NIH funding will support effort to understand developmental impact of maternal signals.

Tallie Baram, UC Irvine

With $10 million in new federal funding, UC Irvine researchers will study how maternal signals and care before and after birth may increase an infant’s vulnerability to adolescent cognitive and emotional problems, such as risky behaviors, addiction and depression.

Led by child neurologist and neuroscientist Dr. Tallie Z. Baram, the UC Irvine team has received a five-year Silvio O. Conte Center grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. The funding program brings together researchers with diverse expertise to gain new knowledge and improve the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders.

The grant will support the creation of the Conte Center on Brain Programming in Mental Disorders at UC Irvine.

“We appreciate that the National Institute of Mental Health strategic plan recognizes that most neuropsychiatric disorders have origins early in life,” said Baram, the Danette “Dee Dee” Shepard Chair in Neurological Studies. “This complex problem requires a multidisciplinary approach that involves both animal and human research. Investigators at UC Irvine have distinguished themselves in this area, and we believe that with the Conte Center funding, we can make major contributions to our understanding of this issue.”

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PCORI awards $1.6M for project.

Tumaini Coker, UCLA

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved a $1.6 million research award to the Children’s Discovery and Innovation Institute at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA to study the use of videoconferencing technology to deliver behavioral health services to pediatric patients in community primary care settings.

Dr. Tumaini R. Coker, assistant professor of pediatrics at UCLA, will lead the research. The project will focus on the integration of developmental, behavioral and mental health services into pediatric primary care using live videoconferencing technology. This study will examine whether using this telehealth technology can be an effective, efficient and family-centered way to provide these integrated services to children in low-income communities.

“One of the key strengths of this project will be the emphasis on the partnership between UCLA researchers,  the community clinics and the families to develop and test this strategy to bring behavioral health services into the primary care setting using live videoconferencing visits,” said Coker.

The project brings together UCLA researchers from general pediatrics, developmental and behavioral pediatrics, child and adolescent psychiatry, the UCLA/RAND Prevention Research Center and the UCLA Center for Health Services and Society to work in partnership with Northeast Valley Health Corp., one of the nation’s largest community health centers.

The study is part of a portfolio of patient-centered research that addresses PCORI’s national research priorities and will provide patients with information that will help them make better informed decisions about their care.

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UC Davis study is first to track development of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome.

Susan Rivera, UC Davis

Researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute and the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain have received a five-year, $3 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct the first long-range study of the mental and psychological decline that accompanies the age-related neurological disorder fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, or FXTAS.

FXTAS first was identified in 2001 by UC Davis MIND Institute professors Paul and Randi Hagerman. It was discovered after Randi Hagerman, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician, noticed the symptoms in older male family members of the children she treated with fragile X syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability and the leading single-gene cause of autism.

FXTAS is a late-onset neurodegenerative disorder. It affects carriers of a small mutation — also called a premutation — of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. Characteristics of FXTAS include debilitating balance problems, tremor, memory loss and dementia. It occurs more frequently in male than in female premutation carriers. Prior to its discovery, FXTAS was often misdiagnosed as other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases. The scientists said they hope to learn how to better diagnose and treat the condition.

For the first time, researchers will study the progression of the disorder in adult male carriers of the FMR1 premutation between the ages of 40 and 69, comparing them to men of the same age without the mutation. It is not known why, how, or when some individuals become affected with the disorder and others do not, said Susan Rivera, a professor of psychology affiliated with the MIND Institute and the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain. Rivera is co-principal investigator for the study and will lead the research with David Hessl, co-principal investigator and associate clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

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Program to air May 30.

Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, UC Davis

Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, a UC Davis physician and internationally renowned expert on mental health and other conditions that frequently impact underserved populations, will appear in a documentary titled “A New State of Mind: Ending the Stigma of Mental Illness,” set to air Thursday, May 30, at 9 p.m. on Sacramento PBS station KVIE-Channel 6.

The documentary tells stories of hope, resilience and recovery for Californians who have battled mental illness. Aguilar-Gaxiola, professor of clinical internal medicine and director of the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities, was interviewed about the current state of mental health services and what needs to be done to expand access to culturally and linguistically appropriate care.

