News and Announcements from the Semel Institute and Department of Psychiatry at UCLA

Do you obsess over your appearance? Your brain might be wired abnormally

System Admin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:25:00 +0000

Body dysmorphic disorder is a disabling but often misunderstood psychiatric condition in which people perceive themselves to be disfigured and ugly, even though they look normal to others. New research at UCLA shows that these individuals have abnormalities in the underlying connections in their brains.

Dr. Jamie Feusner, the study's senior author and a UCLA associate professor of psychiatry, and his colleagues report that individuals with BDD have, in essence, global "bad wiring" in their brains — that is, there are abnormal network-wiring patterns across the brain as a whole.

And in line with earlier UCLA research showing that people with BDD process visual information abnormally, the study discovered abnormal connections between regions of the brain involved in visual and emotional processing.

The findings, published in the May edition of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, suggest that these patterns in the brain may relate to impaired information processing.

"We found a strong correlation between low efficiency of connections across the whole brain and the severity of BDD," Feusner said. "The less efficient patients' brain connections, the worse the symptoms, particularly for compulsive behaviors, such as checking mirrors."

People suffering from BDD tend to fixate on minute details, such as a single blemish on their face or body, rather than viewing themselves in their entirety. They become so distressed with their appearance that they often can't lead normal lives, are fearful of leaving their homes and occasionally even commit suicide. Patients frequently have to be hospitalized. BDD affects approximately 2 percent of the population and is more prevalent than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Despite its prevalence and severity, scientists know relatively little about the neurobiology of BDD.

In the current study, Feusner and his colleagues performed brain scans of 14 adults diagnosed with BDD and 16 healthy controls. The goal of the study was to map the brain's connections to examine how the white-matter networks are organized. White matter is made up of nerve cells that carry impulses from one part of the brain to another.

To do this, they used a sensitive form of brain imaging called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. DTI is a variant of magnetic resonance imaging that can measure the structural integrity of the brain's white matter. From these scans, they were able to create whole brain "maps" of reconstructed white-matter tracks. Next, they used a form of advanced analysis called graph theory to characterize the patterns of connections throughout the brains of people with BDD and then compared them with those of healthy controls.

The researchers found people with BDD had a pattern of abnormally high network "clustering" across the entire brain. This suggests that these individuals may have imbalances in how they process "local" or detailed information. The researchers also discovered specific abnormal connections between areas involved in processing visual input and those involved in recognizing emotions.

"How their brain regions are connected in order to communicate about what they see and how they feel is disturbed," said Feusner, who also directs the Adult Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Program and the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Research Program at UCLA.

"Their brains seem to be fine-tuned to be very sensitive to process minute details, but this pattern may not allow their brains to be well-synchronized across regions with different functions," he said. "This could affect how they perceive their physical appearance and may also result in them getting caught up in the details of other thoughts and cognitive processes."

The study, Feusner noted, advances the understanding of BDD by providing evidence that the "hard wiring" of patients' brain networks is abnormal.

"These abnormal brain networks could relate to how they perceive, feel and behave," he said. "This is significant because it could possibly lead to us being able to identify early on if someone is predisposed to developing this problem."

Other authors on the study included Jesse A Brown, Liang Zhan and Sarit Hovav, all from UCLA, and Donatello Arienzo, Alex Leow and Johnson GadElkarim from the University of Illinois. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (K23 MH079212 and R01MH093535). The UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences is the home within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for faculty who are experts in the origins and treatment of disorders of complex human behavior. The department is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, a world-leading interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Author:

Mark Wheeler

UCLA receives major federal contract to study potential new autism drugs

System Admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:54:01 +0000

Mark Wheeler, mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu

310-794-2265

UCLA has been awarded a $9 million contract by the National Institute of Mental Health for an ambitious effort to rapidly study promising new drugs that may help restore normal development and brain function in children with autism spectrum disorders.

UCLA researchers will create and lead a network of U.S. academic centers that will carry out early "high risk/high reward" studies of experimental medications over a three-year period. The goal of the project, New Experimental Medicine Studies: Fast–Fail Trials in Autism Spectrum Disorders, is to determine within weeks rather than years ("fast") if a particular pharmacological compound is working or not ("fail").

Recent progress in identifying the genes and biological components involved in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) holds great promise for the identification of life-changing treatments for individuals of all ages, said the project's principal investigator, Dr. James McCracken, a professor of psychiatry and director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at theSemel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

"Current medical treatments are commonly prescribed by physicians for ASD but only to manage difficult behaviors, like aggressiveness, hyperactivity and self-injury," McCracken said. "Such treatments can be important and helpful, but they do not impact the core problems of the disorders.

"This is definitely the most exciting time yet to be involved in treatment research for ASD," he added. "Our basic science colleagues are generating enormous information on the likely underlying causes of this common and often disabling condition. We are well positioned to apply the basic science and find drugs that make a difference."

ASD is increasingly recognized by clinicians. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 88 children in the U.S. has been identified with ASD, which is characterized by delays in the development of effective communication and social relationships and which impacts nearly every area of child and adult functioning.

Behavioral and developmental interventions, including programs developed at UCLA in the 1980s, offer significant hope of improvement for many, and behavioral and medical interventions can be helpful with behavior problems. But at present, there are no established medical treatments for the core social deficits of ASD, despite its acknowledged genetic and biological basis.

"It's a challenge," McCracken said. "There are now so many possible experimental medicines and approaches from basic science for ASD that we find ourselves way behind. We need a new paradigm to test the many possible compounds, and we need to quickly and accurately identify which ones are really ready for 'prime time.'"

Currently, McCracken noted, large-scale studies of possible medications take years and can cost upwards of $500 million dollars before yielding an approved, marketed drug. The three-year NIMH contract will support a new approach involving multiple "fast–fail" studies, which could accelerate progress by providing an early "yes or no" assessment of various compounds.

The initiative will focus on analyzing how novel molecular and clinical targets for ASD are affected by both new and repurposed compounds. The outcome is expected to lead to an enhanced understanding of the mechanisms that underlay ASD and the development of innovative pharmacological treatment approaches for the disorder.

At UCLA, testing will involve scientists and clinicians from the fields of psychiatry, radiology and biostatistics. The UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute will use sophisticated measures of brain and behavioral responses to identify signs of successful drug action in key brain regions. Positive findings could then be followed up by other large-scale national and international studies.

Ironically, the explosion of basic-science knowledge about ASD and possible drug treatments is emerging at a time when major pharmaceutical companies are canceling drug-development programs for ASD and other mental disorders, citing costs, difficulties and the recent failures of what were deemed good prospects. Many National Institutes of Health officials, research scientists and affected families are fearful that progress in medication development will slow in the face of the industry's retreat from neuroscience drug development.

Funding from the NIMH comes under contract No. HHSN-271-2012-00005-I. In addition to McCracken, UCLA collaborators will include Susan Bookheimer, Sandra Loo, Joseph O'Neill and Edythe London from the department of psychiatry; Dr. Albert Thomas from the department of radiological sciences; and Catherine Sugar from the department of biostatistics.

Additional colleagues from other institutions around the country are expected to participate in the new network.

The UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences is the home within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for faculty who are experts in the origins and treatment of disorders of complex human behavior. The department is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, a world-leading interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders.

For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.

Mind Well Week begins Monday, April 22!

System Admin — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:12:07 +0000

Mind Well Week begins Monday, April 22!
Monday April 22 – Sunday, April 28; at variable locations and times

See below for additional information and the flyer attached for all Mind Well Week events.

Admission
All events are FREE and open to the public (with the exception of Sunday’s “Music and the Mind” and Thursday’s “Science and Food” event).

Contact
MindWell@ucla.edu

Website
www.Healthy.UCLA.edu

Additional Information
The UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative supports the enhancement and expansion of current health and wellness efforts; offers new and interesting approaches to exercise, mental health and eating well; encourages the creation of new projects, programs and policies; fosters synergies and coordination among the myriad groups and programs that support health and wellness at UCLA; and provides students, staff and faculty with fun and exciting ways to make it easy to be healthy and fit.

As one part of the initiative, the Mind Well program brings together and shares information about psychological, subjective and spiritual well-being, and helps our community dive into experiences that promote fulfillment, creativity, personal relationships, and community engagement.

On April 22, Mind Well Program is launching an integrated, campus-wide effort to promote mind-brain wellness through the 2013 UCLA Mind Well week. Every day there are a diversity of events – including a panel on how food affects the brain, drop in Mindfulness Meditations, coping with smoking cessation, and how to manage stress and build resilience (to name a few). Check out the flyer for details about how you can join in on the event activities.

MW_BruinAd_FINAL_v10.pdf - 424.1 KB

Autism in black and white: NIH grant helps scientist study disorder in African Americans

System Admin — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:25:41 +0000

Mark Wheeler, mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu

310-794-2265

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Dr. Daniel Geschwind, director of the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment, a five-year, $10 million grant to continue his research on the genetic causes of autism spectrum disorders and to expand his investigations to include the genetics of autism in African Americans.

The new network grant, which will fund collaborative work by Geschwind and experts at other autism centers around the country, is part of the NIH's Autism Centers of Excellence program, which was launched in 2007 to support coordinated research into the causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and the discovery of new treatments.

Autism spectrum disorders are complex developmental disorders that affect how a person behaves, interacts with others, communicates and learns. According to the Centers for Disease Control, ASD affects approximately one in 88 children in the U.S.

Geschwind's award will allow him to build on his earlier work identifying genetic variants associated with an increased susceptibility to autism while adding an important new emphasis. The research network he leads — which also includes scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, Washington University and Yale University — aims to recruit at least 600 African American families who have a child diagnosed with an ASD for genetic testing.

While nearly all previous research on the genetics of autism has focused on subjects of European descent rather than those of African or other ancestries, it is critical to study different populations to understand if current genetic findings in ASD can be generalized to a broader population, said Geschwind, a professor of neurology, psychiatry and genetics.

