Semel Institute and Department of Psychiatry News and Annoucements

Murray E. Jarvik, 84, UCLA pharmacologist, nicotine patch inventor

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health Media Relations) — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Dr. Murray E. Jarvik, emeritus professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at UCLA and co-inventor of the nicotine patch, died May 8 at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., after a long struggle with congestive heart failure. He was 84.

Born in New York City in 1923, Jarvik, whose career as a scientist spanned more than 50 years, was a pioneer in the field of psychopharmacology — the study of the effects of drugs on mood, behavior and thinking — and was among the first to study the effects of LSD and other drugs on memory and addiction. His studies on LSD were among the first ever published and were followed by studies on the biological basis of memory and memory retention.

Funeral services will be held at noon on Monday, May 12, at Eden Memorial Cemetery, 11500 Sepulveda Blvd. in Mission Hills, Calif., 818-361-7161. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, B'nai Brith, the American Lung Association and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

"Autism Heroes" Author to discuss book exploring the lives of Autistic families

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health Media Relations) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:29:03 -0700

Book signing and discussion by Barbara Firestone, president of The Help Group, a nonprofit organization that serves children with autistic spectrum disorders. Autism Heroes: Portraits of Families Meeting the Challenge, provides a compelling and sensitive account of the experiences of families from different walks of life confronting the challenges of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

With empathy and expertise gained from her three decades of leadership of The Help Group, Firestone engages ASD families in powerful and deeply affecting conversations about their lives set against the backdrop of her insightful essays about dignity, hope, opportunity and love. All author royalties are being donated to The Help Group.

For additional information, please visit www.autismheroes.org. Barbara Firestone, PhD, president, CEO & founder, The Help Group; vice chair, California Legislative Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism.

COST: Free; parking below the Medical Plaza is $8. The UCLA Nathanson Family Resource Center and UCLA’s Center for Autism Research and Treatment will receive a $5 donation for each book purchased during this event.

For more information, please call Connie Jackson at (310) 794-9584.

Conference to explore successful aging in a high-tech world - May 9

Rachel Champeau — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:00:00 -0700

What are the greatest challenges we face as we age? Will our health care and lifestyle improve? What is clear is that advances in technology will impact how older adults interact within their environment in every way - from social relations to health care delivery. In one of the first conferences of its kind, the UCLA Center on Aging will present a one-day symposium featuring national academic and industry leaders who will discuss the interface between aging and new technology. The event will take place May 9 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The "UCLA Technology and Aging Conference: Successful Aging in a High-Tech World," will explore cutting-edge innovations in the medical, consumer and lifestyle fields that help people live better longer. "We hope that this conference will capture the imagination of forward-thinking consumers, clinicians and business leaders who want to better understand how advances in technology and medicine will impact us as we age," said Dr. Gary Small, UCLA's Parlow-Solomon Professor on Aging and director of the UCLA Center on Aging. Keynote speakers will include Joseph Coughlin, the founder and director of MIT's AgeLab, and high-tech industry maverick Eric Dishman, director of product research and innovation at Intel Corp. Many other speakers at the conference have been featured in the national media for their work and research on aging issues. UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, who holds appointments in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and the department of physiological science, will open the conference by addressing issues related to circadian biology and how it affects the aging population. Breakout sessions and speakers from UCLA and around the country will cover the latest technological developments in a wide range of fields, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, arthritis, nutrition, diabetes, audiology, exercise technology, brain games, joint replacement and ophthalmology. Legendary actor and author Kirk Douglas and Dr. Bruce Dobkin, medical director of the UCLA Neurologic Rehabilitation and Research Unit, will address the effects of stroke and discuss rehabilitation options. Their candid lunchtime conversation will touch on the personal and professional impact of stroke disease and the role technology can play in recovery. Following lunch, Douglas will be available to sign his books "My Stroke of Luck" and "Let's Face It." Dr. Gerald S. Levey, vice chancellor for medical sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, will introduce the two luncheon speakers and moderate the talk. Small, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, will present new brain-scanning technologies that can detect early and subtle signs of age-related neurodegeneration and help track the effectiveness of interventions designed to protect a healthy brain from future decline. In another session, Small will be joined by Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, chief of the division of biological psychiatry at Duke University, to demonstrate how activities to keep the brain alert and fit have evolved from working crossword and Sudoku puzzles to playing electronic brain games that help maintain peak mental function.

