The American journal of psychiatry
-
Comparative Study
Dysregulation of regional endogenous opioid function in borderline personality disorder.
Borderline personality disorder is characterized by a lack of effective regulation of emotional responses. The authors investigated the role of the endogenous opioid system and mu-opioid receptors in emotion regulation in borderline personality disorder. ⋯ Differences exist between patients with borderline personality disorder and comparison subjects in baseline in vivo mu-opioid receptor concentrations and in the endogenous opioid system response to a negative emotional challenge that can be related to some of the clinical characteristics of patients with borderline personality disorder. The regional network involved is implicated in the representation and regulation of emotion and stress responses.
-
Letter Case Reports
Pregabalin abuse, dependence, and withdrawal: a case report.
-
Neurocognitive impairments in schizophrenia are well replicated and widely regarded as candidate endophenotypes that may facilitate understanding of schizophrenia genetics and pathophysiology. The Project Among African-Americans to Explore Risks for Schizophrenia (PAARTNERS) aims to identify genes underlying liability to schizophrenia. The unprecedented size of its study group (N=1,872), made possible through use of a computerized neurocognitive battery, can help further investigation of the genetics of neurocognition. The current analysis evaluated two characteristics not fully addressed in prior research: 1) heritability of neurocognition in African American families and 2) relationship between neurocognition and psychopathology in families of African American probands with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. ⋯ Neurocognitive functions in African American families are heritable and associated with schizophrenia. They show potential for gene-mapping studies.
-
Traumatic injury affects millions of people each year. There is little understanding of the extent of psychiatric illness that develops after traumatic injury or of the impact of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) on psychiatric illness. The authors sought to determine the range of new psychiatric disorders occurring after traumatic injury and the influence of mild TBI on psychiatric status. ⋯ A significant range of psychiatric disorders occur after traumatic injury. The identification and treatment of a range of psychiatric disorders are important for optimal adaptation after traumatic injury.