To that end, he will look for gene variants associated with autism in Americans with African ancestry and then test the genetic risk factors identified in European populations to see what role they may play in the disorder in people of African descent.

Because individuals are typically a mix of different ancestries, the research group will use statistical methods that enable them to identify chromosomal markers for different ancestral origins. Genetic data generated by the study will be made available through the Internet to the larger research community.

The work will also include an evaluation of disparities in the diagnosis of autism and in access to care. The scientists will be carrying out this study with UCLA as the hub.

The award to Geschwind follows on the heels of several large ACE awards to various researchers at UCLA's Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART) last September. At that time, CART was the only NIH Autism Center of Excellence in the nation to be awarded renewed funding for the next five years. The funding to CART supports ongoing research focused on examining genes' link to behavior, developing clinical interventions for those severely affected by autism, and explaining why autism affects more boys than girls.

This network grant will help further the work of CART, in conjunction with other UCLA programs in autism by enabling scientists to approach the study of ASD from both a research and clinical perspective. Together, these ACE grants aim to foster new ways to diagnose patients earlier and tailor treatments to each individual to create the best outcomes.

CART and the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences are part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, a world leading, interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders. The UCLA Department of Neurology, with over 100 faculty members, encompasses more than 20 disease-related research programs, along with large clinical and teaching programs. These programs cover brain mapping and neuroimaging, movement disorders, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, neurogenetics, nerve and muscle disorders, epilepsy, neuro-oncology, neurotology, neuropsychology, headaches and migraines, neurorehabilitation, and neurovascular disorders.

For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.

UCLA brain-imaging tool and stroke risk test help identify cognitive decline early

System Admin — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:21:13 +0000

Rachel Champeau, rchampeau@mednet.ucla.edu

310-794-2270

UCLA researchers have used a brain-imaging tool and stroke risk assessment to identify signs of cognitive decline early on in individuals who don't yet show symptoms of dementia.

The connection between stroke risk and cognitive decline has been well established by previous research. Individuals with higher stroke risk, as measured by factors like high blood pressure, have traditionally performed worse on tests of memory, attention and abstract reasoning.

The current small study demonstrated that not only stroke risk, but also the burden of plaques and tangles, as measured by a UCLA brain scan, may influence cognitive decline.

The imaging tool used in the study was developed at UCLA and reveals early evidence of amyloid beta "plaques" and neurofibrillary tau "tangles" in the brain — the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.

The study, published in the April issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, demonstrates that taking both stroke risk and the burden of plaques and tangles into accout may offer a more powerful assessment of factors determining how people are doing now and will do in the future.

"The findings reinforce the importance of managing stroke risk factors to prevent cognitive decline even before clinical symptoms of dementia appear," said first author Dr. David Merrill, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

This is one of the first studies to examine both stroke risk and plaque and tangle levels in the brain in relation to cognitive decline before dementia has even set in, Merrill said.

According to the researchers, the UCLA brain-imaging tool could prove useful in tracking cognitive decline over time and offer additional insight when used with other assessment tools.

For the study, the team assessed 75 people who were healthy or had mild cognitive impairment, a risk factor for the future development of Alzheimer's. The average age of the participants was 63.

The individuals underwent neuropsychological testing and physical assessments to calculate their stroke risk using the Framingham Stroke Risk Profile, which examines age, gender, smoking status, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythm), use of blood pressure medications, and other factors.

In addition, each participant was injected with a chemical marker called FDDNP, which binds to deposits of amyloid beta plaques and neurofibrillary tau tangles in the brain. The researchers then used positron emission tomography (PET) to image the brains of the subjects — a method that enabled them to pinpoint where these abnormal proteins accumulate.

The study found that greater stroke risk was significantly related to lower performance in several cognitive areas, including language, attention, information-processing speed, memory, visual-spatial functioning (e.g., ability to read a map), problem-solving and verbal reasoning.

The researchers also observed that FDDNP binding levels in the brain correlated with participants' cognitive performance. For example, volunteers who had greater difficulties with problem-solving and language displayed higher levels of the FDDNP marker in areas of their brain that control those cognitive activities.

"Our findings demonstrate that the effects of elevated vascular risk, along with evidence of plaques and tangles, is apparent early on, even before vascular damage has occurred or a diagnosis of dementia has been confirmed," said the study's senior author, Dr. Gary Small, director of the UCLA Longevity Center and a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences who holds the Parlow–Solomon Chair on Aging at UCLA's Semel Institute.

Researchers found that several individual factors in the stroke assessment stood out as predictors of decline in cognitive function, including age, systolic blood pressure and use of blood pressure–related medications.

Small noted that the next step in the research would be studies with a larger sample size to confirm and expand the findings.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grants PO1-AG025831, AG13308, P50 AG 16570, MH/AG58156, MH52453, AG10123 and MO1-RR00865); the UCLA Claude Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, funded by the National

Institute on Aging (grant 5P30AG028748); the American Federation for Aging Research; and the John A. Hartford Foundation Centers of Excellence National Program.

UCLA owns three U.S. patents on the FDDNP chemical marker. Small and study author Dr. Jorge R. Barrio are among the inventors.

Additional UCLA authors included Prabha Sidarth, Pushpa V. Rajaa, Nathan Saito,

Linda M. Ercoli, Karen J. Miller and Helen Lavretsky, Vladimir Kepe and Susan Y. Bookheimer.

For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.

Conference Room Requests (AY 2013-14)

Carla Vera — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:21:35 +0000

Conference rooms requests for Semel courses offered next academic year are now being accepted (options are limited due to various construction projects). Please return to Janice Ephriam before May 24, 2013.

Conference Room Request 2013-2014.doc - 47 KB

UCLA study suggests link between untreated depression, response to shingles vaccine

System Admin — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:07:10 +0000

UCLA study suggests link between untreated depression, response to shingles vaccine

Mark Wheeler, mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu

310-794-2265

Can an individual's state of mind effect how well a vaccine may work? In the case of seniors and shingles, the answer is yes.

Reporting in the current online edition of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, Dr. Michael Irwin, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, demonstrates a link between untreated depression in older adults and decreased effectiveness of the herpes zoster —or shingles — vaccine.

Shingles is a painful, blistering skin rash that can last for months or even years. It's caused by the varicella–zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. It's thought to strike more than a million people over the age of 60 each year in the U.S.

Every year, health officials urge individuals 50 and older to get vaccinated against the virus. The vaccine boosts cell-mediated immunity to the virus and can decrease the incidence and severity of the condition.

But in a two-year study, Irwin, the first author of the research and director of the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, and his colleagues measured immune responses to the shingles vaccination among 40 people aged 60 or older who suffered from a major depressive disorder and compared these responses to similar levels in 52 control patients matched by age and gender. Measurements were taken at the beginning of the study, and then at six weeks, one year and two years after the patients received either the shingles vaccine or a placebo.

Depressed patients not being treated with antidepressants showed a weaker immune response to the varicella–zoster virus — and thus were less able to respond to the shingles vaccine — than patients who were not depressed and patients who suffered from depression but werereceiving treatment with antidepressants.

The findings suggest that patients with untreated depression were "poorly protected by the shingles vaccination," Irwin said.

Surprisingly, when the depression was being treated, responses to the vaccine were normalized, even when the depression treatment had not been effective in lessening the symptoms of depression.

"Among depressed elderly, treatment with an antidepressant medication such as a selective serotonin uptake inhibitor might increase the protective effects of zoster vaccine," said Irwin.

Larger studies are needed to evaluate the possible relationship between untreated depression and the risk of shingles, the study noted, along with further research to establish what mechanisms are responsible for patients' reduced immune response.

And there is a clinical side as well, Irwin noted. "Efforts are also needed to identify and diagnose depressed elderly patients who might benefit from either a more potent vaccine or a multi-dose vaccination schedule." he said.

The findings have important public health implications beyond the prevention of shingles, possibly extending to other infectious diseases, Irwin said. Because this study measured immune system T cells that were specific to the varicella–zoster virus, the association may extend to T cells specific for antigens of other pathogens that cause disease in older adults, such as influenza.

If so, Irwin said, this suggests that untreated depression may identify a sub-group of elderly likely to respond poorly to other vaccines.

"While we know that psychological stress is associated with a weakened immune response to influenza vaccines in older adults, few studies have examined the association between depression and infectious disease risk, or disease-relevant immunologic endpoints, such as vaccine responses," he said.

There were multiple authors on the study. Other UCLA authors were Richard Olmstead and Carmen Carrillo. Please see the study for all authors and for conflict-of-interest statements.

Funding for the study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health (R01-MH 55253) and, in part, by the Department of Veterans Affairs; a grant from Merck and Co. Inc.; National Institutes of Health grants R01-AG034588, R01-AG026364, R01-CA119159, R01-HL079955, R01 HL095799 and P30-AG028748; UCLA CTSI UL1TR000124; the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology; and the James R. and Jesse V. Scott Fund for Shingles Research.

The Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA encompasses an interdisciplinary network of scientists working to advance the understanding of psychoneuroimmunology by linking basic and clinical research programs and by translating findings into clinical practice. The center is affiliated with the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.

Healthy Campus Initiative takes shape, thanks to innovative UCLA-wide effort

Robert Carr — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 20:00:00 +0000

UCLA has launched an integrated, campus-wide effort to promote healthy lifestyle choices and develop best practices that may help other communities seeking to do the same.

The UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative, envisioned and supported by philanthropists Jane and Terry Semel, prioritizes the health and wellness of students, staff and faculty.

The multi-pronged program is rooted in UCLA's long-term commitment to fostering a culture of mental and physical health and wellness. The Healthy Campus Initiative will support the enhancement and expansion of current health and wellness efforts; offer new and interesting approaches to exercise, mental health and eating well; encourage the creation of new projects, programs and policies; foster synergies and coordination among the myriad groups and programs that support health and wellness at UCLA; and provide students, staff and faculty with fun and exciting ways to make it easy to be healthy and fit.

