Psychiatry News and Research

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Psychiatry is the treatment, study and prevention of mental disorders.

Researchers identify specific genetic mutations that contribute to disorders of brain development

A collaborative team of researchers including scientists from UCLA has uncovered evidence that a specific genetic alteration appears to contribute to disorders of brain development, including schizophrenia. They also found that schizophrenia shares a common biological pathway with Fragile X mental retardation syndrome, a disorder associated with both intellectual impairment and autism.

7 Aug 2013

Virginia Tech addiction expert receives $3.2 million grant to help smokers quit cigarettes

Warren Bickel, an internationally recognized addiction expert at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, recently received a $3.2-million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for research on improving self-control in smokers seeking to quit cigarettes. The grant will provide Bickel's team with $573,000 to $716,000 a year over five years to develop innovative new ways to enhance the smokers' ability to abstain from acting on their nicotine cravings.

6 Aug 2013

Women who feel less attached to their fetus are going to smoke more

A small new study suggests that pregnant smokers with low scores on a scale that rates emotional attachment to their fetuses may be inclined to smoke more than pregnant smokers who feel more attached to their future babies.

6 Aug 2013

Obese white Americans are twice as likely as blacks to have bariatric surgery

White Americans who are obese are twice as likely as black Americans to have surgery to tackle the problem, a study has found.

5 Aug 2013

Disruption to TOP3B gene increases susceptibility to schizophrenia and a learning disorder

A team of researchers have shown that schizophrenia and a disorder associated with autism and learning difficulties share a common biological pathway. This is one of the first times that researchers have uncovered genetic evidence for the underlying causes of schizophrenia.

5 Aug 2013

Vanderbilt University scientists discover new approach to treating mood, anxiety disorders

Chemically modified inhibitors of the COX-2 enzyme relieve anxiety behaviors in mice by activating natural "endocannabinoids" without gastrointestinal side effects, Vanderbilt University scientists will report next week.

5 Aug 2013

Research roundup: Making sense (or not) of health insurance; what a full Medicaid expansion could look like; recession and coverage

Each week, KHN reporter Alvin Tran compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

3 Aug 2013

Alcohol use increases risk of dopamine response in brain pathway

Research from McGill University suggests that people who are vulnerable to developing alcoholism exhibit a distinctive brain response when drinking alcohol, according to a new study by Prof. Marco Leyton, of McGill University's Department of Psychiatry.

3 Aug 2013

HTR3 variants associated with effectiveness of ondansetron treatment for alcohol dependence

An experimental treatment for alcohol dependence works better in individuals who possess specific combinations of genes that regulate the function and binding of serotonin, a brain chemical affected by the treatment, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health. A report of the finding appears online in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

3 Aug 2013

Naurex receives new U.S. patent for its lead compound, GLYX-13

Naurex Inc., a clinical-stage company developing innovative treatments to address unmet needs in psychiatry and neurology, today announced issuance of a new U.S. patent for its lead compound, GLYX-13.

31 Jul 2013

Interferon-free treatment for genotype-1b hepatitis C patients: an interview with Professor Wulf Boecher, Boehringer Ingelheim

Genotype 1 is, worldwide, the most prevalent genotype of the hepatitis C virus. It accounts for around seventy percent of all hepatitis C infections.

30 Jul 2013

Mandating outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illness results in cost savings

Mandating outpatient treatment for certain people with severe mental illness, while controversial, results in substantial cost savings by cutting hospitalizations and increasing outpatient care, according to a financial analysis led by researchers at Duke Medicine.

30 Jul 2013

Some warn of 'overwhelming' mental illness care cost without new research investment

Scientists warn health systems could face "overwhelming" costs of treating mental illness if no new money is invested in research.

26 Jul 2013

Forest Laboratories, Pierre Fabre Laboratories announce that FETZIMA gets FDA approval for MDD

Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Pierre Fabre Laboratories announced today that FETZIMA (levomilnacipran extended-release capsules), a once-daily serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, discovered by Pierre Fabre Laboratories and co-developed by Forest Laboratories, Inc. was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in adults.

26 Jul 2013

Study: Bipolar disorder evolves differently in patients who binge eat

Bipolar disorder evolves differently in patients who also binge eat, a study by Mayo Clinic, the Lindner Center of HOPE and the University of Minnesota found. Binge eating and obesity often are present among bipolar patients, but the mood disorder appears to take a different path in those who binge eat than it does in obese bipolar patients who do not, the researchers discovered.

26 Jul 2013

Psychiatry professor selected for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow 2013-2014

For millions of people across the United States, health and well-being depends on policy decisions made at the federal level. With mental health at the center of today's health policy discussion, Amir Afkhami, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and global health at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), will bring his "boots on the ground" experience in mental health policy to the government as a 2013-2014 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow.

25 Jul 2013

Study shows 90% of dementia cases in China go undetected; high level in rural areas

An international team of researchers has found that over 90 percent of dementia cases in China go undetected, with a high level of undiagnosed dementia in rural areas. The team of public health experts led by Dr Ruoling Chen at King's College London argues that more mental health education targeting high-risk populations is now needed to improve diagnosis rates, and increase support for sufferers and their families.

25 Jul 2013

New quantitative screening method for diagnosing and longitudinal tracking of autism in children

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine and Rutgers University have developed a new quantitative screening method for diagnosing and longitudinal tracking of autism in children after age 3.

25 Jul 2013

International Consortium receives grant to examine genetic reasons of schizophrenia in deletion syndrome patients

Today, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) will host a two day International Brain and Behaviour Consortium meeting on Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS).

24 Jul 2013

Researchers identify neural pathways involved in word learning among humans

For the first time scientists have identified how a pathway in the brain which is unique to humans allows us to learn new words. The average adult's vocabulary consists of about 30,000 words. This ability seems unique to humans as even the species closest to us -- chimps -- manage to learn no more than 100.

23 Jul 2013

Psychiatry News and Research

Further Reading

Researchers identify specific genetic mutations that contribute to disorders of brain development

Virginia Tech addiction expert receives $3.2 million grant to help smokers quit cigarettes

Women who feel less attached to their fetus are going to smoke more

Obese white Americans are twice as likely as blacks to have bariatric surgery

Disruption to TOP3B gene increases susceptibility to schizophrenia and a learning disorder

Vanderbilt University scientists discover new approach to treating mood, anxiety disorders

Research roundup: Making sense (or not) of health insurance; what a full Medicaid expansion could look like; recession and coverage

Alcohol use increases risk of dopamine response in brain pathway

HTR3 variants associated with effectiveness of ondansetron treatment for alcohol dependence

Naurex receives new U.S. patent for its lead compound, GLYX-13

Interferon-free treatment for genotype-1b hepatitis C patients: an interview with Professor Wulf Boecher, Boehringer Ingelheim

Mandating outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illness results in cost savings

Some warn of 'overwhelming' mental illness care cost without new research investment

Forest Laboratories, Pierre Fabre Laboratories announce that FETZIMA gets FDA approval for MDD

Study: Bipolar disorder evolves differently in patients who binge eat

Psychiatry professor selected for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow 2013-2014

Study shows 90% of dementia cases in China go undetected; high level in rural areas

New quantitative screening method for diagnosing and longitudinal tracking of autism in children

International Consortium receives grant to examine genetic reasons of schizophrenia in deletion syndrome patients

Researchers identify neural pathways involved in word learning among humans

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