Recent advances in the genetic epidemiology and molecular genetics of substance use disorders Nature Neuroscience 15, 181 (2012). doi:10.1038/nn.3018 Authors: Kenneth S Kendler, Xiangning Chen, Danielle Dick, Hermine Maes, Nathan Gillespie, Michael C Neale & Brien Riley

A computational approach enhances learning in Aplysia Nature Neuroscience 15, 178 (2012). doi:10.1038/nn.3030 Authors: L F Abbott & Eric R Kandel A mathematical model based on the dynamics of molecular signaling pathways predicts an optimal training regimen that enhances learning and memory.

Wiring visual circuits, one eye at a time Nature Neuroscience 15, 172 (2012). doi:10.1038/nn.3034 Authors: Rana N El Danaf & Andrew D Huberman A study uses light-gated ion channels to control the activity of neurons in each eye, thereby revealing how the timing of neuronal firing dictates whether visual circuits segregate from one another or stay mixed.

MeCP2: only 100% will do Nature Neuroscience 15, 176 (2012). doi:10.1038/nn.3027 Authors: Hsiao-Tuan Chao & Huda Y Zoghbi A knock-in mouse mimicking a MeCP2 mutation found in human Rett syndrome recapitulates disease features, including progressive motor and cognitive impairments—and correlations emerge between MeCP2 dosage in mice and phenotype.

Hamlet Notches fate Nature Neuroscience 15, 174 (2012). doi:10.1038/nn.3029 Authors: Dietmar Schmucker & Bassem A Hassan Cell specification of olfactory receptor neurons in Drosophila is orchestrated by context-dependent response to Notch signaling mediated by Hamlet, which directs specific chromatin modifications in subsets of neurons.

Specialization: the connections have it Nature Neuroscience 15, 171 (2012). doi:10.1038/nn.3031 Authors: Saad Jbabdi & Timothy E J Behrens Brain regions exhibit specialization for different functions, but such functions are constrained by anatomical connections to other brain regions. A study now finds that, by measuring these connections, we can predict complex functional responses before the subject has even performed the task.

Allowing for sex differences increases power in a GWAS of multiplex Autism families Molecular Psychiatry 17, 215 (February 2012). doi:10.1038/mp.2010.127 Authors: A T-H Lu & R M Cantor

Emotional memory impairments in a genetic rat model of depression: involvement of 5-HT/MEK/Arc signaling in restoration Molecular Psychiatry 17, 173 (February 2012). doi:10.1038/mp.2010.131 Authors: T M Eriksson, P Delagrange, M Spedding, M Popoli, A A Mathé, S O Ögren & P Svenningsson

The neural consequences of combat stress: long-term follow-up Molecular Psychiatry 17, 116 (February 2012). doi:10.1038/mp.2011.110 Authors: G A van Wingen, E Geuze, E Vermetten & G Fernández

5-HT2B receptors are required for serotonin-selective antidepressant actions Molecular Psychiatry 17, 154 (February 2012). doi:10.1038/mp.2011.159 Authors: S L Diaz, S Doly, N Narboux-Nême, S Fernández, P Mazot, S M Banas, K Boutourlinsky, I Moutkine, A Belmer, A Roumier & L Maroteaux

ZNF804A and social cognition in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls Molecular Psychiatry 17, 118 (February 2012). doi:10.1038/mp.2011.102 Authors: A Hargreaves, D W Morris, E Rose, C Fahey, S Moore, E Cummings, D Tropea, M Gill, A Corvin & G Donohoe

Schizophrenia susceptibility alleles are enriched for alleles that affect gene expression in adult human brain Molecular Psychiatry 17, 193 (February 2012). doi:10.1038/mp.2011.11 Authors: A L Richards, L Jones, V Moskvina, G Kirov, P V Gejman, D F Levinson, A R Sanders, S Purcell, P M Visscher, N Craddock, M J Owen, P Holmans & M C O'Donovan

Marked reduction of soluble superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with recent-onset schizophrenia Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, February 21, 2012. doi:10.1038/mp.2012.6 Authors: J M Coughlin, K Ishizuka, S I Kano, J A Edwards, F T Seifuddin, M A Shimano, E L Daley, P P Zandi, F M Leweke, N G Cascella, M G Pomper, R H Yolken & A Sawa

Attenuating the persistence of fear memory storage using a single dose of antidepressant Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, February 21, 2012. doi:10.1038/mp.2012.4 Authors: L Slipczuk, M Tomaiuolo, F Garagoli, N Weisstaub, C Katche, P Bekinschtein & J H Medina

Norepinephrine in the brain is associated with aversion to financial loss Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, February 21, 2012. doi:10.1038/mp.2012.7 Authors: H Takahashi, S Fujie, C Camerer, R Arakawa, H Takano, F Kodaka, H Matsui, T Ideno, S Okubo, K Takemura, M Yamada, Y Eguchi, T Murai, Y Okubo, M Kato, H Ito & T Suhara

The dopamine stabilizers ACR16 and (−)-OSU6162 display nanomolar affinities at the σ-1 receptor Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, February 21, 2012. doi:10.1038/mp.2012.3 Authors: K Sahlholm, P Århem, K Fuxe & D Marcellino

