436 posts · 339,116 views
I am a physician interested in clinical neuroscience research. I will use this blog to post more detailed analysis of recent studies in addition to my @WRY999 Twitter scientific reading log. I will also post some of my wildlife/sports photography. Aim to educate and amuse. Not selling anything.
William Yates, M.D.
436 posts
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- June 24, 2014
- 12:22 PM
- 74 views
E-cigarettes and Smoking Cessation
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Electronic or e-cigarettes are a tobacco cigarette alternative that is growing in popularity.Proponents of e-cigarettes note the product contains no carbon monoxide, tar or other tobacco residue. The inhaled vapor in e-cigarettes is primarily nicotine.Additionally, some proponents of e-cigarettes declare the product is associated with reduction or cessation of tobacco-based cigarette use.Unfortunately, this is an area where public health trends come before scientific research data is collected. ........ Read more »
Bullen, C., Howe, C., Laugesen, M., McRobbie, H., Parag, V., Williman, J., & Walker, N. (2013) Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation: a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 382(9905), 1629-1637. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61842-5
Caponnetto P, Auditore R, Russo C, Cappello GC, & Polosa R. (2013) Impact of an electronic cigarette on smoking reduction and cessation in schizophrenic smokers: a prospective 12-month pilot study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 10(2), 446-61. PMID: 23358230
- June 23, 2014
- 10:52 AM
- 71 views
Varenicline for Smoking Cessation
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Varenicline is a drug designed to assist smokers in cessation. It is marketed in the U.S. as Chantix.Varenicline is one of the first drugs to target the nicotine receptor. It is classified as a partial agonist, meaning it stimulates the nicotine receptor but to a weaker effect than nicotine itself.The mechanism of action of varenicline differs from that of another smoking cessation drug bupropion marked under trade name Zyban in the U.S.One concern with varenicline is the risk for psychiatric ad........ Read more »
Ebbert JO, Hatsukami DK, Croghan IT, Schroeder DR, Allen SS, Hays JT, & Hurt RD. (2014) Combination varenicline and bupropion SR for tobacco-dependence treatment in cigarette smokers: a randomized trial. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association, 311(2), 155-63. PMID: 24399554
Rose JE, & Behm FM. (2014) Combination Treatment With Varenicline and Bupropion in an Adaptive Smoking Cessation Paradigm. The American journal of psychiatry. PMID: 24934962
Anthenelli RM, Morris C, Ramey TS, Dubrava SJ, Tsilkos K, Russ C, & Yunis C. (2013) Effects of varenicline on smoking cessation in adults with stably treated current or past major depression: a randomized trial. Annals of internal medicine, 159(6), 390-400. PMID: 24042367
Boudrez H, Hoengenaert JP, Nackaerts K, Messig M, & Metcalfe M. (2013) Predictors of quit success in Belgian participants of a varenicline observational smoking cessation study. Acta clinica Belgica, 68(1), 37-42. PMID: 23627193
- June 20, 2014
- 12:07 PM
- 80 views
Maternal Smoking and Child Conduct Disorder Risk
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Conduct disorder is a serious behavioral disorder of childhood characterized by aggression, destruction of property, lying, theft and violation of rules.A significant number of children with conduct disorder go on to adult antisocial personality disorder.Conduct disorder is known to have genetic as well as environmental risk factors.Darya Gaysina from the United Kingdom and colleagues recently published a review of maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring conduct problems.This review exam........ Read more »
Gaysina D, Fergusson DM, Leve LD, Horwood J, Reiss D, Shaw DS, Elam KK, Natsuaki MN, Neiderhiser JM, & Harold GT. (2013) Maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring conduct problems: evidence from 3 independent genetically sensitive research designs. JAMA psychiatry, 70(9), 956-63. PMID: 23884431
Cadoret RJ, Yates WR, Troughton E, Woodworth G, & Stewart MA. (1995) Genetic-environmental interaction in the genesis of aggressivity and conduct disorders. Archives of general psychiatry, 52(11), 916-24. PMID: 7487340
- June 19, 2014
- 11:20 AM
- 88 views
Smoking and Abnormal Brain Pleasure Response
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Smoking cessation in those with nicotine dependence is one of the most difficult challenges for patients and their clinicians.Research targeting the neurobiology of smoking cessation provides hope for designing more effective treatments for nicotine dependence.Takeshi Isomura along with colleagues in the U.S. and Japan recently summarized recent findings in the brain pleasure response in nicotine dependence.The brain ventral striatum region is known to be key in nearly all sensations of pleasure........ Read more »
Isomura T, Suzuki J, & Murai T. (2014) Paradise Lost: The relationships between neurological and psychological changes in nicotine-dependent patients. Addiction research , 22(2), 158-165. PMID: 24719610
