Biological psychiatry
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Biological psychiatry · May 2019
Connectivity Profile Predictive of Effective Deep Brain Stimulation in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
Deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder is a rapidly developing treatment strategy for treatment-refractory patients. Both the exact target and impact on distributed brain networks remain a matter of debate. Here, we investigated which regions connected to stimulation sites contribute to clinical improvement effects and whether connectivity is able to predict outcomes. ⋯ Specific connectivity profiles, encompassing frontothalamic streamlines, can predict clinical outcome of deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder. After further validation, our findings may be used to guide both deep brain stimulation targeting and programming and to inform noninvasive neuromodulation targets for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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Biological psychiatry · Feb 2019
α1- and β3-Adrenergic Receptor-Mediated Mesolimbic Homeostatic Plasticity Confers Resilience to Social Stress in Susceptible Mice.
Homeostatic plasticity in mesolimbic dopamine (DA) neurons plays an essential role in mediating resilience to social stress. Recent evidence implicates an association between stress resilience and projections from the locus coeruleus (LC) to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) (LC→VTA) DA system. However, the precise circuitry and molecular mechanisms of the homeostatic plasticity in mesolimbic DA neurons mediated by the LC→VTA circuitry, and its role in conferring resilience to social defeat stress, have not been described. ⋯ These findings reveal a key role of the LC→VTA circuit in mediating homeostatic plasticity in stress resilience and reveal α1- and β3-adrenergic receptors as new molecular targets for therapeutically promoting resilience.
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Biological psychiatry · Nov 2018
Positive Allosteric Modulation of Cannabinoid Receptor Type 1 Suppresses Pathological Pain Without Producing Tolerance or Dependence.
Activation of cannabinoid CB1 receptors suppresses pathological pain but also produces unwanted central side effects. We hypothesized that a positive allosteric modulator of CB1 signaling would suppress inflammatory and neuropathic pain without producing cannabimimetic effects or physical dependence. We also asked whether a CB1 positive allosteric modulator would synergize with inhibitors of endocannabinoid deactivation and/or an orthosteric cannabinoid agonist. ⋯ Positive allosteric modulation of CB1-receptor signaling shows promise as a safe and effective analgesic strategy that lacks tolerance, dependence, and abuse liability.
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Biological psychiatry · Oct 2018
Multicenter StudyVolume of the Human Hippocampus and Clinical Response Following Electroconvulsive Therapy.
Hippocampal enlargements are commonly reported after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). To clarify mechanisms, we examined if ECT-induced hippocampal volume change relates to dose (number of ECT sessions and electrode placement) and acts as a biomarker of clinical outcome. ⋯ The number of ECT sessions and electrode placement impacts the extent and laterality of hippocampal enlargement, but volume change is not positively associated with clinical outcome. The results suggest that the high efficacy of ECT is not explained by hippocampal enlargement, which alone might not serve as a viable biomarker for treatment outcome.
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Biological psychiatry · Sep 2018
Prevalence and Correlates of DSM-5-Defined Eating Disorders in a Nationally Representative Sample of U.S. Adults.
Few population-based data on the prevalence of eating disorders exist, and such data are especially needed because of changes to diagnoses in the DSM-5. This study aimed to provide lifetime and 12-month prevalence estimates of DSM-5-defined anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge-eating disorder (BED) from the 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. ⋯ These findings for DSM-5-defined eating disorders, based on the largest national sample of U.S. adults studied to date, indicate some important similarities to and differences from earlier, smaller nationally representative studies.