Publications

As cannabis use increases, questions remain about its impact on users’ cognitive function. Studies have shown that among adolescents, the use of cannabis—specifically its primary psychoactive ingredient, Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—can be associated with susceptibility to cognitive impairment. Previous research has examined the effects of THC on working memory and other cognitive processes in adolescence, but...

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents in the United States. Yet research has shown that transgender adolescents (adolescents whose true gender identity diverges from the gender assigned at birth) have higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempt than cisgender adolescents (adolescents whose gender identity is the same as the gender assigned at birth). In a recent study published in...

Researchers including Pitt Psychiatry investigators Marianne Seney, PhD, and Colleen McClung, PhD, have published a study in Nature Communications describing diurnal rhythms in gene expression in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in individuals with schizophrenia, compared with unaffected comparison subjects. Examining the postmortem brains of 46 comparison subjects and 46 subjects with schizophrenia...

“I came to this research with a specific question inspired by recent literature showing that, in adults with bipolar disorder, lithium is superior to other mood stabilizers,” said Dr. Danella Hafeman, lead author on a recent study in Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. “But there was not similar research around mood stabilizers in young people with bipolar disorder,” she added. Dr...

The paper described below was selected as a Journal of Affective Disorders Editor’s Choice. Is worry good for you? According to a study focused on anxiety in older adults, and published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, a moderate level of worry can enhance connectivity among brain regions involved in emotion regulation—while excessive worry yields the inverse effect. Generalized anxiety disorder is common in...

Working memory, the ability to maintain a limited amount of information “in mind” to guide everyday thoughts and behaviors, is a core cognitive process. Its function depends on activity in a network of brain areas distributed across the cerebral cortex. Each of these areas display different patterns of activity while information is being maintained. These differences are correlated with, and might depend on...