Archives of general psychiatry
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Arch. Gen. Psychiatry · Aug 2010
Comparative StudyEffects of expectation on placebo-induced dopamine release in Parkinson disease.
Expectations play a central role in the mechanism of the placebo effect. In Parkinson disease (PD), the placebo effect is associated with release of endogenous dopamine in both nigrostriatal and mesoaccumbens projections, yet the factors that control this dopamine release are undetermined. ⋯ The strength of belief of improvement can directly modulate dopamine release in patients with PD. Our findings demonstrate the importance of uncertainty and/or salience over and above a patient's prior treatment response in regulating the placebo effect and have important implications for the interpretation and design of clinical trials.
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Arch. Gen. Psychiatry · Aug 2010
Comparative StudyPrenatal smoking exposure and the risk of psychiatric morbidity into young adulthood.
Prenatal smoking exposure modulates brain development, which may deviate mental development of the offspring. ⋯ Prenatal smoking exposure is associated with an increased risk of psychiatric morbidity, whereas prenatal exposure to more than 10 cigarettes a day increases the risk of mortality in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.
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Arch. Gen. Psychiatry · Jul 2010
Prospectively ascertained child maltreatment and its association with DSM-IV mental disorders in young adults.
Evidence for an association between child maltreatment and later psychopathology heavily relies on retrospective reports of maltreatment. The few studies using prospective ascertainment of child maltreatment show weaker associations, raising the possibility that it is not maltreatment, but rather the memory of maltreatment, that raises the risk of later mental disorders. ⋯ Prospectively ascertained child maltreatment is significantly associated with a range of subsequent mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, indicating that maltreatment, not just the memory of maltreatment, is associated with subsequent psychopathology. There is a need for both targeted mental health interventions with the present and past clients of child welfare agencies and for concerted population-level strategies to meet the needs of the many other children who experience maltreatment.
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Arch. Gen. Psychiatry · Jun 2010
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyA prospective cohort study investigating factors associated with depression during medical internship.
Although the prevalence of depression among medical interns substantially exceeds that of the general population, the specific factors responsible are not well understood. Recent reports of a moderating effect of a genetic polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the serotonin transporter protein gene on the likelihood that life stress will precipitate depression may help to understand the development of mood symptoms in medical interns. ⋯ There is a marked increase in depressive symptoms during medical internship. Specific individual, internship, and genetic factors are associated with the increase in depressive symptoms.