Peters J, Bromberg U, Schneider S, Brassen S, Menz M, Banaschewski T, Conrod PJ, Flor H, Gallinat J, Garavan H.... (2011) Lower ventral striatal activation during reward anticipation in adolescent smokers. The American journal of psychiatry, 168(5), 540-9. PMID: 21362742
- June 10, 2014
- 10:54 AM
- 100 views
Smoking During Pregnancy and Fetal Growth
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Smoking cigarettes during pregnancy is linked to a variety of adverse effects including increased perinatal mortality, gestational bleeding and placenta abruptio and placenta previa.Newborns of smoking mothers weigh less than newborns of nonsmoking mothers.The specific distribution of target organ growth impairment with maternal smoking is less well studied.Devasuda Anblagan and colleagues in the United Kingdom and Canada recently published a study of fetal organ growth in smoking mothers.Using ........ Read more »
Anblagan D, Jones NW, Costigan C, Parker AJ, Allcock K, Aleong R, Coyne LH, Deshpande R, Raine-Fenning N, Bugg G.... (2013) Maternal smoking during pregnancy and fetal organ growth: a magnetic resonance imaging study. PloS one, 8(7). PMID: 23843995
- June 9, 2014
- 11:04 AM
- 94 views
Smoking Linked to Brain White Matter Dysfunction
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Tobacco smoking and nicotine dependence produce harmful effects on the brain.Some of these effects are related to direct effects on vascular health. Vascular changes seen with smoking are known to contribute to increased risk for stroke and dementia.Advances in brain imaging techniques allow for more direct study on smoking's effect on specific brain structures.Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a relatively recent imaging tool allowing for study of brain white matter function.Brain white matter ........ Read more »
Umene-Nakano W, Yoshimura R, Kakeda S, Watanabe K, Hayashi K, Nishimura J, Takahashi H, Moriya J, Ide S, Ueda I.... (2014) Abnormal white matter integrity in the corpus callosum among smokers: tract-based spatial statistics. PloS one, 9(2). PMID: 24516568
- June 4, 2014
- 10:12 AM
- 111 views
Types of Mathematics Learning Disorders
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Learning mathematics is a complex process that forms a key element in modern education.Significant mathematics learning difficulties emerge in 5 to 10 per cent of all elementary and secondary education students.Struggling to acquire skills in mathematics is more than a single deficit and appears to involve multiple cognitive skills.Giannis Karagiannakis and colleagures recently summarized what is known about mathematics learning disorders and proposed four subtypes. I will summarize these subtyp........ Read more »
Karagiannakis G, Baccaglini-Frank A, & Papadatos Y. (2014) Mathematical learning difficulties subtypes classification. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 57. PMID: 24574997
- June 3, 2014
- 11:14 AM
- 100 views
Executive Cognition in Autism Sprectrum Disorder
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Executive functions (EF) of the brain are processes used to make complex decisions and plans.Deficits in EF can produce significant impairment in the ability to successfully many daily life challenges.EF are felt to be primarily a reflection of workings of the frontal lobe although additional brain regions contribute this cognitive skill.Simonetta Panerai and colleagues from Italy recently examined the key components of EF in a group of children with autism sprectrum disorder (ASD). They adminis........ Read more »
Panerai S, Tasca D, Ferri R, Genitori D'Arrigo V, & Elia M. (2014) Executive Functions and Adaptive Behaviour in Autism Spectrum Disorders with and without Intellectual Disability. Psychiatry journal, 941809. PMID: 24829905
- June 2, 2014
- 11:52 AM
- 124 views
Brain Resting Connectivity Deficits in Autism
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Resting connectivity is a measure of brain circuitry obtained by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).This technique is relatively new but there is emerging evidence of the potential value in research and clinical assessment.Research in brain connectivity includes looking for distinct patterns in brain disorders compared to health controls.One such type of study in autism has been published by a group of Japanese researchers.Takashi Itahashi and colleagues recruited 46 adult subjects wit........ Read more »
Itahashi T, Yamada T, Watanabe H, Nakamura M, Jimbo D, Shioda S, Toriizuka K, Kato N, & Hashimoto R. (2014) Altered network topologies and hub organization in adults with autism: a resting-state FMRI study. PloS one, 9(4). PMID: 24714805
- May 29, 2014
- 10:45 AM
- 119 views
The Aging Political Brain: Hillary's Advantage
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
There has been significant public discussion on the topic of politicians running for office at an older age. I wanted to add a few comments to this discussion from a neuroscience perspective on the aging brain.I think there are three key elements in this topic. The first is pretty universal effect of age to produce a reduction in psychomotor speed. The graph above shows norms for the completion of the Trails B Test by age. This test involves connecting an alternating number/letter series of dots........ Read more »
