Congratulations to UC San Diego PhD student and lab member, Sydney Smith, on her incredible scientific accomplishments, out in two papers in today! Sydney's helping change the way we think about how we treat depression. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has a *horrible* reputation. Think One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Despite it's reputation, it's a life-saving intervention for people where no other treatments work. Not cognitive behavioral therapy. Not antidepressants. It works amazingly well for many patients who otherwise have no other real options. When I first heard about its use and effectiveness, I asked the psychiatrist how it works and they shrugged and said, "I don't know... it's like rebooting the brain." As a scientist, this was unsatisfying! It took us years, but I couldn't be more proud of Sydney and our collaborators for taking our neuroscience theories and translating them into something that can hopefully help those who are suffering from otherwise untreatable depression. As I said when interviewed about our new work, “At the end of the day, what’s most important to patients and to doctors is that the treatment works, which in the case of ECT, it does. However, it’s our job as scientists to dig into what’s really going on in the brain during these treatments, and continuing to answer those questions will help us find ways to make these treatments even more effective while reducing negative effects." (Papers linked in comments.) https://lnkd.in/ggSn3Uds

I'm thrilled to announce an upcoming online event on the neurological aspects of ME/CFS on March 1st, hosted by the Medical University of Vienna. (https://lnkd.in/d_u6JKeB). I'm also thrilled to be part of it and to get the opportunity to talk about the neuropsychological evaluation of ME/CFS. Be part of this great event and register using the link above! #MECFS #ChronicFatigue #Psychology #Neuropsychology

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) and the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Together they represent major dimensional frameworks proposing two alternative approaches to accelerate progress in the way psychopathology is studied, classified, and treated. RDoC is a research framework rooted in neuroscience aiming to further the understanding of transdiagnostic biobehavioral systems underlying psychopathology and ultimately inform future classifications. HiTOP is a dimensional classification system, derived from the observed covariation among symptoms of psychopathology and maladaptive traits, which seeks to provide more informative research and treatment targets (i.e., dimensional constructs and clinical assessments) than traditional diagnostic categories. Ref https://lnkd.in/euJBNqRu

Distinct brain connectivity patterns found in adolescents with two variants of callous-unemotional traits New research published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research identifies distinct brain connectivity patterns in adolescents with two subtypes of callous-unemotional traits, challenging the notion of a uniform neurobiological profile. Conduct problems act as a mediator, influencing the strength of brain connections related to socio-emotional processing in these youth. https://bit.ly/44yySwi

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) and the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) represent major dimensional frameworks proposing two alternative approaches to accelerate progress in the way psychopathology is studied, classified, and treated. RDoC is a research framework rooted in neuroscience aiming to further the understanding of transdiagnostic biobehavioral systems underlying psychopathology and ultimately inform future classifications. HiTOP is a dimensional classification system, derived from the observed covariation among symptoms of psychopathology and maladaptive traits, which seeks to provide more informative research and treatment targets (i.e., dimensional constructs and clinical assessments) than traditional diagnostic categories. Ref https://lnkd.in/gVGzPm4w

Comment: We can be aware of our thoughts, think about them, and change their “direction” Title: The cognitive neuroscience of self-awareness: Current framework, clinical implications, and future research directions See… https://lnkd.in/eYQuvhpt Abstract: Self-awareness, the ability to take oneself as the object of awareness, has been an enigma for our species, with different answers to this question being provided by religion, philosophy, and, more recently, science. The current review aims to discuss the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying self-awareness. The multidimensional nature of self-awareness will be explored, suggesting how it can be thought of as an emergent property observed in different cognitive complexity levels, within a predictive coding approach. A presentation of alterations of self-awareness in neuropsychiatric conditions will ground a discussion on alternative frameworks to understand this phenomenon, in health and psychopathology, with future research directions being indicated to fill current gaps in the literature.

(How) Can social cognition be improved by stimulation? 👥🧠 In this Frontiers Research Topic we bring together expertise on stimulation techniques, brain mapping and psychiatric symptoms. Join and send us your Abstracts and/or manuscript! @Leonhard Schilbach 👇

There are many more statistics to help paint a picture of what it's like living with TD (Tardive Dyskinesia). A condition affecting the nervous system, causing involuntary movements. Approximately 600,000 Americans are living with TD; 75% have not yet been diagnosed.(1) It is often caused by long-term use of first-generation psychiatric drugs. To learn more visit https://lnkd.in/d6wBrdAD (1) Neurocrine Biosciences (Stats on image) Teva Neuroscience Inc #TardiveDyskinesia #MentalHealthAwareness #NeurocrineBiosciences #TevaNeuroscience #YouAreNotAlone #EndTheStigma #MidweekMindfulness #WisdomWednesday