Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons^™

Psilocybin With Acceptance And Commitment Therapy (Act) For The Treatment Of Social Anxiety Disorder (Sad), Aspen E. Allred

University Honors Theses

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a debilitating mental health condition characterized by an overwhelming fear and anxiety of social rejection that can lead to chronic patterns of social behavioral avoidance. Despite the existence of traditional efficacious treatments, a significant number of individuals either do not respond to treatment or experience a recurrence of symptoms over extended periods, spanning 10-12 years. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a form of acceptance-based behavioral therapy considered part of the "third wave" of cognitive behavioral therapies, has shown promising results in early studies, comparable to those of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that is considered the …

Hippocampal Volume And The Detection Of Mild Cognitive Impairment In An Older Adult Population: Assessing Performance On Cognitive Screeners Administered In-Person And Electronically, Kristen Fabrizi

Dissertations

The present study investigated how performance on in-person and electronic neuropsychological assessment measures predicted subcortical hippocampal volume and cognitive decline consistent with mild cognitive impairment. It was hypothesized that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment would display better predictive strength than the Cogstate Brief Battery when evaluating subcortical hippocampal volume measured via structural magnetic resonance imaging. It was further hypothesized that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment would be more sensitive to predicting group membership to the diagnostic classification of mild cognitive impairment compared to the Cogstate Brief Battery. The sample included 445 older adult participants selected from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 3. …

Regulatory Implications Of Inadequately Designed Pimavanserin Drug Trials Published With Risk Of Bias On Expedited Regulatory Approval Processes, Benson Law

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The objective of this retrospective critical appraisal study was to determine if the trials submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for the expedited approval of pimavanserin was of sufficient methodological quality to ascertain its safety and efficacy. After the general metrics of the trials were assessed, the Risk of Bias 2 tool and the PRagmatic Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary tool were employed to evaluate the risk of bias and the design suitability of the trials. This study suggests that the decision to approve pimavanserin for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis failed to meet the threshold of evidence normally …

White Matter Inflammation And Executive Dysfunction: Implications For Alzheimer Disease And Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Alexander Levit

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

White matter integrity is crucial to healthy executive function, the cognitive domain that enables functional independence. However, in the ageing brain, white matter is highly vulnerable. White matter inflammation increases with age and Alzheimer disease (AD), which disrupts the normal function of white matter. This may contribute to executive dysfunction, but the relationship between white matter inflammation and executive function has not been directly evaluated in ageing nor AD. White matter is also particularly vulnerable to cerebrovascular disease, corresponding with the common presentation of executive dysfunction in vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). Thus, white matter may be an important substrate by …

An Exploration Into The Psychotic Symptoms Associated With Schizophrenia And Major Depressive Disorder, Kyndester I. Michael-Samaroo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research focuses on examining the neurological similarities between schizophrenia and major depressive disorder with psychotic features in order to compare the manifestations of psychosis in each disorder. Both disorders often involve symptoms of psychosis, although the overall disorders are very different from each other. The hypothesis for this research is that the neurological similarities between schizophrenia and major depressive disorder with psychotic features will provide researchers with the strategies needed to develop a treatment for psychotic symptoms. In order to test this hypothesis, five related studies were gathered for each disorder, and three studies were gathered for psychosis. These …

Is Pramipexole Safe And Effective In Reducing Depressive Symptoms In Patients With Mild To Moderate Parkinson’S Disease And Depression?, Corinne J. Kern

PCOM Physician Assistant Studies Student Scholarship

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not pramipexole (Mirapex) is a safe and effective drug to treat depression in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s Disease (PD).

STUDY DESIGN: Review of three English language primary randomized controlled trials and one randomized prospective, observational study published between 2003-2010.

DATA SOURCES: Three randomized controlled trials and one randomized prospective, observational study comparing the efficacy of pramipexole to placebo, sertraline (an SSRI) and other dopamine agonists (pergolide) in the treatment of PD related depression symptoms were found using PubMed.

OUTCOME(S) MEASURED: Each of the …