PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Researchers use brain scans to predict response to antipsychotic medications

2015-08-28
(Press-News.org) MANHASSET, NY - Investigators at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered that brain scans can be used to predict patients' response to antipsychotic drug treatment. The findings are published online in the latest issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry.

Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thoughts and behavior. They are estimated to occur in up to three percent of the population and are a leading cause for disability worldwide. Psychotic episodes are currently treated with antipsychotic drugs, but this treatment is given without guidance from lab tests or brain scans, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI). Doctors often use "trial-and-error" when choosing treatment for psychotic disorders, without knowing if patients will respond well. This lack of knowledge places a large burden on not only patients and their families, but also healthcare professionals and healthcare systems.

Led by Anil Malhotra, MD, director of psychiatry research at Zucker Hillside Hospital and an investigator at the Feinstein Institute, and Todd Lencz, PhD, associate investigator at the Zucker Hillside Hospital and the Feinstein Institute, researchers used fMRI scans obtained before treatment to predict ultimate response to medications in patients suffering from their first episode of schizophrenia. Connectivity patterns of a region of the brain called the striatum, which tends to be atypical in patients suffering from psychotic disorders, were used to create an index. This index significantly predicted if psychotic symptoms were decreased in the studies' patients. What's even more significant is that the researchers applied this index to confirm their results in a separate group of patients with more chronic illness - those who were hospitalized for psychotic symptoms. They found that treatment outcome could be predicted in the replication group as well.

"This study is the first to report a predictive fMRI-derived measure validated in an independent study group of patients treated with antipsychotics," said Deepak Sarpal, MD, a lead author of the study. "The results we found from this study open the door for contemporary 'precision medicine' approaches to psychiatry, and more specifically, the use of fMRI scans as important players in the treatment of psychiatric disorders."

INFORMATION:

About The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

Headquartered in Manhasset, NY, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is home to international scientific leaders in many areas including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sepsis, human genetics, pulmonary hypertension, leukemia, neuroimmunology, medicinal chemistry, and bioelectronic medicine. The Feinstein Institute, part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, ranks in the top 6th percentile of all National Institutes of Health grants awarded to research centers. For more information, visit FeinsteinInstitute.org.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

The Lancet Psychiatry: Goth teens could be more vulnerable to depression and self-harm

2015-08-28
Young people who identify with the goth subculture might be at increased risk of depression and self-harm, according to new research published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal. The findings show that teenagers who identified very strongly with being a goth at age 15 were three times more likely to be clinically depressed and were five times more likely to self-harm at age 18 than young people who did not identify with the goth subculture. "Our study does not show that being a goth causes depression or self-harm, but rather that some young goths are more vulnerable to ...

Pregnant women with hypertension and their siblings face increased risk of heart disease

2015-08-28
Highlights Compared with their sister(s) who had normal blood pressure during pregnancy, women who had hypertension in pregnancy were more likely to develop hypertension later in life. Brothers and sisters of women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy were at increased risk of developing high blood pressure later in life. Brothers, but not sisters, of women who had high blood pressure in pregnancy were also at increased risk of developing heart disease. Hypertension develops in approximately 8% of pregnancies. Washington, DC (August 27, 2015) ...

15 percent of cigarettes sold in NYC have illegal tax stamps, study finds

2015-08-28
Licensed tobacco retailers throughout New York City are selling a substantial number of cigarette packs carrying either counterfeit or out-of-state tax stamps, finds an investigation by NYU public health researchers. These illegal cigarette sales are more pervasive in independent stores, as opposed to chain stores, according to the study published in the BMJ journal Tobacco Control. "Our research found that illegal cigarettes are regularly available over the counter in New York City," said study author Diana Silver, associate professor of public health at NYU's Steinhardt ...

Study links air pollution to children's low GPAs

2015-08-27
EL PASO, Texas - A University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) study on children's health has found that fourth and fifth graders who are exposed to toxic air pollutants at home are more likely to have lower GPAs. UTEP researchers analyzed academic performance and sociodemographic data for 1,895 fourth and fifth grade children living in El Paso, Texas that were attending the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD). They used the Environmental Protection Agency's National Air Toxics Assessment to estimate children's exposure to toxic air pollutants, such as diesel exhaust, ...

Researcher develops cheaper, better LED technology

2015-08-27
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --A Florida State University engineering professor has developed a new highly efficient and low cost light emitting diode that could help spur more widespread adoption of the technology. "It can potentially revolutionize lighting technology," said Assistant Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Zhibin Yu. "In general, the cost of LED lighting has been a big concern thus far. Energy savings have not balanced out high costs. This could change that." Yu developed this new LED technology using a combination of organic and inorganic materials. ...

