A pilot, randomized clinical trial: Left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex intermittent theta burst stimulation improves treatment outcomes in veterans with alcohol use disorder.

Background: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) offers a promising treatment avenue to modulate brain function in alcohol use disorder (AUD). To the best of our knowledge, this pilot study is the first randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial to deliver intermittent theta burst stimulation to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) among US veterans with AUD. We hypothesized that 20 sessions of real TMS are tolerable and feasible.

Evaluation of C4 Gene Copy Number in Pediatric Acute Neuropsychiatric Syndrome.

Pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) is an abrupt-onset neuropsychiatric disorder. PANS patients have an increased prevalence of comorbid autoimmune illness, most commonly arthritis. In addition, an estimated one-third of PANS patients present with low serum C4 protein, suggesting decreased production or increased consumption of C4 protein.

Sodium oxybate in treatment-resistant rapid-eye-movement sleep behavior disorder.

Study Objectives: Symptomatic therapies for rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) are limited. Sodium oxybate (SXB), a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-B agonist, could be effective but has not been evaluated against placebo.

Methods: This double-blind, parallel-group, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 24 participants was conducted at the Stanford Sleep Center.

Increased activation product of complement 4 protein in plasma of individuals with schizophrenia.

Structural variation in the complement 4 gene (C4) confers genetic risk for schizophrenia. The variation includes numbers of the increased C4A copy number, which predicts increased C4A mRNA expression. C4-anaphylatoxin (C4-ana) is a C4 protein fragment released upon C4 protein activation that has the potential to change the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

Best Practices for Approaching Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents major challenges for mental health care providers. In particular, providers who treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are now tasked with determining whether to initiate trauma-focused therapy during the pandemic and, if so, whether and how to adapt treatment. The purpose of this communication is to identify and organize key considerations for whether and how to deliver commonly used evidence-supported therapy protocols for trauma treatment-specifically, cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure (PE) therapy-during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for adults who currently meet the criteria for PTSD.

Guided self-management targeting anxiety and activity participation in older Veterans.

Objectives: This study examined the acceptance, feasibility, and preliminary effects of a guided self-management intervention using video delivery and a telephone coach on anxiety and activity engagement.

Method: Ten Veterans aged 60 years or older with anxiety disorders determined by Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 edition (SCID-5) at baseline visit participated in this non-randomized study examining a 4-week guided self-management intervention for anxiety. Feasibility was examined using participation engagement with the intervention.

Technology use and preferences for mental health self-management interventions among older veterans.

Objectives: The United States Department of Veterans Affairs offers numerous technology-delivered interventions to self-manage mental health problems. It is unknown, however, what barriers older military veterans face to using these technologies and how willing they would be to use technologies for mental health concerns.

Methods: Seventy-seven veterans (M = 69.

Altered Microstructural Caudate Integrity in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder but Not Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objective: Given the high prevalence and comorbidity of combat-related PTSD and TBI in Veterans, it is often difficult to disentangle the contributions of each disorder. Examining these pathologies separately may help to understand the neurobiological basis of memory impairment in PTSD and TBI independently of each other. Thus, we investigated whether a) PTSD and TBI are characterized by subcortical structural abnormalities by examining diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics and volume and b) if these abnormalities were specific to PTSD versus TBI.

Disentangling cognition and emotion in older adults: the role of cognitive control and mental health in emotional conflict adaptation.

Objective: Recent research suggests cognition has a bidirectional relationship with emotional processing in older adults, yet the relationship is still poorly understood. We aimed to examine a potential relationship between late-life cognitive function, mental health symptoms, and emotional conflict adaptation. We hypothesized that worse cognitive control abilities would be associated with poorer emotional conflict adaptation.

Does implicit emotion regulation in binge eating disorder matter?

Objective: To examine if implicit emotion regulation (occurring outside of awareness) is related to binge eating disorder (BED) symptomatology and explicit emotion regulation (occurring within awareness), and can be altered via intervention.

Methods: Implicit emotion regulation was assessed via the Emotion Conflict Task (ECT) among a group of adults with BED. Study 1 correlated BED symptomatology and explicit emotion regulation with ECT performance at baseline (BL) and after receiving BED treatment (PT).