Peak experiences and the afterglow phenomenon: When and how do therapeutic effects of hallucinogens depend on psychedelic experiences?
Interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances has recently resumed. During an early phase of human psychedelic research, their therapeutic application in different pathologies had been suggested, and the first evidence for efficacy was provided. The range of recent clinical applications of psychedelics spans from cluster headaches and obsessive-compulsive disorder to addiction and the treatment of fear and anxiety in patients suffering from terminal illness, indicating potentially different therapeutic mechanisms. A variety of approaches in psychotherapy emphasize subjective experiences, such as so-called...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - March 9, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Majić, T., Schmidt, T. T., Gallinat, J. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Schizophrenia drug discovery and development in an evolving era: Are new drug targets fulfilling expectations?
Current therapeutics for schizophrenia, the typical and atypical antipsychotic class of drugs, derive their therapeutic benefit predominantly by antagonism of the dopamine D2 receptor subtype and have robust clinical benefit on positive symptoms of the disease with limited to no impact on negative symptoms and cognitive impairment. Driven by these therapeutic limitations of current treatments and the recognition that transmitter systems beyond the dopaminergic system in particular glutamatergic transmission contribute to the etiology of schizophrenia significant recent efforts have focused on the discovery and development ...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Dunlop, J., Brandon, N. J. Tags: Review Source Type: research
Facial affect processing deficits in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis of antipsychotic treatment effects
Social cognition, including emotion processing, is a recognised deficit observed in patients with schizophrenia. It is one cognitive domain which has been emphasised as requiring further investigation, with the efficacy of antipsychotic treatment on this deficit remaining unclear. Nine studies met our criteria for entry into a meta-analysis of the effects of medication on facial affect processing, including data from 1162 patients and six antipsychotics. Overall we found a small, positive effect (Hedge’s g = 0.13, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.21, p = 0.002). In a subgroup analysis this was statistically significant for atypical,...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Gabay, A. S., Kempton, M. J., Mehta, M. A. Tags: Original Paper Source Type: research
Re-examining the role of benzodiazepines in the treatment of schizophrenia: A systematic review
Conclusion
Benzodiazepine superiority over placebo was found for global, psychiatric and behavioural outcomes, but inferiority to antipsychotics on longer-term global outcomes. Conflicting evidence exists regarding the addition of benzodiazepines to antipsychotics; thus the use of benzodiazepines in clinical practice and antipsychotic trials should be limited. (Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology)
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Sim, F., Sweetman, I., Kapur, S., Patel, M. X. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Dementia praecox redux: A systematic review of the nicotinic receptor as a target for cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia
Most individuals with schizophrenia suffer some cognitive dysfunction: such deficits are predictive of longer-term functioning; and current dopamine-blocking antipsychotics have made little impact on this domain. There is a pressing need to develop novel pharmacological agents to tackle this insidious but most disabling of problems. The acetylcholinergic system is involved in cognitive and attentional processing, and its metabotropic and nicotinic receptors are widespread throughout the brain. Deficits in acetylcholinergic functioning occur in schizophrenia, and high rates of tobacco smoking have been posited to represent ...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Rowe, A. R., Mercer, L., Casetti, V., Sendt, K.-V., Giaroli, G., Shergill, S. S., Tracy, D. K. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Developing treatments for cognitive deficits in schizophrenia: The challenge of translation
Schizophrenia is a life-long debilitating mental disorder affecting tens of millions of people worldwide. The serendipitous discovery of antipsychotics focused pharmaceutical research on developing a better antipsychotic. Our understanding of the disorder has advanced however, with the knowledge that cognitive enhancers are required for patients in order to improve their everyday lives. While antipsychotics treat psychosis, they do not enhance cognition and hence are not antischizophrenics. Developing pro-cognitive therapeutics has been extremely difficult, however, especially when no approved treatment exists. In lieu of ...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Young, J., Geyer, M. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Functional brain connectivity phenotypes for schizophrenia drug discovery
While our knowledge of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia has increased dramatically, this has not translated into the development of new and improved drugs to treat this disorder. Human brain imaging and electrophysiological studies have provided dramatic new insight into the mechanisms of brain dysfunction in the disease, with a swathe of recent studies highlighting the differences in functional brain network and neural system connectivity present in the disorder. Only recently has the value of applying these approaches in preclinical rodent models relevant to the disorder started to be recognised. Here we highlight re...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Dawson, N., Morris, B. J., Pratt, J. A. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Neural oscillations as a translational tool in schizophrenia research: Rationale, paradigms and challenges
