JNeuropsychiatry

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies have revealed brain gray matter (GM) abnormalities in cirrhotic patients with and without hepatic encephalopathy. However, these findings are heterogeneous and have not been quantitatively reviewed. Here, we aimed to conduct a meta-analysis that integrated the existing VBM studies, to determine concordant GM alterations in patients with cirrhosis. A systematic search was conducted for the whole-brain VBM studies comparing cirrhotic patients with healthy controls. Coordinates were extracted from clusters with significant GM differences. For more details Abstract :  http://www.jneuropsychiatry.org/abstract/gray-matter-alterations-in-cirrhosis-with-and-without-hepatic-encephalopathy-a-metaanalysis-of-voxelbased-morphometry-st-11519.html PDF Link:  http://www.jneuropsychiatry.org/peer-review/gray-matter-alterations-in-cirrhosis-with-and-without-hepatic-encephalopathy-a -metaanalysis-of-voxelbased-morphometry-studies.html Full Tex...

Over the past several decades, progress in understanding the genetic basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has dramatically altered our conception of its genetic architecture. Once believed to be an oligogenic disorder of common susceptibility variants, autism is now considered to be a collection of distinct ‘autisms’ marked by profound genetic heterogeneity. While twin and family studies have demonstrated a strong genetic etiology, genome-wide linkage and association studies have been limited by the extreme underlying heterogeneity. Genome-wide association studies have identified a few variants with small effects on ASD risk, but no common variants that clearly explain the few replicated linkage signals have been identified, suggesting that common variation is unlikely to play a central role. Abstract:   http://www.jneuropsychiatry.org/abstract/genetic-pathways-to-autism-spectrum-disorders-6173.html For more details PDF Link :   http://www.jneuropsychiatry.org/peer-r...

The concept of well-being has not been well defined or reliably measured in academic research. This article identifies four academic strands of well-being conceptualization and measurement (economic, medical, psychological and integrative) and shows how well‑being has shifted from being conceived as a collectivist concept with objective measures, to being conceived in individualistic terms with subjective measures. Given its clinical relevance the main emphasis is on subjective well-being. While well-being has become a key concept in mental health, the article also discusses some limitations to its use in practice and proposes considerations for future research. Key issues are a consensus definition of well-being in people with mental illness, and empirical studies on the measurement of well-being and its determinants. Future research might be based on the ‘good life’ approach, the Complete State Model of Mental Health or the academic field of Positive Psychology. Abstract:   ...

With the integration of 21 st  century technologies, including imaging, biochemistry and genetics, human lesion studies can provide powerful tools to elucidate psychiatric illnesses. For more details PDF Link:  http://www.jneuropsychiatry.org/peer-review/from-known-to-unknown-old-to-new-can-lesion-studies-inform-psychiatry-about-mental-illness-in-the-21st-century-neuropsychiatry.pdf Abstract Link: http://www.jneuropsychiatry.org/abstract/from-known-to-unknown-old-to-new-can-lesion-studies-inform-psychiatry-about-mental-illness-in-the-21st-century-6118.html

The article presents four clinical cases of patients with the common history of recurrent surgery. These conditions are interesting first of all for general medicine and surgery, apart from psychiatry. Indeed, patients with these characteristics are almost invariably subjected to psychiatric evaluation by internal doctors and surgeons and this is evident in our case reports, despite the rarity of the phenomenon in latest decades aside from plastic surgery. The first aim of the study is to compare diagnostic classifications between DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 in reference to the case reports of recurrent surgery in order to observe the changes occurring in the diagnostic criteria and classification and the different attitude of the two manuals towards these disorders. The second endpoint is to describe the common features and the differences between the cases that could motivate a different prognostic evolution to raise a hypothesis that could be a starting point for further research. Accordin...

Abstract  Dysthymia (dysthymic disorder) is one of the most commonly encountered psychiatric illnesses in day-to-day practice, affecting approximately one in every 20 people worldwide. Intensity of depressive content and impairment is less in dysthymia in comparison to major depressive disorder, but the management of dysthymia is similar to that of depression. Underlying personality plays a major role in dysthymia. This article focusses on current issues including management and research works of dysthymia. The issue of placement of dysthymia in current classificatory systems is also addressed. For more details PDF Link:  http://www.jneuropsychiatry.org/peer-review/focus-issues-in-dysthymia-neuropsychiatry.pdf