Eric Hollander

..The effects of fluoxetine and placebo on repetitive behaviors and global severity were compared in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs)...

..This study suggests the efficacy of divalproex for the treatment of irritability in children and adolescents with ASD. Larger sample follow-up studies are warranted...

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..The current review focuses on the phenomenology, comorbidity, course of illness, family history, brain circuitry, and treatment of autism and PD, as they relate to OCD and OC spectrum disturbances...

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..Our results are consistent with a frontostriatal circuit change related to both dopaminergic and serotonergic systems and with the presence of psychopharmacological subtypes within OCD...

..Although mood stabilizers and serotonin reuptake inhibitors have shown some efficacy in the treatment of this condition, there is little known about how these pharmacological interventions work...

..The authors examined the efficacy and tolerability of the opioid antagonist nalmefene in the treatment of adults with pathological gambling...

..The authors used imaging studies to map volumetric and metabolic differences within the entire dorsoventral extent of the striatum and thalamus...

..To the authors' knowledge, this is the first placebo-controlled treatment study in pathological gamblers with bipolar spectrum disorders; it compares sustained-release lithium carbonate to placebo...

..To assess the safety and efficacy of escitalopram in IC-IUD, we conducted a 10-week, open-label trial followed by a 9-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled discontinuation phase...

..616). This study provides preliminary support for the use of divalproex in treating repetitive behaviours in ASD. Further research is needed to evaluate the specificity and mechanism of action of these findings...

..We extended our studies to include functional alterations of the striatum and thalamus in a cohort of patients with PG before and after treatment with lithium...

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..This study explored the effect of intravenous oxytocin administration on the retention of social information in autism...

..We conducted a 1-year follow-up of an original mail survey of early reactions to the World Trade Center disaster...

..These findings are another step in the effort to identify genetically and biologically distinct groups within this population...

..Sotos syndrome has been described in a number of patients with autism spectrum disorders, suggesting that NSD1 could be involved in other cases of autism and macrocephaly...

..Additional studies are needed to determine the efficacy and safety of olanzapine in the treatment of children with PDD...

..Trial registration number (ClinicalTrials.gov): NCT00796497...

..Risperidone may be an effective and well-tolerated augmentation strategy in treatment-resistant OCD subjects, but larger sample size studies are required to demonstrate this...

..No significant associations were found between serotonin level and the primary behavioral outcome measures. However, a significant inverse relationship between serotonin level and self-injury was demonstrated...

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..No studies have systematically examined predictors of medication treatment outcome in PG. Understanding clinical variables related to treatment outcome should help generate treatment algorithms for PG...

..Divalproex extended-release (ER) is used widely in clinical practice, which leads to the question of its efficacy and tolerability in treating BPD...

..In conclusion, despite its small sample size this pilot study suggests that dissociative symptomatology may be a marker of heightened biological vulnerability to stress in BPD, and merits further study...

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..Particular attention is paid to the relationship between ICDs and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Finally, current pharmacological options for treating ICDs are presented and discussed...

..No other significant differences were observed. The rs2056202 polymorphism may be associated with levels of routines and rituals in autism and related disorders...

..This review focuses on recent research examining the treatment of pathological gambling and highlights methodological challenges for future studies...

..Limitations include small sample size and the crossover design of the study. Further replication and long-term maintenance trials are needed...

..The correlations between the G-SAS and the PG-YBOCS and Clinical Global Impression rating were excellent. Findings suggest that the G-SAS is reliable and valid in assessing changes in symptoms during a drug treatment study...

..Although popularly dubbed the 'hormone of love', these data suggest a more circumspect answer to the question of who will benefit from OXT...

..PG-YBOCS thus appears to be a reliable and valid measure of pathological gambling severity, and can be regarded as an important tool for clinicians and researchers treating pathological gamblers...

..Thus, it appears unlikely that the TPH1 and TPH2 genes play a significant role in the susceptibility to autism or to autism endophenotypes including sOCB and SSB...

..These findings suggest that levetiracetam does not improve behavioral disturbances of autism, but are limited by the small sample size and lack of stratification of the autistic sample at baseline...

..Finally, we conclude with a discussion of directions for future research...

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..Double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are, however, needed to confirm the positive findings reported by several studies with venlafaxine...

..These results, together with those obtained in our previous serotoninergic challenge study, document the presence of a serotonergic dysfunction in pathological gamblers similar to that reported in alcoholics...