Dr Edythe London - 2008 recipient of the Marian W. Fischman Lectureship Award

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health Media Relations) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:46:00 -0700

Dr. Edythe London, of the Semel Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, has been selected as the 2008 recipient of the Marian W. Fischman Lectureship Award. This award in memory of Marian W. Fischman, a much admired leader in drug abuse research and an excellent scientist, was established in 2001 to recognize the contributions of an outstanding woman scientist in drug abuse research. The award is scheduled to be presented on June 16, 2008 at the annual scientific meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, where Dr. London will present the award lecture. The previous awardees are Dorothy K. Hatsukami (2007), Lynda Dykstra (2006), Mary Jeanne Kreek (2005), Nancy K. Mello (2004), Maxine L. Stitzer (2003), Chris-Ellyn Johanson (2002).

Dr. London has received this award for her contributions to our understanding of the biology of nicotine dependence, and of stimulant abuse.

Nominations for the 2007-2008 Teaching Awards are now being accepted

sbmartinez@mednet.ucla.edu (Office of Education) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:00:00 -0700

Nominations for the 2007-2008 Teaching Awards are now being accepted. The initial deadline is March 7, 2008.

These awards are presented annually during Psychiatry Grand Rounds. Their purpose is to honor excellence in teaching, supervision, mentoring or related instructional activities in a number of categories designated below. Nominees for each award are selected for their ingenuity, clinical skill, innovation, availability, supportiveness, dedication, humanism, respect for diversity, improvement in the teaching process, and introduction of new important subjects.

Please go to www.psychiatry.ucla.edu/teachingaward for more information and download the nomination form.

UCLA Seeks Patients 8-to-17 with Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA) for New Drug Study

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health Media Relations) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:50:24 -0700

UCLA Researchers are seeking patients 8-to-17 years old who have been diagnosed with Friedreich's Ataxia for a Phase III clinical research trial. The purpose of the trial is to examine the possible therapeutic effects of the drug idebenone (SNT-MC17) on the nervous system and heart. Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA) is an extremely rare disease, with no approved medication, that typically begins in childhood or early adolescence with symptoms that are slow and progressive. These include muscle weakness in the arms and legs; loss of coordination, vision impairment, curvature of the spine (scoliosis), and various heart disorders including atrial fibrillation, and enlargement of the heart. A Phase III trial is a clinical trial to show the effectiveness and safety of a drug. The Food & Drug Administration requests such trials before a drug can be submitted for regulatory review and market approval. Earlier studies have shown idebenone to be effective with minimal side effects. The purpose of this study is to further show idebenone's clinical benefit on the nervous system and the hearts of patients with FRDA. The trial is being led by Dr. Susan Perlman, UCLA clinical professor of neurology.

Study raises questions about diagnosis, medical treatment of ADHD

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health Media Relations) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:00:00 -0700

A new UCLA study shows that only about half of children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, exhibit the cognitive defects commonly associated with the condition. The study also found that in populations where medication is rarely prescribed to treat ADHD, the prevalence and symptoms of the disorder are roughly equivalent to populations in which medication is widely used. The results of the first large, longitudinal study of adolescents and ADHD, conducted among the population of northern Finland, appeared in several papers in a special section of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry published in December and are currently online. ADHD is a common, chronic behavioral disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity that is thought to affect some 5 to 10 percent of school-age children worldwide. In adolescence, ADHD is generally associated with cognitive deficits, particularly with working memory and inhibition, which have been linked to overall intelligence and academic achievement, according to UCLA psychiatry professor Susan Smalley, who headed the research. Interestingly, the study showed that these deficits are only present in about half of adolescents diagnosed with ADHD.

