 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 5, 2010
Eating disorders appear to occur more frequently in individuals with bipolar disorder.
According to a recent study, more than 14 percent of patients with bipolar disorder also suffer from an eating disorder, and these individuals are likely to have a more severe course of illness.
“Our findings are consistent with others suggesting that bipolar disorder may co-occur with eating disorders, and this relationship likely has clinical and theoretical significance,†according to Dr. Susan L. McElroy of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, who led the study with her colleagues.
Bipolar disorder, also known by its older name “manic depression,†is a mental disorder that is characterized by constantly changing moods. A person with bipolar disorder experiences alternating “highs†(what clinicians call “mania“) and “lows†(also known as depression). Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million American adults, and the median age of onset for bipolar disorders is 25 years.  Eating disorders, which are more likely to affect women, affect slightly over four percent of the population, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
To assess the frequency of eating disorders in this population, McElroy and her team enrolled 875 outpatients with bipolar I or II disorder in their study. Fifty-six percent of the patients were women, and the average age was 41.1 years. The participants completed questionnaires and were interviewed by clinicians to assess bipolar and eating disorder diagnoses. Eating disorder diagnoses included anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Other information such as psychiatric history (including history of suicide attempts, rapid cycling, and age of onset of symptoms), family psychiatric history, other psychiatric diagnoses, and demographic information was also gathered.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/05/high-rate-of-eating-disorders-in-bipolar-patients/16424.html
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Article Date: 05 Aug 2010 – 4:00 PDT
Advanced Brain Technologies announced results demonstrating that a modified music program followed for ten weeks, improved speech skills in children with Down syndrome. The results of the study, conducted in Nottingham, United Kingdom, were published Monday, in an early online before print version of the article scheduled to appear in the journal Music and Medicine(i).
It is well documented that children with Down syndrome have difficulty with hearing, auditory processing and language development. This pilot study was undertaken to trial tests and questionnaires for suitability for use with the children, to determine if any benefit could be established from the use of The Listening Program® as a prelude to a more formal study. The Listening Program® was developed by Advanced Brain Technologies (ABT) as a modified music method to improve auditory processing, self regulation and brain performance.
Nine children between the ages of 5 and 12 years took part, acting as their own controls. They used The Listening Program over a 10-week period. Each child listened to acoustically modified music, through headphones, for two 15-minute sessions, 5 days a week, for 10 weeks. A battery of tests recommended by specialists in speech and language and human communication, were performed before and after intervention. In addition, questionnaires were completed at the end by parents and teachers involved.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/196885.php
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Article Date: 05 Aug 2010 – 4:00 PDT
Advanced Brain Technologies announced results demonstrating that a modified music program followed for ten weeks, improved speech skills in children with Down syndrome. The results of the study, conducted in Nottingham, United Kingdom, were published Monday, in an early online before print version of the article scheduled to appear in the journal Music and Medicine(i).
It is well documented that children with Down syndrome have difficulty with hearing, auditory processing and language development. This pilot study was undertaken to trial tests and questionnaires for suitability for use with the children, to determine if any benefit could be established from the use of The Listening Program® as a prelude to a more formal study. The Listening Program® was developed by Advanced Brain Technologies (ABT) as a modified music method to improve auditory processing, self regulation and brain performance.
Nine children between the ages of 5 and 12 years took part, acting as their own controls. They used The Listening Program over a 10-week period. Each child listened to acoustically modified music, through headphones, for two 15-minute sessions, 5 days a week, for 10 weeks. A battery of tests recommended by specialists in speech and language and human communication, were performed before and after intervention. In addition, questionnaires were completed at the end by parents and teachers involved.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/196885.php
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 5, 2010Â
Ketamine may provide short term relief for patients with severe bipolar depression.
A new study showed that when patients with severe, treatment-resistant bipolar depression were given a single intravenous (IV) dose of ketamine (also known as N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist or NMDA), their symptoms improved within 40 minutes.
“In patients with treatment-resistant bipolar depression, robust and rapid antidepressant effects resulted from a single intravenous dose of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist,†writes Carlos Zarate Jr., MD, of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md., and his colleagues.
Bipolar disorder, also known by its older name “manic depression,†is a mental disorder that is characterized by constantly changing moods. A person with bipolar disorder experiences alternating “highs†(what clinicians call “mania“) and “lows†(depression). Bipolar disorder affects about 2.6 percent of the U.S. population, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Standard antidepressants may take weeks to months to become effective. Ketamine, which is sometimes used as a recreational drug, is legally used as an anesthetic. Zarate and his team have previously shown that ketamine can improve symptoms of unipolar depression; however, bipolar depression may respond differently to medication.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/05/ketamine-may-give-temporary-relief-for-bipolar-patients/16423.html
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Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 5, 2010Â
Ketamine may provide short term relief for patients with severe bipolar depression.
A new study showed that when patients with severe, treatment-resistant bipolar depression were given a single intravenous (IV) dose of ketamine (also known as N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist or NMDA), their symptoms improved within 40 minutes.
“In patients with treatment-resistant bipolar depression, robust and rapid antidepressant effects resulted from a single intravenous dose of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist,†writes Carlos Zarate Jr., MD, of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md., and his colleagues.
Bipolar disorder, also known by its older name “manic depression,†is a mental disorder that is characterized by constantly changing moods. A person with bipolar disorder experiences alternating “highs†(what clinicians call “mania“) and “lows†(depression). Bipolar disorder affects about 2.6 percent of the U.S. population, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Standard antidepressants may take weeks to months to become effective. Ketamine, which is sometimes used as a recreational drug, is legally used as an anesthetic. Zarate and his team have previously shown that ketamine can improve symptoms of unipolar depression; however, bipolar depression may respond differently to medication.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/05/ketamine-may-give-temporary-relief-for-bipolar-patients/16423.html
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Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 5, 2010
Prescribing medication always involves a calculated risk. An adverse drug reaction may occur or the medication may fail to work because of particular body chemistry.
