Biological psychiatry
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Biological psychiatry · Jun 2010
Review Meta AnalysisImpact of depression and antidepressant treatment on heart rate variability: a review and meta-analysis.
Depression is associated with an increase in the likelihood of cardiac events; however, studies investigating the relationship between depression and heart rate variability (HRV) have generally focused on patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The objective of the current report is to examine with meta-analysis the impact of depression and antidepressant treatment on HRV in depressed patients without CVD. ⋯ Depression without CVD is associated with reduced HRV, which decreases with increasing depression severity, most apparent with nonlinear measures of HRV. Critically, a variety of antidepressant treatments do not resolve these decreases despite resolution of symptoms, highlighting that antidepressant medications might not have HRV-mediated cardioprotective effects and the need to identify individuals at risk among patients in remission.
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Biological psychiatry · Jun 2010
Induction of depressed mood disrupts emotion regulation neurocircuitry and enhances pain unpleasantness.
Depressed mood alters the pain experience. Yet, despite its clear clinical relevance, little is known about the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. We tested an experimental manipulation to unravel the interaction between depressed mood and pain. We hypothesized that dysregulation of the neural circuitry underlying emotion regulation is the mechanism whereby pain processing is affected during depressed mood. ⋯ Our results inform how depressed mood and chronic pain co-occur clinically and may serve to develop and translate effective interventions using pharmacological or psychological treatment.
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Biological psychiatry · May 2010
Auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia are associated with reduced functional connectivity of the temporo-parietal area.
Schizophrenia has been conceptualized as a disorder of integration of neural activity across distributed networks. However, the relationship between specific symptom dimensions and patterns of functional connectivity remains unclear. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between auditory-verbal hallucinations (AVH), a particularly prevalent and clinically relevant symptom in schizophrenia, and functional connectivity of the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). ⋯ In schizophrenia patients with chronic hallucinations, the left TPJ-a critical node in the speech perception/AVH network-shows reduced functional connectivity with brain areas involved in the attribution of agency, self-referent processing, and attentional control.
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Biological psychiatry · Apr 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialEffects of the alpha4beta2 partial agonist varenicline on brain activity and working memory in abstinent smokers.
Cognitive alterations are a core symptom of nicotine withdrawal, contributing to smoking relapse. In rodents and humans, cognitive deficits can be reversed by treatment with the alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptor partial agonist varenicline. This neuroimaging study examined the neural mechanisms that underlie these effects. ⋯ This study provides novel evidence that the alpha4beta2 partial agonist varenicline increases working memory-related brain activity after 3 days of nicotine abstinence, particularly at high levels of task difficulty, with associated improvements in cognitive performance among highly dependent smokers.
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Biological psychiatry · Apr 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialIntranasal oxytocin improves emotion recognition for youth with autism spectrum disorders.
A diagnostic hallmark of autism spectrum disorders is a qualitative impairment in social communication and interaction. Deficits in the ability to recognize the emotions of others are believed to contribute to this. There is currently no effective treatment for these problems. ⋯ This study provides the first evidence that oxytocin nasal spray improves emotion recognition in young people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Findings suggest the potential of earlier intervention and further evaluation of oxytocin nasal spray as a treatment to improve social communication and interaction in young people with autism spectrum disorders.