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Highlight • Social disconnection – both objective social isolation as well as perceived social isolation (otherwise known as loneliness) – is a prevalent affliction among older adults, with profound effects on mental health. • Mechanistic understanding of how mental illness contributes to, is exacerbated by, or is otherwise linked to social disconnection remains elusive, and therapeutic interventions which leverage social connection to enhance compliance with or efficacy of mental health treatment, though promising, remain scarce. • The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is committed to transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure. To translate basic knowledge into new methods for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illness demands appreciation for the broader milieu of social and environmental factors in which mental illness prevails – of which, social connection or disconnection is one.

This report considers the conceptual and methodological concerns confronting clinical investigators seeking to generate knowledge regarding the tolerability and benefits of pharmacotherapy in geriatric bipolar disorder (BD) patients.There is continuing need for evidence-based guidelines derived from randomized controlled trials that will enhance drug treatment of geriatric BD patients. Therefore, we present the complex conceptual and methodological choices encountered in designing a multisite clinical trial and the decisions reached by the investigators with the intention that study findings be pertinent to, and can facilitate, routine treatment decisions.Guided by a literature review and input from peers, the tolerability and antimanic effects of lithium and valproate were judged to be the key mood stabilizers to investigate with regard to treating bipolar I disorder manic, mixed, and hypomanic states. The patient selection criteria are intended to generate a sample that not only experiences common treatment needs but also represents the variety of older patients seen in university-based clinical settings. The clinical protocol guides titration of lithium and valproate to target serum concentrations, with lower levels allowed when necessitated by limited tolerability. The protocol emphasizes initial monotherapy. However, augmentation with risperidone is permitted after three weeks when indicated by operational criteria.A randomized, controlled trial that both investigates commonly prescribed mood stabilizers and maximizes patient participation can meaningfully address high-priority clinical concerns directly relevant to the routine pharmacologic treatment of geriatric BD patients.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are widespread and disabling. This has been known since Dr. Alois Alzheimer's first case, Frau Auguste D., presented with emotional distress and delusions of infidelity/excessive jealousy, followed by cognitive symptoms. Being cognizant of this, in 2010 the Alzheimer's Association convened a research roundtable on the topic of NPS in AD. A major outcome of the roundtable was the founding of a Professional Interest Area (PIA) within the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART). The NPS-PIA has prepared a series of documents that are intended to summarize the literature and provide more detailed specific recommendations for NPS research. This overview paper is the first of these living documents that will be updated periodically as the science advances. The overview is followed by syndrome-specific synthetic reviews and recommendations prepared by NPS-PIA workgroups on depression, apathy, sleep, agitation, and psychosis.

Clinical and epidemiological studies have consistently observed the heterogeneous symptomatology and course of geriatric depression. Given the importance of genetic and environmental risk factors, aging processes, neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular disease processes, and medical comorbidity, the integration of basic and clinical neuroscience research approaches is critical for the understanding of the variability in illness course, as well as the development of prevention and intervention strategies that are more effective. These considerations were the impetus for a workshop, sponsored by the Geriatrics Research Branch in the Division of Adult Translational Research and Treatment Development of the National Institute of Mental Health that was held on September 7-8, 2005. The primary goal of the workshop was to bring together investigators in geriatric psychiatry research with researchers in specific topic areas outside of geriatric mental health to identify priority areas to advance translational research in geriatric depression. As described in this report, the workshop focused on a discussion of the development and application of integrative approaches combining genetics and neuroimaging methods to understand such complex issues as treatment response variability, the role of medical comorbidity in depression, and the potential overlap between depression and dementia. Future directions for integrative research were identified. Understanding the nature of geriatric depression requires the application of translational research and interdisciplinary research approaches. Geriatric depression could serve as a model for translational research integrating basic and clinical neuroscience approaches that would have implications for the study of other neuropsychiatric disorders.