Neural oscillations have received recently a great deal of interest in schizophrenia research because of the possibility to integrate findings from non-invasive electro/magnetoencephalographical recordings with pre-clinical research, which could potentially lead to the identification of pathophysiological mechanisms and novel treatment targets. In the current paper, we review the potential as well as the challenges of this approach by summarizing findings on alterations in rhythmic activity from both animal models and human data which have implicated dysfunctional neural oscillations in the explanation of cognitive deficit...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Phillips, K. G., Uhlhaas, P. J. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Structural magnetic resonance imaging markers of susceptibility and transition to schizophrenia: A review of familial and clinical high risk population studies
There is a growing consensus that a symptomatology as complex and heterogeneous as schizophrenia is likely to be produced by widespread perturbations of brain structure, as opposed to isolated deficits in specific brain regions. Structural brain-imaging studies have shown that several features of the brain, such as grey matter, white matter integrity and the morphology of the cortex differ in individuals at high risk of the disorder compared to controls, but to a lesser extent than in patients, suggesting that structural abnormalities may form markers of vulnerability to the disorder. Research has had some success in delin...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Bois, C., Whalley, H., McIntosh, A., Lawrie, S. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Schizophrenia biomarkers: Translating the descriptive into the diagnostic
While schizophrenia and mental health are qualitatively distinct at the level of clinical presentation, the specific molecular signatures that underlie, or associate with, illness are not. Biomarker identification in schizophrenia is intended to offer a number of important benefits to patient well-being including prediction of future illness, diagnostic clarity and a level of disease description that would guide treatment choice. However, the choice of sample and form of analysis used to produce useful biomarkers is still uncertain. In this review, advances from recent studies spanning the technical spectrum are presented ...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Pickard, B. S. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
The thalamic reticular nucleus: A functional hub for thalamocortical network dysfunction in schizophrenia and a target for drug discovery
The thalamus (comprising many distinct nuclei) plays a key role in facilitating sensory discrimination and cognitive processes through connections with the cortex. Impaired thalamocortical processing has long been considered to be involved in schizophrenia. In this review we focus on the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) providing evidence for it being an important communication hub between the thalamus and cortex and how it may play a key role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. We first highlight the functional neuroanatomy, neurotransmitter localisation and physiology of the TRN. We then present evidence of the phys...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Pratt, J. A., Morris, B. J. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Dissecting negative symptoms in schizophrenia: Opportunities for translation into new treatments
Among the constellation of symptoms that characterize schizophrenia, negative symptoms have emerged as a critical feature linked to the functional impairment experienced by affected individuals. Despite advances in our understanding of the role of negative symptoms in the illness, effective treatments for these debilitating symptoms have remained elusive. In this review we explore the contemporary conceptualization of negative symptoms in schizophrenia, including the identification of two key subdomains of diminished expression and amotivation, and clarifications around hedonic capacity. We then explore strategies for clin...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Foussias, G., Siddiqui, I., Fervaha, G., Agid, O., Remington, G. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Glutamate and dopamine in schizophrenia: An update for the 21st century
The glutamate and dopamine hypotheses are leading theories of the pathoaetiology of schizophrenia. Both were initially based on indirect evidence from pharmacological studies supported by post-mortem findings, but have since been substantially advanced by new lines of evidence from in vivo imaging studies. This review provides an update on the latest findings on dopamine and glutamate abnormalities in schizophrenia, focusing on in vivo neuroimaging studies in patients and clinical high-risk groups, and considers their implications for understanding the biology and treatment of schizophrenia. These findings have refined bot...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Howes, O., McCutcheon, R., Stone, J. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Recent genetic findings in schizophrenia and their therapeutic relevance
Over 100 loci are now associated with schizophrenia risk as identified by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genome-wide association studies. These findings mean that ‘genes for schizophrenia’ have unquestionably been found. However, many questions remain unanswered, including several which affect their therapeutic significance. The SNPs individually have minor effects, and even cumulatively explain only a modest fraction of the genetic predisposition. The remainder likely results from many more loci, from rare variants, and from gene–gene and gene–environment interactions. The risk SNPs are ...
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Harrison, P. J. Tags: Reviews Source Type: research
Schizophrenia in the 21st century: New insights and translation into improved therapies
(Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology)
Source: Journal of Psychopharmacology - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Pratt, J. Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