"Reducing preventable diseases has been a vision of mine for a very long time," said Jane Semel. "This initiative is an important step forward."

"This initiative is about helping members of the campus community and beyond make informed choices," Chancellor Gene Block said. "Whether it's about diet, exercise, transportation or sustainability, our goal is to leverage our unique strengths in health sciences and as a leading research university to encourage healthier outcomes for individuals and for society as a whole."

Working groups, led by campus experts in their respective fields, have been established to bolster the program in key areas of emphasis. Among them are:

Nutrition and diet, led by Dr. Wendy Slusser, an associate professor of pediatrics and public health at the David Geffen School of Medicine and Fielding School of Public Health and director of the Fit for Healthy Weight program at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA.

Physical activity, exercise and sleep, led by Dr. Antronette Yancey, a professor of health policy and management at the Fielding School of Public Health and co-director of the school's UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity, and Michael Deluca, executive director of recreation and campus life.

Mental and emotional health, led by Robert Bilder, the Tennenbaum Family Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine and chief of medical psychology–neuropsychology at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.

Community and environment, led by Dr. Richard Jackson, professor and chair of environmental health sciences at the Fielding School of Public Health.

The work of these groups has resulted in plans for healthier eating options; improved walkability, bikeability and transit use on and around campus; meetings that incorporate physical activity; upgrades and enhancements to stairways; the expansion of community gardens and urban farming on campus; and the creation of web-based mobile applications to track fitness progress, among other things.

UCLA Associate Vice Provost Michael Goldstein, a professor at the Fielding School of Public Health who serves as chair of the Healthy Campus steering committee, said the initiative is a community-wide approach to change.

"We're working together to create a social movement around health," he said. "In much the same way that sustainability and diversity are woven into the fabric of UCLA, there is real interest and desire on the part of campus leadership and the broader campus community to make healthy living part of our campus culture too."

As one part of the initiative, 14 student groups have each been awarded $1,500 to help make UCLA a healthier place to live, work, study and play.

Funded student projects are expected to roll out this winter and spring. Among them are a plan by the student group Ecology, Economy, Equity to create a container vegetable and herb garden and run gardening and nutrition workshops at the Young Research Library, and "Lunch Beat UCLA," an opportunity created by the Anthropology Graduate Student Association that encourages students, staff and faculty to get together for a "time out" from school and work to dance, eat lunch and foster togetherness.

Additional projects include "What's Cooking?", a series of workshops from the Student Food Collective at UCLA that will cover topics like healthy eating, food justice and farm workers rights, fair trade, and affordable cooking; the "Love Your Body" campaign, a weeklong event designed by the UCLA USAC Eating and Activities Task Force to educate and provide students with resources to live a healthy life, promote positive body image and encourage environmental consciousness; and health and wellness programs geared to underrepresented groups, among others.

"A program like the Healthy Campus Initiative is important at UCLA because it provides accessible, fun workshops and programs to facilitate healthy living to UCLA community members," said Jamie Schenk, a fourth-year human biology and society major and co-founder and outreach director for the Student Food Collective at UCLA. "Our workshop series will positively contribute to the Healthy Campus Initiative because it will give students tools to lead healthier lifestyles through diet, as well as physical and mental well-being. Good, healthy food serves as the foundation for good health and happiness, which is what healthy living is all about. It is exciting to see that UCLA is taking a great step in making health and wellness a top priority through supporting these student initiatives."

Representatives from each of the student groups will be on hand Monday, Jan. 28, for the Healthy Campus Launch Fair, which takes place in Collins Court at the John Wooden Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The fair's featured event — remarks from Chancellor Block and a hula-hoop workout and giveaway for the first 200 participants — begins at noon. The fair will also include interactive demonstrations and information on the wide range of programs and opportunities offered by UCLA Recreation. Visitors will be eligible for a variety of prize drawings and giveaways. Admission is free, and the event is open to the entire campus.

The Jan. 28 kick-off also marks the first day of free access to the Wooden Center for students, faculty and staff. Complimentary admission is being offered through Feb. 1 to those who present a valid Bruin Card.

In addition to the program's kick-off, the Healthy Campus Initiative has partnered with a variety of campus groups to offer a host of events and opportunities over the next several months. Each provides an opportunity for the campus community to get involved.

From Feb. 11 to 14, the campus community is encouraged to burn calories, build stamina and spend time with their friends and colleagues during "I ♥ Walking," a series of walks through campus and Westwood Village. To mark Earth Day on April 22, the UCLA community is invited to an Earth Day fair and celebration of the university's new status as a tobacco-free campus — a University of California first. This will be followed by the popular annual Bike to Campus Week in May.

The Healthy Campus Initiative website is in development and is expected to be completed in April. For more information about the initiative, visit the program's Facebook page. UCLA is California's largest university, with an enrollment of more than 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer 337 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Six alumni and six faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

Author:

Rebecca Kendall

Breast cancer and depression: UCLA gets $5M to study why survivors are at such high risk

Robert Carr — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:00:00 +0000

UCLA researchers have received a $5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute for a study aimed at developing a risk profile for breast cancer survivors likely to suffer from depression. The prevalence of depression among survivors is three to five times greater than in the general population.
UCLA will be teaming on the five-year study with Kaiser Permanente, which will provide the 300 volunteers needed for the study by culling through electronic patient records to locate women who have been treated for breast cancer and have not had a history of depression.
Researchers believe that cancer and its treatment induce inflammation, which in turn leads to sleep disturbance and depression. Sleep disturbance occurs in more than half of breast cancer survivors and is thought to contribute to the elevated risk of depression in these women. Depression negatively impacts quality of life and increases the risk of death, possibly due to an increased chance of cancer recurrence.
Through the study, researchers hope to find out if certain sub-sets of breast cancer survivors are at greater risk for depression by examining their DNA for potential biomarkers and genetic anomalies. If they can identify a risk profile, a study would be launched later to evaluate prevention measures, said the study's principal investigator, Dr. Michael Irwin, a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.
"Depression in breast cancer survivors is a huge problem. It often goes undiagnosed and is undertreated," Irwin said. "If we can identify those breast cancer survivors at elevated risk for sleep disturbance and, therefore, depression, we can diagnose and treat it earlier, with better outcomes. Additionally, if we can identify those at greatest risk, efforts can be implemented early to prevent the occurrence of depression in the first place.
"Because depression is so prevalent and difficult to treat in breast cancer survivors, prevention of depression will dramatically improve the quality of their life."
For many cancer patients, their survival is complicated by long-term physical and behavioral late effects of their treatment, especially depression, Irwin said. Yet despite the high prevalence of depression among breast cancer survivors, the unique clinical, behavioral and biological factors that contribute to this increased depression risk is not known.
"There are no published prospective data that have examined the independent contribution of sleep disturbance on depression occurrence in breast cancer survivors," Irwin said. "Increasing evidence implicates that sleep disturbance is activating inflammatory signaling, which serves as a biological mechanism that contributes to depression. We hope to define the genomic and biologic processes that results in this depression."
Irwin's ultimate goal is preventing the cascade of events that lead to depression — inflammation and sleep disturbance — but more information is needed first. This study is vital to providing valuable clues as to how that cascade occurs, he said.
"You can't design a prevention trial unless you know the risk profile and the magnitude of the problem," Irwin said. "What makes this so exciting is that by partnering with Kaiser Permanente, we can do this work in a primary care sample, which will significantly help speed recruitment."
Study volunteers, once identified, will come in for an interview, give a blood sample that will measure levels of inflammation and provide DNA for examination. This process will be repeated every six months for two years. The volunteers also will be called once a month and asked a series of questions to determine if they are becoming depressed.
"If depression is suspected, we can bring them in immediately and evaluate them," Irwin said. "That will be a big benefit for volunteers as they'll get diagnosed and treated much sooner than they normally would be."
Irwin said he expects it will take two to three years to successfully recruit the 300 volunteers needed.
The UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology encompasses an interdisciplinary network of scientists working to advance the understanding of psychoneuroimmunology by linking basic and clinical research programs and by translating findings into clinical practice. The center is affiliated with the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Author:

Kim Irwin

New Book For Parents

Tanya Paparella — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:00:53 +0000

More Than Hope: For Young Children on the Autism Spectrum - July 2012

Faculty from UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment receive multiple NIH awards

Robert Carr — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 20:05:03 +0000

The National Institutes of Health, recognizing UCLA's preeminence in both research and clinical care for children with autism, has announced multiple awards to the university as part of the agency's Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) research program.

The UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART) was the only NIH ACE Center in the nation to be awarded renewed funding for the next five years. The funding will support ongoing research focused on examining genes' link to behavior, developing clinical interventions for those severely affected by the disorder, and explaining why autism affects more boys than girls.

The goal of this work is to understand the full range of autism spectrum disorders, the brain condition that causes a continuum of social deficits, communication difficulties and cognitive delays.

Genes and behavior

UCLA's CART will receive $10 million for research aimed at advancing treatments, understanding the disorder's genetics and biology, and improving diagnostics. New research will link genetic mutations to distinct patterns of brain development, structure and function in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. This research effort is led by Susan Bookheimer, the Joaquin Fuster Professor of Cognitive Neurosciences at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. CART is unique in its breadth of expertise, which spans treatment, research, genetics, brain imaging and early-detection methods. "We are very pleased to receive this additional funding to continue our investigation into the relationship between aberrant brain development and core deficits in autism," Bookheimer said. "With this award, we will now begin to track children, from infants to adolescents, who have multiple risks for autism and follow them over time in order to understand the trajectory of this disorder."