In 2012, Aguilar-Gaxiola led a team of researchers who published a report for the state of California on ways to address mental health care disparities for Latinos. The recommendations were based on feedback from consumers and their families, advocates, service providers, educators, students, researchers and policymakers throughout the state who participated in intensive town hall meetings or focus groups.

During the past 25 years, Aguilar-Gaxiola has directed several research initiatives focused on identifying the unmet mental health needs of immigrant populations and on developing community-based approaches to reducing disparities for those whose needs are not well served by traditional health care systems. He also has translated his research outcomes into practical information for providers and administrators to guide policy decisions about program development, interventions and services.

“A New State of Mind: Ending the Stigma of Mental Illness” was produced by KVIE, narrated by award-winning actress Glenn Close and funded by the voter-approved Mental Health Services Act (Proposition 63) as part of California Mental Health Services Authority’s Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Initiative. A trailer for the documentary can be viewed at www.eachmindmatters.org/great-minds-gallery.

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Past trauma, poor understanding of health care services is common, UC Davis study finds.

MESO staff member Rusul Tawffeq interviewed Iraqi refugees to learn about their current health conditions and challenges in accessing health care.

Past trauma and a lack of understanding of the U.S. health care system are key factors affecting the mental and physical health of Iraqi refugees in Sacramento, according to a new report released today (May 20) by UC Davis’ Center for Reducing Health Disparities and Clinical and Translational Science Center as well as two community groups  that serve refugee populations — Opening Doors Inc. and the Mesopotamia Organization (MESO).

The report, entitled “Mental and Physical Health of Recent Iraqi Refugees in Sacramento, California,” represents the views of 34 Iraqi men and women who lived in the Sacramento area from December 2008 to August 2012 and who agreed to share details about their current health conditions and the challenges they encountered while accessing health care services. It is the first study to assess the unmet health care needs of the Iraqi refugee population in Sacramento, one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the region.

The study found that 79 percent of Iraqi refugees reported trauma as a major health concern, with insomnia (59 percent), depression (44 percent), headaches (41 percent), and fear (38 percent) as the most common physical and psychological symptoms experienced. These findings mirror previous health assessments of Iraqi refugees conducted in other U.S. cities, which also found depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder among the most common conditions affecting individuals who have fled war-torn Iraq.

Sacramento Iraqi refugees also believe the U.S. health care system is costly and difficult to understand and access. They were especially confused by the specialty care referral process, the separation of dental and vision care services, and the seemingly arbitrary nature regarding conditions that insurance plans cover. These factors, they said, were compounded by their inability to understand medical terminology, as many were still learning to speak English, and primary care providers’ lack of knowledge of Iraqi refugees, their health needs and the effects of trauma on mental and physical health.

The report also found that the vast majority of Iraqi refugees did not access mental health care, either due to a lack of knowledge about options, unwillingness to bring up the subject of trauma with providers, or cultural and linguistic barriers to understanding how mental health is viewed and treated in the U.S. To cope with their mental health needs, the group relied most on friends and family members (91 percent), religion and faith in God (65 percent) and exercise and sports (44 percent).

“Untreated mental health needs are very common problems, creating significant burdens for individuals and their families and reducing productivity and quality of life,” said Linda Ziegahn, community engagement and research program manager at the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities and an author of the study.

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UCSF study highlights need for medical homes to ID mental health disorders at young age.

Adolescence is a unique period of change when many mental health disorders are known to first emerge.

According to experts, approximately 20 percent of adolescents report symptoms of mental health problems, and half of lifetime cases of mental health disorders begin showing symptoms by age 14.

Yet despite the known prevalence of mental health issues during this critical time in a young person’s life, nearly half of adolescents are lacking a medical home – family-centered, coordinated and continuous health care – according to a new study from UC San Francisco’s Department of Pediatrics. This study is timely as expansion of medical home models are being implemented through the Patient Project and Affordable Care Act.

“A higher percentage of adolescents have mental health conditions rather than physical conditions, which really drives home the importance of coordinating care and giving referrals,“ said lead author Sally Adams, R.N., Ph.D., a specialist in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at UCSF.

