You're using an outdated browser. Please upgrade to a modern browser for the best experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Delirium
Delirium is a set of neuropsychiatric symptoms, including qualitative disturbances of consciousness and attention, which may be accompanied by cognitive deficits and psychotic symptoms. The incidence of delirium varies from several percent in patients hospitalized in general wards up to 80% in patients with multi-organ failure treated in intensive care units. Delirium worsens the prognosis, extends hospitalization time, and may increase mortality.
  • 1.6K
  • 27 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Cognitive Interventions
With older adults, cognitive intervention programs are most often used for preventing or reversing a decline in cognitive functions. Under the heading of cognitive intervention, a multitude of diverse programs are found. In order to classify this field, we will distinguish between: (1) cognitive training programs (programs that train basic cognitive strategies), (2) cognitive rehabilitation (mono or multidimensional programs on specific skills like memory, attention, arithmetic, etc.), and (3) cognitive stimulation (continuous practice programs or use of external resources).
  • 1.6K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Noninvasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation
Neuromodulation is a promising new area with treatment applications for psychiatry. Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve is associated with a reduction in peripheral sympathetic and inflammatory function and modulation of brain areas mediating fear and the stress response, and thus has potential applications to patients with stress-related psychiatric disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Non-invasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation (nVNS) can be applied to vagus nerve locations at the neck (transcutaneous cervical, or tcVNS) or ear (transcutaneous auricular, or taVNS), intervening at the level of the underlying psychobiology with potential beneficial treatment effects.   
  • 1.6K
  • 18 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Concurrent Disorder
Concurrent disorder refers to a diverse set of combinations of substance use disorders and mental disorders simultaneously in need of treatment. Concurrent disorders are underdiagnosed, undertreated, and more complex to manage, practicing the best recommendations can support better outcomes. The purpose of this work is to systematically assess the quality of the current concurrent disorders’ clinical recommendation management guidelines. Literature searches were performed by two independent authors in electronic databases, web, and gray literature. The inclusion criteria were English language clinical management guidelines for adult concurrent disorders between 2000 and 2020. The initial search resulted in 8841 hits. A total of 24 guidelines were identified and assessed with the standardized guidelines assessment tool: AGREE II (Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation). Most guidelines had acceptable standards, however, only the NICE guidelines had all detailed information on all AGREE II Domains. Guidelines generally supported combinations of treatments for individual disorders with a very small evidence base for concurrent disorders, and they provided little recommendation for further structuring of the field, such as level of complexity or staging, or evaluating dierent models of treatment integration.
  • 1.5K
  • 01 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Chinese Herbal Medicine for Depression
Depression is a mood disorder that causes a loss of interest and constant sadness. Central nervous system (CNS)-targeted medications alone are insufficient for the treatment of depression. Multidrug and multitarget Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) has great potential to assist in the development of novel medications for the systematic and effective pharmacotherapy of depression.
  • 1.5K
  • 02 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Situational Factors Affecting Tic Severity
Much of the research regarding Tourette’s syndrome (TS) has focused on why certain individuals develop tics while others do not. However, a separate line of research focuses on the momentary influences that cause tics to increase or decrease in patients who are already known to have TS or another chronic tic disorder (CTD). Environmental and internal variables such as fatigue, anxiety, and certain types of thoughts all have been shown to worsen tic severity and may even overcome the positive effects of treatment. Other influences such as stress, distraction, and being observed have had mixed effects in the various studies that have examined them. Still, other variables such as social media exposure and dietary habits have received only minimal research attention and would benefit from additional study. Understanding the impact of these environmental and internal influences provides an opportunity to improve behavioral treatments for TS/CTD and to improve the lives of those living with these conditions. 
  • 1.5K
  • 12 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Modulation of Brain Hyperexcitability
People with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have significantly higher rates of subclinical and overt epileptiform activity. In animal models, oligomeric Aβ amyloid is able to induce neuronal hyperexcitability even in the early phases of the disease. Such aberrant activity subsequently leads to downstream accumulation of toxic proteins, and ultimately to further neurodegeneration and neuronal silencing mediated by concomitant tau accumulation. Several neurotransmitters participate in the initial hyperexcitable state, with increased synaptic glutamatergic tone and decreased GABAergic inhibition. These changes appear to activate excitotoxic pathways and, ultimately, cause reduced long-term potentiation, increased long-term depression, and increased GABAergic inhibitory remodelling at the network level. Brain hyperexcitability has therefore been identified as a potential target for therapeutic interventions aimed at enhancing cognition, and, possibly, disease modification in the longer term. Clinical trials are ongoing to evaluate the potential efficacy in targeting hyperexcitability in AD, with levetiracetam showing some encouraging effects. Newer compounds and techniques, such as gene editing via viral vectors or brain stimulation, also show promise. Diagnostic challenges include identifying best biomarkers for measuring sub-clinical epileptiform discharges. Determining the timing of any intervention is critical and future trials will need to carefully stratify participants with respect to the phase of disease pathology.