Autism in boys and girls

Bookheimer and CART director Dr. Daniel Geschwind are also leading a team of CART researchers at UCLA, along with colleagues from Harvard University and the University of Washington, on a new ACE Network grant awarded to Yale University. This joint effort seeks to understand why autism spectrum disorders are almost five times more common among boys (one in 54) than girls (one in 252), with the goal of identifying the causes of the disorders and developing new treatments. The team will study a larger sample of girls with autism than has ever been studied previously, focusing on genes, brain function and behavior throughout childhood and adolescence.

Clinical interventions

CART member Connie Kasari, a professor of education at the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA's Semel Institute and a leader in the development of cutting-edge treatments for autism spectrum disorders, has received a $13.2 million ACE Network grant from the NIH for research comparing two types of intensive daily instruction aimed at helping children with autism spectrum disorders who use only minimal verbal communication.

Research has shown that even after early language-skills training, about one-third of school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders remain minimally verbal. Kasari's research network will enroll 200 children from schools in underserved communities in four cities — Los Angeles, Nashville, New York and Rochester, N.Y.

"We are grateful for this award because it will not only allow us to compare two different forms of interventions designed to improve communication, but will also involve parental interactions to enhance treatment," Kasari said. "Because parents play such a critical role in their children's development, the hope is that the combined efforts of the clinician and the parent will result in better social outcomes for the child."

"We are very pleased with both the ACE Center renewal award, as well as the other ACE awards to our CART research team," said Geschwind, a professor neurology and psychiatry who holds UCLA's Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Chair in Human Genetics.

Geschwind also holds an ACE Network grant to study the genetic underpinnings of language and social communication in children with autism spectrum disorders.

"Our ACE Center was the only existing one in the country to receive renewed funding — this is a testament to CART's research and clinical expertise, which enables us to continue in this tough economic environment," he said. "We clearly have the optimal combination of world-leading researchers and a collaborative environment that permits us to continue to perform the most innovative, multidisciplinary research in autism and related disorders in the country."

In addition to Bookheimer, Geschwind and Kasari, the other CART members on the ACE Center grant include Dr. James McCracken, UCLA's Campbell Professor of Child Psychiatry and director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry; Mirella Dapretto, professor of psychiatry; and Scott Johnson, professor of psychology.

The UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART) conducts research and clinical trials and provides diagnoses, family counseling and treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. CART was established in 2003 as one of eight centers in the National Institutes of Health–funded Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment network (STAART). In 2007, UCLA became one of six centers, and one of five networks, in the ACE research program funded by the NIH. For more information, visit www.autism.ucla.edu.

CART is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, an interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior, including the genetic, biological, behavioral and sociocultural underpinnings of normal behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition to conducting fundamental research, faculty at the institute seek to develop effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of neurological, psychiatric and behavioral disorders, including improvement in access to mental health services and the shaping of national health policy.

Author:

Mark Wheeler

Cramming for a test? Don't do it, say UCLA researchers

Robert Carr — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:45:06 +0000

Every high school kid has done it: putting off studying for that exam until the last minute, then pulling a caffeine-fueled all-nighter in an attempt to cram as much information into their heads as they can.

Now, new research at UCLA says don't bother.

The problem is the trade-off between study and sleep. Studying, of course, is a key contributor to academic achievement, but what students may fail to appreciate is that adequate sleep is also important for academics, researchers say.

Andrew J. Fuligni

In the study, UCLA professor of psychiatry Andrew J. Fuligni, UCLA graduate student Cari Gillen-O'Neel and colleagues report that sacrificing sleep for extra study time, whether it's cramming for a test or plowing through a pile of homework, is actually counterproductive. Regardless of how much a student generally studies each day, if that student sacrifices sleep time in order to study more than usual, he or she is likely to have more academic problems, not less, on the following day.

The study findings appear in the current online edition of the journal Child Development.

"No one is suggesting that students shouldn't study," said Fuligni, the study's senior author. "But an adequate amount of sleep is also critical for academic success. These results are consistent with emerging research suggesting that sleep deprivation impedes leaning."

Students generally learn best when they keep a consistent study schedule, Fuligni said. Although a steady pace of learning is ideal, the increasing demands that high school students face may make such a consistent schedule difficult. Socializing with peers and working, for example, both increase across the course of high school. So do academic obligations like homework that require more time and effort.

As a result, many high school students end up with irregular study schedules, often facing nights in which they need to spend substantially more time than usual studying or completing school work.

Yet, Fuligni said, "The biologically needed hours of sleep remain constant through their high school years, even as the average amount of sleep students get declines."

Other research has shown that in ninth grade, the average adolescent sleeps 7.6 hours per night, then declines to 7.3 hours in 10th grade, 7.0 hours in 11th grade and 6.9 hours in 12th grade.

"So kids start high school getting less sleep then they need, and this lack of sleep gets worse over the course of high school," Fuligni said.

For the current study, 535 Latino, Asian American and European American students in the ninth, 10th and 12th grades were recruited from three Los Angeles–area high schools. They were asked to keep a diary for a 14-day period, recording how long they studied, how long they slept and whether or not they experienced two academic problems: not understanding something taught the following day in class and performing poorly on a test, quiz or homework.

Across the board, the researchers found that study time became increasingly associated with more academic problems, because longer study hours generally meant fewer hours of sleep. In turn, that predicted greater academic problems the following day.

"At first, it was somewhat surprising to find that in the latter years of high school, cramming tended to be followed by days with more academic problems," said Gillen-O'Neel, who works with Fuligni and was the study's first author. "But then it made sense once we examined extra studying in the context of sleep. Although we expected that cramming might not be as effective as students think, our results showed that extra time spent studying cut into sleep. And it's this reduced sleep that accounts for the increase in academic problems that occurs after days of increased studying."

Of course, those students who averaged more study time overall tended to receive higher grades in school. But, said Fuligni, "Academic success may depend on finding strategies to avoid having to give up sleep to study, such as maintaining a consistent study schedule across days, using school time as efficiently as possible and sacrificing time spent on other, less essential activities."

Virginia W. Huynh, also of UCLA, was a co-author of the study. None of the authors report any conflict of interest. Support for this study was provided by the Russell Sage Foundation. The UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences is the home within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for faculty who are experts in the origins and treatment of disorders of complex human behavior. The department is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, a world-leading interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Author:

Mark Wheeler

Meditation reduces loneliness

Robert Carr — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Many elderly people spend their last years alone. Spouses pass and children scatter. But being lonely is much more than a silent house and a lack of companionship. Over time, loneliness not only takes a toll on the psyche but can have a serious physical impact as well.

Feeling lonely has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, depression and even premature death. Developing effective treatments to reduce loneliness in older adults is essential, but previous treatment efforts have had limited success.

What to do? Researchers at UCLA now report that a simple meditation program lasting just eight weeks reduced loneliness in older adults. Further, knowing that loneliness is associated with an increase in the activity of inflammation-related genes that can promote a variety of diseases, the researchers examined gene expression and found that this same form of meditation significantly reduced expression of inflammatory genes.

In the current online edition of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, senior study author Steve Cole, a UCLA professor of medicine and psychiatry and a member of the Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA, and colleagues report that the two-month program of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), which teaches the mind to simply be attentive to the present and not dwell in the past or project into the future, successfully reduced the feelings of loneliness.

Remarkably, the researchers said, MBSR also altered the genes and protein markers of inflammation, including the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) and a group of genes regulated by the transcription factor NF-kB. CRP is a potent risk factor for heart disease, and NF-kB is a molecular signal that activates inflammation.

Inflammation is a natural component of the immune system and can help fight a wide variety of bodily insults, ranging from infections to a whack by a hammer. But chronic inflammation is now known to be a primary player in the pathology of many diseases and psychological disorders.

"Our work presents the first evidence showing that a psychological intervention that decreases loneliness also reduces pro-inflammatory gene expression," Cole said. "If this is borne out by further research, MBSR could be a valuable tool to improve the quality of life for many elderly."

In the study, 40 adults between the ages of 55 and 85 were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness meditation group or a control group that did not meditate. All the participants were assessed at the beginning and the end of the study using an established loneliness scale. Blood samples were also collected at the beginning and end to measure gene expression and levels of inflammation.

The meditators attended weekly two-hour meetings in which they learned the techniques of mindfulness, including awareness and breathing techniques. They also practiced mindfulness meditation for 30 minutes each day at home and attended a single daylong retreat.

These MBSR participants self-reported a reduced sense of loneliness, while their blood tests showed a significant decrease in the expression of inflammation-related genes.

"While this was a small sample, the results were very encouraging," said Dr. Michael Irwin, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and director of the Cousins Center. "It adds to a growing body of research that is showing the positive benefits of a variety of meditative techniques, including tai chi and yoga."

Just last month, for example, Dr. Helen Lavretsky, a UCLA professor of psychiatry and a Cousins Center member, published a study showing that a form of yogic meditation involving chanting also reduced inflammatory gene expression, as well as stress levels, among individuals who care for patients with Alzheimer's disease.

"These studies begin to move us beyond simply connecting the mind and genome, and identify simple practices that an individual can harness to improve human health," Irwin said. Other authors of the study include first author David Creswell, who led the study during his postdoctoral training at the Cousins Center and is now an assistant professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, and Lisa J. Burklund, Matthew D. Lieberman, Jesusa M. G. Arevalo, Jeffrey Ma and Elizabeth C. Breen, all of UCLA. The authors report no conflict of interest.

The UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology encompasses an interdisciplinary network of scientists working to advance the understanding of psychoneuroimmunology by linking basic and clinical research programs and by translating findings into clinical practice. The center is affiliated with the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Author:

Mark Wheeler

Yoga reduces stress; now it’s known why

Robert Carr — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Six months ago, researchers at UCLA published a study that showed using a specific type of yoga to engage in a brief, simple daily meditation reduced the stress levels of people who care for those stricken by Alzheimer’s and dementia. Now they know why.

As previously reported, practicing a certain form of chanting yogic meditation for just 12 minutes daily for eight weeks led to a reduction in the biological mechanisms responsible for an increase in the immune system’s inflammation response. Inflammation, if constantly activated, can contribute to a multitude of chronic health problems.