The game's afoot: seeking viruses that cause chronic and degenerative neurologic and psychiatric disorder Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, February 7, 2012. doi:10.1038/mp.2012.5 Author: M B A Oldstone

Effects of continuously enhanced corticotropin releasing factor expression within the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis on conditioned and unconditioned anxiety Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, January 31, 2012. doi:10.1038/mp.2011.188 Authors: K S Sink, D L Walker, S M Freeman, E I Flandreau, K J Ressler & M Davis

The effects of antidepressant medications are all in people's heads. That’s what a Harvard psychologist told Lesley Stahl on “60 Minutes” last Sunday. Irving Kirsch, Ph.D., said that antidepressant drugs are no better than placebo pills for people with mild to moderate depression. He agreed that people with severe cases show a much stronger response. Kirsch’s studies of the placebo effect lead him to argue that taking the drugs may work, but that "the reason [people] get better is not because of the chemicals in the drug.” Simply the act of taking a pill or the added attention from clinicians may...

Researchers have found a troubling association between gender nonconformity in children and abuse. Childhood gender nonconformity is the term for differences from the norm for one’s sex as measured by feelings of femininity or masculinity and other indicators. It does not necessarily mean that a child will ultimately have a minority sexual orientation. Exposure to childhood physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, and probable PTSD were higher in the 10 percent of youth reporting gender nonconformity, writes lead author Andrea Roberts, Ph.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, in the March Pediatrics. The study was based on a survey of...

Jeffery Lieberman, M.D., is the victor in the three-way race to become APA's next president-elect. Lieberman, chair of APA's Council on Research and Quality Care and a member of the American Journal of Psychiatry Editorial Board, outpolled Renee Binder, M.D., and Mary Helen Davis, M.D. In the race for treasurer, David Fassler, M.D., bested Robert Feder, M.D., to win another term in that post. Three Area trustee positions were up for election. In Area 1, Jeffrey Geller, M.D., prevailed over Gail Robinson, M.D., while in Area 4 Judith Kashtan, M.D., defeated Ronald Burd, M.D., and in Area 7...

The AMA is applauding a decision by the Obama administration to postpone the date by which certain health care entities have to comply with International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition (ICD-10diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-10). "The AMA appreciates [Health and Human Services] Secretary Sebelius' swift response to address the AMA’s serious concerns with ICD-10 implementation,” said AMA President Peter Carmel, M.D., in a statement yesterday. “The timing of the ICD-10 transition could not be worse for physicians....Burdens on physician practices need to be reduced--not created--as the nation's health care system undertakes significant payment and delivery reforms.” In...

The changes in brain development that underlie autism spectrum disorder may be detectable in children as young as 6 months, according to a groundbreaking study appearing online today in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Researchers at four clinical sites prospectively examined the growth and organization of white matter in the brains of infants deemed to be at high risk of autism spectrum disorder. They found that there was an aberrant pattern of white matter development in those infants who went on to display autism spectrum disorder by 24 months, compared to those who did not. The finding is...

The House and Senate last week passed yet another postponement of the huge looming cuts in the fees physicians receive for treating Medicare beneficiaries. If the lawmakers hadn't agreed to this delay, fees would have been slashed by about 27 percent on March 1. The new target date for implementing the fee cuts is January 1, 2013, assuming that President Obama, as expected, signs the legislation. This is, however, one of those silver linings with a dark cloud around it, because each time the cut is put off—and Congress has done so annually for more than a dozen...

The association between small but still visible lacunar infarcts and cognitive decline has been established by population-based radiological and pathological studies. Microscopic examination of brain sections shows even smaller but substantially more numerous microinfarcts, the focus of this Review. These lesions often result from small vessel pathologies such as arteriolosclerosis or cerebral amyloid angiopathy. They typically go undetected in clinical–radiological correlation studies that rely on conventional structural MRI, although the largest acute microinfarcts can be detected by diffusion-weighted imaging.

Cavernous malformations are a subset of angiographically occult vascular malformations that have a characteristic radiographic and pathological appearance. Before the widespread use of high-resolution axial brain imaging, these lesions were typically diagnosed only when patients presented with haemorrhage and subsequent surgery revealed the pathological changes. However, with the advent and more prevalent use of MRI in the late 1980s and early 1990s, cavernous malformations became increasingly common as an incidental finding or in association with seizures.

Patients with ALS and the C9orf72 repeat expansion seem to present a recognisable phenotype characterised by earlier disease onset, the presence of cognitive and behavioural impairment, specific neuroimaging changes, a family history of neurodegeneration with autosomal dominant inheritance, and reduced survival. Recognition of patients with ALS who carry an expanded repeat is likely to be important in the context of appropriate disease management, stratification in clinical trials, and in recognition of other related phenotypes in family members.

A previous history of stroke increases the annual risk of stroke from 4·5% to 11·7% in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Despite the availability of highly effective medications, such as vitamine K antagonists, prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation remains challenging because of the narrow therapeutic window and drug interactions, patient preferences, and physician prejudices. Aspirin can sometimes be used when vitamin K antagonist treatment is not possible. Aspirin is also the only antiplatelet agent recommended for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation with a CHADS2 score lower than 1.