  • 1.5K
  • 24 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Kleptomania
Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main characteristics of the disorder suggest that kleptomania could be an obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder, but also share similarities with addictive and mood disorders. The disorder is frequently under-diagnosed and is regularly associated with other psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety, eating disorders, alcohol and substance use. Patients with kleptomania are typically treated with therapies in other areas due to the comorbid grievances rather than issues directly related to kleptomania. Over the last 100 years, a shift from psychotherapeutic to psychopharmacological interventions for kleptomania has occurred. Pharmacological treatments using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), mood stabilizers and opioid receptor antagonists, and other antidepressants along with cognitive behavioral therapy, have yielded positive results. However, there have also been reports of kleptomania induced by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
  • 1.4K
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Crisis-focused Psychological Interventions
Public safety personnel (PSP) and frontline healthcare professionals (FHP) are frequently exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs), and report increased rates of post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSIs). Despite widespread implementation and repeated calls for research, effectiveness evidence for organizational post-exposure PTSI mitigation services remains lacking.
  • 1.4K
  • 10 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Personality Neuroscience
It has long been understood that a multitude of biological systems, from genetics, to brain networks, to psychological factors, all play a role in personality. Understanding how these systems interact with each other to form both relatively stable patterns of behaviour, cognition and emotion, but also vast individual differences and psychiatric disorders, however, requires new methodological insight. Novel data-driven approaches, such as multilayer networks, may prove to be viable methods for explaining and predicting individual difference with greater veracity through incorporating data at more than one scale. 
  • 1.4K
  • 15 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Maternal-Autoantibody-Related Autism
Recent studies indicate the existence of a maternal-autoantibody-related subtype of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To date, a large number of studies have focused on describing patterns of brain-reactive serum antibodies in maternal-autoantibody-related (MAR) autism and some have described attempts to define the antigenic targets. This entry describes evidence on MAR autism and the various autoantibodies that have been implicated. Among other possibilities, antibodies to neuronal surface protein Contactin Associated Protein 2 (CASPR2) have been found more frequently in mothers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders or autism, and two independent experimental studies have shown pathogenicity in mice. The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is another possible target for maternal antibodies as demonstrated in mice. Here, we discuss the growing evidence, discuss issues regarding biomarker definition, and summarise the therapeutic approaches that might be used to reduce or prevent the transfer of pathogenic maternal antibodies.
  • 1.3K
  • 03 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Epigenomic Dysregulation in Schizophrenia
       Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder with a complex array of signs and symptoms that causes very significant disability in young people. While schizophrenia has a strong genetic component, with heritability around 80%, there is also a very significant range of environmental exposures and stressors that have been implicated in disease development and neuropathology, such as maternal immune infection, obstetric complications, childhood trauma and cannabis exposure. It is postulated that epigenetic factors, as well as regulatory non-coding RNAs, mediate the effects of these environmental stressors. In this review, we explore the most well-known epigenetic marks, including DNA methylation and histone modification, along with emerging RNA mediators of epigenomic state, including miRNAs and lncRNAs, and discuss their collective potential for involvement in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia implicated through the postmortem analysis of brain tissue. Given that peripheral tissues, such as blood, saliva, and olfactory epithelium have the same genetic composition and are exposed to many of the same environmental exposures, we also examine some studies supporting the application of peripheral tissues for epigenomic biomarker discovery in schizophrenia. Finally, we provide some perspective on how these biomarkers may be utilised to capture a signature of past events that informs future treatment.
  • 1.3K
  • 27 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Pharmacogenomic Biomarkers in Psychiatry
Pharmacogenomic biomarkers are potential individual genetic variations that can affect drug response influencing both pharmacokinetic parameters by causing variable activity of the systems responsible for the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of the drug and pharmacodynamic parameters like the mechanisms of action of the drug. Here, the term "pharmacogenomic biomarkers in psychiatry" means those related to a variety of psychiatric disorders, such as depression, ADHD, narcolepsy, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and epilepsy. 