UCLA faculty experts advisory: genes and autism

eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu (Media contact: Elaine Schmidt, (310) 794-2272) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:54:00 -0700

Research teams from Boston, UCLA, Yale and Johns Hopkins each have independently published studies identifying new genes linked to autism, a complex brain disorder that strikes one in 150 American children, often disrupting their behavior and ability to communicate and form social relationships. UCLA faculty experts are available to comment on the significance of the new findings and what they mean for families with autistic children. Stanley Nelson, professor of human genetics at the Geffen School of Medicine, has studied the DNA of hundreds of families with at least two siblings affected by autism in an effort to discover genes that predispose children to the disease. He can address why the disorder strikes four times as many boys as girls and possible reasons why diagnosis rates have expanded tenfold in the past decade. Nelson's lab Maricela Alarcón, assistant professor of neurology, is first author of the UCLA study published Jan. 10 in the online American Journal of Human Genetics. She and her colleagues used language onset - the age when a child speaks his or her first word - as a tool for identifying a new gene linked to autism. Delayed speech is a common symptom in autistic children. She can discuss her findings and explore why strongest evidence for the genetic link came from the DNA of families with autistic boys. More on Alarcon Center for Autism Research and Treatment Pegeen Cronin, director of the UCLA Autism Evaluation Clinic, is a clinical psychologist who can address the latest clinical research and guidelines for diagnosis and assessment of autism spectrum disorders. More on Cronin UCLA Autism Evaluation Clinic For video footage about UCLA's autism research and clinical interventions for toddlers, go to http://web3.streamhoster.com/rpvideo/VitalSignsAutism.rm.

UCLA scientists identify new genetic link to autism

eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu (Media contact: Elaine Schmidt, (310) 794-2272) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:00:00 -0700

UCLA scientists have used language onset - the age when a child speaks his or her first word - as a tool for identifying a new gene linked to autism. The research team also discovered that the gene is most active in brain regions involved with language and thought. Interestingly, evidence for the genetic link came from the DNA of families with autistic boys, not those with autistic girls. The American Journal of Human Genetics publishes the findings today in its online edition, which also features two studies, from research teams at Yale University and Johns Hopkins University, that used different methods that pinpointed the same gene. The coincidences suggest that the gene, called contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2), likely plays a key role in the development of autism. "This gene not only may predispose children to autism," said Dr. Daniel Geschwind, the study's principal investigator and Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "It also may influence the development of brain structures involved in language, providing a tangible link between genes, the brain and behavior." Children normally utter their first word by age 1. Children with autism, however, can be speech-delayed by many months or even years. Some never speak at all. Late language onset is a symptom shared by most children with autism. In an earlier study, the UCLA investigators studied the DNA of 291 families nationwide who had donated blood samples to the Los Angeles-based Autism Genetic Resource Exchange. Each family had at least one autistic child; youngsters who had never spoken were excluded. The findings connected a specific region of chromosome 7 known as 7q35 to autism. In the current study, the researchers scrutinized every gene in the 7q35 region using DNA samples from 172 families. They identified four promising genes; one of the candidates was CNTNAP2. To verify their findings, the scientists conducted a second test on a new group of 304 families. The CNTNAP2 gene showed up consistently, confirming its implication in language development. In a second approach, the researchers examined CNTNAP2's presence in early brain tissue and discovered that the gene was most active in developing brain structures involved in language and thought. UCLA postdoctoral fellow Brett Abrahams, who led this part of the research, explained the finding's significance by comparing the brain to a house. "We know that different rooms in houses serve different purposes," he said. "For example, if an item only appears in the kitchen, it makes sense to assume it's involved in cooking. Or if we find an object only in the bedroom, it's likely connected to sleeping. "The fact that we found CNTNAP2 concentrated in the brain's structures that are involved in higher cognition gives us strong clues about how its disruption might adversely shape brain development, including speech and language," he said. In an unexpected third finding, the scientists found that statistical evidence for the gene was strongest in families with autistic boys. Less of an association appeared in families with autistic boys and girls, or in families with autistic girls only. "Autism strikes boys three times as often as girls," said Maricela Alarcon, first author and a UCLA assistant professor-in-residence of neurology. "This finding may partly explain why." The 3-to-1 gender ratio between boys and girls also applies to rates of attention deficit disorders, learning disabilities and language disorders. "It will be interesting to learn whether CNTNAP2 also plays a role in language development in non-autistic children," Alarcon said. "Our next step will be to identify more traits, such as seizures or other symptoms, that will help us track down additional genes linked to the disorder." Co-authors included Jacqueline Duvall, Julia Perederiy, Jamee Bomar, Stanley Nelson and Rita Cantor, all from UCLA. Jennifer Stone of Harvard University, Jonathan Sebat and Michael Wigler of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, and Christa Martin and David Ledbetter of Emory University also contributed to the research. The study was primarily supported with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Cure Autism Now Foundation, and the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment. The authors had no competing financial interests.

