Active clinical trials for "Problem Behavior"

BBB dysfunction has been indicated in some groups of schizophrenia patients by measuring increased albumin and immunoglobulin (IgG) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels. Most of the authors described a raised protein level in 5-20% of the schizophrenic patients (Muller & Ackenheil, 1995). Increased S100B levels were demonstrated in the serum of patients suffering from schizophrenia as well as depression, and this may reflect increased BBB permeability. Furthermore, this increase remains in those patients who develop a residual state with relevant negative symptoms, whereas S100B levels normalize in recovering patients (Shalev, Serlin & Friedman, 2009). CSF albumin and CSF IgG values correlate significantly with some of the SANS (Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms) subscales and the SANS total score, this shows the correlation between BBB permeability and behavioral changes. It is important to say that although negative symptoms are often signs of chronicity of the disease, the abnormal CSF findings in Muller's experiment (1995) are not related to the duration of the disease, because the patients were quite young and the duration of the disease was less than 3 years. The investigators hypothesize that a primary vascular pathology, which leads to BBB breakdown, will result a leakage of serum-derived vascular components in to the brain tissue and may cause brain dysfunction such as disturbed thinking processes, mood and behavior, as we can see in psychiatric patients.

Psychiatric patients under the mental impaired influences, their living function were disabled, and their social lives were handicapped consequently. Idea psychiatric treatment is to control the psychiatric symptoms in a better way, to develop efficient psychiatric adjustment, to manage living stress into a lower level, to gradually develop the meaning and value of the patients' lives, and to obtain the satisfaction and happiness in life for them. In order to investigate the satisfaction for psychiatric patients under the current treatment and to evaluate their psychiatric health, it is necessary to measure the mental health status for the psychiatric patients, and to ensure the ideological status of psychiatric treatment. If there is a mental health measurement for the psychiatric patients, we may precisely identify the mental health levels of the patients and their mental disturbances degrees. Accordingly, we may develop efficient procedure to manage the mental health for the psychiatric patients, and to achieve the goal for the idea psychiatric treatment. In this study, we established the mental health assessment data sheet according to the clinical experiences. It includes mental health index data sheet, mental-and-physical stress response data sheet, mental sustentation data sheet, and supplemented with a general living satisfaction assessment data sheet. We will evaluate the reliability and validity of this study to ensure the usability of these data sheet in clinics. We will also recruit the continuous treated and mentally stabilized patients as subjects. After obtaining their written informed consents, we will go through these mental health assessments to discover the mental health status of these psychiatric patients, and use it as a reference to develop idea psychiatric treatment. We will use ICC test for the repeated measurement validity, Pearson r correlation coefficient within our data analyses to evaluate the validity of the same measurement, and independent t-test to assess the differences between the patient group and the society group (from previously established data files). This study result may evaluate the possible deficits existing in the traditional psychiatric treatment and may be used as a reference for the development of idea psychiatric medicine.

Bipolar disorder is a chronic and frequent mood pathology, that impacts on emotional and socio-professional life of sick subjects, and also increase mortality by suicide. Suicide is considered as a bipolar disorder result. The main goal of this study is the endophenotype characterization from a clinical and cognitive point of view, of a bipolar spectrum's disorder present in a family, and then highlight a mutation of one of the genes involved is this disorder.

This protocol aims to develop the use of behavioral and electroencephalographic measures during cognitive tasks in patients treated with deep brain stimulation during the stimulation parameters adjustments. The main clinical goal of this protocol is to find behavioral and or electroencephalographic markers to evaluates the right targeting of stimulation electrodes. On the more fundamental point of view, the study of those data can be used to understand better the action mechanisms of deep brain stimulation.

Oxytocin (OXT) is currently regarded as a crucial neuropeptide in the mediation of various human social behaviors, e.g. social affiliation, social recognition, and the modulation of anxiety, mood, and aggression. An impairment of social behavior, emotional regulation as well as increased stress reactions are characteristic of several psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia, social anxiety and PTSD, in which there is also some evidence for OXT dysfunction. The startle reflex is a basic defensive reaction that can be modulated by emotional stimuli. The investigation of the startle reflex and of its modulation is a well-validated method to test stress reactions and emotional regulation. These processes are impaired in the same psychiatric diseases, in which OXT dysfunction was evidenced. Although previous animal studies showed that the dysfunction of brain OXT systems might be implicated in startle reflex and in its modulation, no study has been performed yet in human that investigated the influence of OXT administration on the startle response and on its affective modulation. A first aim of this study is to investigate the influence of OXT on stress reactivity and emotional modulation in healthy humans. A second aim is to develop a method for the investigation of anxiety disorders. Fifty male healthy participants will be tested using a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over design in two occasions; once with administration of 24 IU OXT, and once with placebo using nasal sprays while performing a computer-based experiment, in which emotional pictures and auditory startle probes are presented. We will measure the subject's subjective ratings of the pictures as well as the facial EMG activation, heart rate and electrodermal activation throughout the study. This project offers a unique opportunity to study the relationship between the OXT system and basic motivational and emotional behaviors. The investigation of these mechanisms is in turn greatly worthwhile, not only for understanding of the neurochemical and physiological processes involved in emotional regulation, but also for the comprehension of the neuroendocrine and neurophysiological mechanismsunderlying anxiety disorders. In the long term, it could open the possibilities of OXT as a psychobiological therapeutics of psychiatric disorders.

