Chronic effects of blast injury on the microvasculature in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease related Aβ amyloidosis.

Background: Altered cerebrovascular function and accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) can contribute to chronic neuropathology and increase the risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). TBI due to a blast-induced shock wave (bTBI) adversely affects the neurovascular unit (NVU) during the acute period after injury. However, the chronic effects of bTBI and Aβ on cellular components of the NVU and capillary network are not well understood.

Rapid expansion of direct-to-consumer telemental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case series.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brought many challenges to patient care delivery. The need for social distancing and relaxing of federal and state telemental health regulations paved the way for widespread adoption of direct-to-consumer (DTC) ambulatory mental health video visits.

Methods: We present cases that demonstrate the use of video visits across 6 clinical areas, each serving a unique population of patients, in a large behavioral health system.

Post-mortem analyses of PiB and flutemetamol in diffuse and cored amyloid-β plaques in Alzheimer's disease.

Specificity and sensitivity of positron emission tomography (PET) radiopharmaceuticals targeting fibrillar amyloid-β (Aβ) deposits is high for detection of neuritic Aβ plaques, a mature form of Aβ deposits which often have dense Aβ core (i.e., cored plaques).

Adjunctive Use of a Standardized Extract of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) to Treat Symptom Exacerbation in Schizophrenia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.

Objective: To determine if adjunctive treatment with a standardized extract of Withania somnifera (WSE), with known anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating properties, improves psychopathology and stress in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (DSM-IV-TR).

Methods: Patients experiencing an exacerbation of symptoms were assigned to WSE (1,000 mg/d) or placebo for 12 weeks, added to their antipsychotic medication, in a random-assignment, double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted from April 2013 to July 2016. Primary outcomes were change from baseline to end of treatment on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS total, positive, negative, and general symptoms) between treatment groups.

Help me Feel Better! Ecological Momentary Assessment of Anxious Youths' Emotion Regulation with Parents and Peers.

Anxious youth often have trouble regulating negative affect (NA) and tend to over-rely on parents when faced with challenges. It is unclear how social interactions with parents or peers actually helps or hinders anxious youths' success in regulating NA. The aim of this study was to examine whether the success of anxious youths' emotion regulation strategies differed according to social context.

Use of Computer and Mobile Technologies in the Treatment of Depression.

Major depression (MDD) is a common and disabling disorder. Research has shown that most people with MDD receive either no treatment or inadequate treatment. Computer and mobile technologies may offer solutions for the delivery of therapies to untreated or inadequately treated individuals with MDD.

Increased amygdala reactivity following early life stress: a potential resilience enhancer role.

Background: Amygdala hyper-reactivity is sometimes assumed to be a vulnerability factor that predates depression; however, in healthy people, who experience early life stress but do not become depressed, it may represent a resilience mechanism. We aimed to test these hypothesis examining whether increased amygdala activity in association with a history of early life stress (ELS) was negatively or positively associated with depressive symptoms and impact of negative life event stress in never-depressed adults.

Methods: Twenty-four healthy participants completed an individually tailored negative mood induction task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessment along with evaluation of ELS.

Incident Psychosis in Subjects With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's Disease.

Objective: To estimate the incidence of psychotic symptoms in Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: The study consists of 776 elderly subjects presenting to the Alzheimer Disease Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) between May 9, 2000, and August 19, 2014. All participants were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association workgroup criteria) or possible or probable Alzheimer's disease (National Institute of Neurologic and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria) and were without psychosis at entry.

Age-dependent increase in Kalirin-9 and Kalirin-12 transcripts in human orbitofrontal cortex.

KALRN (KAL) is a Rho GEF that is highly involved in regulation of the actin cytoskeleton within dendrites. There are several isoforms of the protein that arise from differential splicing of KALRN's 66 exons. KAL isoforms have different functions in development.

A Comparison of Measures for Assessing the Level and Nature of Intelligence in Verbal Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Previous work has suggested that the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) are better suited for capturing the nature of intelligence for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than the Wechsler scales. The RPM measures 'fluid intelligence', an area for which it has been argued that persons with ASD have a relative strength. Given that measures of intelligence are used for establishing clinical diagnoses, for making educational decisions, and for group-matching in research studies, continued examination of this contention is warranted.

Varenicline for smoking cessation in bipolar disorder: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: Virtually no clinical trials for smoking cessation have been undertaken in bipolar disorder. Varenicline has shown efficacy for smoking cessation, but warnings about neuropsychiatric adverse events have been issued. We assessed the efficacy and safety of varenicline in euthymic bipolar subjects motivated to quit smoking.

White matter microstructure, alcohol exposure, and familial risk for alcohol dependence.

Offspring from families with alcohol dependence (AD) have been shown to exhibit brain morphological alterations that appear to be related to their familial/genetic risk for AD. Greater susceptibility for developing AD may be related to structural underpinnings of behavioral traits that predispose to AD. We examined white matter (WM) integrity in 81 individuals with either a high density of AD in their families (N=44) or without a family history for either alcohol or drug dependence (N=37).

A preliminary, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of L-carnosine to improve cognition in schizophrenia.

