Neuropharmacology of Cognition and Mood in Geriatric Neuropsychiatry

Sunderland, T.

Abstract

The Unit on Geriatric Psychopharmacology has focused its efforts on the in depth study of Alzheimer's disease. The scope of investigations range from diagnostic studies to drug trials to basic science laboratory experiments. Diagnostic tests include several newly-created behavioral rating instruments, cerebrospinal fluid investigations, acute drug challenges, neuroendocrine measures, and neuroimaging techniques such as PET and SPECT scans. The drug trials are multifaceted to allow our patients entry to the program at various levels of dementia severity. These drug studies include a short-term trial of DHEA, a long-term trial of deprenyl versus hydergine, and short-term combination trials of physostigmine plus deprenyl, fluoxetine or lithium. Basic science studies focus on the development and characterization of a neuronal cell culture model of Alzheimer's disease using olfactory epithelium from Alzheimer patients and normal controls. These diverse studies are vertically integrated such that any diagnostic finding can be used as a marker for potential therapeutic efficacy and any basic science advance can quickly lead to a potential therapeutic intervention. With this type of coordinated research, the Unit on Geriatric Psychopharmacology has greatly expanded the breadth of its Alzheimer's investigations over the last year.

Funding Agency

• Agency: National Institute of Health (NIH)
• Institute: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Type: Intramural Research (Z01)
• Project #: 1Z01MH000339-11
• Application #: 3845158
• Support Year: 11
• Fiscal Year: 1992

Institution

• Name: U.S. National Institute of Mental Health
• Country: United States

Publications

Huey, Edward D; Mirza, Nadeem; Putnam, Karen T et al. (2006) Stability of CSF beta-amyloid(1-42) and tau levels by APOE genotype in Alzheimer patients. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 22:48-53

Sunderland, Trey; Hampel, Harald; Takeda, Masatoshi et al. (2006) Biomarkers in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: are we ready? J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 19:172-9

Cohen, Robert M; Szczepanik, Joanna; McManus, Michael et al. (2006) Hippocampal atrophy in the healthy is initially linear and independent of age. Neurobiol Aging 27:1385-94

Sunderland, Trey (2006) Modern diagnostic approaches in dementia: on the cusp of change. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 19:123-4

Filbey, Francesca M; Holroyd, Tom; Carver, Frederick et al. (2005) A magnetoencephalography spatiotemporal analysis of neural activities during feature binding. Neuroreport 16:1747-52

Greenwood, P M; Sunderland, Trey; Putnam, Karen et al. (2005) Scaling of visuospatial attention undergoes differential longitudinal change as a function of APOE genotype prior to old age: results from the NIMH BIOCARD study. Neuropsychology 19:830-40

Buerger, Katharina; Teipel, Stefan J; Zinkowski, Raymond et al. (2005) Increased levels of CSF phosphorylated tau in apolipoprotein E epsilon4 carriers with mild cognitive impairment. Neurosci Lett 391:48-50

Sunderland, Trey; Gur, Raquel E; Arnold, Steven E (2005) The use of biomarkers in the elderly: current and future challenges. Biol Psychiatry 58:272-6

Sunderland, Trey (2005) Geriatric psychiatry: coming of age in America. Biol Psychiatry 58:263-4

Greenwood, P M; Lambert, Chantal; Sunderland, Trey et al. (2005) Effects of apolipoprotein E genotype on spatial attention, working memory, and their interaction in healthy, middle-aged adults: results From the National Institute of Mental Health's BIOCARD study. Neuropsychology 19:199-211