Objective: There has been a growing trend in medicine to evaluate the impact of illness on functional abilities. Such studies typically rely on the patient’s or caregiver’s report. The goal of this study was to assess directly the functional capacity of psychiatric patients, especially older ones. Method: The subjects were 55 outpatients with schizophrenia and 72 normal persons ranging in age from 45 to 86 years. The subjects were administered the Direct Assessment of Functional Status Scale, which assesses behavior during simulated daily activity tasks in the areas of time orientation, communication, transportation, finance, shopping, grooming, and eating. Results: The patients with schizophrenia had significantly greater disability than the normal subjects according to total scale scores as well as the communication, transportation, finance, and shopping subscale scores. Global cognitive status was the best predictor of total scale score. Conclusions: The Direct Assessment of Functional Status Scale is a promising instrument for functional assessment in outpatients with schizophrenia. (Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154:1022‐1024)

Previous work has shown that dialysis improves cognitive functioning in hemodialysis patients, perhaps due to improvements in anemia among these patients. Such improvements in cognitive performance may lead to better levels of self-care and adherence with treatment. This study examined the relationship between fluid adherence and cognitive functioning in patients receiving hemodialysis. One hundred forty-seven patients were assessed with a brief screening instrument, the Cognistat, to determine their current level of functioning during the first hour of hemodialysis. Fluid nonadherence was operationalized as interdialytic weight gain above 1 kg/day. Rates of impairment on the Cognistat subscale ranged from 2.7% (orientation) to 54% (memory) in this sample. Roughly 68% of the sample was nonadherent during the course of treatment. Results found no differences in mean levels of cognitive performance between those who were adherent and those who were not and only modest relationships of measures of anemia to certain aspects of cognitive performance. For the hemodialysis patient to benefit from self-care education, the patient must be able to understand, remember, reason, and use cognitive processes to modify behavior. These results suggest that more in-depth assessment of cognitive performance may be needed. In addition, this assessment may need to be conducted on a day when treatment is not received.

Second-generation antipsychotics may enhance the rehabilitation of individuals with schizophrenia. The authors hypothesized that clients receiving second-generation antipsychotics would use vocational rehabilitation services more effectively and would have better employment outcomes than those receiving first-generation antipsychotics.Ninety unemployed clients with schizophrenia and related disorders who were beginning a vocational rehabilitation program were followed for nine months. Three groups were defined according to the medication in use at study entry: olanzapine (N=39), risperidone (N=27), or first-generation antipsychotics only (N=24). Participants were interviewed monthly.The olanzapine and risperidone groups did not differ on any employment outcomes. On most vocational indicators, clients receiving second-generation agents did not differ from those receiving first-generation agents. However, at nine months the second-generation group had a significantly higher rate of participation in vocational training; a trend was found toward a higher rate of paid employment. All groups showed substantial improvement in employment outcomes after entering a vocational program.The hypothesis that second-generation antipsychotics promote better employment outcomes than first-generation antipsychotics was not upheld. However, second-generation agents appear to be associated with increased participation in vocational rehabilitation.

Objective: This study explored the association between sexual abuse in childhood and the severity of psychosocial deficits in adults with schizophrenia. Methods: The Quality of Life Scale, which assesses current interpersonal and work function, and the NEO personality inventory, which assesses personality dimensions relevant to social functioning, were administered to 54 individuals who had been diagnosed as having schizophrenia. Nineteen of the individuals reported having been sexually abused as children, and 35 reported no history of abuse. Results: A multiple analysis of variance indicated that there were differences between the group of individuals who had a history of sexual trauma and the group that did not. Subsequent univariate analysis of variance indicated that the individuals with a history of abuse had poorer current role functioning and fewer of the basic psychological building blocks necessary for sustaining intimacy. They also demonstrated higher levels of neuroticism, which is a measure of vulnerability to emotional turmoil. The two groups did not differ in frequency of interpersonal contacts or level of extroversion. Conclusions: Sexual abuse in childhood is associated with poorer psychosocial functioning in adults with schizophrenia. (Psychiatric Services 52:1485–1488, 2001)