Tombaugh, T. (2004) Trail Making Test A and B: Normative data stratified by age and education. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 19(2), 203-214. DOI: 10.1016/S0887-6177(03)00039-8
Ganguli, M., Dodge, H., Chen, P., Belle, S., & DeKosky, S. (2000) Ten-year incidence of dementia in a rural elderly US community population: The MoVIES Project. Neurology, 54(5), 1109-1116. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.54.5.1109
- May 28, 2014
- 11:32 AM
- 127 views
Physical Abnormalities in Adults with Autism Spectrum
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In a previous post, I reviewed a study of minor physical abnormalities in a group of children with autism.This study found that children with autism were more likely to show a variety of physical features including a gap between the large and second toe, facial asymmetry, a high arched palate and attached ear lobes.A more recent Swedish study has been published examining physical features of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).In this study, Irina Manouilenko and colleagues used a scale t........ Read more »
Manouilenko I, Eriksson JM, Humble MB, & Bejerot S. (2014) Minor physical anomalies in adults with autism spectrum disorder and healthy controls. Autism research and treatment, 743482. PMID: 24782925
- May 21, 2014
- 01:04 PM
- 113 views
Testing Boosts Memory: Brain Region Involvement
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Taking tests provides one method to assess the level of learning in a subject matter.Testing may also be an aid to improving memory and learning.Studies support periodic testing as a superior strategy to restudying learned material. Testing may promote learning by activating memory retrieval.The mechanism for the beneficial effects of testing on memory have received limited research attention.However, a recent fMRI study provides some insight into the specific brain regions involved in memory im........ Read more »
Liu XL, Liang P, Li K, & Reder LM. (2014) Uncovering the neural mechanisms underlying learning from tests. PloS one, 9(3). PMID: 24647122
- May 13, 2014
- 11:05 AM
- 155 views
Sleep Manipulation to Enhance Cognition
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In the next series of posts, I will focus on research related to learning, learning disabilities and education.Sleep is known to play a key role in consolidation of memories and and learning.However, there has been relatively little discussion of how the effect of sleep on learning might be enhanced.Susanne Diekelmann reviewed this issue in a recent manuscript published in the journal Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience.In this review, two theories for sleep enhancement of memories are proposed:Ac........ Read more »
Diekelmann, S. (2014) Sleep for cognitive enhancement. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00046
- May 7, 2014
- 11:01 AM
- 169 views
Sleep, Inflammation and Risk of Depression
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Dr. Michael Irwin at the Warren Neuroscience Lecture Series in Tulsa, OK.Dr. Irwin has been a leader in research related to sleep disturbance, inflammation and depression risk. Here are my notes from the presentation and few related citations.Notes on Irwin PresentationDepression is important because it is prevalent, recurrent and often resistant to treatmentSleep disturbance is common as a symptom of depression, but also may be an independe........ Read more »
Slavich, G., & Irwin, M. (2014) From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression. Psychological Bulletin, 140(3), 774-815. DOI: 10.1037/a0035302
Lee E, Cho HJ, Olmstead R, Levin MJ, Oxman MN, & Irwin MR. (2013) Persistent sleep disturbance: a risk factor for recurrent depression in community-dwelling older adults. Sleep, 36(11), 1685-91. PMID: 24179302
Inagaki TK, Muscatell KA, Irwin MR, Cole SW, & Eisenberger NI. (2012) Inflammation selectively enhances amygdala activity to socially threatening images. NeuroImage, 59(4), 3222-6. PMID: 22079507
- April 28, 2014
- 10:04 AM
- 230 views
Religion As A Suicide Protective Factor: Part I
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Risk factors for suicide include male gender, older age, previous suicide attempts and presence of a mental disorder.Factors that reduce risk of suicide or provide a protective effect are less well understood.Two recent studies suggest religious belief and church attendance are linked to reduced risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.Nicole Cushing and colleagues conducted a study of older adults suffering from depression.In this study, a series of subjects over 59 receiving outpatient o........ Read more »
Rushing NC, Corsentino E, Hames JL, Sachs-Ericsson N, & Steffens DC. (2013) The relationship of religious involvement indicators and social support to current and past suicidality among depressed older adults. Aging , 17(3), 366-74. PMID: 23121118
- April 22, 2014
- 10:21 AM
- 235 views
Religious Belief Linked to Brain Cortex Thickness
