Publications

In 2018, the US reported the highest annual number of adolescent suicide deaths to date. Data has shown that less than half of adolescents who die by suicide have ever received mental health treatment, but approximately 19% of all US adolescents do visit a hospital emergency room annually. In a study recently published in JAMA Psychiatry, the emergency room has been identified by experts in youth suicide as...

Acta Neuropathologica: Plasma P-Tau231, A New Biomarker for Incipient Alzheimer's Disease Pathology Scientists including Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology) from Pitt Psychiatry have published the discovery and validation of a new blood biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease which, for the first time, can produce remarkably early detection of the pathology. The quantification of...

Marijuana use has increased nationwide over recent decades and health experts are concerned about its long-term impact on cognitive functioning, especially memory. Some recent studies on marijuana use and cognitive functioning have shown recovery of functioning upon abstinence from the drug, while others have demonstrated long-term, persistent effects, particularly among individuals who begin using marijuana at a...

Schizophrenia is a polygenic disorder with common, rare, and structural variants. These variants each contribute only a small fraction of overall risk for developing the disease. To improve understanding of synaptic and functional deterioration shared by large proportions of individuals with schizophrenia, scientists including Melanie Grubisha, MD, PhD; Matthew MacDonald, PhD; David Lewis, MD; and Robert Sweet, MD...

In a recent American Journal of Psychiatry study, Pitt Psychiatry investigators examined the association between function in the brain’s reward circuitry and response to psychotherapy in youths with anxiety disorders. Recent research has indicated the importance of reward in the pathophysiology and treatment of anxiety, suggesting the potential involvement of reward circuitry in treatment response. The team of...

Antipsychotic drugs can cause metabolic dysfunction that increases the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. These medications block dopamine D2-like receptors, including D2 and D3 receptors, which are expressed in pancreatic β-cells (in addition to the central nervous system). Dopamine and norepinephrine are catecholamines that act in the pancreas as peripheral regulators of metabolism. Pancreatic catecholamine...