Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Pancreatic Replacement Therapy For Maladaptive Behaviors In Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Deborah A Pearson, Robert L Hendren, Matthew F Heil, William R Mcintyre, Shane R Raines

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: There is an urgent unmet need for a treatment addressing the core symptoms and associated maladaptive symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially in preschool populations.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether treatment of children with ASD aged 3 to 6 years treated with high-protease pancreatic therapy produces long- and short-term improvements in autism-associated maladaptive behaviors.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study at 32 sites across the US used a double-blind parallel group, delayed-start design comprising a 2-week blinded placebo run-in, and a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled segment (12 weeks). Children were recruited into the study in 2015, with data collection …

Open-Label Study Of Consecutive Ibogaine And 5-Meo-Dmt Assisted-Therapy For Trauma-Exposed Male Special Operations Forces Veterans: Prospective Data From A Clinical Program In Mexico, Alan Kooi Davis, Yitong Xin, Nathan Sepeda, Lynnette A Averill

Staff and Researcher Publications

Background: Research in psychedelic medicine has focused primarily on civilian populations. Further study is needed to understand whether these treatments are effective for Veteran populations.

Objectives: Here, we examine the effectiveness of psychedelic-assisted therapy among trauma-exposed Special Operations Forces Veterans (SOFV) seeking treatment for cognitive and mental health problems in Mexico.

Methods: Data were collected from an ibogaine and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) clinical treatment program for SOFV with a history of trauma exposure. This clinical program collects prospective clinical program evaluation data, such as background characteristics, symptom severity, functioning (e.g., satisfaction with life, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, …

Medical Students' Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Psilocybin: Does Terminology And Personal Experience With Psychedelics Matter?, Antonio F Pagán, Claudia Lex, Jair C Soares, Thomas D Meyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Psilocybin and psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) have gained renewed interest due to recent findings that PAT can enhance therapeutic outcomes. In 2019, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved breakthrough therapy status to psilocybin for the treatment of depression, but PAT has yet to be approved as a therapeutic treatment for mental health disorders. Should the FDA approve PAT, medical students will serve as gatekeepers to PAT.

METHODS: Medical students (

RESULTS: Regardless of the terminology utilized, medical students held overall positive attitudes but their attitudes were significantly more positive when the term "psilocybin" was used. Furthermore, experience with …

Examining Whether Genetic Variants Moderate The Skeletal Effects Of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors In Older Adolescents And Young Adults, Ifeoma Ezenwabachili, Emira Deumic Shultz, James A Mills, Vicki Ellingrod, Chadi A Calarge

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: To examine whether serotonin (5-HT) related genetic variants moderate the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on skeletal outcomes. Methods: Trabecular bone mineral density (BMD) at the radius, lumbar spine (LS) BMD, total body less head (TBLH) bone mineral content (BMC) and markers of bone metabolism (osteocalcin, C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen [CTX-1], and bone specific alkaline phosphatase to CTX-1 ratio) were examined in an observational study, enrolling 15- to 20-year-old participants, unmedicated or within a month of SSRI initiation. Variants in HTR1A (rs6295), HTR1B (rs6296), HTR1D (rs6300), HTR2A (rs6311 and rs6314), HTR2B (rs6736017), and the serotonin …

Patient-Reported Ability To Walk 4 M And To Wash: New Clinical Endpoints And Predictors Of Survival In Patients With Pre-Terminal Cancer, Markus S Anker, Alessia Lena, Eric J Roeland, Jan Porthun, Sebastian Schmitz, Sara Hadzibegovic, Philipp Sikorski, Ursula Wilkenshoff, Ann-Kathrin Fröhlich, Luisa Valentina Ramer, Matthias Rose, Jan Eucker, Tienush Rassaf, Matthias Totzeck, Lorenz H Lehmann, Stephan Von Haehling, Andrew J S Coats, Tim Friede, Javed Butler, Stefan D Anker, Hanno Riess, Ulf Landmesser, Lars Bullinger, Ulrich Keller, Johann Ahn

Staff and Researcher Publications

Background: Maintaining the ability to perform self-care is a critical goal in patients with cancer. We assessed whether the patient-reported ability to walk 4 m and wash oneself predict survival in patients with pre-terminal cancer.