Reporting in the current online edition of the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, Dr. Helen Lavretsky, senior author and a professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and colleagues found in their work with 45 family dementia caregivers that 68 of their genes responded differently after Kirtan Kriya Meditation (KKM), resulting in reduced inflammation.

Caregivers are the unsung heroes for their yeoman’s work in taking care of loved ones that have been stricken with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, said Lavretsky, who also directs UCLA’s Late-Life Depression, Stress and Wellness Research Program. But caring for a frail or demented family member can be a significant life stressor. Older adult caregivers report higher levels of stress and depression and lower levels of satisfaction, vigor and life in general. Moreover, caregivers show higher levels of the biological markers of inflammation. Family members in particular are often considered to be at risk of stress-related disease and general health decline.

As the U.S. population continues to age over the next two decades, Lavretsky noted, the prevalence of dementia and the number of family caregivers who provide support to these loved ones will increase dramatically. Currently, at least five million Americans provide care for someone with dementia.

"We know that chronic stress places caregivers at a higher risk for developing depression," she said "On average, the incidence and prevalence of clinical depression in family dementia caregivers approaches 50 percent. Caregivers are also twice as likely to report high levels of emotional distress." What's more, many caregivers tend to be older themselves, leading to what Lavretsky calls an "impaired resilience" to stress and an increased rate of cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Research has suggested for some time that psychosocial interventions like meditation reduce the adverse effects of caregiver stress on physical and mental health. However, the pathways by which such psychosocial interventions impact biological processes are poorly understood.

In the study, the participants were randomized into two groups. The meditation group was taught the 12-minute yogic practice that included Kirtan Kriya, which was performed every day at the same time for eight weeks. The other group was asked to relax in a quiet place with their eyes closed while listening to instrumental music on a relaxation CD, also for 12 minutes daily for eight weeks. Blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study and again at the end of the eight weeks.

"The goal of the study was to determine if meditation might alter the activity of inflammatory and antiviral proteins that shape immune cell gene expression," said Lavretsky. "Our analysis showed a reduced activity of those proteins linked directly to increased inflammation.

"This is encouraging news. Caregivers often don’t have the time, energy, or contacts that could bring them a little relief from the stress of taking care of a loved one with dementia, so practicing a brief form of yogic meditation, which is easy to learn, is a useful too."

Lavretsky is a member of UCLA’s recently launched Alzheimer's and Dementia Care Program, which provides comprehensive, coordinated care as well as resources and support to patients and their caregivers. Lavretsky has incorporated yoga practice into the caregiver program.

Funding for the study was provided by the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation in Tucson, Ariz.. Other authors of the study included David S. Black, Steve Cole, Michael R. Irwin, Elizabeth Breen, Natalie M. St. Cyr, Nora Nazarian, all of UCLA, and Dharma S. Khalsa, medical director for the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation in Tucson. The authors report no conflict of interest.

The UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences is the home within the David Geffen School of Medicine for faculty who are expert in the origins of and treatments for disorders of complex human behavior. It is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, a world leading, interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Author:

Mark Wheeler

UCLA study uncovers new tools for targeting genes linked to autism

Robert Carr — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000

UCLA researchers have combined two tools — gene expression and the use of peripheral blood — to expand scientists' arsenal of methods for pinpointing genes that play a role in autism.

Published in the June 21 online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics, the findings could help scientists zero in on genes that offer future therapeutic targets for the disorder.

"Technological advances now allow us to rapidly sequence the genome and uncover dozens of rare mutations," explained principal investigator Dr. Daniel Geschwind, UCLA's Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics and a professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "But just because a particular genetic mutation is rare doesn't mean it's actually causing disease. We used a new approach to tease out potential precursors of autism from the occasional genetic glitch."

Dr. Daniel Geschwind

Geschwind and his colleagues studied DNA contained in blood samples from 244 families with one healthy child and one child on the autism spectrum. The team used a hybrid method that blended tests that read the order of DNA bases with those that analyze gene expression, the process by which genes make cellular proteins.

"Monitoring gene expression provides us with another line of data to inform our understanding of how autism develops," said Geschwind, who also directs the Center for Autism Research and Treatment at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Behavior at UCLA. "Integrating this method with the sequencing of DNA bases expands our ability to find mutations leading to the disease."

Gene expression offers a molecular signpost pointing scientists in the right direction by narrowing the field and highlighting specific areas of the genome. For example, if a gene is expressed at substantially higher or lower levels in a patient, researchers will review the patient's DNA to check if that gene has changed.

"We found that we can use gene expression to help understand whether a rare mutation is causing disease or playing a role in disease development," said Geschwind. "A true mutation will alter a gene's sequence, modifying the protein or RNA it produces — or preventing the gene from producing them entirely.

"A gene mutation accompanied by a change in expression clues us to a hot spot on the genome and directs us where to look next," he added. "Not all mutations will influence gene expression, but this approach improves our ability to pinpoint those that do."

The researchers used the combined method to prioritize gene targets that merit closer investigation. The approach could potentially help explain why one person develops autism and their sibling does not.

Their search turned up new regions in the genome where genetic variations showed strong links to autism and altered expression patterns. Genes in these regions were more likely to be mutated in the autistic children than in their unaffected siblings.

"When we looked at genes associated with nervous-system function we found significantly more genes were expressed at higher or lower levels in the children diagnosed with autism than we did in their siblings unaffected by the disorder," said Geschwind.

Finally, the research team discovered that the DNA contained in peripheral blood — the blood that flows and circulates through the body — can help shed light on diseases of the central nervous system. Brain cells and genes related to synaptic function are expressed in the blood, offering a window into gene expression.

"Brain tissue from people with autism is not readily available for study, and some people are reluctant to use non-neural tissue in psychiatric disease," Geschwind explained. "But our study demonstrates that even peripheral blood can expand our knowledge of neurological disease."

The team's next step will be to replicate their findings in a larger population.

Autism is a complex brain disorder that strikes in early childhood. The condition disrupts a child's ability to communicate and develop social relationships and is often accompanied by acute behavioral challenges. Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in one in 110 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. Diagnoses have expanded tenfold in the last decade.

The research was supported by grants from the Simons Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health (5R01 MH081754-04), the Wellcome Trust, and Autism Speaks. Geschwind's co-authors included first author Rui Luo, Irina Voineagu, Lambertus Klei, Chaochao Cai, Jing Ou, Jennifer Lowe and Matthew State of UCLA; Stephan Sanders of Yale University; Ni Huang and Matthew Hurles of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; and Su Chu and Bernie Devlin of Carnegie Mellon University.

The UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment provides diagnosis, family counseling, clinical trials and treatment for patients with autism. UCLA is one of eight centers in the National Institutes of Health–funded Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment network and one of 10 original Collaborative Programs for Excellence in Autism. For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.

Author:

Elaine Schmidt

Teaching autistic teens to cope

Robert Carr — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:45:00 +0000

Teenagers with autism spectrum disorder are in a bind. The disorder is characterized by impairments in communication and social interaction, but it's a continuum, so some teens diagnosed with ASD are considered high functioning and healthy enough to be "mainstreamed" in school.

But without the proper social skills, even mainstreamed teens don't quite fit into the general social milieu of middle school or high school. As a result, they suffer from all the slings and arrows of that world.

Since 2006, however, the UCLA PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) clinic has assisted high-functioning teens with ASD by literally teaching them the strategies they need to fit in better with their peers. And while previous research demonstrated that the program was effective, it wasn't known whether the new skills "stuck" with these teens after they completed the PEERS classes.

Elizabeth Laugeson

In the current edition of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Elizabeth Laugeson, director of the PEERS Clinic and a UCLA assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, and colleagues report that in a long-term follow-up study, they found that the skills taught and learned stayed with the kids — and in some cases even improved.

ASD includes a range of pervasive developmental disorders characterized by problems with communication and socialization; it's estimated that one in 88 children born in the United States has some form of ASD.

The researchers' findings show that the PEERS intervention resulted in significant improvements in social skills, as reported by parents and teachers using standardized measurements of social functioning. Reports from parents also suggested that teens' ASD symptoms related to social responsiveness decreased significantly by the end of the class and even at the long-term, 14-week follow-up. In addition, the teens' knowledge of social skills improved, as did the frequency of their get-togethers with their peers.

Teacher ratings of the teens' social functioning in class also showed significant improvements at the long-term follow-up — an important finding, since the teachers did not know the teens had participated in the PEERS class.

Both parents and teachers also reported there were fewer problem behaviors with the teens 14 weeks after the program was over.

"Teens not only showed better social competence and greater understanding of social skills, but they were having more frequent get-togethers with their peers because they had developed the critical skills needed to make and keep friends," said Laugeson, who also directs The Help Group–UCLA Autism Research Alliance.

Studies on the effectiveness of social-skills training for individuals with ASD indicate that intervention during childhood and adolescence is critical. However, very few evidence-based interventions focus on improving the social competence of teens with ASD, which makes the present findings unique and important, Laugeson said.

"This is exciting news," she said. "It shows that teens with autism can learn social skills and that the tools stick even after the program is over, improving their quality of life and helping them to develop meaningful relationships and to feel more comfortable within their social world. The fact that these social skills are sticking is critical, because we need them to thrive throughout our lives."

Laugeson attributes the power of the program to the parents. The PEERS classes, which focus on teaching the rules of social etiquette to teens, require parents to participate as well. In separate meetings, the parents are also provided with information on how to be social coaches for their teens in the real world. Many of the social skills taught are those most of us know intuitively: how to have a conversation (by trading information), showing good sportsmanship ("Hey, nice shot!"), and how to avoid bullying or deflect taunts ("Yeah, whatever").