UCLA Study Shows Different Areas of the Brain Respond to Belief, Disbelief and Uncertainty

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health Media Relations) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:53:27 -0700

The human mind is a prolific generator of beliefs about the world. The capacity of our minds to believe or disbelieve linguistic propositions is a powerful force for controlling both behavior and emotion, but the basis of this process in the brain is not yet understood. In the January issue of the journal Annals of Neurology, UCLA researchers report that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveals clear differences in the areas of the brain involved in belief, disbelief and uncertainty.

Distorted self-image the result of visual brain glitch, study finds

eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health System Press Office) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Although they look normal, people suffering from body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD, perceive themselves as ugly and disfigured. New imaging research reveals that the brains of these people look normal but function abnormally when processing visual details.

Strouse named medical director of neuropsychiatric hospital

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health Media Relations) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Thomas B. Strouse has been named the medical director of the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA, replacing David Feinberg, who is now the chief executive officer and interim associate vice chancellor of the UCLA Hospital System.

Why I use laboratory animals

Edythe London — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:53:36 -0700

For years, professor Edythe London watched with growing concern as her UCLA colleagues were subjected to harassment, violence and threats by animal rights extremists. Then it happened to her.

Researchers identify the brain circuits that control hunger

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health Media Relations) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:18:14 -0700

Researchers at UCLA have identified the brain circuits involved in hunger that are influenced by the hormone leptin, the signaling molecule produced by fat cells. In clinical trials, leptin supplementation has produced moderate weight loss in some obese patients by inhibiting hunger and promoting feelings of satiety. The new findings suggest possible new therapeutic targets for obesity, an increasing problem in both adults and children. Reporting in the Oct. 29 online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Edythe London, professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Kate Baicy, a graduate student in London's lab, and colleagues report that leptin reduces activation in regions of the brain linked to hunger while enhancing activation in regions linked to inhibition and feelings of being full.

Loneliness Is a Molecule: UCLA researchers identify the molecular signature of loneliness

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu (UCLA Health Media Relations) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:00:00 -0700

It is already known that a person's social environment can affect his or her health, with those who are socially isolated - that is, lonely - suffering from higher mortality than people who are not. Now, in the first study of its kind, published in the current issue of the journal Genome Biology, UCLA researchers have identified a distinct pattern of gene expression in immune cells from people who experience chronically high levels of loneliness. The findings suggest that feelings of social isolation are linked to alterations in the activity of genes that drive inflammation, the first response of the immune system. The study provides a molecular framework for understanding why social factors are linked to an increased risk of heart disease, viral infections and cancer.