Caltech chemists solve major piece of cellular mystery

Caltech chemists solve major piece of cellular mystery
2015-08-27
Not just anything is allowed to enter the nucleus, the heart of eukaryotic cells where, among other things, genetic information is stored. A double membrane, called the nuclear envelope, serves as a wall, protecting the contents of the nucleus. Any molecules trying to enter or exit the nucleus must do so via a cellular gatekeeper known as the nuclear pore complex (NPC), or pore, that exists within the envelope. How can the NPC be such an effective gatekeeper--preventing much from entering the nucleus while helping to shuttle certain molecules across the nuclear envelope? ...

NASA's GPM satellite analyzes Tropical Storm Erika's rainfall

NASAs GPM satellite analyzes Tropical Storm Erikas rainfall
2015-08-27
The Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core satellite has provided meteorologists with a look at the towering thunderstorms and heavy rainfall occurring in Tropical Storm Erika as it moves through the Caribbean Sea. On August 27, 2015, there were many warnings and watches in effect as Tropical Storm Erika continued to rain on Leeward Islands. A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for Anguilla, Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, U.S. Virgin Islands, ...

OU astrophysicist and collaborators find supermassive black holes in quasar nearest Earth

OU astrophysicist and collaborators find supermassive black holes in quasar nearest Earth
2015-08-27
A University of Oklahoma astrophysicist and his Chinese collaborator have found two supermassive black holes in Markarian 231, the nearest quasar to Earth, using observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The discovery of two supermassive black holes--one larger one and a second, smaller one--are evidence of a binary black hole and suggests that supermassive black holes assemble their masses through violent mergers. Xinyu Dai, professor in the Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, OU College of Arts and Sciences, collaborated on this project ...

Brazil's national oral health policy -- an example for other nations

2015-08-27
Alexandria, Va., USA - Today, the International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR) published a Discovery! article titled "10 Years of a National Oral Health Policy in Brazil: Innovation, Boldness and Numerous Challenges." In it, authors Gilberto Alfredo Pucca, Jr., University of Brasília; and Mariana Gabriel, Maria Ercilia de Araujo and Fernanda Campos Sousa de Almeida, University of São Paulo, discuss Brazil's National Policy of Oral Health, also known as "Smiling Brazil." Brazil is the only country with more than 200 million inhabitants ...

Queen's researcher playing an important role improving psychology research

2015-08-27
KINGSTON - Queen's University developmental psychology professor Stanka Fitneva has co-authored a study in the journal Science that, for the first time, explores the replicability of psychology research. The Reproducibility Project: Psychology, launched nearly four years ago, is one of the first crowdsourced research studies in the field. The researchers' most important finding was that, regardless of the analytic method or criteria used, fewer than half of their studies produced the same findings as the original study. "This is a unique project in psychology, and ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Modesty and boastfulness – perception depends on usual performance

Do sweeteners increase your appetite? New evidence from randomised controlled trial says no 

Women with obesity do not need to gain weight during pregnancy, new study suggests

Individuals with multiple sclerosis face substantially greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19, despite high rates of vaccination

Study shows obesity in childhood associated with a more than doubling of risk of developing multiple sclerosis in early adulthood

Rice Emerging Scholars Program receives $2.5M NSF grant to boost STEM education

Virtual rehabilitation provides benefits for stroke recovery

Generative AI develops potential new drugs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Biofuels could help island nations survive a global catastrophe, study suggests

NJIT research team discovering how fluids behave in nanopores with NSF grant

New study shows association of historical housing discrimination and shortfalls in colon cancer treatment

Social media use may help to empower plastic surgery patients

Q&A: How to train AI when you don't have enough data

Wayne State University researchers uncover potential treatment targets for Zika virus-related eye abnormalities

Discovering Van Gogh in the wild: scientists unveil a new gecko species

Small birds spice up the already diverse diet of spotted hyenas in Namibia

Imaging detects transient “hypoxic pockets” in the mouse brain

Dissolved organic matter could be used to track and improve the health of freshwaters

Indoor air quality standards in public buildings would boost health and economy, say international experts

Positive associations between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

New imaging method illuminates oxygen's journey in the brain

Researchers discover key gene for toxic alkaloid in barley

New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their effects

Bidirectional link between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

Cell division quality control ‘stopwatch’ uncovered

Vaccine protects cattle from bovine tuberculosis, may eliminate disease

Andrew Siemion to receive the SETI Institute’s 2024 Drake Award

New study shows how the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy proves effective for locally advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma

Study flips treatment paradigm in bilateral Wilms tumor, shows resistance to chemotherapy may point toward favorable outcomes

[Press-News.org] Researchers use brain scans to predict response to antipsychotic medications