VCU receives $1.6 million grant to study pathways that lead to substance use disorders

VCU receives $1.6 million grant to study pathways that lead to substance use disorders

In one of the first projects to be funded under a partnership between the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Research Council of Norway, two Virginia Commonwealth University professors from the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics (VIPBG) will work with researchers at the University of Oslo to study the genetic and environmental factors in normal and abnormal personality that increase the risk of developing substance use disorders. The four-year study will also link new and existing data ...

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Study reveals new information about the genes and biological pathways involved in schizophrenia

Study reveals new information about the genes and biological pathways involved in schizophrenia

An international team of researchers has identified more than 100 locations in the human genome associated with the risk of an individual developing schizophrenia, according to a study published online in the journal Nature this week.

The findings advance the knowledge of schizophrenia on the molecular level, and provide critical information about the biological pathways underlying the illness — which has been poorly understood until now.

By understanding the molecular and cellular pathways involved in schizophrenia, researchers may be able to develop ...

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Criminal behavior: Older siblings strongly sway younger siblings close in age

Criminal behavior: Older siblings strongly sway younger siblings close in age

If a sibling commits a violent criminal act, the risk that a younger sibling may follow in their footsteps is more likely than the transmission of that behavior to an older sibling, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and Lund University in Sweden.

The findings provide insight into the social transmission of violent behaviors and suggest that environmental factors within families can be important when it comes to delinquent behavior. Down the road, the results ...

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Study examines role of religious devotion in substance use and abuse

Study examines role of religious devotion in substance use and abuse

Analysis of religiosity in childhood and adulthood suggests that individuals who change in religiosity over time are at greater risk of using psychoactive substances, including alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, according to a Virginia Commonwealth University study.

Religiosity is the relevance of religious belief to a person’s life – in other words, how religious or devout a person is. The study, which will be published in the March issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence and currently available online, showed ...

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Unlocking the puzzle of anxiety and depression

Unlocking the puzzle of anxiety and depression

A current Virginia Commonwealth University study hopes to begin unlocking the key to understanding anxiety and depressive syndromes – conditions that are known as internalizing disorders (IDs).

One in four people will suffer from an anxiety disorder in their lifetime, and between 15 and 20 percent of individuals will experience a depressive episode. Even with these high lifetime prevalence rates, very little is currently known regarding the genetic basis of IDs and how it relates to other internalizing risk factors.

John “Jack” ...

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Genetics of addiction: Twin studies

Genetics of addiction: Twin studies

Twin studies offer a critical method to studying questions of nature and nurture in addiction research. Identical twins arise from the same fertilized egg, so they share 100 percent of their genes. If a trait is entirely genetic, identical twins strongly resemble one another in that trait. Think of hair color, eye color, height. Fraternal twins, on the other hand—people born from the same mother at the same time, but formed from separate eggs—share just 50 percent of their genes, ...

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New patterns found in the genetic relationship of five major psychiatric disorders

New patterns found in the genetic relationship of five major psychiatric disorders

An international consortium has shown for the first time evidence of substantial overlap of genetic risk factors shared between bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia and less overlap between those conditions and autism and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a study published this week in Nature Genetics’ Advance Online publication.

The root cause of psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder schizophrenia, autism and ADHD is not fully understood. For more than 125 years, clinicians have based ...

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Changing Attitudes about Mental Health – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Changing Attitudes about Mental Health – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

At some point in time, up to half the population could be exposed to a traumatic event such as a car accident, a natural disaster, military exposure or an assault. For some it will result in post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, according to Ananda B. Amstadter, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.

October includes Mental Health Awareness Week – a campaign supported by the National ...

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VCU EXPERT ADVISORY: Mental Health Awareness Week Oct. 3-9

VCU EXPERT ADVISORY: Mental Health Awareness Week Oct. 3-9

Ananda B. Amstadter, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, is available for comment on the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children, teens and adults who have been exposed to traumatic events, and in combat veterans.

Amstadter, who recently joined VCU, is an active researcher in the area of traumatic stress – specifically determining genetic predictors of traumatic stress-related conditions and gene-by-environment interaction. Through ...

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