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Physician, Writer and Bird Photographer. Translating Neuroscience Research Into Better Care for Brain Disorders.
Brain Posts
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- December 13, 2011
- 01:01 PM
- 4,818 views
Weight Suppression and Bulimia Recovery
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Weight suppression is a variable that is defined as highest ever historical weight minus current weight. It represents a measure of the level of weight lost since being at the highest weight over a lifetime.Although many individuals with bulimia nervosa are within normal weight ranges, these individuals tend to have higher levels of weight suppression than those without an eating disorder.Weight loss in bulimia may increase drive for binge eating. Weight suppression may similarly be ........ Read more »
Lowe, M., Berner, L., Swanson, S., Clark, V., Eddy, K., Franko, D., Shaw, J., Ross, S., & Herzog, D. (2011) Weight suppression predicts time to remission from bulimia nervosa. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(6), 772-776. DOI: 10.1037/a0025714
- December 12, 2011
- 12:16 PM
- 4,493 views
Best Test for Diagnosing Alzheimer's Dementia
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
PET Image Normal Definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) from other forms of dementia is a complex clinical challenge. Positron imaging tomography (PET) scans are widely available in the United States. A more recent approach has used the estimation of brain amyloid levels using an amyloid ligand Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB). PiB imaging is primarily a research tool at the present.I have previously summarized some of the research related to PiB imaging from a lectur........ Read more »
Rabinovici GD, Rosen HJ, Alkalay A, Kornak J, Furst AJ, Agarwal N, Mormino EC, O'Neil JP, Janabi M, Karydas A.... (2011) Amyloid vs FDG-PET in the differential diagnosis of AD and FTLD. Neurology, 77(23), 2034-42. PMID: 22131541
- December 14, 2011
- 12:44 PM
- 4,433 views
Brain and Gut in Processing Emotion
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex in BlueIntense emotional experiences frequently occur with bodily sensations such as a rapid heart rate or gastrointestinal distress.It appears that bodily sensation (interoception) can be an important source of information when judging one's emotional. How the brain processes interoception is becoming better understood. However, how the brain integrates interoceptive signals with other brain emotional processing circuits is less well understood.Terasawa and........ Read more »
Terasawa, Y., Fukushima, H., & Umeda, S. (2011) How does interoceptive awareness interact with the subjective experience of emotion? An fMRI Study. Human Brain Mapping. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.21458
- May 31, 2011
- 07:49 AM
- 2,793 views
Brief Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Older Adults
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Insomnia is a common complaint in the general population and among patients treated by primary care physicians. This is particularly true for older adults who experience physiological changes in sleep with aging. Clinicians commonly prescribe hypnotics for insomnia and the use of these types of drugs is increasing in the United States and elsewhere. Behavioral and psychological interventions may be overlooked or bypassed in the sequencing of interventions for complaints of inso........ Read more »
Buysse, D., Germain, A., Moul, D., Franzen, P., Brar, L., Fletcher, M., Begley, A., Houck, P., Mazumdar, S., Reynolds, C.... (2011) Efficacy of Brief Behavioral Treatment for Chronic Insomnia in Older Adults. Archives of Internal Medicine, 171(10), 887-895. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2010.535
- October 13, 2010
- 04:50 PM
- 2,252 views
The Brain Insula: Function and Disease
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Nature Reviews Neuroscience is a scientific journal dedicated to neuroscience topics that recently celebrated it’s ten year anniversary. To commemorate the accomplishment, the most highly cited articles from each of the last 10 years was identified. This method provides a good proxy for the most important publication each year. The 2009 most cited article was Dr. A.D. Craig’s article entitled: “How do you feel—now? The anterior insula and human awareness”.Dr. Craig’........ Read more »
Craig AD. (2009) How do you feel--now? The anterior insula and human awareness. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 10(1), 59-70. PMID: 19096369
Luo L, Rodriguez E, Jerbi K, Lachaux JP, Martinerie J, Corbetta M, Shulman GL, Piomelli D, Turrigiano GG, Nelson SB.... (2010) Ten years of Nature Reviews Neuroscience: insights from the highly cited. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 11(10), 718-26. PMID: 20852655
