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The article offers commentaries on different papers concerning schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. These include "Genome-wide analysis shows increased frequency of copy number variation deletions in Dutch schizophrenia patient," by J. E. Buizer-Voskamp and J. W. Muntjewerff published in volume 70 of "Biological Psychiatry" and "Pre-conception inter-pregnancy interval and risk of schizophrenia," by L. Gunawardana et al published in volume 199 of the "British Journal of Psychiatry."

The article offers commentaries on research in different fields of psychiatry. These include "Outcomes of Nordic mental health systems: life expectancy of patients with mental disorders," by K. Wahlbeck and colleagues published in volume 199 of the "British Journal of Psychiatry" and "Australia's Better Access initiative: an evaluation," by J. Pirkis and colleagues which was published in volume 45 of "Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry."

The article offers information research studies on schizophrenia and psychotic disorders. Symptoms of psychosis in childhood and adolescence such as delusions and hallucinations can reportedly contribute to higher risk of psychiatric disorder in adulthood. One study demonstrated that language network dysfunction in young subjects can predict higher risk of psychosis. A placebo controlled study tested the ability of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in the prevention of psychotic disorders.

The article offers commentaries on research concerning affective disorders. These include "Cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression in Parkinson's disease: a randomized, controlled trial," by R. D. Dobkin and colleagues which was published in volume 168 of the "American Journal of Psychiatry" and "Reliability of the Hamilton rating scale for depression: a meta-analysis over a period of 49 years," by G. Trajkovic and colleagues which was published in volume 189 of "Psychiatry Research."

The article offers commentary on the paper "Absolute risk of suicide after first hospital contact in mental disorder," by M. Nordentoft, P. B. Mortensen and C. B. Pedersen which was published in volume 68 of "Archives of General Psychiatry." This study highlights the absolute risk of suicide among men who were diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the high incidence of suicide among women with schizophrenia. The article suggests that the key strength of this study is the long-term follow up.

The article offers commentary on research on pediatric and adolescent psychiatry. These include "Adjunctive use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in depressed adolescents: a prospective, open pilot study," by C.A. Wall et al published in volume 72 of the "Journal of Clinical Psychiatry" and cognitive behavior therapy augmentation in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder by M.E. Franklin and colleagues published in volume 306 of the "Journal of American Medical Association."

The article offers commentary on research concerning psychiatry in the elderly. These include "Test your Memory test: diagnostic utility in a memory clinic population," by P. Hancock and A. J. Larner which was published volume 26 of the "International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry" and "Sleep-disordered breathing, hypoxia, and risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older women," by K. Yaffe and colleagues published in volume 306 of the "Journal of American Medical Association."

The article discusses a study aimed at systematically reviewing the evidence of efficacy and acceptability of antidepressant and benzodiazepine treatments in patients with minor depression. The study included only double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. It concludes the unlikelihood of antidepressants having a clinically important advantage in the treatment of individuals with minor depression with some reservations from the Editor.

The article discusses an analysis of large drug safety datasets as an approach in studying possible suicidality and suicide related to the initiation of antidepressants. This approach is seen to help detect risk factors and early signs of emergent antidepressant-induced suicidality. Participants included more than 300,000 patients where 142,090 were treated with antidepressants. It suggests that benzodiazepines has a role in the disinhibition of impulses that contribute to suicidal behavior.

The article discusses a study to determine the involvement of ventral lateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) activity in trait impulsivity in patients with schizophrenia. Twenty six patients with schizophrenia and 30 healthy matched controls participated in the study. It concludes that a disease-related structural alteration that compromises the capacity of this brain to be activated exists and may be associated with reduced ability of this brain region to engage inhibitory processes.

The article discusses a study aimed at examining the factors related with adherence to stimulant medication and the reasons for discontinuation. Stimulant medication was added to the participants' ongoing pharmacotherapy in the treatment of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It indicates a relatively high rate of long-term adherence partly due to the structured model for follow-up of the clinic and the caregivers who were engaged and attuned to the needs of adults with ADHD.