UCLA Receives $22.5 Million to Explore the Fundamental Biology of Mental Disorders

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 14:41:00 -0700

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $22.5 million to a team of scientists centered at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA to fund the Consortium for Neuropsychiatric Phenomics (CNP), an interdisciplinary, campuswide effort to understand the biology underlying a variety of mental disorders. Phenomics is the study of an organism's full complement of phenotypes - those manifest characteristics, ranging from single proteins to anatomical traits and complex behaviors, that result from the organism's genetic makeup and environment, said Robert Bilder, UCLA professor of psychiatry and director of the new consortium. Understanding an organism's phenotype is the next logical step following the recent decoding the human genome. That decoding effort, which discerned the DNA sequences that form the basic instructions for biological processes, was designed to enable the identification of genetic variations responsible for the major diseases that plague humankind. Phenomics takes a more "holistic viewpoint," Bilder said. "To understand how these genetic variations are associated with disease now requires the decoding of the human phenome, the sum of the physical and behavioral manifestations of those genetic variations and how they interact with the environment. "Understanding the fundamental biological bases of neuropsychiatric disease - from the molecule to the mind - is an enormous challenge and will offer a grand challenge to biomedical research for the rest of the century," he said. Currently, psychiatrists do not possess the types of laboratory tests or biological models that can be useful in studying these disorders, Bilder said. "The diagnostic systems we have in place are widely acknowledged to be flawed, because the phenotypes we have are not based on research but are descriptive," he said. "That is, they are based on symptoms we usually learned about, ironically, from asking patients who have disorders that make communication difficult. "We so far lack markers to identify more fundamental deficits," he said. "We need to drill down and get closer to the specific level where a gene might be responsible for the process." That is the goal of the consortium, which will target the behavioral and cognitive functions thought to underlie such neuropsychiatric syndromes as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In a departure from science-as-usual, the consortium will aim to discover the underpinnings of basic, healthy functioning systems - such as memory and impulse control - rather than concentrating on the genetic anomalies that may be associated with the neuropsychiatric disorders themselves. By focusing on these healthy brain systems, the researchers hope to accelerate the discovery of genes that are relevant to mental disorders and to find new treatments. Employing a broad approach to attacking this problem, the consortium team comprises 52 investigators, many affiliated with the Semel Institute but cutting widely across campus disciplines as well, with members from the fields of psychiatry, neurology, neurobiology, human genetics, psychology and computer science collaborating and sharing data. Subawards will support research in Finland (at the universities of Helsinki and Oulu), at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and at the Medical University of South Carolina. This interdisciplinary approach is a major goal of the consortium, which is one of nine nationwide being funded by the NIH's Roadmap for Medical Research program. The Roadmap program is designed not only to address health challenges that have been resistant to traditional research approaches but to fundamentally change how research is conducted, by integrating a wide range of disciplines to attack a problem. As opposed to multidisciplinary research, which involves teams of scientists approaching a problem from within their own disciplines, interdisciplinary research integrates elements from a wide range of disciplines, often including basic and clinical research, behavioral biology, and social sciences, so that all of the scientists may approach the problem in a new way. "The interdisciplinary research programs within the Roadmap embody a central goal of this program - to help transform the way research is conducted," said Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, NIH director. "These programs are designed to encourage and enable change in academic research culture to make interdisciplinary research easier to conduct for scientists who wish to collaborate in unconventional ways." "Our team is thrilled to have this opportunity to forge a unique path in neuropsychiatry research," Bilder said. "Many scientists and clinicians already acknowledge major limitations in the current system for diagnosing and treating patients. We believe the CNP strategy strongly complements existing approaches and offers new hope for discovery." For more information about the consortium, visit www.phenomics.ucla.edu.

UCLA Seeks Children With ADHD for Research Study

eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:39:00 -0700

Does your child talk excessively? Make careless errors in schoolwork? Have trouble concentrating? If so, your child may be suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and could be eligible to participate in a UCLA research study. UCLA researchers are conducting a study to evaluate children between the ages of 7 and 14 for ADHD, which afflicts up to 7 percent of school-age children. Volunteers will make three visits to the UCLA ADHD clinic in Westwood, for a total of about 15 hours. Each child will undergo a comprehensive medical and psychological evaluation, as well as an MRI brain scan. Participants may be eligible for additional treatment studies. Families will be compensated up to $175 for participating in the study, which is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. For more information, please call Joni Zuckerbrow-Miller at (310) 295-7667.

Study Shows Cigarette Additives Could Be Making It Tougher for Smokers to Quit

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:35:00 -0700

A new UCLA study shows that at least 100 of the 599 documented cigarette additives have "pharmacological" actions, many of which enhance or maintain the delivery of nicotine and may increase the addictiveness of cigarettes.

