Summary: Allopregnanolone (AlloP) is a neurosteroid that plays an important role during neural development. Alterations of endogenous neonatal allopregnanolone levels alter the localisation and function of GABA neurons in the adult brain and affect behaviour in adulthood. We have carried out research into the effects of an increase (AlloP administration) or a decrease (administration of finasteride, inhibitor of the AlloP synthesis) of neonatal AlloP levels during the fifth to ninth postnatal days in male Wistar rats on the novelty exploration (Boissier test) at adolescent ages (40 and 60 days old), and on the prepulse inhibition achievement in adulthood (85 days). We also investigated the role of a GABAA modulator (midazolam, 1, 1.75 or 2.5mg/kg body weight) in the long-lasting behavioura...MedWorm Message: Get the very latest Swine Flu news via the MedWorm Swine Flu RSS news feed - updated hourly from thousands of authoritative health and news sources.

(Source: Psychiatr News)

(Source: Psychiatr News)

Roche laid out plans to crack a number of new therapy areas—including some, such as schizophrenia and HDL, that other drug companies have backed away from because they found them unpromising. (Source: WSJ.com: Health)

Roche laid out plans to crack a number of new therapy areas—including some, such as schizophrenia and HDL, that other drug companies have backed away from because they found them unpromising. (Source: WSJ.com: Health)

Movie critics and audiences are applauding "A Beautiful Mind", whose central character has schizophrenia. But the film may achieve a higher purpose than entertainment, one expert says: it could raise the public's awareness about a common but overlooked mental illness. (Source: About.com Mental Health)MedWorm Message: Get the very latest Swine Flu news via the MedWorm Swine Flu RSS news feed - updated hourly from thousands of authoritative health and news sources.

Is earlier intervention for schizophrenia possible?: Identifying children at risk for later illness"

At the crossroad of multiple pathways regulating trophism and metabolism, glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)3 is considered a key factor in influencing the susceptibility of neurons to harmful stimuli (neuronal resilience) and is a target for several psychiatric drugs that directly inhibit it or increase its inhibitory phosphorylation. Inhibition of GSK3 prevents apoptosis and could protect against the neuropathological processes associated with psychiatric disorders. A GSK3-[beta]promoter single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs334558) influences transcriptional strength, and the less active form was associated with less detrimental clinical features of mood disorders. Here we studied the effect of rs334558 on grey matter volumes (voxel-based morphometry) of 57 patients affected by chronic schizoph...

Patients with schizophrenia display hyperactive dopamine transmission at synapses within the associative striatum, results of an imaging study show. (Source: MedWire News - Psychiatry)

Contrasting Effects of Increased and Decreased Dopamine Transmission on Latent Inhibition in Ovariectomized Rats and Their Modulation by 17β-Estradiol: An Animal Model of Menopausal Psychosis? Neuropsychopharmacology advance online publication, March 17, 2010. doi:10.1038/npp.2010.28 Authors: Michal Arad & Ina Weiner Keywords: Animal models; Neuroendocrinology; Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Schizophrenia/Antipsychotics; Schizophrenia; Amphetamine; Estrogen; Latent Inhibition; Menopausal Psychosis; Antipsychotic Drugs (Source: Neuropsychopharmacology)MedWorm Message: Get the very latest Swine Flu news via the MedWorm Swine Flu RSS news feed - updated hourly from thousands of authoritative health and news sources.

Conclusions: Our study investigated the effects of various patterns of neurotransmission on signal integration and interpretation by DARPP-32 and showed that the DARPP-32 system has discernibility of many neurotransmission scenarios. We also screened out potential mechanisms underlying this capability of the DARPP-32 system. This type of insight deepens our understanding of neuronal signal transduction in normal medium spiny neurons, sheds light on neurological disorders associated with the striatum, and might aid the search for intervention targets in neurological diseases and drug addiction. (Source: BMC Systems Biology - Latest articles)

Conclusion: The likelihood of patients achieving a minimally symptomatic status was greater in younger patients with lower baseline clinical severity and in patients whose treatment included olanzapine. (Source: International Journal of Clinical Practice)

Abstract   Meritocratic worldviews that stress personal responsibility, such as the Protestant ethic or general beliefs in a just world, are typically associated with stigmatizing attitudes and could explain the persistence of mental illness stigma. Beliefs in a just world for oneself (“I get what I deserve”), however, are often related to personal well-being and can be a coping resource for stigmatized individuals. Despite these findings in other stigmatized groups, the link between worldviews and the stigma of psychiatric disorders is unknown. We measured just world beliefs for self and others as well as endorsement of the Protestant ethic in 85 people with schizophrenia, schizoaffective or affective disorders and 50 members of the general public. Stigmatizing attitud...

Conclusions  Together, these results provide no evidence of a link between the dynorphin/KOR system and deficits in sensory gating processes. Additional studies, however, examining whether dysregulation of this opioid system contributes to cognitive deficits and other behavioral abnormalities associated with psychiatric disorders are warranted. Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Original InvestigationDOI 10.1007/s00213-010-1799-6Authors Hugo A. Tejeda, National Institutes of Health Integrative Neuroscience Section, Integrative Neuroscience Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA/IRP 333 Cassell Dr. Baltimore MD 21224 USAVladimir I. Chefer, National Institutes of Health Integrative Neuroscience Section, Integrative Neuroscience Branch, National Institute on Dr...

Conclusion: Results suggest that certain forms of metacognition mediate the influence of neurocognition upon function in schizophrenia. (Source: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica)

More and more doctors are prescribing multiple psychiatric drugs to their patients, including combinations with unknown efficacy and side effects, according to a new study. Researchers from the department of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and New York State Psychiatric Institute studied physicians' prescribing patterns, beginning in 1996, looking at a range of medicines including antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and sedatives. The study authors found that antidepressants were the most commonly prescribed medications, while the most common combinations were antidepressants combined with either another antidepressant, a sedative or a mood stabilizer. During the study period, the number of office visits where two or more drugs were prescribed jumped from about 43% ...

Authors: H Walter, K Schnell, S Erk, C Arnold, P Kirsch, C Esslinger, D Mier, M M Schmitgen, M Rietschel, S H Witt, M M Nöthen, S Cichon & A Meyer-Lindenberg (Source: Molecular Psychiatry)

Schizophrenia patients are significantly more likely to smoke than the general population, and would have around a 90% reduction in their 10-year cardiovascular event risk if they quit, the results of a Spanish study indicate. (Source: MedWire News - Psychiatry)MedWorm Message: Get the very latest Swine Flu news via the MedWorm Swine Flu RSS news feed - updated hourly from thousands of authoritative health and news sources.

Patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia display a diminished loudness dependence of the auditory evoked potential relative to mentally healthy controls, study results show. (Source: MedWire News - Bipolar Disorder)

Patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia display a diminished loudness dependence of the auditory evoked potential relative to mentally healthy controls, study results show. (Source: MedWire News - Schizophrenia)