The article discusses a study to determine whether donepezil hydrochloride plus antidepressant therapy was superior to placebo plus antidepressant therapy in improving cognitive performance. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled maintenance trial was performed at the University of Pittsburgh. It concludes that physicians should carefully consider the risks and benefits of adding a cholinesterase inhibitor in patients with mild cognitive impairment.

The article discusses a study aimed at determining the rate of suicide in a cohort of patients experiencing a first episode of psychosis. It cites the use of a retrospective inception cohort which included 273 patients who presented with psychosis for the first time. It indicates that 16.3% of the patients had died by 2007 with 53 deaths caused by suicide. The study provided useful information in relation to the risk of suicide after a first psychotic episode.

The article discusses a study to determine whether problem-solving therapy can be an effective form of treatment for older patients with depression and executive dysfunction. Participants were randomly assigned to either problem-solving therapy or supportive therapy. The study provided a potentially effective time-limited psychotherapeutic option for treating depression in older adults.

The article discusses a study on the theory that a family history of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with measurable differences in the brain regions affected early in AD. It speculates that the effects apolipoprotein E (ApoE4) and family history may be additive. Participants included 51 subjects 26 of which had a history of AD and 25 had none. It suggests that unaffective individuals with risk factors for AD have differences in the brain regions that are changed early on in the illness.

The article discusses a study that compares the effectiveness of various treatment settings for psychotherapy in patients with cluster B personality disorders (PD). Participants were assigned to three treatment settings namely outpatient treatment, day hospital treatment and inpatient treatment. It suggests to consider inpatient treatment as an option for patients with the greatest intensity of symptoms and determine whether the benefits derived from this treatment offset additional costs.

The article discusses a study on the efficacy, tolerability and safety of antidepressants in the treatment of adults with chronic medical conditions that may help clinicians to initiate and evaluate the use of antidepressants. The study had 63 randomized controlled trials covering antidepressant treatment of 5,794 patients with a range of chronic physical conditions. It suggests that antidepressants should not be withheld in the treatment of depression in physically ill patients.

The article discusses a study to determine whether brain regions involved in social cognition were altered in the non-psychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients. The participants were made up of 23 young non-psychotic adult high-risk relatives of schizophrenic patients and 27 healthy controls. The findings support the view that declines in gray matter volume during emergent and early phases of schizophrenia may predate the transition to psychosis.

The article discusses a study on the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth using a prospective design and a large sample of women. Nine hundred thirty three participated with 866 of them completing questionnaires at 4-6 weeks postpartum, 826 at 12 weeks and 776 at 24 weeks. It suggests the need for clinicians to be vigilant for the emergence of PTSD-like symptoms especially in women who had a difficult or unexpected obstetric event during delivery.

The article discusses a study to determine whether girls who experienced menarche earlier than their peers were vulnerable to higher levels of depressive symptoms in adolescence. An association between the age of menarche onset and depressive symptoms was examined at the ages of 10.5, 13 and 14 years. Authors suggested future research that focuses on the mechanism by which early menarche increases the risk of depressive symptoms.

The article discusses a study to determine whether various types of parental psychosis were related to different forms of childhood behavioral problems and whether patterns of internalizing and externalizing behaviors were different between boys and girls. Participants included pregnant women with 859 parents identified as potentially psychotic. The data provided in the study appear sufficient to warrant concerted efforts for early identification and intervention of high-risk children.

The article discusses a study which assessed 66 patients with first-episode pyschosis for premorbid adjustment, symptoms, functioning and odor identification at baseline and for functioning after more than 6 months of treatment. It suggests that patients with olfactory identification deficits at baseline developed more difficulties in functioning than those with normal olfactory function and had poorer symptomatic measures at baseline.

