CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets - CNS & Neurological Disorders) - Volume 16, Issue 8, 2017

Background: Treatments for depression in bipolar disorder (BD) are far less well developed than for unipolar major depressive disorder. Several innovative and experimental approaches have been emerging recently, including use of the dissociative anesthetic ketamine and other antagonists of central NMDA glutamate receptors, as well as unsaturated fatty acids, anti-inflammatory agents, and possibly probiotic methods. Met Read More

Background: Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder that represents a challenge for all clinicians. Although treatment must address both positive and negative symptoms, several authors have reported the importance of managing unmet needs among patients with schizophrenia. Unmet needs in schizophrenia include difficulties at various clinical, psychosocial, relational, economic, and occupational levels. An impo Read More

Background: The management of acute agitation in patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia is a multifaceted and dynamic task, which presents unique and complex challenges to healthcare providers. Objective: To ascertain and describe which medications are best to use in patients with agitation, affected by bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Method: Selective review of current literature and guidelines referred to th Read More

Background: Cognitive dysfunction is a core transdiagnostic domain of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and is a principal determinant of functional recovery. However, it has been insufficiently targeted within the current therapeutic framework for MDD. Objective: To highlight these unmet cognitive needs in MDD. Method: An article search was conducted using PubMed from inception to November 2016: Major Depressive Di Read More

Objectives: This article are to describe current trends in the treatment of schizophrenia and the most interesting new approaches to optimizing outcome and fostering the development of new schizophrenia treatments. Results: Increasing utilization of diverse types of atypical antipsychotic drugs (AAPDs), e.g. clozapine-type serotonin (5-HT)2A and weak dopamine (DA) D2 antagonist, amisulpride, a D2/D3/5-HT7 antagonist, a Read More

Background & Objective: Brain areas of functional activation during emotional stimuli and their correlations with affective temperaments evaluated using Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego (TEMPS-A) and hopelessness levels assessed with the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) have been investigated. Method: Brain activity in response to emotional stimuli was examined by Nuclear Magnetic Resonan Read More

Background & Objective: Despite the great effort spent over recent decades to unravel the pathological mechanisms underpinning the development of central nervous system disorders, most of them still remain unclear. In particular, the study of rare CNS diseases is hampered by the lack of postmortem samples and of reliable epidemiological studies, thus the setting of in vitro modeling systems appears essential t Read More

Background & Objective: Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy is an inherited form of optic neuropathy, genetically and pathophysiologically based on mitochondrial insufficiency causing bilateral loss of central vision mostly amongst young adults. Despite being one of the most common mitochondrial diseases, the explanation for its pathophysiological background and effective clinical solutions remain elusive. Widening th Read More

Background & Objective: Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal-dominant, progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective loss of neurons in the striatum and cortex, which leads to progressive motor dysfunction, cognitive decline and behavioral symptoms. HD is caused by a trinucleotide (CAG) repeat expansion in the gene encoding the protein huntingtin. Despite the fact that the HD gene was identified Read More

Background & Objective: Advances in the knowledge of the microbiota and concepts related to it have triggered a wake-up call in biomedicine. The development in various scientific areas has enabled a better and broader approach to everything concerning the set of families of microorganisms that coexist with an individual and are able to function as one or more organs in its body. Among the aforementioned scientific areas, th Read More