The classes meet for 90 minutes once a week for 14 weeks and include brief didactic instruction, role-playing demonstrations, behavioral rehearsal exercises for teens to practice newly learned skills, in-class coaching with performance feedback, and weekly "homework" assignments, supervised by parents, such as inviting a friend over for a get-together at home.

"The class is very structured, and the skills are broken down into small rules and steps of social etiquette that give the teens specific actions they can take in response to a social situation," Laugeson said. "This method of instruction is very appealing to teens with autism because they tend to think concretely and literally and often learn by rote."

What makes this program even more unique, Laugeson said, is that it teaches the skills used by socially accepted teens — not what adults think teens should do. For example, if teens with ASD are teased, "most adults will tell teens to ignore the person, walk away or tell an adult," she said. "But when you ask teens if this works, they say no. So we want to teach our teens to do what kids that are socially accepted are naturally doing. In this case, that would be to give a short comeback that shows what the person said didn't bother them — like saying 'whatever' or 'yeah, and?' They learn not to take the bait."

Other authors of the study included Fred Frankel, Alexander Gantman and Catherine Mogil, all of UCLA, and Ashley R. Dillon of the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology. The research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (grants U54-MH-068172 and U54MH068172). The authors report no conflict of interest.

The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, an interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior, including the genetic, biological, behavioral and sociocultural underpinnings of normal behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Author:

Mark Wheeler

UCLA hosts major conference on curing brain diseases and disorders

Robert Carr — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:45:26 +0000

Top researchers from UCLA will join fellow neuroscientists, advocates and policymakers at a three-day conference to promote a common cause: Combining the world's best scientific minds with the sharing of resources and information to transform our understanding and treatment of brain diseases within 10 years.

The inaugural annual "Meeting of the One Mind for Research Campaign: Curing Brain Disease," presented by the independent nonprofit One Mind for Research, will take place from May 23 to 25 at Covel Commons on the UCLA campus.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Garen Staglin, co-founder of One Mind for Research and a longtime UCLA supporter, will deliver opening remarks at the conference, which will also feature presentations by actress Glenn Close and former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy. In a series of talks and panels, leading scientists and researchers will discuss how to accelerate the next generation of innovative neuroscience discoveries.

"Our country is facing a growing and very costly burden as a result of diseases and disorders of the brain," said Staglin, whose support established the Staglin IMHRO (International Mental Health Research Organization) Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at UCLA. "At this inaugural conference, we outline and review for the first time exactly what that burden means for our country. We hope it will stimulate new donors and investment for research."

At UCLA and the UCLA Health System, world renowned for their interdisciplinary research and education enterprise, scientists and scholars are devoted to understanding complex human behavior, from the genetic to the behavioral. It is therefore fitting, said One Mind for Research leaders, that UCLA participate in the campaign conference.

Among the UCLA experts at the event will be Dr. Peter Whybrow, director of the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and executive chair of the UCLA Department of Psychiatry; Dr. Daniel Geschwind, a professor of neurology and psychiatry who holds UCLA's Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Chair in Human Genetics; and Dr. Nelson Freimer, a professor of psychiatry and director of UCLA's Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics.

Brain diseases are the No. 1 cause of adult disability globally, afflicting one out of every three people in some form. Among psychiatric diseases, for example, major depressive disorder is the most prevalent, disabling about 5 percent of the population to some degree annually. Among veterans returning to the U.S. from service overseas, 300,000 are estimated to suffer from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Beyond the emotional pain endured by these individuals and their families, the total lifetime treatment cost is estimated at about $3.3 trillion. Combined with the burden of dementia care for the nations' growing elderly population — currently $400 billion annually and expected to triple by 2050 — the cost will soon prove beyond the ability of the U.S. economy to handle, unless these diseases are addressed now, conference organizers said.

For a full conference schedule and list of speakers, visit http://bit.ly/HCKkqB.

Among the participants and topics:

Thomas Insel
Director of the National Institute for Mental Health
("Neuroscience for Mental Health: Lost in Translation?")
Patrick Kennedy
Former U.S. congressman and co-founder of One Mind for Research
("Political Science: Healthcare Parity Campaign")
Michael Milken
Milken Institute
("Achieving Fast Cures")
Glenn Close
Actress and advocate
("The Science of Stigma")

"During the past year, we have made enormous strides in building our team of partners to take on this emerging national and international challenge," said One Mind CEO Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, U.S. Army (Ret.). "This conference brings together an international coalition of renowned neuroscientists, policymakers and advocates, all striving to end brain-related illnesses in our lifetime."

At its launch last year, One Mind for Research set out a global scientific roadmap for curing diseases of the brain within 10 years. From that roadmap, and in conjunction with its partners, One Mind is introducing a major program to address traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); the program will be the first of many aimed at achieving a world free of brain disease. These efforts are prototype programs to dramatically improve treatments for TBI and PTSD patients while also establishing broad collaborations within the neuroscience community.

One Mind for Research, with the help of its global stakeholders, gathers resources, communicates priorities and promotes a culture of sharing in order to eliminate stigma, transform policy and allocate resources that enable and accelerate basic research, translational science and care delivery by creating multidisciplinary teams that will transform both our understanding and treatment of brain diseases within 10 years.

UCLA is California's largest university, with an enrollment of nearly 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer 337 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Six alumni and five faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

The UCLA Health System is among the most comprehensive and advanced health care systems in the world. Consistently ranked among the top five hospitals in the nation and the best medical center in the western United States by U.S. News & World Report, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is at the cutting edge of biomedical research, and its doctors and scientists are leaders in performing pioneering work across an astounding range of disciplines — from organ transplantation and cardiac surgery to neurosurgery and cancer treatment — and bringing the latest discoveries to virtually every field of medicine.

Author:

Mark Wheeler

Marian Sigman, Ph.D. 1941-2012 - In Memoriam

Dr. Candace J. Wilkinson — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:40:40 +0000

Marian Sigman, Ph.D., a valued colleague and friend to many at the Semel Institute at UCLA died on April 30, 2012; she was 70 years old. Marian Sigman was a developmental and child clinical psychologist and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and of Psychology. With Dr. Dan Geschwind, Dr. Sigman cofounded and directed the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART). She was an internationally acclaimed scholar, generous teacher and colleague, and a pioneer in the fields of autism and developmental risk. Dr. Sigman has left her mark on the field with a rich legacy of significant scientific contributions. She will be greatly missed by many.

Please see attached document below for a copy of a memorial tribute to Dr. Sigman. SAVE THE DATE: Monday, September 24th, 6-8:30-pm. UCLA CART will hold a tribute service at UCLA to celebrate Marian's life. Please check back for details. We hope you can join us.

In lieu of flowers, the family of Dr. Marian Sigman requests that donations be made to the Sigman Scholars Fund in the Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART) in the Semel Institute at UCLA. Make checks payable to The UCLA Foundation and write in the memo line: Sigman Scholars Fund (#618040). Mail the check to: Alan Han, UCLA Health Sciences Development, 10945 Le Conte Avenue, Suite 3132, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1784. To donate online, go to: http://giving.ucla.edu/cart and click on Tribute Gift box. Fill out the donor information and designate the gift to the Sigman Scholars Fund in the Comments section.

In Memoriam - Marian Sigman Ph.D. - 15.85 KB

Conference Room Scheduling AY 2012-2013

Carla Vera — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:31:58 +0000

Faculty who require classroom space for the coming academic year should complete a “Conference Room Request Form” and return it directlyto Janice Ephriam (B8-248 or Jephriam@mednet.ucla.edu) by May 25th. Forms can be dowloaded here or picked up from the Office of Education #38-216, Semel. Space has become somewhat limited due to pending construction projects.

Conference Room Request 2012-13.doc - 46.5 KB

UCLA study identifies genes linked to post-traumatic stress disorder

Robert Carr — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Why do some people experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while others who suffered the same ordeal do not? A new UCLA study may shed light on the answer.

UCLA scientists have linked two genes involved in serotonin production to a higher risk of developing PTSD. Published in the April 3 online edition of the Journal of Affective Disorders, the findings suggest that susceptibility to PTSD is inherited, pointing to new ways of screening for and treating the disorder.

"People can develop post-traumatic stress disorder after surviving a life-threatening ordeal like war, rape or a natural disaster," said lead author Dr. Armen Goenjian, a research professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. "If confirmed, our findings could eventually lead to new ways to screen people at risk for PTSD and target specific medicines for preventing and treating the disorder."

PTSD can arise following child abuse, terrorist attacks, sexual or physical assault, major accidents, natural disasters or exposure to war or combat. Symptoms include flashbacks, feeling emotionally numb or hyper-alert to danger, and avoiding situations that remind one of the original trauma.

Goenjian and his colleagues extracted the DNA of 200 adults from several generations of 12 extended families who suffered PTSD symptoms after surviving the devastating 1988 earthquake in Armenia.

In studying the families' genes, the researchers found that persons who possessed specific variants of two genes were more likely to develop PTSD symptoms. Called TPH1 and TPH2, these genes control the production of serotonin, a brain chemical that regulates mood, sleep and alertness — all of which are disrupted in PTSD.

"We suspect that the gene variants produce less serotonin, predisposing these family members to PTSD after exposure to violence or disaster," Goenjian said. "Our next step will be to try and replicate the findings in a larger, more heterogeneous population."

PTSD affects about 7 percent of Americans and has become a pressing health issue for a large percentage of war veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The UCLA team's discovery could be used to help screen people who may be at risk for developing PTSD.

"A diagnostic tool based upon TPH1 and TPH2 could enable military leaders to identify soldiers who are at higher risk of developing PTSD and reassign their combat duties accordingly," Goenjian said. "Our findings may also help scientists uncover alternative treatments for the disorder, such as gene therapy or new drugs that regulate the chemicals responsible for PTSD symptoms."

According to Goenjian, pinpointing genes connected with PTSD symptoms will help neuroscientists classify the disorder based on brain biology instead of clinical observation. Psychiatrists currently rely on a trial-and-error approach to identify the best medication for controlling an individual patient's symptoms.

