of Age-Related Memory Loss. By exploring how this protein regulates the genomic landscape of the hippocampal circuit, we find that RbAp48 controls the expression of BDNF and GPR158 proteins, both critical components of osteocalcin (OCN) signaling in the mouse hippocampus.

Optimization of immunolabeling and clearing techniques for indelibly labeled memory traces.

Recent genetic tools have allowed researchers to visualize and manipulate memory traces (i.e., engrams) in small brain regions.

Prophylactic ketamine alters nucleotide and neurotransmitter metabolism in brain and plasma following stress.

Recently, we have shown that ketamine given prior to stress exposure protects against the development of depressive-like behavior in mice. These data suggest that it may be possible to prevent the induction of affective disorders before they develop by administering prophylactic pharmaceuticals, a relatively nascent and unexplored strategy for psychiatry. Here, we performed metabolomics analysis of brain and plasma following prophylactic ketamine treatment in order to identify markers of stress resilience enhancement.