Paolo Brambilla

..We here further investigated CC organization with diffusion imaging (DWI) in a sample of schizophrenia patients recruited from the epidemiologically defined catchment area of South Verona, Italy...

..Hippocampal shrinkage is commonly reported in schizophrenia, but its role in the illness is still poorly understood. In particular, it is unclear how clinical and psychosocial variables relate to hippocampal volumes...

..We assessed behavioral performance during associative learning in a group of SCZ, BD and healthy controls (HC)...

..A combined protocol of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) was applied to investigate the neurodevelopment of gray and white matter in autism...

..The effects of mood stabilizers on white matter are discussed, based on available findings from human and animal studies. Last, perspectives in this field of research are also drawn...

..Thus, altered intracranial hemodynamics may accompany brain atrophy and cognitive deficits, being a crucial factor in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia...

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..This represents a potentially important clue to a further understanding of the pathogenetic differences between the two major psychoses...

..These findings provide further evidence to support a key role of NRG1-ErbB4 signalling in the pathophysiology of major mental disorders...

..The entorhinal cortex is located in the medial temporal lobe and is involved in memory and learning. Previous MRI studies reported conflicting findings in schizophrenia, showing normal or reduced entorhinal size...

..Indeed, most of the language literature is composed of studies on English speaking people...

..The objective of our study was to use structural MRI and DWI to explore for the first time both thalamic volumes and integrity in schizophrenia...

..In the present review, we discuss the most consistent findings from diffusion imaging studies exploring corpus callosum integrity in bipolar disorder...

..However, it is unclear whether these perceptual deficits involve more basic aspects of others' body perception...

..Yet a full neuropsychological investigation of body schema representation in ED patients is lacking. We examined mental imagery and body schema representation in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED)...

..This paper reviews imaging studies conducted in MDD patients and healthy controls treated with different ADs...

..However, this cognitive dimension has not yet been examined in BPD patients in the existing literature...

..We investigated hypothalamic volumes in patients with either GAD or PD and in healthy controls...

..Future longitudinal studies on the volumes of the hypothalamus and the mammillary bodies with respect to the levels of related hormones will clarify their role in modulating HPA axis in schizophrenia...

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..Here, we tested the suitability of self-report evaluation and the developmental trend of temperament and character dimensions among school-aged children using an Italian version of the junior Temperament and Character Inventory (jTCI)...

..Here we briefly summarize the most consistent structural MRI studies on hippocampus in major depression and debate the effects of clinical variables on hippocampal morphology...

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..We hypothesised that reductions in temporal lobe and amygdala gray matter would be associated with variation at two loci in the gene for which evidence of genetic linkage has been repeatedly demonstrated...

..Previous neuroimaging findings have been inconsistent; however, new methods for three-dimensional (3-D) computational image analysis may better characterize neuroanatomic changes than standard volumetric measures...

..In summary, the three-dimensional analysis method we propose has been shown to be a feasible tool for revealing subtle vascular changes both in normal subjects and in pathological conditions...

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..It also suggested that physiological aging effects on brain anatomy may be abnormally pronounced in schizophrenia...

..Smaller cingulate volumes in currently depressed patients support the hypothesis that cingulate cortex abnormalities are state dependent, whereas changes in left anterior cingulate might be trait related...

..64 cm3 [SD=0.21] versus 2.71 cm3 [SD=0.10]). CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate smaller cingulate volumes in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder, suggesting that such abnormalities may be present early in the illness course...

..Future studies examining the relationship between specific symptomatic dimensions of MDD and OFC volumes could be especially informative...

..Decreased white matter connections may be the core of abnormalities in STG, which is an important region for speech, language and communication, and could possibly underlie neurocognitive deficits present in bipolar patients...

..Using the same three-dimensional mapping methods, we sought to investigate whether a similar pattern exists in adolescents with bipolar disorder...

..6; d.f. = 1, 25; P = 0.003) and healthy individuals (675.8 +/- 61.8 cm(3); F = 17.4; d.f. = 1, 59; P < 0.001), suggesting in vivo effects of lithium on gray matter, which could possibly reflect lithium's neurotrophic effects...

..Our results are preliminary, but consistent with the findings from studies in adult bipolar patients suggesting the involvement of structural changes in cerebellar vermis in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder...

..Any differences in thalamus size that may exist between patients with bipolar disorder and healthy controls must amount to small effect sizes...

..Here we compared the callosal signal intensity of children and adolescents with bipolar disorder to that of matched healthy subjects, to investigate the hypothesis that callosal myelination is abnormal in pediatric bipolar patients...

..48, p = .03). CONCLUSIONS: The direct correlation between left amygdala volumes and age in bipolar patients, not present in healthy control subjects, may reflect abnormal developmental mechanisms in bipolar disorder...

..To assess the accuracy of magnetic resonance (MR) with Mangafodipir (Mn-DPDP) in the identification of focal solid pancreatic lesions. The possibility of lesion characterisation based on quantification of Mn uptake was also investigated...

..Early traumatic experiences may play a role in hippocampal atrophy, whereas substance use disorders may contribute to putamen enlargement...

..Such studies will be instrumental in furthering understanding of the pathophysiology of autism and in exploring the importance of dimensional measures of the broader phenotype currently defined as autism...

..05) but not in bipolar patients (p >.05). CONCLUSIONS:Smaller callosal areas may lead to altered inter-hemispheric communication and be involved in the pathophysiology and cognitive impairment found in bipolar disorder...

..These findings suggest that abnormalities in lateralization and possibly neurodegenerative changes in basal ganglia structures participate in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder...

..We examined the rates of hyperintense lesions in adult, non-elderly bipolar and unipolar patients, with a relatively mild-to-moderate illness severity, and in matched healthy controls...

..HIV-infected adults with lipodystrophy, characterized by excess accumulation of intra-abdominal adipose tissue (IAT), showed impaired growth hormone (GH) secretion. Data are lacking in paediatric lipodystrophy with the same features...

..Longitudinal studies in high-risk offspring and first-episode patients will be needed to examine whether such abnormalities precede the appearance of symptoms, or whether they may appear subsequently as a result of illness course...

..Furthermore, our results suggest that lithium treatment might influence cingulate volumes in bipolar patients, which could possibly reflect postulated neuroprotective effects of lithium...

..55 +/- 73.67 mm(3), respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between groups regarding right or left SGPFC volumes. We found no evidence of volumetric abnormalities in the SGPFC of bipolar children and adolescents...

..Whether these changes are mediated by neurotrophic/neuroprotective or osmotic effects remains unknown...

..Abnormalities in interhemispheric connectivity do not appear necessary for the development of BPD. Further studies with larger samples are needed to confirm this preliminary finding...

..Moreover, increased hippocampal volume in lithium-treated bipolar patients may reflect postulated neurotrophic effects of this agent, a possibility warranting further study in longitudinal investigations...

..We assess the effect on body composition parameters of replacing stavudine with tenofovir and protease inhibitor with efavirenz in paediatric patients...

..No significant differences in CC length or area were observed, suggesting that reported CC abnormalities appear late in the course of bipolar disorder...

..Longitudinal 1H MRS studies should further examine NAA levels in prefrontal cortex regions in untreated bipolar patients before and after mood stabilizing treatment...

..The possible role of callosal abnormalities in the pathogenesis of mood disorders should be further examined...

..Future 1H MRS investigations should longitudinally examine the role of illness chronicity on DLPFC abnormalities and their relationship with the symptoms of unipolar disorder...

..05). In vivo abnormalities in the volumes of SGPFC were not identified in mildly depressed or euthymic unipolar or bipolar mood disorder outpatients, either familial or non-familial...