The article discusses a study on the effect of a deletion of the Dystrobrevin binding protein-1 (Dtnbp1) gene on glutamate receptor function in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in mice. It cites the use of whole-cell voltage clamp recordings, real-time polymerase chain reaction and delayed nonmatch-to-position test of working memory. It concludes that neuronal adaptations represent a common biological pathway to schizophrenia.

The article discusses a study on the expression levels of cortical chloride transporters NKCCI, KCC2, OXSR1, STK39, WNK1, WNK3 and WNK4 messenger RNA in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of patients with schizophrenia and matched healthy control subjects. Brain autopsy specimens from 42 subjects with schizophrenia and 42 healthy individuals were analyzed. It suggests that increased expression of OXSR1 and WNK3 may produce a higher intracellular chloride concentration.

The article discusses a study on the relationship between social function and negative and/or depressive symptoms in young individuals at a high clinical risk for psychosis. The subjects included young individuals at high risk for psychosis who met the criteria for at lease one of three prodromal syndromes. The results indicated that patients at high risk for psychosis were significantly impaired in social functions with the impairment associated with depressive, negative and general symptoms.

The article discusses a study which theorized that subjects in the prodromal phase of schizophrenia would show altered medial temporal activation when doing a memory task and have alterations in regional glutamate levels. Participants included 22 subjects at clinical risk for psychosis and 14 healthy controls. It concludes that medial temporal dysfunction in subjects at risk for psychosis maybe related to a loss of normal relationship between activity in this region and local glutamate levels.

The article discusses a study to determine the degree to which the three factors that explains discrepancies in the procedural learning (PL) impairments of schizophrenic patients contribute to any observed impairment. Forty eight patients with schizophrenia and 22 healthy controls were included in the study. The results indicated that patients with schizophrenia performed normally in the motor and perceptual tasks but the performance was impaired in the probabilistic learning task.

The article discusses a study aimed at showing the direct relationship between altered activation of motivational brain regions during conditioning and delusional symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. A new pavlovian conditioning procedure to investigate amygdala, midbrain and ventral striatal activation during aversive conditioning was used. The results showed a severity of delusional symptoms correlated with the activity of midbrain dopamine neurons in patients with schizophrenia.

The article discusses a study on the transcript levels of metabotropic glutamate receptors (MGLURI1, MGLUR5), G-protein signaling-4 (RGS4) and endocannabinoid synthesizing and metabolizing enzymes in the prefrontal cortex of patients with schizophrenia. It indicates the use of the brain specimens of 42 patients with schizophrenia and 42 matched controls. The study offered new insights into prefrontal cortex circuitry abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia.

The article discusses a study on the effect of metformin on body weight and insulin resistance in patients treated with atypical antipsychotic medication. The study included a randomized placebo-controlled trials with data on weight gain, body-mass index (BMI) and/or a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. The metformin group showed significant but modest effect on weight reduction and a reduction in new-onset diabetes related with metformin use. It suggests that metformin is a safe treatment.

The article discusses a study to determine whether preliminary results supporting the use of D-cycloserine (DCS) in the treatment of adult anxiety disorders could be extended to the treatment of childhood anxiety. Participants included 30 children diagnosed with an obsessive-compulsive disorder. While there were no statistically significant effects of DCS augmentation, its tolerability and beneficial effect suggest further investigation of this approach.

The article discusses a study on the effects of valsartan and telmisartan on insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia in olanzapine-treated patients with schizophrenia. The study included 30 patients undergoing olanzapine for more than 8 weeks. It suggests that valsartan increases insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake by stimulating the insulin-signaling cascade while telmisartan may alter insulin resistance through action on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-y activity.

The article discusses a study on the potential opportunities for clinical intervention in the causative chain that links schizophrenia to breast cancer. A systematic review was made on the risk and protective factors for breast cancer and the potential role of antipsychotic medications, antidepressants and access to primary care. The review identified the gap in general healthcare and concludes that psychiatrists needs to fill this gap.