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Neuroscientists
present research findings
(July
2006 Issue)
By Phyllis Hanlon
In April, four neuroscientists presented their research findings
on developments in the field of mental health at a NARSAD (The Mental
Health Research Association) symposium held in Boston, Mass.
Jonathan Picker, M.D., ChB, Ph.D., attending physician in clinical
genetics at Boston's Children's Hospital, investigates genetic disorders,
specifically schizophrenia as a developmental disorder and delves
into prenatal risk factors for the illness. He suggests that genetic
load, environment, and, more importantly, elevated levels of the
amino acid homocysteine have been shown to be a factor in the development
of schizophrenia. Based on his research, Picker recommends the use
of folate and B-vitamin complex to decrease homocysteine levels,
thus reducing the risk of schizophrenia.
Maurizio Fava, M.D., co-principal investigator of STAR*D (Sequence
Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression), the largest depression
study ever conducted and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical
School, outlined this study in which 2,876 outpatients with major
depressive disorder received the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
(SSRI) Citalopram for up to 12 weeks. Patients who failed to respond
after 10 weeks had the option of remaining on Citalopram or switching
to another antidepressant. In spite of trials on two different antidepressant
agents, patients could expect a response rate of between 31 and
33 percent. Fava also noted a connection between folate in depression,
although the issue requires more extensive study.
Gina R. Kuperberg, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of psychology
at Tufts University and a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General
Hospital, presented her research on spatiotemporal thought imaging
in schizophrenia. In addition to structural and functional MRIs
to measure brain structure and function, respectively, she employs
semantic priming - a type of word association game - and sentence
processing to determine if thought processes are tangential, illogical
or knight-move thinking, (i.e., distorted and disturbed).
Kuperberg says that the brain displays significant variability
so a conclusive determination of the presence of schizophrenia is
difficult to make. "We have little idea of the mechanism, but we
know that some kind of pruning of the synaptic tree might…map onto
a sort of dysregulation at the level of cortical columns…," she
says. Kuperberg adds that the "holy grail of schizophrenia research
is to try and map these different levels of understanding onto one
another."
Christopher A. Walsh, M.D., Ph.D., chief of genetics division at
Boston's Children's Hospital and chief of neurogenetics at Howard
Hughes Medical Institute/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, focuses
on autism and mental retardation and has developed collaborative
relationships with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United
Arab Emirates. He explains that Middle Eastern families often have
large families, marry relatives and share genetic homogeneity, so
studying this population facilitates the process of gene mapping.
Additionally, Walsh says that 70 or 80 investigators from Boston
area medical institutions have joined forces to study autism as
a group. They hope to develop a joint road map for attacking the
problem of autism. Through open information exchange and the development
of common research protocols, this group anticipates the establishment
of standards for clinical and genetic diagnosis, appropriate phenotyping
and psychological tests leading to a multi-faceted approach to identifying
genes associated with autism.
According to Francine Benes, M.D., Ph.D, who moderated the program,
these researchers are on the "cutting edge of current neuropsychiatric
research" and their work is "helping to define the neurobiological
basis of schizophrenia and affective disorders." Their goal is to
discern current and more effective treatment options based on rational
thinking.
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