Current Psychiatry Reviews - Volume 4, Issue 2, 2008

The illicit drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; Ecstasy) has been shown to cause long-term serotonin (5-HT) deficits in rodents and non-human primates, and based on the results of brain imaging studies in frequent Ecstasy users, it appears that MDMA has the potential to affect the human brain in much the same way. Because the 5-HT system is known to take part in the regulation of impulsivity, it has been hypo Read More

There is growing consensus that it is possible to diagnose probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) in patients prior to the development of mild dementia, which was highlighted by a recent international consensus proposal for new research diagnostic criteria (Dubois B, et al., Lancet Neurology, 2007). Data are accruing from longitudinal studies to support the concept that a specific mild amnesic syndrome, detected through clinical ass Read More

Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties in recognizing and verbalizing feelings, a paucity of fantasy life, concrete speech, and thought closely tied to external events. The alexithymia construct, formulated from clinical investigations, is multifaceted and includes four distinct characteristics: 1) difficulty identifying and describing feelings; 2) difficulty distinguishing feelings from bodily sensations; 3) diminution of fantasy; and 4) co Read More

Seroprevalence studies indicate that HIV infection rates are elevated among individuals with a severe mental illness (SMI) compared to the general population. The higher prevalence of HIV among individuals with SMI has prompted the development and evaluation of tailored sexual risk reduction programs for these individuals. In this paper, we review the literature on sexual risk-reduction interventions for individuals wit Read More

Research implicates the emotion of disgust in particular anxiety disorders, but possible processes by which disgust can cause anxiety have not been articulated. We review data from studies of the functional neuroanatomy of disgust in order to elucidate possible processes by which disgust can cause anxiety disorders. First, we examine whether fear and disgust involve different neural substrates. Despite inconsistencies, the dat Read More

Background: Over the past decade, a variety of psychosocial interventions have been reported to be beneficial for bipolar disorder. Acceptance of this literature has been slow in part because most studies have been small and lack rigorous methodology. Furthermore, skepticism about the potential efficacy of psychosocial treatments stems from recognition of the indisputable biological basis of the disorder. Well powered ra Read More