UCLA Researchers Show That Culture Influences Brain Cells

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:00:00 -0700

A thumbs-up signifies "I'm good." The rubbing of one pointed forefinger against the other means "shame on you." The infamous middle-finger salute — well, you know. Gestures that convey meaning without speech are used and recognized by nearly everyone in our society, but to someone from a foreign country, they may be incomprehensible. Likewise, an American in a foreign land may be clueless to the common gestures of that particular culture. This raises a provocative question: Does culture influence the brain? The answer is yes, according to Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, a researcher at the UCLA Tennenbaum Center for the Biology of Creativity, and Dr. Marco Iacoboni, director of the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Lab at the Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.

UCLA Medical Center Rated One of America’s Top Three Hospitals, Best in West for 18th Consecutive Year by U.S. News & World Report

rmoster@mednet.ucla.edu — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:00:00 -0700

UCLA Medical Center ranks as one of the top three American hospitals — and the best hospital in the western United States for the 18th consecutive year — according to a U.S. News & World Report survey that reviewed patient outcomes data, reputation among physicians and other care-related factors. The 18th annual guide to "America's Best Hospitals" highlights the magazine's July 25 edition. The rankings are also available online at http://health.usnews.com/besthospitals. U.S. News & World Report put 5,462 medical centers through a screening process to create the 16 specialty rankings in the 2007 edition of "America's Best Hospitals." Just 173 hospitals made it into the rankings, and only 18 made the honor roll. The honor roll recognizes hospitals that demonstrate excellence across many specialties.

Self-Monitoring Helps Reduce High-Risk Behavior Among HIV-Positive People, UCLA Study Finds

erivero@mednet.ucla.edu — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:00:00 -0700

There are many effective, albeit expensive, intervention programs aimed at encouraging HIV-positive people to practice less risky behavior. But a new UCLA AIDS Institute study has found that self-monitoring by these patients is not only an effective strategy but is inexpensive and easy to implement as well. By simply having patients answer a series of questions about their sexual behavior while waiting for regularly scheduled medical examinations, researchers found that people living with HIV took steps to change their behavior. The study is published in the July issue of the journal AIDS Care.

Chemists From UCLA, Italy Produce Advance That May Solve Lou Gehrig’s Disease Mystery

swolpert@support.ucla.edu — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0700

Chemists from UCLA and the University of Florence in Italy may have solved an important mystery about a protein that plays a key role in a particular form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disorder that strikes without warning. Joan Selverstone Valentine, UCLA professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has studied the protein copper-zinc superoxide dismutase since the 1970s, long before it was implicated in ALS in 1993. Since the link was discovered, Valentines laboratory has made more than two dozen mutant, ALS-causing enzymes, most of which have only one wrong amino acid out of 153, to try to understand their properties and learn what makes them toxic.

Autistic Brains Can Be Trained to Recognize Visual and Vocal Cues

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0700

To understand the meaning of a conversation, kids automatically do what adults do besides processing the meaning of words, they unconsciously "read" the expression on a person's face and listen to their tone of voice, then integrate that information with the context at hand to discern meaning, be it humor, anger, irony or straightforwardness. Individuals with autism typically don't do this. They often miss the subtle meanings conveyed by a person's face and tone of voice, and thus have trouble determining the communicative intent of others. Neuroimaging studies have backed this up, showing that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) including autism, pervasive developmental disorder and Asperger's syndrome — show reduced activity in the regions of the brain that respond to such cues. But what if those brain regions could be trained to respond appropriately? In a report in the current issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry and currently online, UCLA researchers did just that. Providing ASD children with explicit instructions to pay more attention to facial expressions and tone of voice elicited an increased response in the medial prefrontal cortex, part of the brain's network for understanding the intentions of others.