Methods: We performed a prospective observational study on 169 consecutive hospitalized patients with cancer (52% female, 64 ± 12 years) and an estimated 1-12 months prognosis at an academic, inpatient palliative care unit. Patients answered functional questions for 'today', 'last week', and 'last month', performed patient-reported outcomes (PROs), and physical function assessments.

Results: Ninety-two (54%) patients reported the ability to independently walk 4 m and …

Fkbp5 Inhibitors Modulate Alcohol Drinking And Trauma-Related Behaviors In A Model Of Comorbid Post-Traumatic Stress And Alcohol Use Disorder, Bryan Cruz, Valentina Vozella, Benjamin A Carper, Joy C Xu, Dean Kirson, Shawn Hirsch, Tracy Nolen, Lauren Bradley, Katie Fain, Meg Crawford, Thomas R Kosten, Eric P Zorrilla, Marisa Roberto

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) leads to enhanced alcohol drinking and development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Identifying shared neural mechanisms might help discover new therapies for PTSD/AUD. Here, we employed a rat model of comorbid PTSD/AUD to evaluate compounds that inhibit FK506-binding protein 51 (FKBP5), a co-chaperone modulator of glucocorticoid receptors implicated in stress-related disorders. Male and female rats received a familiar avoidance-based shock stress followed by voluntary alcohol drinking. We then assessed trauma-related behaviors through sleep bout cycles, hyperarousal, fear overgeneralization, and irritability. To evaluate the role of stress and alcohol history on the sensitivity to FKBP5 inhibitors, in …

Predictors Of Self-Reported General Health Status In People Experiencing Homelessness With Serious Mental Illness, Landon Presnall, Robert Suchting, Gaybrielle Hicks, Jane Hamilton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: The growing homeless population in the U.S.A. is disproportionately impacted by poor mental and physical health status, including a higher incidence of acute and chronic health problems, increased hospitalizations, and premature mortality compared to the general population. This study examined the association between demographic, social, and clinical factors and perceptions of general health status among the homeless population during admission to an integrated behavioral health treatment program.

METHODS: The study sample included 331 adults experiencing homelessness with a serious mental illness or co-occurring disorder. Participants were enrolled in services at a day program for unsheltered homeless adults, a residential …

Role Of Chronic Stress-Induced Neuroinflammation In Rodent Locus Coeruleus Physiology And Anxiety-Like Behaviors, Arthur Anthony Alfonso Reyes

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

The locus coeruleus (LC), the primary site of brain norepinephrine (NE), is a key anatomical brain region implicated in the stress response. Stress is a neuroendocrine physiologic response to a stressor that promotes organism survival through adaptive change and restoration of homeostasis. The central stress response, which drives behavioral and physiological change, is primarily mediated by activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. While advantageous in the short term, chronic stress exposure can lead to HPA axis and LC dysregulation, which are thought to contribute to the etiology of anxiety disorders. Previous studies demonstrate the effects of acute stress in increasing LC …

The Correlation Between Traumatic Brain Injury And Incarceration Among Adult Males In The United States, Shadi Shams

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The United States has one of the largest growing prison populations in the world. A large amount of social and economic resources go towards the cost and maintenance of correctional facilities each year. Additionally, the current correctional programs are insufficient in assisting inmates with getting back to society; especially those with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who often remain undiagnosed and are usually treated unfairly in the prison system instead of receiving the appropriate help. Prior scholarly work has shown that patients in the post-TBI stage are more likely to enter the judicial system. In the recent population-based cohort study, the …

Depression, Stress And Regional Cerebral Blood Flow, Joshua Chiappelli, Bhim M Adhikari, Mark D Kvarta, Heather A Bruce, Eric L Goldwaser, Yizhou Ma, Shuo Chen, Seth Ament, Alan R Shuldiner, Braxton D Mitchell, Peter Kochunov, Danny Jj Wang, L Elliot Hong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) may be an important mechanism associated with depression. In this study we aimed to determine if the association of CBF and depression is dependent on current level of depression or the tendency to experience depression over time (trait depression), and if CBF is influenced by depression-related factors such as stressful life experiences and antidepressant medication use. CBF was measured in 254 participants from the Amish Connectome Project (age 18-76, 99 men and 154 women) using arterial spin labeling. All participants underwent assessment of symptoms of depression measured with the Beck Depression Inventory and Maryland Trait …

Gender Bias In Antidepressant Direct-To-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising, Leila K Asadi, Asim A Shah

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) may have significant impacts on public perception of diseases and treatments. Our objective was to examine whether DTCPA for antidepressants disproportionately portray and hence target women in the United States.

