Faculty Bibliography

The article reviews the dimensions of capacity-building as applied to the development and growth of effective school mental health (SMH) programs and initiatives. There has been considerable growth of SMH in the US and internationally, and this growth is being fueled by conferences and partnerships at local, regional, national and international levels. However, more comprehensive SMH, involving provision of a full continuum of mental health promotion, prevention, early intervention and intervention services for young people in general and special education is a relatively new and emerging field, and numerous challenges are being confronted as communities attempt to build capacity for it. Ideas for building capacity in SMH, along with opportunities to advance global dialogue and collaboration on the field's advancement, are presented

Learning and memory depend on signaling molecules that affect synaptic efficacy. The cytoskeleton has been implicated in regulating synaptic transmission but its role in learning and memory is poorly understood. Fear learning depends on plasticity in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala. We therefore examined whether the cytoskeletal-regulatory protein, myosin light chain kinase, might contribute to fear learning in the rat lateral amygdala. Microinjection of ML-7, a specific inhibitor of myosin light chain kinase, into the lateral nucleus of the amygdala before fear conditioning, but not immediately afterward, enhanced both short-term memory and long-term memory, suggesting that myosin light chain kinase is involved specifically in memory acquisition rather than in posttraining consolidation of memory. Myosin light chain kinase inhibitor had no effect on memory retrieval. Furthermore, ML-7 had no effect on behavior when the training stimuli were presented in a non-associative manner. Anatomical studies showed that myosin light chain kinase is present in cells throughout lateral nucleus of the amygdala and is localized to dendritic shafts and spines that are postsynaptic to the projections from the auditory thalamus to lateral nucleus of the amygdala, a pathway specifically implicated in fear learning. Inhibition of myosin light chain kinase enhanced long-term potentiation, a physiological model of learning, in the auditory thalamic pathway to the lateral nucleus of the amygdala. When ML-7 was applied without associative tetanic stimulation it had no effect on synaptic responses in lateral nucleus of the amygdala. Thus, myosin light chain kinase activity in lateral nucleus of the amygdala appears to normally suppress synaptic plasticity in the circuits underlying fear learning, suggesting that myosin light chain kinase may help prevent the acquisition of irrelevant fears. Impairment of this mechanism could contribute to pathological fear learning

There is a great need to better understand the impact of traumatic events very early in life on the course of children's future development. This report focuses on the intriguing case of a girl who witnessed the murder of her mother by her father at the age of 19 months and seemed to have no recollection of this incident until the age of 11, when she began to exhibit severe symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in response to a traumatic reminder. The case presentation serves as the basis for a discussion regarding pertinent issues involved in early childhood trauma. This case and accompanying discussion were originally presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and were transcribed and revised for use in this article. Specific topics include early childhood memory and trauma, learning and the appraisal of danger, and PTSD and traumatic grief in early childhood. Clinical and public health implications are also discussed. This case illustrates the dramatic impact that 'preverbal' traumatic memories can have on children's later functioning and speaks to the importance of assisting very young children in the immediate aftermath of traumatic events

Practitioners who work with children and adolescents endeavor to identify and, when possible, amend threats that jeopardize the child's well-being. Yet one major risk factorthat is often overlooked is maternal depression. This oversight is of great concern, considering that an extensive body of research indicates that children are adversely affected when their mother is depressed. For instance, infants of mothers who suffer from depressive disorders evidence neurochemical and physiological differences, lag behind developmentally, and exhibit greater behavioral difficulties, eating problems, and sleeping difficulties than children of mothers who are not ill. Moreover, older children and adolescents of depressed mothers fare no better, evidencing higher rates of mental illness and greater disturbances in their academic performance, behavior, and social interactions than children whose mothers are not depressed.