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Topic Review
FNIRS application in Parkinson’s Disease
The management of people affected by neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, requires the adoption of targeted and cost-effective interventions to cope with chronicity. Although therapy adaptation and rehabilitation represent major targets, affordable and reliable neurophysiological correlates of cerebral activity to be used throughout treatment stages are often lacking. The functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) represents a versatile optical neuroimaging technology for investigating cortical hemodynamic activity in the most common chronic neurological conditions, including Parkinson's disease, with the advantages of non-invasiveness and portability which make fNIRS suitable for carrying out multiple measurements in rehabilitation settings.
  • 1.1K
  • 21 Oct 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.
  • 1.1K
  • 02 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Fyn
Fyn is a non-receptor or cytoplasmatic tyrosine kinase (TK) belonging to the Src family kinases (SFKs) involved in multiple transduction pathways in the central nervous system (CNS) including synaptic transmission, myelination, axon guidance, and oligodendrocyte formation. Almost one hundred years after the original description of Fyn, this protein continues to attract extreme interest because of its multiplicity of actions in the molecular signaling pathways underlying neurodevelopmental as well as neuropathologic events. Fyn is a common factor in healthy and diseased brains that targets different proteins and shapes different transduction signals according to the neurological conditions. In particular, Fyn mediates signaling pathways involved in neuronal differentiation and plasticity that have been subjected to considerable attention lately, opening the fascinating scenario to target Fyn TK for the development of potential therapeutic interventions for the treatment of CNS injuries and certain neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease.
  • 1.1K
  • 05 Nov 2020
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.
  • 1.0K
  • 24 Dec 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.   
  • 970
  • 18 Sep 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. 
  • 958
  • 15 Dec 2020
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. 
  • 913
  • 12 Oct 2022
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.
  • 911
  • 03 Sep 2020
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.
  • 895
  • 10 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Urban Noise and Psychological Distress
Chronic exposure to urban noise is harmful for auditory perception, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and nervous systems, while also causing psychological annoyance. Around 25% of the EU population experience a deterioration in the quality of life due to annoyance and about 5–15% suffer from sleep disorders, with many disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost annually. This entry highlights the main sources of urban noise, the principal clinical disorders and the most effected countries.
  • 845
  • 14 Oct 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.
  • 837
  • 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. 
  • 830
  • 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.
  • 811
  • 09 Dec 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.
  • 794
  • 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.
  • 791
  • 22 Oct 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).
  • 773
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Microglial Turnover in Ageing-Related Neurodegeneration
Microglia are brain-dwelling macrophages and major parts of the neuroimmune system that broadly contribute to brain development, homeostasis, ageing and injury repair in the central nervous system (CNS). 
  • 763
  • 22 Jan 2021
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.
  • 757
  • 29 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.
  • 704
  • 20 Nov 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. 
  • 676
  • 14 Feb 2022
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