To An Addictive Eating Pattern
According to Marcia Levin Pelchat [2] “It may be the way in which foods are consumed (e.g. alternating access and restriction) rather than their sensory properties that leads to an addictive eating pattern.[2]
[1] Ronzio, Robert A. (2003). “Craving”. The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health (2nd ed.). Facts on File. p. 176. ISBN 0-8160-4966-1.
[2] Levin Pelchat, Marcia (March 2009). “Food Addiction in Humans”. The Journal of Nutrition 139 (3): 620–622.
Daniel C. Javitt, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience: The special emphasis on the role of brain glutamate systems and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) –type glutamate receptors in health and disease[1]
Dr. Javitt’s research focuses on brain mechanisms of psychosis and other severe psychiatric disorders, with special emphasis on the role of brain glutamate systems and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) –type glutamate receptors in health and disease. Dr. Javitt was among the first to demonstrate a link between NMDA dysfunction and schizophrenia, and has been instrumental in developing glutamatergic theories of schizophrenia over the past 20 years. He was also among the first to test new classes of NMDA-based treatments for schizophrenia, including glycine, D-serine and glycine transport inhibitors, and has more recently initiated studies of NMDA receptor antagonists, such as ketamine and high-dose D-cycloserine in treatment of depression, and of brain stimulation methods, including transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as an adjunct to cognitive remediation.
Dr. Javitt has published over 250 articles on topics relating to normal and abnormal brain function in serious psychiatric illness. He has received awards for his research from numerous organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, American College of europsychopharmacology, Society for Biological Psychiatry, American College of Psychiatrists and the Child Welfare League of America. His work has also been featured in the PBS special “Prisoners of the Brain,” and Scientific American.
His research is supported by the National Institute for Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Stanley Medical Research Institute, and other philanthropic organizations. He currently serves as associate editor of Schizophrenia Bulletin, and as an editorial board member for several prestigious journals including Schizophrenia Research and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He is a former chair of the NIMH NPAS study section. He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, an advisory board member for the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation and a standing member of the Institute of Medicine Neuro Forum.[1]
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Dr. Dan Javitt, M.D. PhD, is a leading researcher in the field of schizophrenia today. He is the head of the Program in Cognitive Neuroscience and Schizophrenia at Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in New York. His current research interests include Schizophrenia, Cognitive dysfunction, Event-related potentials, Psychophysiology, PCP/NMDA receptors. As someone who is conducting clinical trials concerning the effectiveness of glycine or glycine-like substances as a possible supplementary treatment for schizophrenia, Dr. Javitt kindly agreed to share some words about his research and the future of glycine treatments in an interview with Schizophrenia.com.[2]
Dr. Dan Javitt: The focus on NMDA receptors was a fortuitous choice. In 1983, when I was a first year resident, the number one drug of abuse in the country was phencyclidine, also known as “angel dust” or PCP. People who took PCP were known to develop symptoms that closely resembled schizophrenia, but which (fortunately) resolved over time. (Most of the time PCP was not taken intentionally, but was used by drug dealers to boost the effects of other drugs such as marijuana). One of the main researchers at Albert Einstein, where I did my residency, Stephen Zukin, was working on trying to understand how PCP worked in the brain. He had discovered a receptor called the PCP receptor and was trying to figure out how it worked in the brain. At that time, NMDA receptors had not been discovered. Most people assumed that the effects of PCP had something to do with dopamine. I was fortunate that NMDA receptors were discovered while I was doing my research studies in Dr. Zukin’s laboratory. We were one of the first groups to demonstrate that PCP receptors were, in fact, simply one part of the larger NMDA receptor complex, and that PCP produces its behavioral effects by blocking NMDA receptors. Later we demonstrated that glycine reverses the behavioral effects of PCP in rodents, leading us to believe that it might be an effective treatment for schizophrenia. [2]
Courtesy of Esi-topics
[1]http://asp.cumc.columbia.edu/facdb/profile_list.asp?uni=dcj2113&DepAffil=Psychiatry
[2]http://www.schizophrenia.com/research/javitt.htm
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