Paolo Fusar-Poli

..These effects need to be considered when interpreting group differences in activation between medicated patients and controls...

..This is the first study to show that the disruption of prefrontal-subocritical connectivity by CBD may represent neurophysiological correlates of its anxiolytic properties...

..To conclude, multimodal neuroimaging may ultimately clarify the neurobiology of the prodromal phases by the integration of functional, structural and neurochemical findings...

..However, individual studies using single photon emission tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET) have yielded inconsistent results, i.e., both high and low striatal dopamine transporter levels...

..Published results are conflicting, and the antipsychotic efficacy of such augmentation strategies is not well established...

..However, the risk of transition to psychosis varies between centers, and some recent work suggests that the risk of transition may be declining...

..We found that the CAARMS-I demonstrates adequate validity and reliability and appears to be helpful in the diagnosis of the ARMS and prediction of psychosis transition...

..The prodromal phase of psychosis is characterized by impaired executive function and altered prefrontal activation. The extent to which the severity of these deficits at presentation predicts subsequent clinical outcomes is unclear...

..This study aims to examine known determinants of cardiovascular risk in Italian patients with functional psychoses...

....

..Unemployment at the first contact with the prodromal service may be a risk factor for the development of a psychotic episode...

..001). Significant interactions between the approach and avoidance dimensions and prefrontal response were observed (p=0.001)...

..375, P=0.008). This effect was independent of age and gender and may have implications for the improvement of treatment strategies in pre-psychotic phases...

..Cannabis use can both increase and reduce anxiety in humans. The neurophysiological substrates of these effects are unknown...

..These changes reflect an increased vulnerability to psychosis and predate the first episode of frank psychosis...

..Psychotic disorders are characterized by gray matter and volumetric and electrophysiological abnormalities. The relationship between these factors in the onset of psychotic illness is unclear...

..Alterations in glutamatergic neurotransmission and cerebral cortical dysfunction are thought to be central to the pathophysiology of psychosis, but the relationship between these 2 factors is unclear...

..The relation between these factors in the development of illness is almost unknown. We studied the relation between white matter volumes and P300 in prodromal psychosis...

....

..The longitudinal dynamic course of the neurofunctional abnormalities underlying liability to psychosis and their relation to clinical outcomes is unknown...

..Alterations in dopaminergic neurotransmission and function of the prefrontal cortex are thought to be central to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, but the relationship between these factors in the development of psychosis is unclear...

..However, the longitudinal course of these abnormalities, and how they relate to subsequent clinical and functional outcome is relatively unclear...

..Overall, SPM and XBAM analyses revealed comparable whole-group brain responses. Further studies are needed to explore the between-group compatibility of the different imaging packages in other cognitive and emotional processing domains...

..Furthermore, such emotional processes are thought to be aberrant in a range of clinical disorders, including psychosis and depression. However, the exact neurofunctional maps underlying emotional facial processing are not well defined...

..Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a rare, heritable disorder that affects connective tissue. Men and women are equally affected. Clinical manifestations involve multiple sites, especially bones and ligaments and heart and blood vessels...

....

..To date, no systematic review has been undertaken assessing the neurophysiological effects following this acute central 5-HT manipulation...

..We used functional neuroimaging (fMRI) to investigate the effects of experimental manipulation of central 5HT levels on the regional neural response to happy and sad facial expressions...

..These abnormalities have mainly been described in the prefrontal and anterior cingulated cortex, the basal ganglia, hippocampus and cerebellum...

..The purpose of this study was to advance current understanding of factors that influence long-term quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes after heart transplantation, by addressing the influence of depression on perceived health status...

..Additional well-conducted randomized controlled trials are needed to clarify the epidemiologic course of depression following lung transplantation and to tailor effective pharmacologic or psychological interventions accordingly...

..To date, no review has explored the efficacy and safety of pharmacologic or psychologic interventions in this patient group...

..This study examined the effect of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) on brain activation during a motor inhibition task...

..These neurofunctional differences were associated with diminished recognition performance and may reflect the greatly increased risk of psychosis associated with the ARMS...

..Cannabis sativa use can impair verbal learning, provoke acute psychosis, and increase the risk of schizophrenia. It is unclear where C. sativa acts in the human brain to modulate verbal learning and to induce psychotic symptoms...

..We tested the hypothesis that acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) would attenuate pre-frontal activation during both tasks...

..Cannabis can induce acute psychotic symptoms, and its chronic use may increase the risk of schizophrenia. We investigated whether its psychotic effects are mediated through an influence on attentional salience processing...

..Delta-9-THC and CBD can have opposite effects on regional brain function, which may underlie their different symptomatic and behavioral effects, and CBD's ability to block the psychotogenic effects of Delta-9-THC...

..The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of age on depression and quality of life in a sample of long-term heart transplant recipients...

..Single doses of THC and CBD differently modulate brain function in areas that process auditory and visual stimuli and relate to induced psychotic symptoms...

..However, although animal models of psychosis suggest that these two abnormalities are interrelated, their relationship in humans has yet to be investigated...

..People with prodromal symptoms have a very high risk of developing psychosis...

..However, the stage of the disorder at which these functional alterations occur is unclear. We addressed this issue by using functional MRI (fMRI) to study subjects in the prodromal and first episode phases of schizophrenia...

....

..We examined whether mismatch negativity (MMN) could help to identify those who are particularly likely to make a transition to psychosis...

..Here we determine whether changes in brain glutamate are present in subjects at ultra high risk of developing psychosis and whether these changes are related to reductions in cortical gray matter volume...

..Future studies could explore the effects of DAAO and G72 in individuals with prodromal symptoms of psychosis, in order to elucidate glutamate dysfunction in this critical phase of the disorder...

....

..Here, we focus on the potential for the use of these techniques in the diagnosis of schizophrenia and in the development of new drugs for its treatment...

..We will also examine the practical issues that seem to be limiting the effective integration of biomarkers into clinical development...

....

..Conclusion: Accumulating structural and functional imaging evidence supports the existence of neurobiologic trait abnormalities in individuals at genetic risk for bipolar disorder at various scales of investigation...

..We particularly focus in the P300, Mismatch-Negativity (MMN) and P50 paradigms, discussing the main findings, but also the limitations and challenges in electrophysiological studies in this population...

....

..Subjects at high risk of psychosis show qualitatively similar albeit less severe gray matter abnormalities as patients with psychosis...

..We conducted a systematic review to assess the evidence for specific effects of cannabis on brain structure and function. The review focuses on the cognitive changes associated with acute and chronic use of the drug...

..These findings are consistent with the notion that the DTNBP1 gene influences brain development and can thereby modulate vulnerability to schizophrenia...

..We examined the neurocognitive basis of this vulnerability by using functional MRI to study subjects with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) while they performed a random movement generation task...

..Whilst there is a growing body of evidence relating to the effectiveness of early detection and early intervention services there have been relatively few studies which have provided information on whether they are cost-effective...

..If glutamatergic abnormalities are present early in the disorder, this suggests that glutamatergic therapies may be useful in psychosis prevention...

....

..Further, we also discuss how combining neuroimaging and pharmacological challenge with cannabinoids may open up newer avenues for target identification and validation in psychopharmacology...