Towards a neurobiology of dysfunctional arousal in depression: the relationship between beta EEG power and regional cerebral glucose metabolism during NREM sleep.

This study sought to clarify the neurobiological basis of variations in one aspect of central nervous system 'arousal' in depression by characterizing the functional neuroanatomic correlates of beta electroencephalographic (EEG) power density during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. First, nine healthy (n=9) subjects underwent concurrent EEG sleep studies and [18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ([18F]FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) scans during their first NREM period of sleep in order to generate hypotheses about specific brain structures that show a relationship between increased beta power and increased relative glucose metabolism. Second, brain structures identified in the healthy subjects were then used as a priori regions of interest in similar analyses from identical studies in 12 depressed subjects.

Effects of acute tryptophan depletion on mood in bulimia nervosa.

Background: The present study investigated the role of serotonin in the pathophysiology of bulimia nervosa (BN) by studying the affective and appetitive responses of women ill with BN to an acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) paradigm.

Methods: Twenty-two women with BN and 16 healthy control women (CW) were studied on 2 separate days during the follicular stage of the menstrual cycle. Participants drank a control mix of essential amino acids (100 g + 4.

Mutations in SDHD, a mitochondrial complex II gene, in hereditary paraganglioma.

Hereditary paraganglioma (PGL) is characterized by the development of benign, vascularized tumors in the head and neck. The most common tumor site is the carotid body (CB), a chemoreceptive organ that senses oxygen levels in the blood. Analysis of families carrying the PGL1 gene, described here, revealed germ line mutations in the SDHD gene on chromosome 11q23.

Weight gain associated with antipsychotic drugs.

Weight gain has been reported with nearly every antipsychotic drug on the market (molindone is an exception). Weight gain occurs no matter what the patient's age, sex, or race and is seen with both oral and depot drug formulations. Numerous studies have found that patients gain weight when treated with a conventional antipsychotic, such as chlorpromazine, fluphenazine, and haloperidol.

Adolescent females with a substance use disorder: affiliations with adult male sexual partners.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that low socioeconomic status (SES), a disturbed parent-daughter relationship, early sexual development, and antisocial behavior are risk factors in adolescent females affiliating with adult male sexual partners. To determine whether the relation between these risk factors and affiliating with adult male sexual partners is stronger in females with greater, rather than fewer, substance use disorders (SUD).

Method: Subjects were 180 adolescent females with SUD and 87 normal controls (14-18 years of age).

Clozapine reduces severe self-mutilation and aggression in psychotic patients with borderline personality disorder.

Background: Clozapine has been reported to be effective in diminishing violence toward others in psychotic patients. This article describes the impact of clozapine on severe self-mutilation among patients with the dual diagnoses of borderline personality disorder and persistent psychoses.

Method: Seven subjects known to the authors were selected for careful chart audits.

Leptin, neuropeptide Y, and peptide YY in long-term recovered eating disorder patients.

Background: Disturbances of leptin, neuropeptide Y (NPY), and peptide YY (PYY) have been found in women who are ill with anorexia or bulimia nervosa. It is not certain whether peptide disturbances are cause or consequence of eating disorders.

Methods: Plasma leptin and cerebrospinal fluid leptin, NPY, and PYY concentrations were measured in women who were recovered from anorexia or bulimia nervosa to determine whether alterations persisted after recovery.

Long-term nature of depression.

Many, if not most, people with depression are at high risk to develop a recurrent and potentially chronic disorder, characterized by deleterious effects on vocational, social, and family functioning. Recent evidence also suggests that recurrent episodes of severe depression are associated with changes in brain function that further heighten vulnerability and functional impairment. The best way to deal with these sobering problems is prevention via vigorous treatment of the index episode (to produce complete remission) and more routine use of longer term models of prophylactic therapy.

Repositioning the hereditary paraganglioma critical region on chromosome band 11q23.

Hereditary paragangliomas (PGL, glomus tumors, MIM no.168000) are mostly benign, slow-growing tumors of the head and neck region. The gene (or genes) affecting risk to PGL are subject to genomic imprinting: children of affected fathers exhibit an autosomal dominant pattern of disease inheritance, whereas children of affected mothers rarely if ever develop the disease through maternal transmission.

Superior temporal gyrus and the course of early schizophrenia: progressive, static, or reversible?

Accumulating evidence suggests alterations in brain structure, especially in the prefrontal and temporal cortex, in schizophrenia. Previous studies examining the progression of brain structural alterations in schizophrenia have led to conflicting results. Morphometric studies of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) volumes were conducted in a series of neuroleptic-naive first-episode schizophrenic patients, non-schizophrenic first-episode psychotic patients, and matched healthy controls.