High-frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment strategy for a variety of movement disorders including Parkinson's disease, dystonia and tremor1-5, as well as for other neurological and psychiatric disorders e.g. obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, cluster headache, Tourette syndrome, epilepsy and eating disorders6-11. It is currently applied in a continuous fashion, using parameters set by the treating clinician. This approach is non-physiological, as it applies a constant, unchanging therapy to a dysfunctional neuronal system that would normally fluctuate markedly on a moment-by moment basis, depending on external stressors, cognitive load, physical activity and the timing of medication administration. Fluctuations in physical symptoms reflect fluctuations in brain activity. Tracking and responding in real-time to these would allow personalised approaches to DBS through stimulating at appropriate intensities and only when necessary, thereby improving therapeutic efficacy, preserving battery life and potentially limiting side-effects12. Critical to the development of such adaptive/closed-loop DBS technologies is the identification of robust signals on which to base the delivery of variable high-frequency deep brain stimulation. Local field potentials (LFPs), which are recordable through standard DBS electrodes, represent synchronous neuronal discharges within the basal ganglia. Different LFP signatures have been identified in different disorders, as well as in different clinical states within individual disorders. For example, low frequency LFPs in the Alpha/Theta ranges (4-12Hz) are frequently encountered in patients with Dystonia13,14, while both beta (12-30Hz) gamma (60-90Hz) band frequencies may be seen in Parkinson's disease, when the patient is OFF and dyskinetic, respectively15,16. Equally, suppression of these abnormal basal ganglia signals through medication administration or high-frequency DBS correlates with clinical improvement. As such, they represent attractive electrophysiologic biomarkers on which to base adaptive DBS approaches. Until recently, neurophysiological assessments were purely a research tool, as they could only be recorded either intra-operatively or for a short period of time post-operatively using externalised DBS electrodes. However, advances in DBS technology now allow real-time LFP recordings to be simply and seamlessly obtained from fully implanted DBS systems e.g. Medtronic Percept PC. In this study, we will evaluate a cohort of patients with movement disorders and other disorders of basal ganglia circuitry who have implanted DBS systems. Recordings of LFPs and/or non-invasive data such as EEG, limb muscle activation and movement (surface EMG and motion tracking) under various conditions (e.g. voluntary movement, ON/OFF medications, ON/OFF stimulation) will allow us to evaluate their utility as markers of underlying disease phenotype and severity and to assess their potential for use as electrophysiological biomarkers in adaptive DBS approaches. These evaluations in patients with DBS systems with and without LFP-sensing capabilities will take place during a single or multi-day evaluation (depending on patient preference and researcher availability). This study will advance not only the understanding of subcortical physiology in various disorders, but will also provide information about how neurophysiological and behavioural biomarkers can be used to inform personalised, precision closed-loop DBS approaches.

Smartphones have become a part of our daily life, the number of people using smartphones is increasing day after day. Easy access to internet is the main advantage of smartphones in comparison to traditional mobile phones, so they are considered as handheld convenient substitutes to computers. People use smartphones for many different purposes such as communication, entertainment, browsing for information, education or business facilitation. Unfortunately the excessive use of smartphones makes people 'addicted' to that type of technology. Past research has shown that older people have less positive attitudes towards a variety of technologies and they are less likely than younger people to embrace new technology, so It seems that the problem of smartphones addiction is most likely to affect young people who are fascinated with new technologies.

The investigators are planning to diagnose psychiatric disorders in willing participants from the refugee population in Turkey.

The purpose of this pilot study is to determine the presence, frequency, and severity of mental health disorders amongst adolescents undergoing spinal surgery for scoliosis.

The research project aims to analyze the implementation of a new health care system - "alternative device to hospitalization and crisis home for people without home" - whose objective is to provide the homeless and suffering from severe psychiatric disorders adequate care to prevent situations from seeking care or complication of their disease. This device, if it has the administrative and legal structure of the Twin Stop Health Care (LHSS), is based on the original concept of "Soteria House." This will build tools for evaluating the performance of care device by a process evaluation describing and analyzing what activity involves the device, This research seeks to analyze the experimental device in the early stages of its implementation. The observation and analysis of the program period will adjust the management arrangements of the device. The data and conclusions from this research will identify the contributions and benefits of such a device and analyze the difficulties encountered in its implementation.