Serotonin is the target of the popular antidepressants known as SSRIs, or selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, which prolong the effect of serotonin in the brain by slowing its absorption by brain cells. More physicians are prescribing SSRIs to treat psychiatric disease beyond depression, including PTSD and obsessive–compulsive disorder.

Goenjian's co-authors included Julia Bailey, Alan Steinberg, Uma Dandekar and Dr. Ernest Noble, all of UCLA, and David Walling and Devon Schmidt of the Collaborative Neuroscience Network. No external grants supported the study.

The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior is an interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior, including the genetic, biological, behavioral and sociocultural underpinnings of normal behavior, and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition to conducting fundamental research, the institute's faculty seeks to develop effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of neurological, psychiatric and behavioral disorder, including improvement in access to mental health services and the shaping of national health policy.

Author:

Elaine Schmidt

Does the brain 'remember' antidepressants?

Robert Carr — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:00:08 +0000

Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) often undergo multiple courses of antidepressant treatment during their lives. This is because the disorder can recur despite treatment and because finding the right medication for a specific individual can take time.

While the relationship between prior treatment and the brain's response to subsequent treatment is unknown, a new study by UCLA researchers suggests that how the brain responds to antidepressant medication may be influenced by its remembering of past antidepressant exposure.

Interestingly, the researchers used a harmless placebo as the key to tracking the footprints of prior antidepressant use.

Aimee Hunter, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of psychiatry at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and colleagues showed that a simple placebo pill, made to look like actual medication for depression, can "trick" the brain into responding in the same manner as the actual medication.

The report was published online March 23 in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology.

The investigators examined changes in brain function in 89 depressed persons during eight weeks of treatment, using either an antidepressant medication or a similar-looking placebo pill. They set out to compare the two treatments — medication versus placebo — but they also added a twist: They separately examined the data for subjects who had never previously taken an antidepressant and those who had.

The researchers focused on the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain thought to be involved in planning complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision-making and moderating social behavior, all things depressed people wrestle with.

Brain changes were assessed using electroencephalograph (EEG) measures developed at UCLA by study co-authors Dr. Ian Cook, UCLA's Miller Family Professor of Psychiatry, and Dr. Andrew Leuchter, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Laboratory of Brain, Behavior and Pharmacology at UCLA's Semel Institute. The EEG measure, recorded from scalp electrodes, is linked to blood flow in the cerebral cortex, which suggests the level of brain activity.

The antidepressant medication given during the study appeared to produce slight decreases in prefrontal brain activity, regardless of whether subjects had received prior antidepressant treatment during their lifetime or not. (A decrease in brain activity is not necessarily a bad thing, the researchers note; with depression, too much activity in the brain can be as bad as too little.)

However, the researchers observed striking differences in the power of placebo, depending on subjects' prior antidepressant use. Subjects who had never been treated with an antidepressant exhibited large increases in prefrontal brain activity during placebo treatment. But those who had used antidepressant medication in the past showed slight decreases in prefrontal activity — brain changes that were indistinguishable from those produced by the actual drug.

"The brain's response to the placebo pill seems to depend on what happened previously — on whether or not the brain has ever 'seen' antidepressant medication before," said Hunter, who is a member of the placebo research team at the Laboratory of Brain, Behavior and Pharmacology. "If it has seen it before, then the brain's signature 'antidepressant-exposure' response shows up." According to Hunter, the effect looks conspicuously like a classical conditioning phenomenon, wherein prior exposure to the actual drug may have produced the specific prefrontal brain response and subsequent exposure to the cues surrounding drug administration — the relationship with the doctor or nurse, the medical treatment setting, the act of taking a prescribed pill and so forth — came to elicit a similar brain response through 'conditioning' or 'associative learning.'

While medication can have a powerful effect on our physiology, said Hunter, "the behaviors and cues in the environment that are associated with taking medication can come to elicit their own effects. One's personal treatment history is one of the many factors that influence the overall effects of treatment."

Still, she noted, there are other possible explanations, and further research is needed to tease out changes in brain function that are related to antidepressant exposure, compared with brain changes that are related to clinical improvement during treatment.

Funding for the study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health, Eli Lilly and Company, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, and Aspect Medical Systems; these funders had no further role in the study. Hunter received financial support from Covidien. For disclosures for Dr. Cook and Dr. Leuchter, please see the full paper.

The UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences is the home within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for faculty who are experts in the origins and treatment of disorders of complex human behavior. The department is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, a world-leading interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Author:

Mark Wheeler

UCLA to launch unique, comprehensive Alzheimer's and dementia care program

Robert Carr — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:42:00 +0000

Alzheimer's disease affects an estimated 5.4 million people in the U.S., some 480,000 of them in California. Nearly half of all people 85 and older will be stricken with the disease. The overall burden of dementia is still higher, with Alzheimer's accounting for only 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases.

Yet as devastating as these disorders are to the afflicted, they also have a tremendous impact on family members, friends and caregivers. And while many health systems provide excellent care, and community-based organizations offer supportive services, no comprehensive programs exist to meet patients' health needs andthe needs of those around them.

Family members are often at a loss to find appropriate care and services for their loved ones, and they typically have few, if any, resources to help them navigate their way through the complex health care system.

"UCLA already has top-notch geriatrics, neurology, psychiatry and primary care clinical services," said Dr. David Reuben, chief of UCLA's geriatrics division. "But we do not have a comprehensive, coordinated dementia care program. As a result, the many needs of UCLA patients with dementia and their families are commonly unmet."

To address those needs, UCLA is launching its new UCLA Alzheimer's and Dementia Care program, which will provide comprehensive, coordinated care, as well as resources and support, to patients and their caregivers.

Patti Davis, the daughter of former President Reagan and Nancy Reagan and a longtime advocate in the fight against Alzheimer's, will be an integral member of the program.

Very little was known about Alzheimer's when President Reagan was diagnosed in 1994. Sufferers and their families were left in the dark about what to expect and how to cope with the ravages of the disease, said former first lady Nancy Reagan.

"People didn't really talk about their loved ones with Alzheimer's, as if it were something that had to be kept secret," Reagan said. "There was no place to go to learn more, no one to talk to and share our feelings with. It was a very lonely — and frightening — time for us. It's still a lonely time for a lot of people, which is why I'm so glad this new program exists.

"I'm pleased and very proud that Patti is a part of it, and I am confident it will help a lot of people."

The program, which could serve as a model for other health centers around the country, is being funded by Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center; the division of geriatric medicine in the UCLA Department of Medicine; the division of geriatric psychiatry in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences; the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; and a generous donor.

Davis, along with Linda Ercoli, director of geriatric psychology in the UCLA Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, will lead support groups for families affected by the disease.

"It's a role I'm familiar with because my family went through a decade of my father's illness under the glare of the public spotlight," Davis said. "The program of support groups will do a lot to ease the loneliness and fear that come with being in a family with Alzheimer's."

The UCLA Alzheimer's and Dementia Care program will have three main components: the creation of a dementia registry; a needs-assessment of patients listed in the registry; and individualized dementia-care plans based on those assessments.

Care plans could include the following:

Consultations with neurology, psychiatry and geriatrics staff.
Monitoring for disease progression and complications for all patients.
Support groups through Patti Davis' Beyond Alzheimer's program.
Advanced-care planning, with consultations from the UCLA Ethics Center.
Intensive dementia-care management by a nurse practitioner.
Hospitalization, when needed, at the Santa Monica–UCLA geriatrics special care unit for medical problems, or at the Stewart and Linda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA's geriatric psychiatry unit for psychiatric or behavioral problems.
Referrals to UCLA's Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research for appropriate clinical trials.
Referrals, as appropriate, to the Los Angeles chapter of the Alzheimer's Association or other community-based organizations for services.
In-home visits, if needed, with modifications of the patient's physical home environment.

The lead donors and supporters of the program launch are Los Angeles residents and longtime UCLA supporters Carol and James A. Collins, who made a major seven-figure gift to establish and support the program for five years. The generous gift from the Collins covers approximately half of the current projected budget over the first five years. They are also launching a matching gift challenge to other individual donors who are passionate about this cause.

"Carol and I are pleased to support the UCLA Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Care program," James Collins said. "Our family has personal experience with a mother and brother affected with Alzheimer's for many years. This program will have wonderful benefits for families dealing with this disease."

The UCLA Division of Geriatrics within the department of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA offers comprehensive outpatient and inpatient services at several convenient locations and works closely with other UCLA programs that strive to improve and maintain the quality of life of seniors. UCLA geriatricians are specialists in managing the overall health of people age 65 and older and treating medical disorders that frequently affect the elderly, including memory loss and dementia, falls and immobility, urinary incontinence, arthritis, arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes. As a result of their specialized training, UCLA geriatricians can knowledgably consider and address a broad spectrum of health-related factors — including medical, psychological and social — when treating patients.

The UCLA Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, provides comprehensive care for older adults with psychiatric illness. Services are provided through the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA and through the Neuropsychiatric and Behavioral Health Services Outpatient Clinics.

Author:

Enrique Rivero

Hyperactivity in brain may explain multiple symptoms of depression

Robert Carr — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:50:00 +0000

Most of us know what it means when it's said that someone is depressed. But commonly, true clinical depression brings with it a number of other symptoms. These can include anxiety, poor attention and concentration, memory issues, and sleep disturbances.

Traditionally, depression researchers have sought to identify the individual brain areas responsible for causing these symptoms. But the combination of so many symptoms suggested to UCLA researchers that the multiple symptoms of depression may be linked to a malfunction involving brain networks — the connections that link different brain regions.

Now, for the first time, these UCLA researchers have shown that people with depression have increased connections among most brain areas. Indeed, their brains are widely hyperconnected. The report, published this week in the online journal PLoS One, sheds new light on the brain dysfunction that causes depression and its wide array of symptoms.