..This open-label trial examines venlafaxine's efficacy in BDD and is the first known study of this serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor in BDD...

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..The data regarding this disorder and its overlap with chemical addiction is limited. If the two disorders are to be grouped together, further data are needed...

..Earlier studies suggested that topiramate may be effective in treating some impulse control disorders. We conducted the first randomized, controlled trial of topiramate in PG...

..abstract:..

..To date, data are mixed for interventions commonly prescribed in clinical practice and suggest several areas of investigation in advancing research on the medication management of repetitive behaviors...

..We also hypothesized that greater OCD symptom improvement in the first 12 weeks of treatment would be associated with greater HRQOL improvement after 52 weeks of treatment...

..The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dissociation and childhood trauma in BPD and to explore the relationships of dissociation and trauma to various personality features of BPD...

..Finally, unresolved issues and directions for future research are discussed...

..This article reviews research on the current understanding and management of residual symptoms, i.e., subthreshold depressive symptoms present after recovery from a major depressive episode...

..We further hypothesize that maladaptive temperament will be associated with the severity of both illnesses...

..These findings suggest that medication dosing may be an important consideration in achieving symptom control...

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..Our case suggests that topiramate might be beneficial in augmentation with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in patients with treatment-resistant OCD, although further investigations are warranted to confirm our findings...

..Treatment gains after a 12-week course of CBT may be maintained for up to 1 year. Currently, no guidelines exist for the long-term treatment of GAD...

..Side effects (dry mouth and sedation) of moderate severity occurred in 4 subjects. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results suggest that nefazodone may be effective in reducing symptoms of pathological gambling and is well tolerated...

..Specific variants of the 5-HTT gene, SLC6A4, especially the insertion-deletion 5-HTTLPR promoter locus, have been found to modulate its expression and transporter function...

..Significant symptom reduction was observed as a result of this combined intervention...

..Other symptom domains within autism and effects on development need to be evaluated in adequately designed clinical trials. Future strategies include extending treatment to children as young as the preschool years...

..This study provides evidence of abnormalities in neurotransmission related to networks subserving executive control and alerting of attention, functions which have been previously implicated in ASD pathogenesis...

..Venlafaxine is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) that might be effective in the treatment of OCD, even among those who have failed previous SSRI trials...

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..The identification of specific subtypes among patients with pathological gambling may be relevant to the choice of pharmacologic treatment...

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..This study failed to find significant alterations in binding parameters of 5-HT(2A) receptors and serotonin transporters in adult subjects with Asperger's disorder...

..These and other issues should be discussed at future meetings of the IOCDC and influence how we conceptualize the disorder and design future treatment trials...

..This study evaluated the acute safety and efficacy and long-term efficacy, safety, and impact on relapse prevention of paroxetine in obsessive-compulsive disorder...

..This article reviews the available data on the efficacy and tolerability of SSRIs in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Objectives for future research in this area will also be suggested...

..By increasing research in this field, the OCD spectrum may evolve from a fragmented level of conceptualization as a "metaphor" to one that is more comprehensive and structured...

..This reflects the poor affinity of this compound for adrenergic, muscarinic, cholinergic or histaminergic receptors...

..The authors synthesize state-of-the-art treatment and give practical advice for clinicians...

..Repetitive behavior in autism spectrum disorders may be related to abnormalities in the oxytocin system, and may be partially ameliorated by synthetic oxytocin infusion...

..The Internet System for Assessing Autistic Children system for managing multicenter clinical trials in autism and statistical issues in autism research are also described...

..We also discuss current research limitations, review recent preliminary findings from studies involving oxytocin in autism spectrum disorder patient populations, and point to possible directions for future research...

..This review focuses on recent research examining the neurobiology and treatment of PG...

..Augmentation with stimulants may provide benefits in aspects of hoarding such as procrastination, especially in patients with comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder...

..In this article the authors review studies of pharmacologic treatments...

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..Nevertheless, promising findings regarding efficacy, tolerability, and non-invasiveness and/or reversibility of these techniques have increased interest in investigating their use in treatment-resistant OCD...

..Advantages and disadvantages of establishing OCSDs and its implications for diagnosis, treatment, and research are discussed...

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..Making distinctions among families by the severity of these features may be useful for identifying more genetically homogeneous subgroups in studies targeted at genes for specific autism-related symptom domains...

..Patients failed to show these patterns. Autism patients have dysfunction in some but not all of the key brain regions subserving verbal memory performance, and other regions may be recruited for task performance...