Faculty Bibliography

Here we review the neurobiology of infant odor learning in rats, and discuss the unique role of the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) in the learning necessary for the developing rat. During the first 9 postnatal (PN) days, infants readily learn odor preferences, while aversion and fear learning are attenuated. Such restricted learning may ensure that pups only approach their mother. This sensitive period of preference learning overlaps with the stress hyporesponsive period (SHRP, PN4-14) when pups have a reduced CORT response to most stressors. Neural underpinnings responsible for sensitive-period learning include increased activity within the olfactory bulb and piriform 'olfactory' cortex due to heightened release of norepinephrine from the locus coeruleus. After PN10 and with the decline of the SHRP, stress-induced CORT release permits amygdala activation and facilitates learned odor aversions and fear. Remarkably, odor preference and attenuated fear learning can be reestablished in PN10-15 pups if the mother is present, an effect due to her ability to suppress pups' CORT and amygdala activity. Together, these data indicate that functional changes in infant learning are modified by a unique interaction between the developing CORT system, the amygdala, and maternal presence, providing a learning system that becomes more flexible as pups mature. (c) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 52: 651-660, 2010

Discussions of health care reform emphasize the need for coordinated care, and evidence supports the effectiveness of medical home and integrated delivery system models. However, mental health often is left out of the discussion. Early intervention approaches for children and adolescents in primary care are important given the increased rates of detection of mental illness in youth. Most adults also receive treatment for mental illness from nonspecialists, underscoring the role for mental health in medical home models. Flexible models for coordinated care are needed for people with serious mental illness, who have high rates of comorbid medical problems. Programs implemented in the New York State public mental health system are examples of efforts to better coordinate medical and mental health services.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the design of a longitudinal study of youth with elevated symptoms of mania (ESM), as well as the prevalence and correlates of manic symptoms. Bipolar disorder in youth is serious and is surrounded by controversy about its phenomenology, course, and treatment. Yet, there are no longitudinal studies of youth selected only for ESM, the phenomenological hallmark. The study's objective is to document the rate and sociodemographic correlates of ESM in children attending outpatient psychiatric clinics. METHOD: Parents of 3,329 children aged 6-12 years visiting 10 outpatient clinics were asked to complete the Parent General Behavior Inventory 10-Item Mania Scale (PGBI-10M). Children with PGBI-10M scores >/= 12 (ESM positive-screen [ESM+]) and a matched sample of ESM screen-negative (ESM-) children were invited to enroll in the longitudinal study. The sample was accrued from November 14, 2005, to November 28, 2008. RESULTS: Most of the children whose parents filled out the PGBI-10M (N = 2,622, 78.8%) participated in the study. Nonparticipants were slightly younger (mean age = 9.1 years [SD = 2.0 years] versus 9.4 years [SD = 2.0 years] for participants; t3327 = 4.42, P < .001). Nearly half of the participants (43%) were ESM+; these were more likely to be Latino (4.2% versus 2.5% for ESM-; chi(2)1 = 5.45, P = .02), younger (mean age = 9.3 years [SD = 2.0 years] versus 9.6 years [SD = 1.9 years] for ESM-; t2620 = 3.8, P < .001), and insured by Medicaid (48.4% versus 35.4% for ESM-; chi(2)1 = 45.00, P < .001). There were no sociodemographic differences between those who did versus did not agree to enroll in the longitudinal portion (yes to enrollment: n = 621, 55.2%; no to enrollment: n = 503, 44.8%). Four items best discriminated ESM+ children from ESM- children. Three of the 4 items were not the most commonly endorsed items, but all were indicative of behavioral extremes. CONCLUSIONS: Data suggest that ESM+ is not rare in 6- to 12-year-olds. Children who are ESM+ show behavioral extremes, including rapid mood shifts, compared to ESM- children.

This study examines the perceptions of health, health seeking behavior, access to information and resources, work related hazards, substance abuse, and social support of emancipated migrant youth (EMY) who come to the United States without their families to work. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were performed with EMY living without their families in Santa Clara County, California. Interviews were digitally recorded in Spanish, transcribed, translated into English, and analyzed by a five-person analysis team. RESULTS: Eleven interviews were conducted with 29 participants. Work was identified as the overarching priority of the EMY Their greatest concern was becoming sick and unable to work. They described their work environment as demanding and stressful, but felt obliged to work regardless of conditions. Alcohol and drug abuse were reported as prevalent problems. CONCLUSION: Emancipated migrant youth are a vulnerable population who have significant occupational stress, hazardous environmental exposures, social isolation, and drug/alcohol abuse.

The current study examined the relations between individual differences in sustained attention in infancy, the temperamental trait behavioral inhibition in childhood, and social behavior in adolescence. The authors assessed 9-month-old infants using an interrupted-stimulus attention paradigm. Behavioral inhibition was subsequently assessed in the laboratory at 14 months, 24 months, 4 years, and 7 years. At age 14 years, adolescents acted out social scenarios in the presence of an unfamiliar peer as observers rated levels of social discomfort. Relative to infants with high levels of sustained attention, infants with low levels of sustained attention showed increasing behavioral inhibition throughout early childhood. Sustained attention also moderated the relation between childhood behavioral inhibition and adolescent social discomfort, such that initial levels of inhibition at 14 months predicted later adolescent social difficulties only for participants with low levels of sustained attention in infancy. These findings suggest that early individual differences in attention shape how children respond to their social environments, potentially via attention's gate-keeping role in framing a child's environment for processing.

Autism is the most commonly studied of a spectrum of developmental disorders that are believed to be neurobiologically based but which, at this point, for lack of good biomarkers, are defined purely by behavior. In the last 20 years, the definition of autism has shifted in emphasis from extreme aloofness and positive signs of abnormality in repetitive and sensorimotor behaviors to a greater awareness of the importance of more subtle reciprocal social communication deficits as core features. Standard diagnostic instruments were developed for research purposes to acquire information both through caregiver interviews and direct clinical observation. Use of these instruments in clinical practice resulted in major improvements, which in turn affected research results. These results yielded further improvements that led to changes in clinical practice over time. The synergism between research and clinical practice in the understanding of autism is discussed

To better characterize neurophysiologic processes underlying olfactory dysfunction in schizophrenia, nose-referenced 30-channel electroencephalogram was recorded from 32 patients and 35 healthy adults (18 and 18 male) during detection of hydrogen sulfide (constant-flow olfactometer, 200 ms unirhinal exposure). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were transformed to reference-free current source density (CSD) waveforms and analyzed by unrestricted Varimax-PCA. Participants indicated when they perceived a high (10 ppm) or low (50% dilution) odor concentration. Patients and controls did not differ in detection of high (23% misses) and low (43%) intensities and also had similar olfactory ERP waveforms. CSDs showed a greater bilateral frontotemporal N1 sink (305 ms) and mid-parietal P2 source (630 ms) for high than low intensities. N1 sink and P2 source were markedly reduced in patients for high intensity stimuli, providing further neurophysiological evidence of olfactory dysfunction in schizophrenia

In an effort to identify de novo genetic variants that contribute to the overall risk of autism, the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) has gathered a unique sample called the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC). More than 2000 families have been evaluated to date. On average, probands in the current sample exhibit moderate to severe autistic symptoms with relatively little intellectual disability. An interactive database has been created to facilitate correlations between clinical, genetic, and neurobiological data