To compare patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to patients without psychiatric or cognitive disorders on neuropsychological measures of attention.

The sample included 19 patients with PTSD and 22 participants with no cognitive or psychiatric diagnosis. All had been referred for clinical neuropsychological evaluation at a VA Medical Center. None were diagnosed with dementia, delirium, or current substance dependence except nicotine or caffeine, and none had a history of stroke or of traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness. Patients were excluded if they failed to exert adequate effort on testing.

PTSD patients performed significantly more poorly than patients without psychiatric diagnoses on Digit Span.

PTSD patients were impaired relative to participants without psychiatric diagnoses on a measure of focused attention. Several factors, including the small sample size, suggest that the results should be considered preliminary.

The need for symmetry and ordering objects related to a “just right”-feeling is a common symptom in Tourette's syndrome (TS) and resembles symmetry behavior in obsessive-compulsive disorder, but its pathophysiology is unknown. We used a symptom provocation paradigm to investigate the neural correlates of symmetry behavior in TS and hypothesized the involvement of frontal-striatal and limbic brain areas.

Pictures of asymmetrically and symmetrically arranged objects were presented in randomized blocks (4 blocks of each condition) to 14 patients with TS and 10 matched healthy controls (HC). A H215O positron emission tomography scan was acquired during each stimulus block, resulting in 8 scans per subject. After each scan, state anxiety and symmetry behavior (the urge to rearrange objects) were measured using a visual analogue scale.

During the asymmetry condition, TS patients showed increased regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the anterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area, and inferior frontal cortex, whereas HC showed increased rCBF in the visual cortex, primary motor cortex, and dorsal prefrontal cortex. Symmetry ratings during provocation correlated positively with orbitofrontal activation in the TS group and sensorimotor activation in the HC group, and negatively with dorsal prefrontal activity in HC.

Results suggest that both motor and limbic circuits are involved in symmetry behavior in TS. Motor activity may relate to an urge to move or perform tics, and limbic activation may indicate that asymmetry stimuli are salient for TS patients. In contrast, symmetry provocation in HC resulted in activation of brain regions implicated in sensorimotor function and cognitive control.

Whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following radiation emergency has psychopathological, neurocognitive, and neurophysiological peculiarities is at issue.

The goal was to explore the features and cerebral basis of “radiation” PTSD in the survivors of the Chernobyl accident.

The cross-sectional study included 241 people, 219 of whom have been diagnosed with PTSD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) criteria, among them 115 clean-up workers of the Chernobyl accident (34 with acute radiation sickness), 76 evacuees from the Chernobyl exclusion zone, 28 veterans of the war in Afghanistan, and 22 healthy unexposed individuals. Psychometric examinations, neurocognitive assessments, computerized electroencephalography, and cerebral vascular Doppler were used.

“Radiation” PTSD includes “flashforward” phenomena and anticipating stress (projection of fear and danger to the future); somatoform disorders (depression, trait and state anxiety); and neurocognitive deficit (impaired memory and attention, auditory-verbal memory and learning, proactive and retroactive interference, cerebellar and stem symptoms, intellectual changes). The intima-media component, thickness of common carotid arteries, and common and left internal carotid arteries stenosis rates are increased in the liquidators. Changes of bioelectrical brain activity as a decrease of beta- and theta-power, together with an increase of alpha-power, were found in the Chernobyl accident survivors with PTSD.

PTSD following radiation emergency is characterized by comorbidity of psychopathology, neurocognitive deficit, and cerebrovascular pathology with increased risk of cerebral atherosclerosis and stroke. The cerebral basis of this PTSD is proposed to be an abnormal communication between the pyramidal cells of the neocortex and the hippocampus, and deep brain structures. It is recommended that a system of emergency and long-term psychological and psychiatric care be organized for the survivors in Fukushima Daichi, Japan

There have been no previous factor analytic studies of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) in samples with bipolar I depression, and no investigations of the utility of any derived factors in determining treatment response in this condition. This study aimed to identify and compare factors of a 31-item version of the HDRS (HDRS-31) in large samples of patients with bipolar depression and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), then examine the responsiveness of such factors to lamotrigine compared with placebo in the bipolar depressed sample.

This multivariate analytical study was performed on 2 large depressed samples (one bipolar and the other MDD) that had been recruited for separate, contemporaneous, double-blind placebo-controlled trials of lamotrigine. The 2 studies had similar designs and assessment tools, the major measures being the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and HDRS-31. To identify the constructs underlying the scale, exploratory factor analyses were conducted using HDRS-31 baseline scores. Treatment responsiveness in the bipolar depressed sample—as indicated by improvement in the total MADRS and HDRS-31, as well as HDRS factors—were examined using both a mixed-effects analysis and individual time-point t-tests.

Seven factors of the HDRS-31 were identified: I—“depressive cognitions,” II—“psychomotor retardation,” III—“insomnia,” IV—“hypersomnia,” V—“appetite and weight change,” VI—“anxiety,” and VII—“anergia.” A significant therapeutic effect of lamotrigine in bipolar depression was found for the “depressive cognitions” factor (from week 3) and “psychomotor retardation” (from week 4).

This study has identified 7 factors of the HDRS in a large sample of patients with bipolar depression. The results suggest that that the clinical benefits of lamotrigine in acute bipolar depression are primarily upon depressive cognitions and psychomotor slowing.

Long-term use of the atypical antipsychotic iloperidone has not been investigated at doses above 16 mg/d. This article describes safety and tolerability results from the 25-week open-label extension of a 4-week placebo- and ziprasidone-controlled clinical trial of iloperidone.

Patients received a dose of 24 mg/d (given as 12 mg twice daily; mean dose = 21.6 mg) that could be reduced to 12 mg/d (given once daily at bedtime) any time after day 35 at the investigator's discretion.

A total of 72/173 patients (41.6%) completed the open-label extension. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), most mild to moderate in severity, included headache (13.9%), weight increase (9.2%), dizziness (6.9%), nausea (6.4%), sedation (6.4%), and insomnia (5.2%). The only notable dose-related TEAEs were increased weight and headache. Levels of serum glucose, lipids, and prolactin were essentially unchanged or decreased during treatment. In general, akathisia and extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) improved or were unchanged during treatment. There was no signal of worsening of efficacy based on changes from baseline in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale-Total.

This study further supports the long-term safety and tolerability of iloperidone for the treatment of schizophrenia, including iloperidone's favorable effect on metabolic laboratory parameters and low propensity to cause akathisia or EPS.

Secondary pharmacological interventions have shown promise at reducing the development of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSS) in preclinical studies. The present study examined the preliminary efficacy of a 10-day low-dose (20 mg bid) course of hydrocortisone at preventing PTSS in traumatic injury victims.

Sixty-four traumatic injury patients (34% female) were randomly assigned in a double-blind protocol to receive either a 10-day course of hydrocortisone or placebo initiated within 12 hours of the trauma. One-month and 3-months posttrauma participants completed an interview to assess PTSS and self-report measures of depression and health-related quality of life.

Hydrocortisone recipients reported fewer PTSD and depression symptoms, and had greater improvements in health-related quality of life during the first 3 months posttrauma than did placebo recipients. Hydrocortisone recipients who had never received prior mental health treatment had the lowest PTSD scores.

Low-dose hydrocortisone may be a promising approach to the prevention of PTSD in acutely injured trauma patients, and may be particularly efficacious in acutely injured trauma victims without a history of significant psychopathology.