Biological psychiatry
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Biological psychiatry · Mar 2008
Comparative StudyDelta-opioid receptors are critical for tricyclic antidepressant treatment of neuropathic allodynia.
The therapeutic effect of antidepressant drugs against depression usually necessitates a chronic treatment. A large body of clinical evidence indicates that antidepressant drugs can also be highly effective against chronic neuropathic pain. However, the mechanism by which these drugs alleviate pain is still unclear. ⋯ The antiallodynic effect of chronic antidepressant treatment is mediated by a recruitment of the endogenous opioid system acting through delta-opioid receptors.
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Biological psychiatry · Mar 2008
Diffusion tensor imaging of the superior longitudinal fasciculus and working memory in recent-onset schizophrenia.
Structural and functional abnormalities in frontal-parietal circuitry are thought to be associated with working memory (WM) deficits in patients with schizophrenia. This study examines whether recent-onset schizophrenia is associated with anatomical changes in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), the main frontal-parietal white matter connection, and whether the integrity of the SLF is related to WM performance. ⋯ Recent-onset schizophrenia patients show deficits in frontal-parietal connections, key components of WM circuitry. Moreover, the integrity of this physiological connection predicted performance on a verbal WM task, indicating that this structural change may have important functional implications. These findings support the view that schizophrenia is a disorder of brain connectivity and implicate white matter changes detectable in the early phases of the illness as one source of this dysfunction.
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Biological psychiatry · Mar 2008
Heritability of brain morphology related to schizophrenia: a large-scale automated magnetic resonance imaging segmentation study.
Schizophrenia is a devastating psychiatric disorder with a strong genetic component that has been related to a number of structural brain alterations. Currently available data on the heritability of these structural changes are inconsistent. ⋯ These findings support evidence of genetic control of brain volume even in adults, particularly of hippocampal and neocortical volume and of cortical volumetric reductions being familial, but do not support measures of subcortical volumes per se as representing intermediate biologic phenotypes.
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Biological psychiatry · Feb 2008
Meta Analysis Comparative StudyComprehensive analysis of remission (COMPARE) with venlafaxine versus SSRIs.
To compare venlafaxine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs; fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, fluvoxamine, and citalopram) in the treatment of depression. ⋯ These results indicate that venlafaxine therapy is statistically superior to SSRIs as a class, but only to fluoxetine individually. The clinical significance of this modest advantage seems limited for the broad grouping of major depressive disorder. Nonetheless, an NNT of 17 may be of public health relevance given the large number of patients treated for depression and the significant burden of illness associated with this disorder.
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Biological psychiatry · Dec 2007
Increased prefrontal activation during pain perception in major depression.
To further elucidate the close interrelation of pain and depression, we investigated cerebral responses to parametrically varied thermal pain intensities in female patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) (n = 13) and matched control subjects (n = 13) by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). ⋯ We present evidence that cortical structures of the pain matrix are similarly activated in depressed patients and healthy subjects. We report increased prefrontal and lateral thalamic activation during the presentation of painful stimuli, which might explain reduced thermal pain perception on the skin in depressed patients.