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In a previous post, I reviewed a longitudinal study of religious belief and major depression.This study by Lisa Miller and colleagues found a reduced risk of depression in subjects who rated religious belief or spirituality as an important factor in their lives.Reduction in depression risk with religiosity/spirituality was largest (90% smaller risk) in those with a family history of depression.This correlation may not be causal and may be explained by some common third factor between religion an........ Read more »
Miller L, Bansal R, Wickramaratne P, Hao X, Tenke CE, Weissman MM, & Peterson BS. (2014) Neuroanatomical correlates of religiosity and spirituality: a study in adults at high and low familial risk for depression. JAMA psychiatry, 71(2), 128-35. PMID: 24369341
- April 15, 2014
- 11:43 AM
- 211 views
Religious Belief and Depression Resilience
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Identifying risk factors for brain disorders is a key element in clinical research.Understanding protective or resilience factors for brain disorders is also important and receiving increased attention in clinical research.Factors that promote resilience to brain disorders may come from a variety of domains. Religious belief is one domain receiving attention as a potential resilience factor.Miller and colleagues recently published a longitudinal study of religious belief and risk for major ........ Read more »
Miller L, Wickramaratne P, Gameroff MJ, Sage M, Tenke CE, & Weissman MM. (2012) Religiosity and major depression in adults at high risk: a ten-year prospective study. The American journal of psychiatry, 169(1), 89-94. PMID: 21865527
- April 7, 2014
- 11:37 AM
- 206 views
The Genetics of Religious Belief
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In the next few posts, I will review some of the recent brain-related research related to religious belief.Religious belief and religious affiliation run in families. This effect is not surprising as parents influence their children's type of religious experience during development.However, there is increasing evidence that adult religious belief and behavior is also influenced by genetic factors independent of family environment experience.Twin studies represent a powerful research model to tea........ Read more »
Button TM, Stallings MC, Rhee SH, Corley RP, & Hewitt JK. (2011) The etiology of stability and change in religious values and religious attendance. Behavior genetics, 41(2), 201-10. PMID: 20711848
Hvidtjørn, D., Petersen, I., Hjelmborg, J., Skytthe, A., Christensen, K., & Hvidt, N. (2013) Familial Resemblance in Religiousness in a Secular Society: A Twin Study. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 16(02), 544-553. DOI: 10.1017/thg.2013.3
Kandler C, & Riemann R. (2013) Genetic and environmental sources of individual religiousness: the roles of individual personality traits and perceived environmental religiousness. Behavior genetics, 43(4), 297-313. PMID: 23681197
- March 27, 2014
- 12:51 PM
- 213 views
Is Insomnia Relief Just a Mouse Click Away?
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Cognitive behavioral treatment of insomnia (CBT-I) is increasingly recognized as an important treatment option.However, in some regions of the U.S. and the world, access to this type of therapy is limited and may be cost prohibitive.A recent review of the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia noted the promise of internet-based CBT-I. The promise of internet-based CBT-I is based on several randomized controlled trials.Ritterband and colleagues published a study 44 subjects randomize........ Read more »
Buysse DJ. (2013) Insomnia. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association, 309(7), 706-16. PMID: 23423416
Ritterband LM, Thorndike FP, Gonder-Frederick LA, Magee JC, Bailey ET, Saylor DK, & Morin CM. (2009) Efficacy of an Internet-based behavioral intervention for adults with insomnia. Archives of general psychiatry, 66(7), 692-8. PMID: 19581560
Espie CA, Kyle SD, Williams C, Ong JC, Douglas NJ, Hames P, & Brown JS. (2012) A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of online cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic insomnia disorder delivered via an automated media-rich web application. Sleep, 35(6), 769-81. PMID: 22654196
- March 25, 2014
- 11:08 AM
- 230 views
When Sleeping Pills Don't Work
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Hypnotics or sleeping pills typically are effective and indicated as an option for the short-term relief of transient insomnia.However, a minority of individuals report persistent insomnia and lack of sleep despite use of a hypnotic.When drugs that typically treat a disorder fail to work, it is important to reconsider the accuracy of the diagnosis.Yun Li and colleagues from China recently published a case report illustrating this issue in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.They reported on a........ Read more »
Li Y, Li Z, Lei F, Du L, & Tang X. (2013) Persistent insomnia despite long-term nightly use of sleeping pills. Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 9(8), 834-6. PMID: 23946716
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