Methods: DTCPA for branded medications for depression, psoriasis and diabetes were analyzed to determine the gender of the main "patient" portrayed, as well as the content of the disease depiction.

Results: DTCPA for antidepressants included only women in 82% of ads, only men in 10.1% of ads, and both genders in 7.8% of ads. There were significantly higher representations of women versus men …

Vortioxetine Improves Physical And Cognitive Symptoms In Patients With Post-Covid-19 Major Depressive Episodes, Marco Di Nicola, Maria Pepe, Silvia Montanari, Maria Chiara Spera, Isabella Panaccione, Alessio Simonetti, Gabriele Sani

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Major Depressive Episodes (MDE) following COVID-19 are frequent, can have a characteristic clinical picture, and are associated with immune-inflammatory changes. Vortioxetine is known to improve physical and cognitive performance in patients with depression and shows anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activities. This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the effects of vortioxetine after 1 and 3 months of treatment in 80 patients (44.4% males, 54±17.2 years) with post-COVID-19 MDE. The primary outcome was improvement in physical and cognitive symptoms measured by specific items of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), Short Form-36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36), Digit Symbol …

Evaluating The Causal Effect Of Tobacco Smoking On White Matter Brain Aging: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Analysis In Uk Biobank, Chen Mo, Jingtao Wang, Zhenyao Ye, Hongjie Ke, Song Liu, Kathryn Hatch, Si Gao, Jessica Magidson, Chixiang Chen, Braxton D Mitchell, Peter Kochunov, L Elliot Hong, Tianzhou Ma, Shuo Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Tobacco smoking is a risk factor for impaired brain function, but its causal effect on white matter brain aging remains unclear. This study aimed to measure the causal effect of tobacco smoking on white matter brain aging.

DESIGN: Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using two non-overlapping data sets (with and without neuroimaging data) from UK Biobank (UKB). The group exposed to smoking and control group consisted of current smokers and never smokers, respectively. Our main method was generalized weighted linear regression with other methods also included as sensitivity analysis.

SETTING: United Kingdom.

PARTICIPANTS: The study cohort included 23 …

Psychosocial Predictors Of Early Postpartum Depressive And Anxious Symptoms In Primiparous Women And Their Partners., Erin J Henshaw, Marie Cooper, Teresa Wood, Stacey N Doan, Sanchita Krishna, Marie Lockhart

OhioHealth Research Institute Articles

BACKGROUND: While the majority of research on postpartum depressive and anxious symptoms has focused on mothers, a growing body of research suggests a need to understand the role of the partner's health and relationship quality as predictors of postpartum maternal depression, while also better understanding correlates of partner or paternal depression in the postpartum period. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate mother and partner stress, anxiety, mood, infant care support, and relationship quality as predictors of perinatal depressive and anxious symptoms in first time mothers and partners during the postpartum hospital stay.

METHODS: First time parent couples …

Electrophysiological Normative Responses To Emotional, Neutral, And Cigarette-Related Images, Francesco Versace, Nicola Sambuco, Menton M Deweese, Paul M Cinciripini

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To create reproducible emotional probes, affective scientists rely on sets of standardized pictures that are normed using subjective ratings of valence and emotional arousal. However, when emotional responses are investigated using neurophysiological measures, it might be more appropriate to select pictures integrating information from normative subjective reports and normative neurophysiological responses. Here, we provide electrophysiological normative responses for 323 emotional pictures (215 from the IAPS) covering a wide range of categories (erotica, romantic, appetizing foods, landscapes, people engaged in mundane activities, household objects, disgusting objects, accidents, sad people, violence, mutilations, and cigarette-related contents). Event-related potentials (ERPs) and subjective ratings of …

Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychology: Insights And Lessons Learned During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nicole M Schneider, Dara M Steinberg, Andrea M Garcia, Jessy Guler, Emily Mudd, A Monica Agoston, Katherine N Schwartzkopf, Kristin A Kullgren, Laura Judd-Glossy

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

COVID-19 has presented a variety of challenges to the provision of psychology services. In the first month of the pandemic, pediatric consultation-liaison (CL) psychologists reported significant changes in methodology of service delivery (Steinberg et al. in Clin Pract Pediatr Psychol 9:1, 2020). To better understand how and if these changes persisted, as well as other emerging trends, a follow-up study examined changes and challenges six months into the pandemic. An anonymous questionnaire assessed topics related to pediatric CL psychology including practice changes, perception of changes, and institutional support. The questionnaire was sent to the APA Society of Pediatric Society's special …

Child Abuse Pediatrics Research Network: The Capnet Core Data Project, Joanne N Wood, Kristine A Campbell, James D Anderst, Angela N Bachim, Rachel P Berger, Kent P Hymel, Nancy S Harper, Megan M Letson, John D Melville, Oluwatimilehin Okunowo, Daniel M Lindberg

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: Examine the epidemiology of subspecialty physical abuse evaluations within CAPNET, a multicenter child abuse pediatrics research network.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of children(in-person or remote) by a child abuse pediatrician (CAP) due to concerns for physical abuse at ten CAPNET hospital systems from February 2021 through December 2021.

RESULTS: Among 3667 patients with 3721 encounters, 69.4% wereold; 44.3%old, 59.1% male; 27.1% Black; 57.8% White, 17.0% Hispanic; and 71.0 % had public insurance. The highest level of care was outpatient/emergency department in 60.7%, inpatient unit in 28.0% and intensive care in 11.4%. CAPs performed 79.1% in-person consultations and …

Brain Ageing In Schizophrenia: Evidence From 26 International Cohorts Via The Enigma Schizophrenia Consortium, Constantinos Constantinides, Laura K M Han, Clara Alloza, Linda Antonella Antonucci, Celso Arango, Rosa Ayesa-Arriola, Nerisa Banaj, Alessandro Bertolino, Stefan Borgwardt, Jason Bruggemann, Juan Bustillo, Oleg Bykhovski, Vince Calhoun, Vaughan Carr, Stanley Catts, Young-Chul Chung, Benedicto Crespo-Facorro, Covadonga M Díaz-Caneja, Gary Donohoe, Stefan Du Plessis, Jesse Edmond, Stefan Ehrlich, Robin Emsley, Lisa T Eyler, Paola Fuentes-Claramonte, Foivos Georgiadis, Melissa Green, Amalia Guerrero-Pedraza, Minji Ha, Tim Hahn, Frans A Henskens, Laurena Holleran, Stephanie Homan, Philipp Homan, Neda Jahanshad, Joost Janssen, Ellen Ji, Stefan Kaiser, Vasily Kaleda, Minah Kim, Woo-Sung Kim, Matthias Kirschner, Peter Kochunov, Yoo Bin Kwak, Jun Soo Kwon, Irina Lebedeva, Jingyu Liu, Patricia Mitchie, Stijn Michielse, David Mothersill, Bryan Mowry, Víctor Ortiz-García De La Foz, Christos Pantelis, Giulio Pergola, Fabrizio Piras, Edith Pomarol-Clotet, Adrian Preda, Yann Quidé, Paul E Rasser, Kelly Rootes-Murdy, Raymond Salvador, Marina Sangiuliano, Salvador Sarró, Ulrich Schall, André Schmidt, Rodney J Scott, Pierluigi Selvaggi, Kang Sim, Antonin Skoch, Gianfranco Spalletta, Filip Spaniel, Sophia I Thomopoulos, David Tomecek, Alexander S Tomyshev, Diana Tordesillas-Gutiérrez, Therese Van Amelsvoort, Javier Vázquez-Bourgon, Daniela Vecchio, Aristotle Voineskos, Cynthia S Weickert, Thomas Weickert, Paul M Thompson, Lianne Schmaal, Theo G M Van Erp, Jessica Turner, James H Cole, Enigma Schizophrenia Consortium, Danai Dima, Esther Walton

