Publications

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder. Children with ADHD followed to adulthood have been found to have lifelong impairments in educational, occupational, and interpersonal domains even if symptoms subside. ADHD is commonly identified in childhood, and affective and cognitive characteristics that are identifiable in infancy could be signals of risk for...

Scientists specializing in the field of psychosis research have characterized schizophrenia as a syndrome of brain dysconnectivity. Visual working memory, an executive function that relies upon coordinated activity across distributed brain regions to support various cognitive operations, has consistently exhibited impairments in schizophrenia. Indeed, cognitive symptoms account for significant functional and...

Suicide is a major public health problem and the second leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults. Identifying risk factors for suicidal ideation that are modifiable and relevant, such as sleep disturbances and interpersonal stress, is critical for suicide prevention. A group of investigators including Jessica Hamilton, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University; former postdoctoral...

In Alzheimer’s disease, reactive astrocytes can play an important role in the pathophysiology of the disease. Amyloid-β and tau tangles—the two main pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease—are associated with astrocyte reactivity. However, knowledge about amyloid-β- and tau-specific contributions to reactive astrocyte biomarkers in patients with Alzheimer’s disease is limited. To improve our understanding of...

An international consortium of scientists from fields including psychiatry, genetics, genomics, pediatrics, and statistics have published a study in Nature Genetics reporting the discovery of 185 genes significantly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and more than 300 genes associated with autism or other types of developmental delay. The consortium evaluated genetic data from a cohort of more than 63...

Investigators including Jessie Northrup, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), and Carla Mazefsky, PhD (Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology), from Pitt Psychiatry, have conducted a study of how emotion dysregulation—challenges in modulating the intensity and duration of emotional reactions—may relate to aggressive or self-injurious behaviors in autistic individuals. The study, published in Autism Research...