UCLA Neuroimaging Study Supports Ancient Buddhist Teachings

swolpert@support.ucla.edu — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0700

Why does putting our feelings into words talking with a therapist or friend, writing in a journal help us to feel better? A new brain imaging study by UCLA psychologists reveals why verbalizing our feelings makes our sadness, anger and pain less intense. Another study, with the same participants and three of the same members of the research team, combines modern neuroscience with ancient Buddhist teachings to provide the first neural evidence for why "mindfulness" the ability to live in the present moment, without distraction seems to produce a variety of health benefits.

A Frown or a Smile? Children With Autism Can’t Discern, UCLA Researchers Say

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Mon, 07 May 2007 12:00:00 -0700

When we have a conversation with someone, we not only hear what they say, we see what they say. Eyes can smolder or twinkle. Gazes can be direct or shifty. "Reading" these facial expressions gives context and meaning to the words we hear. In a report presented May 5 at the International Meeting for Autism Research in Seattle, researchers from UCLA showed that children with autism can't do this. They hear and they see, of course, but the areas of the brain that normally respond to such visual cues simply do not respond.

UCLA Researchers Discover Link Between Parkinson’s and Narcolepsy

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:00:00 -0700

Parkinson's disease is well-known for its progression of motor disorders: stiffness, slowness, tremors, difficulties walking and talking. Less well known is that Parkinson's shares other symptoms with narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable episodes of deep sleep, severe fatigue and general sleep disorder. Now a team of UCLA and Veterans Affairs researchers think they know why the two disorders share something in common: Parkinson's disease patients have severe damage to the same small group of neurons whose loss causes narcolepsy. The findings suggest a different clinical course of treatment for people suffering with Parkinson's that may ameliorate their sleep symptoms.

U.S. Control Strategies May Make Flu Epidemics Worse, UCLA Study Shows

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:00:00 -0700

Regular as clockwork, the flu arrives every year. And, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population on average will come down with it. About 36,000 people will die. But among health experts, a bigger concern than the seasonal flu is an outright flu pandemic, such as a human strain of avian flu. And officials say it is not a question of if such a health crisis will come but when. Are we prepared? In a word, say three UCLA researchers, no.

UCLA Completes Six-Year Evaluation of California's Proposition 36, Recommends Program Improvements and Addresses Funding Issues

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:00:00 -0700

This is the final report of a six-year independent, statewide evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA), also known as Proposition 36, which was passed by California voters in November 2000. UCLA researchers found that SACPA results in a net savings to taxpayers, has introduced thousands of substance abusers to treatment and has not affected statewide crime trends. The report identifies areas where reforms are necessary to improve treatment placement and treatment attendance and to reduce re-offending. Options for improvements, and the funding that they would require, are discussed.

UCLA’s Project Strive Seeks to Reunite Runaway Teens and Families

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:00:00 -0700

When emotions swell between teenager and parent, both sides sometimes say and do things they later wish they could take back. Imagine the fear when tempers reach the point where the teen runs away or is kicked out of the house. Where has my child gone, asks the frantic parent. Where will I go, asks the frightened teen. The more than two million teens who have run away or were told to leave due to unresolved family conflict represent a national emergency and a tragedy. "It's tragic, since most families actually love each other; their main problem is not knowing how to handle conflict," said Norweeta Milburn, UCLA associate research psychologist and director of UCLA's Project Strive (Support To Reunite, Involve and Value Each Other), a research project targeting teens who leave home and their families.

Practicing Tai Chi Boosts Immune System in Older Adults, UCLA Study Shows

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0700

Tai chi chih, the Westernized version of the 2,000-year-old Chinese martial art characterized by slow movement and meditation, significantly boosts the immune systems of older adults against the virus that leads to the painful, blistery rash known as shingles, according to a new UCLA study. The 25-week study, which involved a group of 112 adults ranging in age from 59 to 86, showed that practicing tai chi chih alone boosted immunity to a level comparable to having received the standard vaccine against the shingles-causing varicella zoster virus. When tai chi chih was combined with the vaccine, immunity reached a level normally seen in middle age. The report appears in the April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, currently online.