Clozapine withdrawal-emergent dystonias and dyskinesias: a case series.

Background: Severe psychotic decompensation during clozapine withdrawal has been reported previously. Less attention has been paid to movement disorders following abrupt clozapine withdrawal. This report describes 4 subjects who experienced severe dystonias and dyskinesias upon abrupt clozapine withdrawal.

A post hoc comparison of paroxetine and nortriptyline for symptoms of traumatic grief.

Background: This report presents the results of an open-trial pilot study of paroxetine for symptoms of traumatic grief, compared with the effects of nortriptyline in an archival contrast group.

Method: Data are presented on 15 subjects (4 men, 11 women), ranging in age from 40 to 79 years (mean age = 57 years), who experienced the loss of a spouse (N = 8), child (N =5), grandchild (N = 1), or parent (N = 1). Subjects were required to have a baseline score on the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) of > or = 20.

Decreased caudate volume in neuroleptic-naive psychotic patients.

Objective: Previous studies, mostly involving neuroleptic-treated patients, have suggested enlarged basal ganglia size in schizophrenia. The authors sought to examine basal ganglia volume in neuroleptic-naive psychotic patients.

Method: Magnetic resonance imaging volumetric studies were conducted in newly diagnosed neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic psychotic patients and in matched healthy comparison subjects.

The effects of risperidone and olanzapine on the indications for clozapine.

The effects of the availability of risperidone and olanzapine on the indications for which clozapine is prescribed (treatment-resistance, treatment-intolerance, and/or negative symptoms) were examined for 252 patients with schizophrenia who began treatment at our hospital between June 1990 and June 1997. There were no statistical differences in the indications for clozapine treatment before and after the availability of either risperidone or olanzapine. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in the frequencies of the indications in subgroups of patients who had previously received a trial with risperidone or olanzapine, as compared with the remaining patients.

The psychological consequences of weight gain prevention in healthy, premenopausal women.

Objective: This study examined the psychological consequences of a modest weight loss in a sample of healthy women aged 44 to 50.

Method: Five hundred and thirty-five women, with body mass indices (BMIs) ranging from 20 to 34, were randomly assigned either to an intensive behavioral lifestyle intervention or to a no-treatment control group. Women in the lifestyle intervention received weight loss goals of 5 to 15 lb, depending on baseline BMI, and attended 20 weekly group meetings during which they received information on lowering dietary fat intake and increasing physical activity levels.

Eye-tracking dysfunction in offspring from the New York High-Risk Project: diagnostic specificity and the role of attention.

Eye tracking abnormalities were studied in the offspring of schizophrenic, unipolar depressed and bipolar probands from the New York High-Risk Project to examine their familial specificity. Offspring of schizophrenic and depressed probands both had significant global performance deficits based on spectral purity measurements, but only the offspring of schizophrenic probands had an increased rate of intrusive anticipatory saccades. The greater specificity of high anticipatory saccade rate than global performance impairment suggests that this eye movement abnormality may provide a more specific biological marker of risk for schizophrenia than the global measure of eye tracking performance used in this study.

The use of screening instruments for the detection of dementia.

Dementia is a clinical and public health issue of growing importance as life expectancy increases across the planet. Despite advances in both genetic research and clinical management strategies, neither cure nor primary prevention is currently feasible. However, screening for dementia is critical for secondary prevention, i.

Schizophrenia and disordered neural circuitry.

The knowledge of how alterations in neural circuitry relate to the symptoms of schizophrenia may depend on our ability to disentangle a complex cascade of pathological events that affect multiple brain regions. Recent progress in Alzheimer's disease research may provide several useful guiding principles in this pursuit.

Fine mapping of an imprinted gene for familial nonchromaffin paragangliomas, on chromosome 11q23.

Hereditary nonchromaffin paragangliomas (PGL; glomus tumors; MIM 168000) are mostly benign, slow-growing tumors of the head and neck region, inherited from carrier fathers in an autosomal dominant fashion subject to genomic imprinting. Genetic linkage analysis in two large, unrelated Dutch families assigned PGL loci to two regions of chromosome 11, at 11q23 (PGL1) and 11q13.1 (PGL2).

Relation between executive cognitive functioning and the adverse consequences of alcohol use in social drinkers.

The purpose of this study was to assess the relation between Executive Cognitive Functioning (ECF) and the adverse consequences of alcohol consumption. ECF encompasses "higher order" cognitive abilities involved in goal-directed behavior, such as attentional control, mental flexibility, planning, and self-monitoring. Impaired ECF has been shown to result in a variety of negative consequences, including excessive drug and alcohol use.