"The brain must be able to regulate its connections to function properly," said the study's first author, Dr. Andrew Leuchter, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. "The brain must be able to first synchronize, and then later desynchronize, different areas in order to react, regulate mood, learn and solve problems."

The depressed brain, Leuchter said, maintains its ability to form functional connections but loses the ability to turn these connections off.

"This inability to control how brain areas work together may help explain some of the symptoms in depression," he said.

In the study, the largest of its kind, the researchers studied the functional connections of the brain in 121 adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder, or MDD. They measured the synchronization of electrical signals from the brain — brain waves — to study networks among the different brain regions.

While some previous studies have hinted at abnormal patterns of connections in MDD, the UCLA team used a new method called "weighted network analysis" to examine overall brain connections. They found that the depressed subjects showed increased synchronization across all frequencies of electrical activity, indicating dysfunction in many different brain networks.

Brain rhythms in some of these networks regulate the release of serotonin and other brain chemicals that help control mood, said Leuchter, who is also the director of UCLA's Laboratory of Brain, Behavior, and Pharmacology and chair of the UCLA Academic Senate.

"The area of the brain that showed the greatest degree of abnormal connections was the prefrontal cortex, which is heavily involved in regulating mood and solving problems," he said. "When brain systems lose their flexibility in controlling connections, they may not be able to adapt to change.

"So an important question is, to what extent do abnormal rhythms drive the abnormal brain chemistry that we see in depression? We have known for some time that antidepressant medications alter the electrical rhythms of the brain at the same time that levels of brain chemicals like serotonin are changing. It is possible that a primary effect of antidepressant treatment is to 'repair' the brain's electrical connections and that normalizing brain connectivity is a key step in recovery from depression. That will be the next step in our research."

Other authors of the study include Dr. Ian A. Cook, Aimee M. Hunter, Chaochao Cai and Steve Horvath, all of UCLA. Funding for the study was provided by the National Institutes of Health, Lilly Research Laboratories and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. The authors report no conflict of interest.

To learn more, visit www.brain.ucla.edu.

Author:

Mark Wheeler

UCLA, Motion Picture and Television Fund join to establish new geriatric psychiatry unit

Robert Carr — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:00:00 +0000

The Motion Picture and Television Fund, the 90-year-old charity supporting members of Hollywood's entertainment industry, today announced a first-of-its-kind affiliation with the UCLA Health System and UCLA's Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital to establish a geriatric psychiatry unit at the MPTF's Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills, Calif.

The unit, co-branded by the MPTF and UCLA, will provide inpatient and outpatient services to individuals 55 years and older with emotional or behavioral disorders. It will accommodate up to 12 patients and is anticipated to be fully operational, pending regulatory approvals, by the first quarter of 2013.

"This historic linkage with the UCLA Health System is another key piece in the larger strategy we have developed for our organization," said the MPTF's CEO Bob Beitcher. "Among our many goals, we are focused on building a health care campus capable of delivering a broad set of services to our industry members and, selectively, to the San Fernando Valley community."

"UCLA feels privileged to contribute its world-class geriatric expertise to MPTF's storied campus," said Dr. David Feinberg, president of the UCLA Health System. "UCLA has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the entertainment community, and this new affiliation will be a welcome extension of that."

The new unit's medical director will hold a faculty position at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and will participate in the academic and research activities of the university. The MPTF will provide the unit's clinical caregivers, and MPTF medical staff will collaborate with UCLA at the Wasserman Campus to integrate the practices of geriatric medicine and geriatric psychiatry for industry members. In connection with the MPTF's social services program, there will also be a focus on the impact of psychiatric illness on caregivers and families.

"UCLA's Department of Psychiatry is very pleased to be part of this extraordinary affiliation with MPTF," said Dr. Thomas Strouse, director of the Resnick Neuropsychiatirc Hospital. "We will be bringing specialized faculty and our state-of-the-art geriatric psychiatry treatment program to the MPTF facility in Woodland Hills, and we look forward to a creative alliance that will also encompass wellness, prevention, and health-maintenance clinical research activities," Strouse added.

The MPTF will make this new service available on a preferential basis to entertainment industry members, as well as to the community. The organization's previously announced 40-bed long-term care unit and Harry's Haven, its 30-bed dementia care unit, will remain exclusive to members of the entertainment community.

"The MPTF board is committed to management's new health care roadmap, and we could not have a higher regard for Dr. David Feinberg, Dr. Gary Small, Dr. Thomas Strouse and the UCLA geriatric psychiatry program," said Casey Wasserman, an MPTF board member. "UCLA and this team represent the best possible partner for MPTF as it moves into this new service."

The Motion Picture and Television Fund has served for 90 years as a beacon of hope for entertainment industry members in their time of need. As a charitable organization, the MPTF provides financial assistance and services essential to the well-being of the community and is a leader in the development and implementation of services and programs for seniors and those who care for them. The charity is supported by the generosity of corporate donors and fellow entertainment industry members who contribute their time and money, knowing if they were ever in a tight spot, the MPTF would be there for them too.

The UCLA Health System, which comprises the UCLA Hospital System and the UCLA Medical Group and its affiliates, has provided the best in health care and the most advanced treatment options to the people of Los Angeles and the world for more than half a century. UCLA's preeminence in health care — a strength that comes from the union of research, teaching and excellence in patient care — continues to be recognized nationally, internationally and in numerous forums. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA, Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, and UCLA Medical Center–Santa Monica (which includes the Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital) deliver hospital care that is unparalleled in California. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is consistently ranked one of the top five hospitals in the nation and the best in the western United States by U.S. News & World Report, and the UCLA Medical Group has been ranked among the best in Southern California for four successive years by the Integrated Healthcare Association. UCLA physicians and hospitals will continue to be world leaders in the full range of care, from maintaining the health of families to the diagnosis and treatment of complex illnesses.

For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.

Author:

Roxanne Moster

UCLA brain-imaging technique predicts who will suffer cognitive decline over time

Robert Carr — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Cognitive loss and brain degeneration currently affect millions of adults, and the number will increase, given the population of aging baby boomers. Today, nearly 20 percent of people age 65 or older suffer from mild cognitive impairment and 10 percent have dementia.

UCLA scientists previously developed a brain-imaging tool to help assess the neurological changes associated with these conditions. The UCLA team now reports in the February issue of the journal Archives of Neurology that the brain-scan technique effectively tracked and predicted cognitive decline over a two-year period.

The team has created a chemical marker called FDDNP that binds to both plaque and tangle deposits — the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease — which can then be viewed using a positron emission tomography (PET) brain scan, providing a "window into the brain." Using this method, researchers are able to pinpoint where in the brain these abnormal protein deposits are accumulating.

"We are finding that this may be a useful neuro-imaging marker that can detect changes early, before symptoms appear, and it may be helpful in tracking changes in the brain over time," said study author Dr. Gary Small, UCLA's Parlow–Solomon Professor on Aging and a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

Small noted that FDDNP–PET scanning is the only available brain-imaging technique that can assess tau tangles. Autopsy findings have found that tangles correlate with Alzheimer's disease progression much better than do plaques.

For the study, researchers performed brain scans and cognitive assessments on the subjects at baseline and then again two years later. The study involved 43 volunteer paricipants, with an average age of 64, who did not have dementia. At the start of the study, approximately half (22) of the participants had normal aging and the other half (21) had mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, a condition that increases a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers found that for both groups, increases in FDDNP binding in the frontal, posterior cingulate and global areas of the brain at the two-year follow-up correlated with progression of cognitive decline. These areas of the brain are involved in decision-making, complex reasoning, memory and emotions. Higher initial baseline FDDNP binding in both subject groups was associated with a decline in cognitive functioning in areas such as language and attention at the two-year follow-up.

"We found that increases in FDDNP binding in key brain areas correlated with increases in clinical symptoms over time," said study author Dr. Jorge R. Barrio, who holds UCLA's Plott Chair in Gerentology and is a professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Initial binding levels were also predictive of future cognitive decline."

Among the subjects with mild cognitive impairment, the level of initial binding in the frontal and parietal areas of the brain provided the greatest accuracy in identifying those who developed Alzheimer's disease after two years. Of the 21 subjects with MCI, six were diagnosed with Alzheimer's at follow-up, and these six subjects had higher initial frontal and parietal binding values than the other subjects in the MCI group.

In the normal aging subjects, three developed mild cognitive impairment after two years. Two of these three participants had had the highest baseline binding values in the temporal, parietal and frontal brain regions among this group.

Researchers said the next step in research will involve a longer duration of follow-up with larger samples of subjects. In addition, the team is using this brain-imaging technique in clinical trials to help track novel therapeutics for brain aging, such as curcumin, a chemical found in turmeric spice.

"Tracking the effectiveness of such treatments may help accelerate drug discovery efforts," Small, the author of the new book "The Alzheimer's Prevention Program," said. "Because FDDNP appears to predict who will develop dementia, it may be particularly useful in tracking the effectiveness of interventions designed to delay the onset of dementia symptoms and eventually prevent the disease."

Small recently received research approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use FDDNP–PET to study people with mild cognitive impairment to determine whether a high-potency form of curcumin — a spice with anti-amyloid, anti-tau and anti-inflammatory properties — can prevent Alzheimer's disease and the accumulation of plaques and tangles in the brain.

UCLA owns three U.S. patents on the FDDNP chemical marker. The Office of Intellectual Property at UCLA is actively seeking a commercial partner to bring this promising technology to market.

Small and study authors Jorge R. Barrio and S. C. Huang are among the inventors. Disclosures are listed in the full study.

Additional authors included Prabha Siddarth, Linda M. Ercoli, Alison C. Burggren, Karen J. Miller, Dr. Helen Lavretsky and Dr. Susan Y. Bookheimer, all of the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and Vladimir Kepe and S.C. Huang, who are part of the UCLA Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Energy. For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.

Author:

Rachel Champeau