“There’s a big problem with trying to coordinate mental health care and the system is failing families,” she added. “If mental health is addressed early, it can lessen the impact, so it’s important to be proactive.”

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Negative emotional responses to everyday annoyances have cumulative effect.

Susan Charles, UC Irvine

Our emotional responses to the stresses of daily life may predict our long-term mental health, according to a new study led by a UC Irvine psychologist. The research, which appears online in the journal Psychological Science, suggests that maintaining emotional balance is crucial to avoiding severe mental health problems down the road.

Susan Charles, UC Irvine professor of psychology & social behavior, and her colleagues conducted the study in order to answer a long-standing question: Do everyday irritations add up to make the straw that breaks the camel’s back, or do they make us stronger and “inoculate” us against later tribulations?

Using data from two national, longitudinal surveys, the researchers found that participants’ negative emotional responses to daily stressors – such as arguments with a spouse or partner, conflicts at work, standing in long lines or sitting in traffic – predicted psychological distress and self-reported anxiety/mood disorders 10 years later.

“How we manage daily emotions matters to our overall mental health,” Charles said. “We’re so focused on long-term goals that we don’t see the importance of regulating our emotions. Changing how you respond to stress and how you think about stressful situations is as important as maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine.”

The results were based on data from 711 men and women between 25 and 74 who had participated in the Midlife Development in the United States project and the National Study of Daily Experiences.

According to Charles and her colleagues, the findings show that mental health outcomes aren’t affected by just major life events; they also bear the impact of seemingly minor emotional experiences. The study suggests that the chronic nature of negative emotions in response to daily stressors can take a toll on long-term psychological well-being.

“It’s important not to let everyday problems ruin your moments,” Charles said. “After all, moments add up to days, and days add up to years. Unfortunately, people don’t see mental health problems as such until they become so severe that they require professional attention.”

Jacqueline Mogle, Martin Sliwinski and David Almeida of Pennsylvania State University and Jennifer Piazza of California State University, Fullerton, also contributed to the study.

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$13M will establish an Autism Center of Excellence.

Sally Rogers, UC Davis

Autism researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute have received a prestigious $13 million award from the National Institutes of Health to establish an Autism Center of Excellence and Treatment Network, making the MIND Institute one of only nine such centers in the United States.

Announced on World Autism Awareness Day, the Autism Center of Excellence, or ACE, award underwrites a research program aimed at advancing the quality, pace and coordination of autism research and is led by Sally J. Rogers, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and principal investigator. Rogers will collaborate with scientists at Vanderbilt University, Nashville; the University of Washington, Seattle; and Harvard to conduct the research. The award will support two separate treatment studies designed to provide the most up-to-date data possible on the most effective methods of treating very young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

“While progress in research on ASD has been rapid, complex questions remain about the causes of these disorders, how to detect them very early and how to intervene most effectively,” said National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel. “Centers receiving ACE funding have marshaled the interdisciplinary expertise and technical resources needed to move the science forward as quickly as possible.”

Rogers said that supporting and improving the outcomes of young children with autism and other disabilities is a national commitment and health priority, and a community and family necessity.

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UC Irvine-led study explores cumulative effects of everyday negative emotional responses.

Susan Charles, UC Irvine

Our emotional responses to the stresses of daily life may predict our long-term mental health, according to a new study led by a UC Irvine psychologist. The research, which appears online in the journal Psychological Science, suggests that maintaining emotional balance is crucial to avoiding severe mental health problems down the road.

Susan Charles, UC Irvine professor of psychology & social behavior, and her colleagues conducted the study in order to answer a long-standing question: Do everyday irritations add up to make the straw that breaks the camel’s back, or do they make us stronger and “inoculate” us against later tribulations?

Using data from two national, longitudinal surveys, the researchers found that participants’ negative emotional responses to daily stressors – such as arguments with a spouse or partner, conflicts at work, standing in long lines or sitting in traffic – predicted psychological distress and self-reported anxiety/mood disorders 10 years later.

“How we manage daily emotions matters to our overall mental health,” Charles said. “We’re so focused on long-term goals that we don’t see the importance of regulating our emotions. Changing how you respond to stress and how you think about stressful situations is as important as maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine.”

