Application of Basic Neuroscience to Child Psychiatry

The idea for this book developed during the course of several discussions among the editors while we were working together as staff scientists in the laboratories of the Clinical Neuro­ science Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health. It was a happy coincidence that the three of us, child psychiatrists with predominantly clinical interests, selected a collaborative bench research project involving neurotransmitter receptor characterization and regulation. We appreciated the relevance of our work to child psychiatry and wished for a forum to share the excitement we enjoyed in the laboratory with our clinical colleagues. Moreover, it seemed to us that much of the pharmacological research in child psychiatry proceeded on an empirical basis, often without a compelling neurochemical rationale. This could reflect the paucity of neurochemical data that exists in child psychiatry and the very limited understanding of the pathophysiology in most psychiatric disorders that occur in childhood. Also, we bemoaned the fact that there was a virtual absence of meaningful interchange between clinical investigators in child psychiatry and their colleagues in the neurosciences. We believed that an edited book appealing to clinicians and basic scientists could serve as an initial effort to foster interchange between them. The editors wish to emphasize that this book is viewed as only a beginning in the process of interchange that must take place.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction.- 2. Brain Imaging Studies of Autism.- 3. Regulation of Neuritic Extension.- 4. Transplantation and Cellular Replacement Therap.- References.- I. BASIC NEUROSCIENCE CONSIDERATIONS.- 1. Molecular Neurobiology and Disorders of Brain Development.- 2. Neurotransmitter Assessment in Neuropsychiatric Disorders of Childhood.- 3. Role of the GABA-Benzodiazepine Receptor Complex in Stress: In Vivo Approaches and Potential Relevance to Childhood Psychopathology.- 4. Brain Recognition Sites for Methylphenidate and the Amphetamines: Their Relationship to the Dopamine Transport Complex, Glucoreceptors, and Serotonergic Neurotransmission in the Central Nervous System.- 5. Neuropeptide Modulation of Development and Behavior: Implications for Psychopathology.- 6. Drug Discrimination Studies in Animals: A Behavioral Approach to Understanding the Role of Neurotransmitter Receptor Complexes in Mediating Drug Effects.- 7. The Platelet as a Peripheral Model of Serotonergic Function in Child Psychiatry.- 8. Neuroendocrine Abnormalities in Autism and Schizophrenic Disorder of Childhood.- 9. Autoimmune Dysfunction in Neurodevelopmental Disorders of Childhood.- 10. Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia: A Paradigm for the Application of Neuroscience to the Understanding and Treatment of a Developmental Disorder.- II. APPLICATION TO SPECIFIC CLINICAL DISORDERS.- 11. Genetic Causes of Autism and the Pervasive Developmental Disorders.- 12. Biological Studies of Schizophrenia with Childhood Onset.- 13. Biological Studies of Attention-Deficit Disorder.- 14. Biochemical and Genetic Studies of Tourette’s Syndrome: Implications for Treatment and Future Research.- 15. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Neurologic and Neuroanatomic Perspectives.- 16. Neurochemical and Neuroendocrine Considerations ofObsessive-Compulsive Disorders in Childhood.- 17. The Genetics of Affective Disorder.- 18. Biochemical Correlates of Auto-Aggressive Behavior: Inferences from the Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome.- 19. Biochemical Studies of Suicide.- 20. Relationship of Down’s Syndrome to Alzheimer’s Disease.- III. EVALUATION, DRUG DEVELOPMENT, AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS.- 21. Neuropsychological Evaluation of Children.- 22. Evaluation of the Violent Adolescent.- 23. Novel Drug Development in the Developmental Disorders.- 24. Ethical Issues in Research in Child Psychiatry.