Statement Regarding Verdict in Martorano v. UCLA-Krell Trial

media@support.ucla.edu — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0700

UCLA is pleased that jurors in the Martorano v. UCLA-Krell case have found the University's actions in responding to accusations of sexual harassment to be swift, thorough, appropriate and lawful. The University of California, and UCLA specifically, take seriously our responsibility to protect every member of the campus community and clearly demonstrated that we met our obligation to do so in this case. We want to emphasize that no evidence submitted during the trial supported the accusation that UCLA acted irresponsibly. Even a paid expert representing the plaintiff testified that the steps taken by UCLA's investigator were appropriate.

World’s Largest DNA Scan for Familial Autism Suggests Two New Genetic Links to the Brain Disorder

eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0700

The first results from a scan of the world's largest collection of DNA samples from families affected by autism point to two new genetic links that may predispose people to the brain disorder. The study's findings appear in the Feb. 18 online edition of the journal Nature Genetics. The five-year study was led by the Autism Genome Project, an international consortium of scientists from 50 institutions in 19 countries. Founded in 2002 with funding from the nonprofit Autism Speaks and the National Institutes of Health, the group shared DNA samples, data and expertise in a coordinated effort to identify autism-susceptibility genes.

The 'Model Minority' Myth

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0700

The Asian American community, long stereotyped as the overachieving model minority, in truth struggles with the same problems of substance abuse and addictive behavior as other populations. For example, recent data suggests that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders may have higher-than-expected rates of pathological gambling within their communities, with the attendant consequences of divorce, domestic violence, bankruptcy and criminal behavior. Yet such problems are often underreported or unrecognized.

Innovative Anti-poverty Program Worked, Says UCLA Professor

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0700

Elena had two small children and a husband in prison. Lakeisha had three kids and was struggling to keep her family together. And Michael shared custody of his three young kids with his ex-wife and was living with his parents. Ultimately, all three were lifted out of poverty, not by a government welfare program but by an anti-poverty experiment started by a group of local community activists and business leaders in Milwaukee, Wis. Called New Hope, the program had the goal of boosting employment among the working poor and improving poor children's lives. And, as a new book co-authored by UCLA anthropology professor Thomas Weisner argues, it worked. Indeed, the book suggests the program can be a model for national anti-poverty policies.

UCLA Find Yields Further Insight Into Causes of Parkinson’s Disease

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 12:00:00 -0700

n humans, a dearth of the neurotransmitter dopamine has long been known to play a role in Parkinson's disease. It is also known that mutations in a protein called parkin cause a form of Parkinson's that is inherited. Now, UCLA scientists, reporting in the Jan. 31 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, have put the two together. Using a new model of Parkinson's disease they developed in the simple Drosophila (fruit fly), the researchers show for the first time that a mutated form of the human parkin gene inserted into Drosophila specifically results in the death of dopaminergic cells, ultimately resulting in Parkinson's-like motor dysfunction in the fly. Thus, the interaction of mutant parkin with dopamine may be key to understanding the cause of familial Parkinson's disease — Parkinson's that runs in families.

UCLA Scientist Awarded $3.8 Million Grant for International Study to Identify Genetic Links to Schizophrenia

eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:00:00 -0700

The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded Roel A. Ophoff, Ph.D., assistant professor of human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, a $3.8 million grant to lead a four-year genetic study of schizophrenia in collaboration with scientists from the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht in the Netherlands.

First Evidence Found of Mirror Neuron’s Role in Language

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 12:00:00 -0700

What do we find so gripping about a good book, the kind that makes us stay up later than we should to find out what happens to hero or heroine? A new brain imaging study from UCLA may provide an answer, and further, shed light on the language problems common to autistic children. In a study published in the Sept. 19 issue of Current Biology, UCLA researchers show that specialized brain cells known as mirror neurons activate both when we observe the actions of others and when we simply read sentences describing the same action.

Sleepless Night Triggers Immune System’s Inflammatory Response

mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:00:00 -0700

Researchers at UCLA are the first to show how sleep loss affects the immune system's inflammatory response and suggest sleep interventions as a possible way to address problems associated with inflammation and autoimmune disorders.