Publications

A deep understanding of the neural basis of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia is critical for the development of treatments for this disorder, as cognitive dysfunction can predict clinical outcomes such a relapse frequency and everyday functioning. Achieving this level of understanding is possible by studying post-mortem human brain tissue. However, thus far, scientists have been prevented from doing so due to...

Associate Professor of Psychiatry Yanhua Huang’s primary research interest is the interaction between sleep and reward processing in the brain. She focuses on whether and how sleep, or the lack of it, impacts the brain’s reward circuitry. “ Sleep does a lot,” Dr. Huang said. “It restores our cognitive selves and rebalances our emotional selves.” “Over the past few years we have observed interesting correlations...

How does a family background of alcohol dependence affect brain morphology? In a recent study published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, Shirley Hill, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Human Genetics, explored this question through the lens of dopamine signaling, with the goal of determining if changes in dopaminergic expression influence the development of the brain. Dopamine, which is important in...

Examining brain development and changes in connectivity during adolescence is critical to developing a deeper understanding of psychosis spectrum disorders, which often emerge during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The amygdala, a key brain region associated with emotion regulation processes that undergo significant changes during adolescence, is closely linked with psychosis. It is possible to...

This paper was published in Child Maltreatment, the official publication of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and was recently named Child Maltreatment Article of the Year for 2018. Children who experience physical abuse or harsh physical discipline are particularly vulnerable to adverse mental health outcomes such as trauma symptoms, aggression, interpersonal problems, substance use and...

Many patients experiencing first-episode psychosis don’t receive medical care until they have endured psychotic symptoms for an extended period, which is referred to as duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). Such long periods of untreated psychosis—the average length is 74 weeks—are associated with poorer clinical outcomes, creating an urgent need to improve the means to reduce DUP. An important step toward this...