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Schizophrenia (SZ) is associated with an increased risk of life-long cognitive impairments, age-related chronic disease, and premature mortality. We investigated evidence for advanced brain ageing in adult SZ patients, and whether this was associated with clinical characteristics in a prospective meta-analytic study conducted by the ENIGMA Schizophrenia Working Group. The study included data from 26 cohorts worldwide, with a total of 2803 SZ patients (mean age 34.2 years; range 18–72 years; 67% male) and 2598 healthy controls (mean age 33.8 years, range 18–73 years, 55% male). Brain-predicted age was individually estimated using a model trained on independent data based on …

In Vivo White Matter Microstructure In Adolescents With Early-Onset Psychosis: A Multi-Site Mega-Analysis, Claudia Barth, Sinead Kelly, Stener Nerland, Neda Jahanshad, Clara Alloza, Sonia Ambrogi, Ole A Andreassen, Dimitrios Andreou, Celso Arango, Inmaculada Baeza, Nerisa Banaj, Carrie E Bearden, Michael Berk, Hannes Bohman, Josefina Castro-Fornieles, Yann Chye, Benedicto Crespo-Facorro, Elena De La Serna, Covadonga M Díaz-Caneja, Tiril P Gurholt, Catherine E Hegarty, Anthony James, Joost Janssen, Cecilie Johannessen, Erik G Jönsson, Katherine H Karlsgodt, Peter Kochunov, Noemi G Lois, Mathias Lundberg, Anne M Myhre, Saül Pascual-Diaz, Fabrizio Piras, Runar E Smelror, Gianfranco Spalletta, Therese S Stokkan, Gisela Sugranyes, Chao Suo, Sophia I Thomopoulos, Diana Tordesillas-Gutiérrez, Daniela Vecchio, Kirsten Wedervang-Resell, Laura A Wortinger, Paul M Thompson, Ingrid Agartz

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Emerging evidence suggests brain white matter alterations in adolescents with early-onset psychosis (EOP; age of onset <18 >years). However, as neuroimaging methods vary and sample sizes are modest, results remain inconclusive. Using harmonized data processing protocols and a mega-analytic approach, we compared white matter microstructure in EOP and healthy controls using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Our sample included 321 adolescents with EOP (median age = 16.6 years, interquartile range (IQR) = 2.14, 46.4% females) and 265 adolescent healthy controls (median age = 16.2 years, IQR = 2.43, 57.7% females) pooled from nine sites. All sites extracted mean fractional anisotropy (FA), mean …

The Influence Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment On Anxiety Sensitivity: Impact Of Prolonged Exposure, Sertraline, And Their Combination, Matthew T Luciano, Sonya B Norman, Carolyn B Allard, Ron Acierno, Naomi M Simon, Kristin L Szuhany, Amanda W Baker, Murray B Stein, Brian Martis, Peter W Tuerk, Sheila A M Rauch, Progress Study Team

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Trauma-informed beliefs often decrease during posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment. This may also extend to anxiety sensitivity (AS), defined as a fear of anxiety-related sensations and beliefs that anxiety is dangerous and/or intolerable. However, little is known about how AS changes during exposure-based and psychopharmacological PTSD treatments. Further, high AS may be a risk factor for diminished PTSD symptom improvement and increased treatment dropout. To better understand how AS impacts and is impacted by PTSD treatment, we conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial with a sample of 223 veterans (87.0% male, 57.5% White) with PTSD from four …

A Next-Generation Approach To Mental Health Outcomes: Treatment, Time, And Trajectories, Mario Montelongo, Jaehoon Lee, Edward Poa, Robert Boland, Katrina A Rufino, Michelle Patriquin, Hyuntaek Oh