- November 16, 2010
- 03:35 PM
- 2,123 views
Brain MRI White Matter Intensities: Clinical Significance
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
T2 White Matter Hyperintensity (Mild left, Extensive right)Novel imaging findings emerge with the advancement of imaging techniques. Commonly, the meaning of new imaging findings is unknown until further clinical research provides answers. This situation describes the finding of white matter intensities on brain magnetic resonance imaging. White matter intensities are relatively common in the aging brain as well as with a variety of clinical disorders. Two manuscripts pro........ Read more »
Murray, M., Senjem, M., Petersen, R., Hollman, J., Preboske, G., Weigand, S., Knopman, D., Ferman, T., Dickson, D., & Jack, C. (2010) Functional Impact of White Matter Hyperintensities in Cognitively Normal Elderly Subjects. Archives of Neurology, 67(11), 1379-1385. DOI: 10.1001/archneurol.2010.280
- February 23, 2011
- 04:17 PM
- 2,115 views
Brain Circuit Tied to Gambling Risk in Parkinson Disease Identified
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Some of the drugs used to treat Parkinson disease (PD) increase the risk for pathological gambling. This can have a significant economic adverse effect on some individuals. I have previous posted on the use of amantadine in reducing pathological gambling in PD. Although some medications may reduce the risk of pathological gambling, there is a need to further understand the mechanism of drug-related gambling behavior.Cilia and colleagues from the University of Toronto as well as........ Read more »
Cilia R, Cho SS, van Eimeren T, Marotta G, Siri C, Ko JH, Pellecchia G, Pezzoli G, Antonini A, & Strafella AP. (2011) Pathological gambling in patients with Parkinson's disease is associated with fronto-striatal disconnection: A path modeling analysis. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. PMID: 21284039
- August 22, 2011
- 08:46 AM
- 2,093 views
Brain Response to Food in Anorexia vs Bulimia
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
The eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa share some common features. Excessive fear of being fat is a core feature of both disorders. However, key clinical differences between the disorders exist.Most patients with bulimia nervosa are in the normal to overweight category. Anorexia nervosa by definition requires being of low weight, often to such extreme levels to pose a danger of death due to the effects of starvation.Now we have a study using fMRI that examine........ Read more »
Brooks, S., O′Daly, O., Uher, R., Friederich, H., Giampietro, V., Brammer, M., Williams, S., Schiöth, H., Treasure, J., & Campbell, I. (2011) Differential Neural Responses to Food Images in Women with Bulimia versus Anorexia Nervosa. PLoS ONE, 6(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022259
- January 21, 2011
- 11:12 AM
- 2,054 views
Low-dose Doxepin for Insomnia Treatment
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Doxepin is a tricyclic antidepressant drug with significant sedative effect recently studied for use as a hypnotic in the treatment of insomnia. Doxepin has strong antagonistic effects on several neurotransmitter receptors including the histamine (one and two), serotonin (two), alpha one adrenergic and muscarinic acetylcholinergic receptors.Juliane Weber and colleagues recently reviewed clinical trial research related to doxepin and insomnia treatment. For depression, doxepin typical........ Read more »
Weber J, Siddiqui MA, Wagstaff AJ, & McCormack PL. (2010) Low-dose doxepin: in the treatment of insomnia. CNS drugs, 24(8), 713-20. PMID: 20658801
Krystal AD, Durrence HH, Scharf M, Jochelson P, Rogowski R, Ludington E, & Roth T. (2010) Efficacy and Safety of Doxepin 1 mg and 3 mg in a 12-week Sleep Laboratory and Outpatient Trial of Elderly Subjects with Chronic Primary Insomnia. Sleep, 33(11), 1553-61. PMID: 21102997
- September 7, 2010
- 03:29 PM
- 2,013 views
Perfectionism as a Risk Factor for Anorexia Nervosa
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Temperament is generally defined as innate early emotional and behavioral characteristics that precede puberty and adult development. Felt to have significant genetic components, temperament is also potentially influenced by environmental factors. There are a variety of temperament domains that have received significant attention in childhood, adolescent and adult populations. Some of the most commonly studied domains include:neuroticismharm avoidancenovelty seekingreward depend........ Read more »
Wade TD, Tiggemann M, Bulik CM, Fairburn CG, Wray NR, & Martin NG. (2008) Shared temperament risk factors for anorexia nervosa: a twin study. Psychosomatic medicine, 70(2), 239-44. PMID: 18158375