Background: Targeting glutamatergic dysfunction provides an exciting opportunity to improve cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. One treatment approach has targeted inadequate antioxidant defenses at glutamatergic synapses. Animal and human data suggest NMDA antagonists worsen executive cognitive controls--e.

Screening for obstructive sleep apnea among individuals with severe mental illness at a primary care clinic.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is linked to significant morbidity and mortality. OSA has received more attention recently, but the literature on OSA is scant in patients with severe mental illness (SMI). This project was undertaken to improve clinician knowledge and screening of OSA in persons with SMI.

Prenatal cigarette smoke exposure and early initiation of multiple substance use.

Introduction: Earlier studies have shown a relation between prenatal cigarette smoke exposure (PCSE) and offspring initiation of tobacco use. No prior study has examined the association between PCSE and early initiation of multiple substances (EIMS) including marijuana and alcohol in addition to tobacco. We investigated the association between PCSE and multiple substance use during adolescence.

Treatment of substance abusing patients with comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Objective: To update clinicians on the latest in evidence-based treatments for substance use disorders (SUD) and non-substance use disorders among adults and suggest how these treatments can be combined into an evidence-based process that enhances treatment effectiveness in comorbid patients.

Method: Articles were extracted from Pubmed using the search terms "dual diagnosis," "comorbidity" and "co-occurring" and were reviewed for evidence of effectiveness for pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatments of comorbidity.

Results: Twenty-four research reviews and 43 research trials were reviewed.

Childhood risk factors for early-onset drinking.

Objective: There is relatively little research on the childhood antecedent predictors of early-onset alcohol use. This study examined an array of psychosocial variables assessed at age 10 and reflecting Problem Behavior Theory as potential antecedent risk factors for the initiation of alcohol use at age 14 or younger.

Method: A sample of 452 children (238 girls) ages 8 or 10 and their families was drawn from Allegheny County, PA, using targeted-age directory sampling and random-digit dialing procedures.

Psychosis in Alzheimer's disease in the national Alzheimer's disease coordinating center uniform data set: clinical correlates and association with apolipoprotein e.

Approximately 50% of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients develop psychosis (AD+P), a heritable phenotype associated with more rapid cognitive decline. Prior studies conflict regarding whether apolipoprotein E (APOE) ϵ4 alleles are associated with AD+P, possibly due to small sample sizes, inconsistent diagnostic criteria, and different methodologies to assess psychosis. We used the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set to evaluate the largest uniformly characterized sample of AD+P subjects studied to date for the association of APOE ϵ4 genotype, along with other demographic and clinical variables.

Prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with conduct disorder in adolescence: findings from a birth cohort.

Objective: To evaluate the association between prenatal alcohol exposure and the rate of conduct disorder in exposed compared with unexposed adolescents.

Method: Data for these analyses are from a longitudinal study of prenatal substance exposures. Women were interviewed at their fourth and seventh prenatal months, and with their children, at birth, 8 and 18 months, 3, 6, 10, 14, and 16 years postpartum.

Assessment and familial aggregation of psychosis in Alzheimer's disease from the National Institute on Aging Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease Family Study.

Determining the genetic architecture of late onset Alzheimer's disease remains an important research objective. One approach to the identification of novel genetic variants contributing to the disease is the classification of biologically meaningful subgroups within the larger late-onset Alzheimer's disease phenotype. The occurrence of psychotic symptoms in patients with late-onset Alzheimer's disease may identify one such group.

Anti-Amyloid Effects of Small Molecule Aβ-Binding Agents in PS1/APP Mice.

AIMS: One promising approach for treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is use of anti-amyloid therapies, based on the hypothesis that increases in amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposits in brain are a major cause of AD. Several groups have focused on Aβ immunotherapy with some success. Small molecules derivatives of Congo red have been shown to inhibit Aβ aggregation and protect against Aβ neurotoxicity in vitro.

Changes in metabolic syndrome parameters in patients with schizoaffective disorder who participated in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of topiramate.

This study evaluated changes in the metabolic syndrome (MetS) parameters among patients with schizoaffective disorder-bipolar type who had previously participated in a randomized, placebo-controlled study of topiramate (Chengappa et al., 2007). Topiramate (or placebo) was added to pre-existing mood-stabilizer and/or antipsychotic treatment.

Atypical depression: useful concept, but it's time to revise the DSM-IV criteria.

Stewart et al (2009) have outlined the evidence in support of the validity of the DSM-IV definition of the 'With Atypical Features' episode specifier. Although recognizing the historical significance and clinical utility of the concept of atypical depression, this article takes issue with the DSM-IV criteria. It is concluded that mood reactivity, the A or obligative criterion, is neither significantly associated with the other symptomatic criteria nor useful to diagnose atypical depression, and thus should be eliminated.

Lifetime psychiatric disorders in school-aged offspring of parents with bipolar disorder: the Pittsburgh Bipolar Offspring study.

Context: Whether offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (BP) are at specifically high risk to develop BP and other psychiatric disorders has not been adequately studied.

Objective: To evaluate lifetime prevalence and specificity of psychiatric disorders in offspring of parents with BP-I and BP-II.

Design: Offspring aged 6 to 18 years who have parents with BP and community control subjects were interviewed with standardized instruments.