Faculty Bibliography

We report on the factor structure of the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale. Participants were 76 children and adolescents diagnosed with tic disorders. Overall, the model proposed by Leckman et al. [Leckman, J.F., Riddle, M.A., Hardin, M.T., Ort, S.I., Swartz, K.L., Stevenson, J., Cohen, D.J., 1989. The Yale Global Tic Severity Scale: initial testing of a clinician-rated scale of tic severity. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 28, 566-573.] represented an adequate fit. The internal consistency of the factors was acceptable and the convergent and divergent validity was supported vis-a-vis correlations with parent ratings of Tourette's Disorder symptoms. These findings support the use of the original scoring structure in assessing pediatric tic severity

This study investigates whether naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, could render normal controls, normally nonresponsive to panic inducing stimuli, sensitive to the physiological and behavioral effects of sodium lactate, a robust panicogen in panic disorder patients. Twelve normal controls received intravenous naloxone followed by sodium lactate. Four of these subjects underwent a separate infusion with naloxone followed by saline. Respiratory physiological symptoms were measured throughout. Clinical symptoms, assessed by the Acute Panic Inventory (API), an Anxiety Scale, and the Borg Breathlessness Scale, were recorded. Eight of the twelve subjects experienced strong physiological reactivity to naloxone-lactate manifested by significantly increased tidal volume. Concomitant increases in the API and Borg scales were demonstrated; however, fear or anxiety was not affected. The four subjects retested with naloxone followed by saline did not experience significant increases on any measure. These results provide preliminary evidence that endogenous opioid system function may be a key modulator of responsivity to sodium lactate. Dysregulation of the opioid system may potentially underlie critical aspects of panic disorder neurobiology, including respiratory abnormalities and suffocation sensitivity.

During social interactions our brains continuously integrate incoming auditory and visual input from the movements and vocalizations of others. Yet, the dynamics of the neural events elicited to these multisensory stimuli remain largely uncharacterized. Here we recorded audiovisual scalp event-related potentials (ERPs) to dynamic human faces with associated human vocalizations. Audiovisual controls were a dynamic monkey face with a species-appropriate vocalization, and a house with opening front door with a creaking door sound. Subjects decided if audiovisual stimulus trials were congruent (e.g. human face-human sound) or incongruent (e.g. house image-monkey sound). An early auditory ERP component, N140, was largest to human and monkey vocalizations. This effect was strongest in the presence of the dynamic human face, suggesting that species-specific visual information can modulate auditory ERP characteristics. A motion-induced visual N170 did not change amplitude or latency across visual motion category in the presence of sound. A species-specific incongruity response consisting of a late positive ERP at around 400 ms, P400, was selectively larger only when human faces were mismatched with a non-human sound. We also recorded visual ERPs at trial onset, and found that the category-specific N170 did not alter its behavior as a function of stimulus category-somewhat unexpected as two face types were contrasted with a house image. In conclusion, we present evidence for species-specificity in vocalization selectivity in early ERPs, and in a multisensory incongruity response whose amplitude is modulated only when the human face motion is paired with an incongruous auditory stimulus.

This article describes a family-based HIV prevention and mental health promotion program specifically designed to meet the needs of perinatally-infected preadolescents and their families. This project represents one of the first attempts to involve perinatally HIV-infected youth in HIV prevention efforts while simultaneously addressing their mental health and health care needs. The program, entitled CHAMP+ (Collaborative HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project-Plus), focuses on: (1) the impact of HIV on the family; (2) loss and stigma associated with HIV disease; (3) HIV knowledge and understanding of health and medication protocols; (4) family communication about puberty, sexuality and HIV; (5) social support and decision making related to disclosure; and (6) parental supervision and monitoring related to sexual possibility situations, sexual risk taking behavior and management of youth health and medication. Findings from a preliminary evaluation of CHAMP+ with six families are presented along with a discussion of challenges related to feasibility and implementation within a primary health care setting for perinatally infected youth.

Sex steroids influence the development and function of the songbird brain. Developmentally, the neural circuitry underlying song undergoes masculine differentiation under the influence of estradiol. In adults, estradiol stimulates song behavior and the seasonal growth of song control circuits. There is good reason to believe that these neuroactive estrogens are synthesized in the brain. At all ages, estrogens could act at the lateral ventricle, during migration, or where song nuclei exist or will form. We investigated the activity of two critical steroidogenic enzymes, 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/isomerase (3beta-HSD) and aromatase, using a slice culture system. Sagittal brain slices were collected from juvenile (posthatch day 20) and adult zebra finches containing either the lateral ventricle, where neurons are born, or the telencephalic song nuclei HVC and RA. The slices were incubated with (3)H-dehydroepiandrosterone or (3)H-androstenedione. Activity was determined by isolating certain products of 3beta-HSD (5alpha-androstanedione, 5beta-androstanedione, estrone, and estradiol) and aromatase (estrone and estradiol). Activities of both 3beta-HSD and aromatase were detected in all slices and were confirmed using specific enzyme inhibitors. We found no significant difference in activity between adult males and females in either region for either enzyme. Juvenile female slices containing the lateral ventricle, however, showed greater levels of 3beta-HSD activity than did similar slices from age-matched males. Determination of the activity of these critical steroidogenic enzymes in slice culture has implications for the role of neurosteroids in brain development.

This article provides a description of a Community/University Collaborative Board, a formalized partnership between representatives from an inner-city community and university-based researchers. This Collaborative Board oversees a number of research projects focused on designing, delivering and testing family-based HIV prevention and mental health focused programs to elementary and junior high school age youth and their families. The Collaborative Board consists of urban parents, school staff members, representatives from community-based agencies and university-based researchers. One research project, the CHAMP (Collaborative HIV prevention and Adolescent Mental health Project) Family Program Study, an urban, family-based HIV prevention project will be used to illustrate how the Collaborative Board oversees a community-based research study. The process of establishing a Collaborative Board, recruiting members and developing subcommittees is described within this article. Examples of specific issues addressed by the Collaborative Board within its subcommittees, Implementation, Finance, Welcome, Research, Grant writing, Curriculum, and Leadership, are detailed in this article along with lessons learned.