Psychiatric Disorders

Guidance following the failure of monotherapy when treating depression is limited, as such clinicians usually take a trial and error approach to treatment, a treatment algorithm could help personalise patient care and achieve improved outcomes. It was a pleasure to talk with Dr. Charles Nemeroff (The University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School, Austin, […]

Despite being one of the most common serious psychiatric disorders, major depression remains difficult to treat with only 30-50% of patients achieving remission from monotherapy or talk therapy, however many promising new antidepressants are currently under investigation. We were delighted to talk with Dr. Charles Nemeroff (The University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School, […]

Implementing positive psychiatry approaches can face various barriers across different levels of care. These include resistance to change, limited resources, time constraints, and the dominance of a deficit-focused model. In this touchNEUROLOGY interview, we speak with Dr Erick Messias (Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA) to discuss how to address these […]

Positive psychiatry encompasses several approaches that focus on promoting well-being and resilience in mental health care. In this touchNEUROLOGY interview, we speak with Dr Erick Messias (Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA) to discuss how positive psychiatry can be effectively integrated into clinical practice to manage patient outcomes and well-being, and […]

The discovery of ketamine’s therapeutic potential for psychiatric disorders changed the field of mental health, since nearly every FDA-approved medication for schizophrenia and mood disorders targeted monoamine signaling, i.e., dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. As ketamine was initially used as an anaesthetic, ketamine’s ability to modulate monoamine signaling pathways emerged, leading to ground-breaking breakthroughs. In this […]

The discovery of the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine shifted the biology and treatment of psychiatric disorders, emphasizing targeting glutamate signaling, rather than monoamine signaling, for schizophrenia and depression. Research highlights synaptic deficits, network disinhibition, and synaptic loss in schizophrenia, while identifying glutamate synaptic dysfunction and the efficacy of ketamine for depression. In this touchNEUROLOGY […]

While Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, is perhaps best characterized by cognitive decline, more than 90% of patients with dementia exhibit behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.1 The Cache County Study on Memory in Aging describes six areas of neuropsychiatric behavioural abnormalities in patients with AD and other dementias, comprising aggression, apathy, […]

Prof. Marc A. Russo President, International Neuromodulation Society Director of Hunter Pain Specialists, Hamilton Day Surgery Centre, Genesis Research Services, Broadmeadow, Australia Co-Director, Innervate Pain Management Program, Newcastle, Australia   The 15th World Congress of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS) was held on May 21st-26th in Barcelona, Spain. This year’s congress had the theme: “Neuromodulation: […]