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UC Davis to look at effects of Mexican parents’ deportation on their American children.

Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, UC Davis

How the deportation of undocumented Mexican migrants affects their American-born children, who are faced with either going with their parents to Mexico or remaining in the land of their birth without them, is an issue of paramount importance as the nation engages in discussion of comprehensive immigration reform ― and is the subject of groundbreaking new research by The University of Texas, Austin, UC Davis Health System and the National Institute of Psychiatry, Mexico.

The nation’s immigration debate centers mostly on the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., 59 percent of whom are from Mexico. The number of children living in mixed-status households ― those with undocumented immigrant parents and U.S. citizen-children ― grew from 2.7 million in 2003 to 4 million in 2008. From July 2010 to October 2012, nearly 205,000 people who said that their children were U.S. citizens were deported, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimates.

“This is a timely and much-needed study that interfaces health, law and immigration,” said Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, professor of clinical internal medicine and director of the Sacramento-based UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities. “Given the scale of the numbers of U.S. citizen-children being separated from their parents during the past two years, embarking on this study is of great public health importance and will help us understand what happens to the mental health of American children after their parents’ deportation.”

Aguilar-Gaxiola is collaborating on the unique, first-of-its kind study with lead researcher Luis Zayas, professor and dean of The University of Texas, Austin, School of Social Work.

“[We need to better understand] what happens to these kids,” Zayas said. “What are the effects on them psychologically? We’re hoping to find out under what circumstances kids do better and under what circumstances they do worse, psychologically.”

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UCLA findings suggests possible new treatment for depression, other disorders.

Jerome Siegel, UCLA

What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide?

The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists at UCLA have measured the release of a specific peptide, a neurotransmitter called hypocretin, that greatly increased when subjects were happy but decreased when they were sad.

The finding suggests that boosting hypocretin could elevate both mood and alertness in humans, thus laying the foundation for possible future treatments of psychiatric disorders like depression by targeting measureable abnormalities in brain chemistry.

In addition, the study measured for the first time the release of another peptide, this one called melanin concentrating hormone, or MCH. Researchers found that its release was minimal in waking but greatly increased during sleep, suggesting a key role for this peptide in making humans sleepy.

The study is published in the March 5 online edition of the journal Nature Communications.

“The current findings explain the sleepiness of narcolepsy, as well as the depression that frequently accompanies this disorder,” said senior author Jerome Siegel, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Sleep Research at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. “The findings also suggest that hypocretin deficiency may underlie depression from other causes.”

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UCLA study results suggest low support a significant risk factor for postpartum depression.

Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, UCLA

Women who receive strong social support from their families during pregnancy appear to be protected from sharp increases in a particular stress hormone, making them less likely to experience depression after giving birth, a new study by UCLA life scientists indicates.

“Now we have some clue as to how support might ‘get under the skin’ in pregnancy, dampening down a mother’s stress hormone and thereby helping to reduce her risk for postpartum depression,” said Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, a UCLA National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral scholar in psychology, a fellow at UCLA’s Institute of Society and Genetics, and the lead author of the research.

The scientists recruited 210 pregnant women of different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, surveying them three times during pregnancy — at 19, 29 and 37 weeks — and then eight weeks after giving birth. The women were asked in interviews about how much support they received from their families and the child’s father and about their symptoms of depression. In addition, blood samples from all participants were analyzed to assess their levels of placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH), a stress hormone released from the placenta.

After taking into account factors such as age, education and income, Hahn-Holbrook and her colleagues discovered that pregnant women who reported the greatest support from their families had lower levels of depressive symptoms. They also had the least dramatic increases in pCRH and the lowest absolute levels of pCRH in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Additional analyses revealed that pCRH levels in the third trimester fully explained the relationship between family support in pregnancy and postpartum depression symptoms.

These results are consistent with the idea that social support limits abnormal pCRH increases and that lower pCRH levels, in turn, reduce the risk of postpartum depression. The research is published today (March 4) in the online edition of the journal Clinical Psychological Science and will be published in an upcoming print edition.

“Our results, and those of other scientists, suggest that low or absent support is a significant risk factor for postpartum depression and that strong support is a protective factor,” Hahn-Holbrook said.

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