- March 2, 2011
- 10:19 AM
- 1,914 views
Decoding the Faces of Depression: Anhedonia and Dopamine
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Diego Pizzagalli presented the March 2011 Warren Frontiers in Neuroscience Series lecture in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 1, 2011. Dr. Pizzagalli works at the Harvard Medical School affiliated Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research & Neuroimaging Center at McLean Hospital in Boston. He has been involved in research related to brain abnormalities in major depression as well as predictors of treatment response. I will highlight some of the key points from his lecture ........ Read more »
Pizzagalli DA. (2011) Frontocingulate dysfunction in depression: toward biomarkers of treatment response. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 36(1), 183-206. PMID: 20861828
Pizzagalli DA, Holmes AJ, Dillon DG, Goetz EL, Birk JL, Bogdan R, Dougherty DD, Iosifescu DV, Rauch SL, & Fava M. (2009) Reduced caudate and nucleus accumbens response to rewards in unmedicated individuals with major depressive disorder. The American journal of psychiatry, 166(6), 702-10. PMID: 19411368
Wacker J, Dillon DG, & Pizzagalli DA. (2009) The role of the nucleus accumbens and rostral anterior cingulate cortex in anhedonia: integration of resting EEG, fMRI, and volumetric techniques. NeuroImage, 46(1), 327-37. PMID: 19457367
- June 15, 2011
- 09:34 AM
- 1,871 views
ADHD and the Athlete
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Athletes are not spared from the risk of developmental disorders like learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Once an athlete is diagnosed with ADHD, the effect of this disorder and it's treatment on athletic performance becomes important. Dr. J. W. Parr recently published a comprehensive review of recent research and understanding of ADHD in the athlete. The review includes a look at diagnostic issues as well as a summary of the neurobi........ Read more »
Parr JW. (2011) Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and the athlete: new advances and understanding. Clinics in sports medicine, 30(3), 591-610. PMID: 21658550
- July 26, 2011
- 11:01 AM
- 1,868 views
Hoarders: Mental Disorder Profiles
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Hoarding is under increased scrutiny in both the public presence and clinical neuroscience research. Some of this can be attributed to the television show Hoarders. This show profiles a series of individuals with hoarding behaviors and the attempts made by professionals trying to help them.If you have seen any of the shows you quickly realize that this problem is easy to assess but difficult to treat. The effect on family members of hoarders is often extreme. Family........ Read more »
Frost RO, Steketee G, & Tolin DF. (2011) Comorbidity in Hoarding Disorder. Depression and anxiety. PMID: 21770000
- February 20, 2011
- 11:46 PM
- 1,843 views
Did the Red Fox Predate the Dog as Man's Best Friend?
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Pets have longed played a role in human companionship. Wild animals were primarily a source of food (and danger) in early human development. Later in evolution, animals began to serve a more complex role. Domestication of a variety of animals served a more utilitarian role. For example, domestication of horses allowed for extended travel, improved efficiency of hunting and provided a strategic advantage in battle.The domestications of wild wolves has been felt to be........ Read more »
Maher, L., Stock, J., Finney, S., Heywood, J., Miracle, P., & Banning, E. (2011) A Unique Human-Fox Burial from a Pre-Natufian Cemetery in the Levant (Jordan). PLoS ONE, 6(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015815
- June 29, 2011
- 11:15 AM
- 1,834 views
Vilazodone: A Novel Antidepressant
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Vilazodone was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. earlier this year, but is just now becoming available in pharmacies for prescription use. The drug is marketed in the U.S. under the trade name Viibyd. It is novel in that it the only antidepressant that combines two mechanisms that can increase serotonin in the brain cortex: selective serotonin reuptake inhibition and partial agonism of the 5HT1A receptor. There are multiple selective serotonin reuptake in........ Read more »
Rickels K, Athanasiou M, Robinson DS, Gibertini M, Whalen H, & Reed CR. (2009) Evidence for efficacy and tolerability of vilazodone in the treatment of major depressive disorder: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 70(3), 326-33. PMID: 19284933