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Radioprotective Effect of Flavonoids
Flavonoids are plant-derived compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and radio-neuro-protective effects. Flavonoids and their metabolites can cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB), which is made up of capillary endothelial cells and basement membrane, neuroglial membrane and glial podocytes, i.e., projections of astrocytes, and reach brain cells to reduce brain damage and alleviate neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive impairment.
  • 1.2K
  • 09 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Delusional Disorder
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) defines delusional disorder (DD) as the presence of one or more delusions, lasting for at least one month or longer, in the absence of affective symptoms, prominent hallucinations or other symptoms of schizophrenia. The prevalence of DD is estimated to be approximately 0.2%. Subtypes of DD have been categorized according to the content of the primary delusion: persecutory, jealous, erotomanic, somatic, grandiose, mixed and unspecified.
  • 1.2K
  • 08 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Self-Esteem in Idiopathic Epilepsy
People with etiologically unknown (idiopathic) epilepsy may have their self-esteem compromised to a certain extent, particularly the females. These results validate our position that people with epilepsy are “more than their mere symptomatic illness”, and that there is a worth in capturing wider patient-reported outcomes, beyond mere seizure frequency and severity. We consider that the usual epilepsy care must go beyond the mere prescription of ASMs.
  • 1.1K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Antidepressant Effects of Anti-Hyperglycemic Agents
Close connections between depression and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) have been suggested by many epidemiological and experimental studies. Disturbances in insulin sensitivity due to the disruption of various molecular pathways cause insulin resistance, which underpins many metabolic disorders, including diabetes, as well as depression. Several anti-hyperglycemic agents have demonstrated antidepressant properties in clinical trials, probably due to their action on brain targets based on the shared pathophysiology of depression and T2DM.
  • 1.1K
  • 22 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Clozapine, Pharmacogenetic Biomarkers, Particularities COVID-19
Clozapine (CLZ) use is precarious due to its neurological, cardiovascular, and hematological side effects; however, it is the gold standard in therapy-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) in adults and is underused. Objective: to examine the most recent CLZ data on (a) side effects concerning (b) recent pharmacological mechanisms, (c) therapy benefits, and (d) the particularities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data sources: a search was performed in two databases (PubMed andWeb of Science) using the specific keywords “clozapine” and “schizophrenia”, “side effects”, “agranulocytosis”, “TRS”, or “bipolar affective disorder (BAF)” for the last ten years. Study eligibility criteria: clinical trials on adults with acute symptoms of schizophrenia or related disorders. Results: We selected 37 studies, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and clinical case series (CCS), centered on six main topics in the search area: (a) CLZ in schizophrenia, (b) CLZ in bipolar disorder, (c) side effects during the clozapine therapy, (d) CLZ in pregnancy, (e) CLZ in early-onset schizophrenia, and (f) CLZ therapy and COVID-19 infection. Limitations: we considered RCTs and CCS from two databases, limited to the search topics. Conclusions and implications of key findings: (a) clozapine doses should be personalized for each patient based on pharmacogenetics testing when available; the genetic vulnerability postulates predictors of adverse reactions’ severity; patients with a lower genetic risk could have less frequent hematological monitoring; (b) a CLZ-associated risk of pulmonary embolism imposes prophylactic measures for venous thromboembolism; (c) convulsive episodes are not an indication for stopping treatment; the plasma concentration of clozapine is a better side effect predictor then the dosage; (d) COVID-19 infection may enhance clozapine toxicity, generating an increased risk of pneumonia. Therapy must be continued with the proper monitoring of the white blood count, and the clozapine dose decreased by half until three days after the fever breaks; psychiatrists and healthcare providers must act together.
  • 1.1K
  • 20 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Journal Efficiency
Journal efficiency is determined by measuring the timelag in the acceptance and publication of scientific findings by a journal on behalf of the authors upon submission.
  • 1.1K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Gender-Oriented Mental Health Prevention
Among risk factors for mental health problems, there are individual, familiar, social, and healthcare factors. Individual factors include childhood adversities, which show gender differences in distribution rates. However, existing childhood abuse prevention programs are not gender-specific. Familiar factors for mental health problems include maternity issues and intimate partner violence, and for both, some gender-specific preventive interventions are available. Social risk factors for mental health problems are related to education, employment, discrimination, and relationships. They all display gender differences, but these differences are rarely taken into account in mental health prevention programs. Lastly, despite gender differences in mental health service use being widely known, mental health services appear to be slow in developing strategies that guarantee equal access to care for all individuals. 
  • 1.1K
  • 14 Feb 2022
  • Page
  • of
  • 3
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Books

>>
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Academic Video Service
Feedback