Staff and Researcher Publications

Over the last several decades, inpatient psychiatric length of stay (LOS) has been greatly reduced to the detriment of patients. Latent variable mixture modeling, can be used to improve the quality of care for patients by identifying unobserved subgroups and optimize treatment variables, including LOS. This study had three objectives (1) to replicate the findings made by Oh et al. in a distinct sample, (2) to examine demographic differences related to inpatient treatment trajectories, and (3) to relate additional variables to each trajectory. We collected data on six key mental illness factors and information on felonies, misdemeanors, history of stopping …

Depression And Insomnia Among Healthcare Professionals During Covid-19 Pandemic In Ethiopia: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Aragaw Asfaw Hasen, Abubeker Alebachew Seid, Ahmed Adem Mohammed

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Healthcare professionals play a great role in the struggle against COVID-19. They are highly susceptible to COVID-19 due to their responsibilities. This susceptibility directly affects their mental health status. Comprehensive evidence on prevalence of depression and insomnia during this pandemic is vital. Thus, this study aims to provide the pooled prevalence of depression and insomnia, and their associated factors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This systematic review and meta-analysis follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies were searched from PubMed, Cochrane Library, CrossRef, African Journals Online and Google Scholar databases from …

Association Between Brain Similarity To Severe Mental Illnesses And Comorbid Cerebral, Physical, And Cognitive Impairments, Yizhou Ma, Mark D Kvarta, Bhim M Adhikari, Joshua Chiappelli, Xiaoming Du, Andrew Van Der Vaart, Eric L Goldwaser, Heather Bruce, Kathryn S Hatch, Si Gao, Ann Summerfelt, Neda Jahanshad, Paul M Thompson, Thomas E Nichols, L Elliot Hong, Peter Kochunov

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Severe mental illnesses (SMIs) are often associated with compromised brain health, physical comorbidities, and cognitive deficits, but it is incompletely understood whether these comorbidities are intrinsic to SMI pathophysiology or secondary to having SMIs. We tested the hypothesis that cerebral, cardiometabolic, and cognitive impairments commonly observed in SMIs can be observed in non-psychiatric individuals with SMI-like brain patterns of deviation as seen on magnetic resonance imaging. 22,883 participants free of common neuropsychiatric conditions from the UK Biobank (age = 63.4 ± 7.5 years, range = 45–82 years, 50.9% female) were split into discovery and replication samples. The regional vulnerability index …

Biological Embedding Of Early Trauma: The Role Of Higher Prefrontal Synaptic Strength, Amanda J F Tamman, Lihong Jiang, Christopher L Averill, Graeme F Mason, Lynnette A Averill, Chadi G Abdallah

Staff and Researcher Publications

Background: Early trauma predicts poor psychological and physical health. Glutamatergic synaptic processes offer one avenue for understanding this relationship, given glutamate's abundance and involvement in reward and stress sensitivity, emotion, and learning. Trauma-induced glutamatergic excitotoxicity may alter neuroplasticity and approach/avoidance tendencies, increasing risk for psychiatric disorders. Studies examine upstream or downstream effects instead of glutamatergic synaptic processes in vivo, limiting understanding of how trauma affects the brain.Objective: In a pilot study using a previously published data set, we examine associations between early trauma and a proposed measure of synaptic strength in vivo in one of the largest human …

Revisiting Sex Differences In The Acquisition And Extinction Of Threat Conditioning In Humans, Zhenfu Wen, Jamie Fried, Edward F Pace-Schott, Sara W Lazar, Mohammed R Milad

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Findings pertaining to sex differences in the acquisition and extinction of threat conditioning, a paradigm widely used to study emotional homeostasis, remain inconsistent, particularly in humans. This inconsistency is likely due to multiple factors, one of which is sample size. Here, we pooled functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and skin conductance response (SCR) data from multiple studies in healthy humans to examine sex differences during threat conditioning, extinction learning, and extinction memory recall. We observed increased functional activation in males, relative to females, in multiple parietal and frontal (medial and lateral) cortical regions during acquisition of threat conditioning and extinction …

