New genetic changes found in schizophrenia U.S. and Canadian researchers say they have discovered a previously unknown genetic abnormality in an animal model of schizophrenia... Individuals with those deletions "are at high risk of developing schizophrenia," said Dr. Maria Karayiorgou of Columbia, one of the study’’s authors. "By digging further into this chromosome, we have been able to see at the gene expression level that abnormalities in microRNAs can be linked to the behavioral and cognitive deficits associated with the disease," she added.

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Magnetic Brain Boost Short on sleep? Besides the bags under your eyes, you may have difficulty remembering names, phone numbers, and other stuff you store in short-term memory. Brain researchers at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute can’’t do much for tired-looking faces, but they’’re now exploring a method for refreshing your sleep-deprived brain.

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Vaccine case draws attention to autism When The Augusta Chronicle began following the Mann quadruplets in October, there was little attention being paid to autism outside of the advocacy community and some researchers. That all changed in March when it became public that attorneys for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conceded late last year that 9-year-old Hannah Poling, of Athens, Ga., had "features of autism spectrum disorder" caused in part by a series of vaccinations she received in 2000. The girl has a rare mitochondrial disorder and her condition was aggravated by the shots, the government contended in a court filing. The department, however, was quick to point out that it was not an admission that vaccines cause autism, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a teleconference to emphasize that all of the science points to no link between the two... That some cases might be caused by a multitude of factors working together is probably true, said Andrew Gerber, a research fellow and autism researcher with the New York Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University. "These complex illnesses like autism that are many different types of illness clearly have a myriad of factors. That part of the theory I would not want to lose," Dr. Gerber said.

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Teen Marijuana Use Linked to Later Illness; Self-Medication, Especially for Depression... Teenagers who smoke marijuana put themselves at risk for future mental illness and higher rates of depression, according to a report to be released today by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Although fewer teens overall are smoking marijuana, the report said, there is growing concern that those who do, particularly those who view the drug as a way to cope with depression, do not understand its consequences... Added Larry Greenhill, president-elect of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry [and child psychtrist at Columbia University Medical Center, NYS Psychiatric Institute]: "What’’s new in this report is that it documents how serious the impact is of what was thought to be a mild recreational" drug.

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Memory: Forgetting Is the New Normal "Memory decline occurs in everyone."...Now it turns out that the same appears to be true for humans. In a paper published last spring, a team led by Gage, Small and Richard Sloan, a psychologist at Columbia University, revealed that after pounding the treadmill four times a week for an hour for 12 weeks, a group of previously inactive men and women, ages 21 to 45, showed substantial increases in cerebral blood volume (CBV)--a proxy for neurogenesis because where there are more cells, there are more blood vessels.

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A Mental Health and Public Safety Primer The session featured much talk about the often differing interests of students and administrators when it comes to mental health cases. Paul S. Appelbaum, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, said it’s his impression that student suicides that occur on campus tend to be forever linked to the university in the public consciousness, whereas deaths that take place while the student is home on break don’t carry that connection. Colleges are inherently fearful of liability, he said, which helps explain why their policies often favor keeping troubled students away from campus.

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Kids Face Risks Taking Antidepressants Parents need warnings that popular adult antidepressants may sometimes spur suicide when taken by children and teenagers, government advisers said Monday after hearing emotional testimony from families who lost loved ones. … FDA officials fear warnings before the issue is settled could dissuade patients from potentially helpful treatment. Depression occurs in up to 10 percent of youth, and 1,883 10- to 19-year-olds killed themselves in 2001. Some 1.8 million teenagers attempted suicide that year, a quarter of them requiring medical attention, said Dr. David Shaffer of Columbia University.

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Drug Addiction: A Click Away? Today more people are ordering narcotics on the Internet. Many online pharmaceutical sites are legal, meaning they require a signed prescription from a physician and proof of a legitimate medical problem. But a growing number are not. In 2007, a Columbia University report counted 187 Web sites actively selling painkillers like oxycontin online. Eighty-four percent did not require a prescription and none of the sites asked if the buyer was a child.

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