Neurovascular coupling of striatal dopamine D receptor availability and perfusion using simultaneous PET/MR in humans.

The midbrain dopamine system contributes to important neural functions in the basal ganglia, and is involved in aspects of pathological processes in schizophrenia. In preclinical and clinical studies, pharmacological blockade or stimulation of brain dopamine receptors alters cerebral perfusion, which is a surrogate marker of metabolic activity. However, there is scant documentation of this neurofunctional coupling in relation to individual differences in the dopamine system of healthy humans.

[Can antidepressants negatively alter the long-term course of depressive disorders?].

Background: The prescription of antidepressants has been steadily increasing in Germany and worldwide for decades; however, there are no indications that this leads to an improvement in public mental health.

Objective: The question is investigated whether antidepressant pharmacotherapy, when administered over a long period of time, can adversely affect the course of depressive disorders.

Material And Method: A selective literature search was carried out in the PubMed and ScienceDirect (since 1969) databases.

[Mechanisms of action of antidepressive pharmacotherapy: brain and mind-body and environment].

Background: Novel antidepressive substances are challenging the explanations for the mechanisms of action of traditional psychopharmacology.

Objective: What could be the shared effects of various antidepressants and in this context what role do extrapharmacological factors, such as the body and environment, play?

Material And Method: The available literature on clinical and preclinical data for assumed combined active factors of serotonergic psychedelic drugs, (es)ketamine, monoaminergic antidepressants and zuranolone are presented and the influence of context factors on the individual mechanisms of action is discussed.

Results: There are many indications that classical and novel pharmacological approaches could share similar mechanisms of action in the treatment of depression.

Psilocybin as a Disease-Modifying Drug—A Salutogenic Approach in Psychiatry.

Background: Treatment with so-called psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and others, is among the most promising recent developments in psychiatry. This review focuses on psilocybin, a substance found in all mushrooms of the genus Psilocybe, because the largest amount of available evidence relates to this drug.

Methods: This review is based on pertinent publications (since 1969) that were retrieved by a selective search carried out in August 2024 in the PubMed and ScienceDirect databases employing the keywords "psilocybin" AND "long-term effects" AND "mental disorders", with an emphasis on randomized, controlled clinical trials (RCTs).

Association between rTMS-induced changes in inflammatory markers and improvement in psychiatric diseases: a systematic review.

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has recently gained relevance in treating different psychiatric disorders. Limited evidence suggests that the beneficial effects of rTMS on psychopathology could be at least partly mediated through changes in inflammatory response. This systematic review summarizes the literature on whether rTMS can modulate inflammatory markers and thus positively influence the course of psychiatric illnesses.

Baseline monocyte count predicts symptom improvement during intravenous ketamine therapy in treatment-resistant depression: a single-arm open-label observational study.

Background: Neuroinflammatory processes in depression are associated with treatment resistance to conventional antidepressants. Ketamine is an effective new therapeutic option for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Its well-established immunomodulatory properties are hypothesized to mediate its antidepressant effect.

Update Lessons from PET Imaging Part II: A Systematic Critical Review on Therapeutic Plasma Concentrations of Antidepressants.

Background: Compared with antipsychotics, the relationship between antidepressant blood (plasma or serum) concentrations and target engagement is less well-established.

Methods: We have discussed the literature on the relationship between plasma concentrations of antidepressant drugs and their target occupancy. Antidepressants reviewed in this work are citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, duloxetine, milnacipran, tricyclic antidepressants (amitriptyline, nortriptyline, and clomipramine), bupropion, tranylcypromine, moclobemide, and vortioxetine.

Treatment with psychedelics is psychotherapy: beyond reductionism.

Treatment of psychiatric disorders with psychedelic substances represents one of the most promising current treatment approaches in psychiatry. Since its inception in the 1950s, therapy with psychedelics has been conceptualised as psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy-ie, a form of psychotherapy that uses the profound biological effects of this class of substances as a catalyst for changing thinking, emotions, and behaviour. In this view, the psychotherapy component of the treatment is considered as being of the utmost importance for both the safety and efficacy of the therapy.

Update Lessons from Positron Emission Tomography Imaging Part I: A Systematic Critical Review on Therapeutic Plasma Concentrations of Antipsychotics.

Background: Positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission tomography (SPECT) of molecular drug targets (neuroreceptors and transporters) provide essential information for therapeutic drug monitoring-guided antipsychotic drug therapy. The optimal therapeutic windows for D 2 antagonists and partial agonists, as well as their proposed target ranges, are discussed based on an up-to-date literature search.

Methods: This part I of II presents an overview of molecular neuroimaging studies in humans and primates involving the target engagement of amisulpride, haloperidol, clozapine, aripiprazole, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, cariprazine, and ziprasidone.

[Are psychedelics fast acting antidepressant agents?].

Background: Psychedelics, such as psilocybin represent one of the most promising current therapeutic approaches in psychiatry.

Objective: Psychedelics seem to have not only potent antidepressant effects. Do they also work particularly quickly, i.

Brief Report: Specificity of Interpersonal Synchrony Deficits to Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Potential for Digitally Assisted Diagnostics.

Reliably diagnosing autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in adulthood poses a challenge to clinicians due to the absence of specific diagnostic markers. This study investigated the potential of interpersonal synchrony (IPS), which has been found to be reduced in ASD, to augment the diagnostic process. IPS was objectively assessed in videos of diagnostic interviews in a representative referral population from two specialized autism outpatient clinics.