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Focus

  • Volume 20
  • Number 1
  • January 2022

From the Guest Editor

Reviews

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages3–7

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a form of neuromodulation that stimulates the vagus nerve. VNS had been suggested as an intervention in the late 1800s and was rediscovered in the late 1980s as a promising treatment for refractory epilepsy. Since then, ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20210023

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages8–18

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an increasingly popular noninvasive brain stimulation modality. In TMS, a pulsed magnetic field is used to noninvasively stimulate a targeted brain region. Repeated stimulation produces lasting changes in brain ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20210021

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages19–31

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) comprises noninvasive neuromodulation techniques that deliver low-amplitude electrical currents to targeted brain regions with the goal of modifying neural activities. Expanding evidence from the past decade, ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20210020

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages32–35

Focused ultrasound is a novel brain stimulation modality that combines the noninvasiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and the precision of deep brain stimulation. In this review, the authors examine low-intensity focused ultrasound ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20210022

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages36–44

Safe, noninvasive, and effective treatments for brain conditions are everyone’s dream. Low-level light therapy (LLLT) based on the photobiomodulation (PBM) phenomenon has recently been adopted in practice, with solid scientific evidence. Optogenetics ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20210025

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages45–54

An ever-growing population experiences a wide range of psychopathologies, and there is now more than ever a need for clear differential diagnoses between disorders. Furthering this need is the fact that many psychological, psychiatric, and neurological ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20210024

Clinical Synthesis

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages55–63

In deep brain stimulation (DBS), a neurostimulation device is implanted to generate electrical fields in targeted deep brain regions in order to affect circuits associated with neuropsychiatric illness for potential therapeutic benefit. The development of ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20210029

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages64–70

In the past, psychotherapy and neuropharmacological approaches have been the most common treatments for disordered thoughts, moods, and behaviors. One new path of brain therapeutics is in the deployment of noninvasive approaches designed to reprogram ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20210028

Ethics Commentary

Influential Publications

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages80–89

Background: Electrical stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN) via transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) may influence afferent vagal networks. There have been 5 prior taVNS/fMRI studies, with inconsistent ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20110

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages100–116

Rationale: Delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain is limited by the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). An emerging strategy to temporarily and locally increase the permeability of the BBB is the use of transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20104

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages117–136

Effective therapy for Alzheimer's disease is a major challenge in the pharmaceutical sciences. There are six FDA approved drugs (e.g., donepezil, memantine) that show some effectiveness; however, they only relieve symptoms. Two factors hamper research. ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20106

Publication date: 01 January 2022

Pages137–151

Mental disorders are a leading cause of disability, morbidity, and mortality among civilian and military populations. Most available treatments have limited efficacy, particularly in disorders where symptoms vary over relatively short time scales. ...

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20102

Past Issues

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No.4
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1 Oct 2024

Vol. 22 | No. 4

No.3
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1 Jul 2024

Vol. 22 | No. 3

No.2
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1 Apr 2024

Vol. 22 | No. 2

No.1
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1 Jan 2024

Vol. 22 | No. 1