Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are known to be highly heritable. Despite decades of research, however, the genetic variations conferring susceptibility to these illnesses have yet to be identified. Such genetic variations most likely produce abnormalities of brain structure and function from which the clinical features of psychosis emerge. The Maudsley Family Study of Psychosis investigates the genetically produced markers of abnormal brain structure and function (‘intermediate phenotypes’) which underlie the clinical syndrome of schizophrenia, and more recently bipolar disorder. In this book, key findings of this important research program, and their implications for this field, are discussed in detail. Contributors outline research examining brain structure and functioning in patients with schizophrenia and their unaffected first degree relatives, incorporating detailed clinical assessments, magnetic resonance imaging, electrophysiology, eye tracking measures and neuropsychology. This book provides an improved understanding of illness pathways and potential scope for intervention in order to better manage and prevent psychotic disorders and will be of interest to academics and clinicians in the field.

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This book is available as an open access ebook under a CC-BY-NC-ND licence. What is autism and where has it come from? Increased diagnostic rates, the rise of the 'neurodiversity' movement, and growing autism journalism, have recently fuelled autism's fame and controversy. The metamorphosis of autism is the first book to explain our current fascination with autism by linking it to a longer history of childhood development. Drawing from a staggering array of primary sources, Bonnie Evans traces autism back to its origins in the early twentieth century and explains why the idea of autism has always been controversial and why it experienced a 'metamorphosis' in the 1960s and 1970s. Evans takes the reader on a journey of discovery from the ill-managed wards of 'mental deficiency' hospitals, to high-powered debates in the houses of parliament, and beyond. The book will appeal to a wide market of scholars and others interested in autism.

Bipolar Disorder Vulnerability: Perspectives from Pediatric and High-Risk Populations synthesizes our current understanding of high-risk and pediatric populations to aid readers in identifying markers of vulnerability for the development of bipolar disorder, with an ultimate goal of the development of drug targets and other therapies for early diagnosis and treatment. The book provides readers with an understanding of biological and environmental factors influencing disease manifestation that will aid them in defining discrete clinical stages and, importantly, establish an empirical basis for the application of novel therapeutics in a phase of illness during which specific treatments could more effectively alter disease course. Whereas most of the literature available on the pathophysiological mechanisms of bipolar disorder focuses on chronically ill adult individuals, this represents the only book that specifically examines pediatric and high-risk populations. An estimated 30 to 60 percent of adult bipolar disorder patients have their disease onset during childhood, with early-onset cases representing a particularly severe and genetically loaded form of the illness. - Highlights diverse translational methodologies, including functional and structural neuroimaging, neuropsychological testing and integrated genomics - Examines molecular trajectories in youth with bipolar disorder and unaffected youth at high risk for developing bipolar disorder - Explores the interaction between genomic and environmental influences that shape behavior

A guide to treating psychosis that provides information on drug options and side-effects in order to allow for weighing treatment options knowledgably The Maudsley Guidelines on Advanced Prescribing in Psychosis offers a resource that puts the focus on the need to treat the individual needs of a patient. The authors – noted experts on the topic – offer an alternative to the one-size-fits-all treatment of psychosis and shows how to build psychiatrist and patient relationships that will lead to effective individual treatment plans. The book provides up-to-date data and information about commonly used anti-psychotic drugs and drugs used in bipolar disorder. The text weighs both the upsides and downsides of each pharmaceutical presented, and helps prescribers and patients weigh the costs and benefits of various options to reach an appropriate treatment plan. The authors highlight the treatment at a population level and the systems in which individual treatments take places. This important resource: Facilitates the tailoring of an appropriate treatment plan for clients manifesting signs of psychosis Offers a comparative strategy that helps gauge the suitability of one treatment plan over another Provides at-hand data and information about commonly used anti-psychotic drugs Includes an understanding of the origins and side-effects of each drug presented The Maudsley Guidelines on Advanced Prescribing in Psychosis offers psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners an essential guide for treating psychosis on an individualized level.

Advances in Physiology Research and Application: 2011 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ eBook that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Physiology. The editors have built Advances in Physiology Research and Application: 2011 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Physiology in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Advances in Physiology Research and Application: 2011 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

This book is unique in covering a wide range of design and analysis issues in genetic studies of rare variants, taking advantage of collaboration of the editors with many experts in the field through large-scale international consortia including the UK10K Project, GO-T2D and T2D-GENES. Chapters provide details of state-of-the-art methodology for rare variant detection and calling, imputation and analysis in samples of unrelated individuals and families. The book also covers analytical issues associated with the study of rare variants, such as the impact of fine-scale population structure, and with combining information on rare variants across studies in a meta-analysis framework. Genetic association studies have in the last few years substantially enhanced our understanding of factors underlying traits of high medical importance, such as body mass index, lipid levels, blood pressure and many others. There is growing empirical evidence that low-frequency and rare variants play an important role in complex human phenotypes. This book covers multiple aspects of study design, analysis and interpretation for complex trait studies focusing on rare sequence variation. In many areas of genomic research, including complex trait association studies, technology is in danger of outstripping our capacity to analyse and interpret the vast amounts of data generated. The field of statistical genetics in the whole-genome sequencing era is still in its infancy, but powerful methods to analyse the aggregation of low-frequency and rare variants are now starting to emerge. The chapter Functional Annotation of Rare Genetic Variants is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Early clinical intervention in psychosis is now a major objective of mental health services and the development of specialist intervention services has greatly facilitated research on the early phases of this disorder. In this book, contributors provide a review of the neurobiological research in people at high risk of psychosis, focusing on the transition from being at a high risk state to their first episode. Contributors consider unaffected family members and twin studies as well as the individual’s data before and after the onset of the illness. The environmental factors that contribute to a psychotic episode are also examined. Vulnerability to Psychosis presents neurobiological findings in the context of what is now known about the psychopathology and cognitive impairments that are evident in people at high risk of psychosis. It will be essential reading for clinicians working with this client group, and will interest academics looking for state of the art information in this field.

Schizophrenia is a unique project reflecting the contribution that Robin M. Murray has made to the field of psychiatry over the past 35 years, with a particular focus on the advances that have been made to the understanding and treatment of schizophrenia. International contributors have been brought together to pay tribute to Robin Murray’s work and explore the latest findings in the area. Sections cover: neurodevelopment neuroscience and pharmacology neuroimaging genetics cognition social psychiatry treatment. This book will be essential reading for psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social and basic scientists whose work is related to major mental illness, as well as admirers of the work of Robin Murray.

- The topics covered in the six sections of the book are Epidemiology and Environment, Precursors, Pathophysiological Mechanisms, Genetics, Controversies in Schizophrenia, and Treatment. - Reflects the progress made on Schizophrenia since 1986.