Distress Tolerance: Prospective Associations With Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Outcomes In Adults With Posttraumatic Stress And Substance Use Disorders, Anka A Vujanovic, Heather E Webber, Shelby J Mcgrew, Charles E Green, Scott D Lane, Joy M Schmitz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Distress tolerance (DT; perceived or actual ability to tolerate aversive physical or emotional states) is related to both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and substance use disorders (SUD). This investigation evaluates self-report and behavioral measures of DT as potential predictors of PTSD and SUD cognitive-behavioral therapy outcomes. Participants included 41 treatment-seeking adults (53.7% women; 73.2% African American; Mage= 44.90, SD = 9.68) who met at least four symptoms of DSM-5 PTSD and DSM-IV substance dependence, assessed via structured interviews. At baseline (pre-treatment), participants completed the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), Mirror-Tracing Persistence Task (MTPT), Breath Holding task, and Paced Auditory …

Nonjudgmental Acceptance: Associations With Substance-Related Cue Reactivity In Adults With Substance Use Disorders And Posttraumatic Stress, Anka A Vujanovic, Heather E Webber, Margaret C Wardle, Charles E Green, Scott D Lane, Joy M Schmitz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The present investigation examined the predictive utility of nonjudgmental acceptance, a facet of mindfulness defined as the ability to remain aware and nonevaluative about internal experience, in terms of substance-related cue reactivity among adults with substance use disorders (SUD) and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptomatology. We hypothesized that higher nonjudgmental acceptance, indexed via self-report, would predict higher levels of self-reported control over oneself and safety 'in the moment', broadly, and lower levels of substance-related craving in response to substance script cues. Effects were expected after subtracting reactivity to neutral script cues from each outcome rating. PTS severity was included as a …

Treatment Preferences For Pharmacological Versus Psychological Interventions Among Primary Care Providers In Nepal: Mixed Methods Analysis Of A Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial., Anvita Bhardwaj, Dristy Gurung, Sauharda Rai, Bonnie N Kaiser, Cori L Cafaro, Kathleen J Sikkema, Crick Lund, Nagendra P Luitel, Brandon A. Kohrt

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Faculty Publications

There is increasing evidence supporting the effectiveness of psychological interventions in low- and middle-income countries. However, primary care providers (PCPs) may prefer treating patients with medication. A secondary exploratory analysis of a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate psychological vs. pharmacological treatment preferences among PCPs. Thirty-four health facilities, including 205 PCPs, participated in the study, with PCPs in 17 facilities assigned to a standard version of the mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) training delivered by mental health specialists. PCPs in the other 17 facilities received mhGAP instruction delivered by specialists and people with lived experience of …

Morphometric And Structural Analysis Of Florida Manatee Spermatozoa, Jonathan R Cowart, Danielle M Collins, Daniel L Stanton, Gerhard Van Der Horst, Iskande V Larkin

Staff and Researcher Publications

Sperm characteristics, such as sperm morphology and sperm morphometry are important in assessing sperm quality. This is especially important for the management and conservation of endangered and exotic species, like the Florida manatee, where information of this nature is extremely limited. In this study, we fill this knowledge gap to better understand the reproductive physiology of Florida manatees by conducting the first extensive analysis of sperm morphometry and ultrastructure. Sperm were retrieved from the vas deferens of nine recently deceased Florida manatees. Computer-aided sperm morphology analysis (CASMA) was used for morphometric analysis and laser-scanning confocal microscopy and electron microscopy were …

Profile Of Autism Spectrum Disorder In Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: Results From A Longitudinal, Prospective, Multisite Study, Jamie K Capal, Marian E Williams, Deborah A Pearson, Robin Kissinger, Paul S Horn, Donna Murray, Kristn Currans, Bridget Kent, Martina Bebin, Hope Northrup, Joyce Y Wu, Mustafa Sahin, Darcy A Krueger, Tacern Study Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is highly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Objectives of the study were to characterize autistic features in young children with TSC.

METHODS: Participants included 138 children followed from ages 3 to 36 months with TSC from the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Autism Center of Excellence Research Network (TACERN), a multicenter, prospective observational study aimed at understanding the underlying mechanisms of ASD in TSC. Developmental and autism-specific assessments were administered, and a clinical diagnosis of ASD was determined for all participants at 36 months. Further analyses were performed on 117 participants with valid autism assessments based …