Khan A, Cutler AJ, Kajdasz DK, Gallipoli S, Athanasiou M, Robinson DS, Whalen H, & Reed CR. (2011) A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 8-week study of vilazodone, a serotonergic agent for the treatment of major depressive disorder. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 72(4), 441-7. PMID: 21527122
- October 5, 2010
- 04:56 PM
- 1,816 views
Risk Factors in Children with a Bipolar Parent
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Dr. Audie Henin presented the October 2010 lecture for the Warren Frontiers of Neuroscience series on October 5, 2010. Her presentation “Familial, Neurobiological and Cognitive Risk Factors for Bipolar Disorder in Youth” will be summarized in my notes below. Dr. Henin is an associate professor at Harvard University and is affiliated with Massachussetts General Hospital.Dr. Henin and her research team have been involved in a series of studies in high-risk children focusing on a va........ Read more »
Henin A, Biederman J, Mick E, Sachs GS, Hirshfeld-Becker DR, Siegel RS, McMurrich S, Grandin L, & Nierenberg AA. (2005) Psychopathology in the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder: a controlled study. Biological psychiatry, 58(7), 554-61. PMID: 16112654
Henin A, Mick E, Biederman J, Fried R, Wozniak J, Faraone SV, Harrington K, Davis S, & Doyle AE. (2007) Can bipolar disorder-specific neuropsychological impairments in children be identified?. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 75(2), 210-20. PMID: 17469879
- April 14, 2011
- 09:09 AM
- 1,799 views
Nicotine Replacement in Schizophrenia
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Inpatient psychiatric hospitals increasingly prohibit smoking by patients, staff and family in their units. Although the public health benefits of smoking restrictions are undeniable, there may be some situations where smoking restrictions have unintended consequences. One area is the emergency management of patients with serious psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder.Rates of smoking have been documented to be higher in both schizophrenia and bipo........ Read more »
Allen MH, Debanné M, Lazignac C, Adam E, Dickinson LM, & Damsa C. (2011) Effect of nicotine replacement therapy on agitation in smokers with schizophrenia: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. The American journal of psychiatry, 168(4), 395-9. PMID: 21245085
- June 11, 2012
- 10:52 AM
- 1,791 views
Preterm Birth as a Risk Factor for Mental Disorders
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Identification of risk factors for mental disorders is a key step in prevention. Although genetic factors contribute significantly to risk of mental disorders, environmental factors are also important.Preterm birth appears to be an important risk factor for a variety of neurological and psychiatric mental disorders. Nosarti and colleagues from Sweden recently published a study in the Archives of General Psychiatry of preterm births and adult hospitalization rate for six categories.He........ Read more »
Reichenberg, A. (2012) Preterm Birth and Psychiatric Disorders in Young Adult LifePreterm Birth and Psychiatric Disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 610. DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.1374
- May 12, 2011
- 08:09 AM
- 1,756 views
Ecstasy Designer Drug 2C-E and a Death in Oklahoma
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Chemical Structure 2C-EIf you are a parent of a teenager I hope you took chemistry in high school or college because you are going to need it. The reason you are going to need it is the emergence of designer drugs of abuse. Designer drugs typically have a parent compound that is chemically modified. There are two key reasons to modify existing illegal compounds: 1.) the new compound may not be illegal until state and federals laws can be modified and 2.) the new compound may ha........ Read more »
Meyer MR, & Maurer HH. (2010) Metabolism of designer drugs of abuse: an updated review. Current drug metabolism, 11(5), 468-82. PMID: 20540700
- September 14, 2010
- 04:46 PM
- 1,745 views
The Neurocircuitry of Anorexia Nervosa
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Walter Kaye, M.D., Director of the Eating Disorders Treatment and Research Program at the University of California, San Diego presented a Frontiers in Neuroscience lecture on September, 14, 2010. The presentation was titled: “ Is anorexia nervosa an eating disorder? New insights into puzzling symptoms”. The presentation highlighted some his recent research that has been summarized in the manuscript cited at the end of this blog post.Dr. Kaye noted that eating disorder........ Read more »
Kaye WH, Fudge JL, & Paulus M. (2009) New insights into symptoms and neurocircuit function of anorexia nervosa. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 10(8), 573-84. PMID: 19603056
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