A new study suggests a common electroencephalography (EEG) test may hold the key to predicting whether a person will respond to certain prescribed drugs, particularly those related to psychiatric conditions.
Engineering and health sciences researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada applied machine learning to EEG patterns and successfully predicted how patients with schizophrenia would respond to clozapine therapy.
Clozapine is recognized as an effective treatment for chronic medication-resistant schizophrenia but can produce serious side effects such as seizures, cardiac arrhythmias or bone marrow suppression. Some patients can develop blood problems that are life-threatening. Weekly to monthly blood sampling is required.
“Some people can suffer terrible side effects from clozapine,†said Dr. Gary Hasey, associate professor at McMaster and director of the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation laboratory at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Mood Disorders Clinic in Hamilton.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/05/ecg-predicts-success-of-medications-used-in-schizophrenia/16452.html
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Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 5, 2010
Prescribing medication always involves a calculated risk. An adverse drug reaction may occur or the medication may fail to work because of particular body chemistry.
A new study suggests a common electroencephalography (EEG) test may hold the key to predicting whether a person will respond to certain prescribed drugs, particularly those related to psychiatric conditions.
Engineering and health sciences researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada applied machine learning to EEG patterns and successfully predicted how patients with schizophrenia would respond to clozapine therapy.
Clozapine is recognized as an effective treatment for chronic medication-resistant schizophrenia but can produce serious side effects such as seizures, cardiac arrhythmias or bone marrow suppression. Some patients can develop blood problems that are life-threatening. Weekly to monthly blood sampling is required.
“Some people can suffer terrible side effects from clozapine,†said Dr. Gary Hasey, associate professor at McMaster and director of the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation laboratory at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Mood Disorders Clinic in Hamilton.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/05/ecg-predicts-success-of-medications-used-in-schizophrenia/16452.html
 
This week’s Science has a thought-provoking article charting how several of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies have canned their development of psychiatric drugs, citing the medications as unlikely to be profitable given the difficulties in understanding the neurobiology of mental illness.
On 4 February, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that it planned to pull the plug on drug discovery in some areas of neuroscience, including pain and depression. A few weeks later, news came that AstraZeneca was closing research facilities in the United States and Europe and ceasing drug-discovery work in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety.
These cutbacks by two of the top players in drug development for disorders of the central nervous system have raised concerns that the pharmaceutical industry is pulling out, or at least pulling back, in this area. In direct response to the cuts at GSK and AstraZeneca, the Institute of Medicine Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders organized a meeting in late June that brought together leaders from government, academia, and private foundations to take stock.
Read in Full:Â http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/is-big-pharma-abandoning-psychiatry/
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This week’s Science has a thought-provoking article charting how several of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies have canned their development of psychiatric drugs, citing the medications as unlikely to be profitable given the difficulties in understanding the neurobiology of mental illness.
On 4 February, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that it planned to pull the plug on drug discovery in some areas of neuroscience, including pain and depression. A few weeks later, news came that AstraZeneca was closing research facilities in the United States and Europe and ceasing drug-discovery work in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety.
These cutbacks by two of the top players in drug development for disorders of the central nervous system have raised concerns that the pharmaceutical industry is pulling out, or at least pulling back, in this area. In direct response to the cuts at GSK and AstraZeneca, the Institute of Medicine Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders organized a meeting in late June that brought together leaders from government, academia, and private foundations to take stock.
Read in Full:Â http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/is-big-pharma-abandoning-psychiatry/
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 5, 2010
New research suggests a strong link between personality traits observed in childhood and adult behavior.
Scientists reviewed data from a 1960s study of approximately 2,400 ethnically diverse elementary schoolchildren in Hawaii.
They then compared teacher personality ratings of the students with videotaped interviews of 144 of those individuals 40 years later.
What they discovered was surprising, said Christopher S. Nave, a doctoral candidate at the University of California-Riverside and lead author of the paper, “On the Contextual Independence of Personality: Teachers’ Assessments Predict Directly Observed Behavior After Four Decades.â€
“We remain recognizably the same person,†Nave said. “This speaks to the importance of understanding personality because it does follow us wherever we go across time and contexts.â€
The researchers examined four personality attributes – verbally fluent, adaptable, impulsive and self-minimizing. They found that:
- Youngsters identified as verbally fluent – defined as unrestrained talkativeness – tended, as middle-aged adults, to display interest in intellectual matters, speak fluently, try to control the situation, and exhibit a high degree of intelligence. Children rated low in verbal fluency by their teachers were observed as adults to seek advice, give up when faced with obstacles, and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.
- Children rated as highly adaptable – defined as coping easily and successfully with new situations – tended, as middle-aged adults, to behave cheerfully, speak fluently and show interest in intellectual matters. Those who rated low in adaptability as children were observed as adults to say negative things about themselves, seek advice and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.
- Students rated as impulsive as adults were inclined to speak loudly, display a wide range of interests and be talkative. Those who were rated low on impulsivity were observed, as adults, to be fearful or timid, keep others at a distance and express insecurity.
- Children whose teachers rated them as having a tendency to self-minimize – defined as humble, minimizing their own importance or never showing off – as adults were likely to express guilt, seek reassurance, say negative things about themselves and express insecurity. Those who were ranked low as self-minimizing were observed as adults to speak loudly, show interest in intellectual matters and exhibit condescending behavior.
Read in Full: http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/05/adult-behavior-follows-childhood-personality/16447.html