In the News

Two current studies by Blythe Corbett, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, and Kale Edmiston, Ph.D., a recent Vanderbilt Neuroscience graduate, highlight atypical physiological responses to social evaluative threat in adolescents with autism.  In a study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorder, male adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) showed differences in Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (a measure of the parasympathetic nervous system) indicating autonomic dysregulation.

Department of Psychiatry faculty members Blythe Corbett, Ph.D., and Kevin Sanders, M.D., and collaborators recently published findings from a double-blind, placebo-controlled study comparing the regulation of hormones implicated in the neuropathology of autism; namely oxytocin (OT) and cortisol.

Katherine Gotham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, was published recently in two peer-mediated journals.

Jenni Blackford, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, served as co-author for an article titled "Altered Prefrontal Cortex Function Marks Heightened Anxiety Risk in Children," which was recently published in the Journal of American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 

Jenni Blackford, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has been chosen to deliver the keynote address at the Inter-University Neuroscience And Mental Health in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Urbano will be presenting at the conference Sept. 20-21.

Wednesday is clinic day for Vanderbilt psychiatrist Sheryl Fleisch, M.D. The day is packed with patients, many with multiple physical and mental issues. Fleisch is dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved Vanderbilt T-shirt and a fleece jacket. She wears hiking shoes and carries a heavy backpack. There’s no white coat. No sterile hallway. No exam room. Her clinic is the street, and her patients are Nashville’s homeless.

Sheryl B. Fleisch, M.D., assistant professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, was recently selected as a 2016 recipient of the Early Career Development Award by the Association of Academic Psychiatry.

Blythe Corbett, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, served as lead author on the paper "Changes in anxiety following a randomized control trial of a theatre-based intervention for youth with autism spectrum disorder," recently published ahead of print in the journal Autism. The randomized clinical trial reports that youth with autism spectrum disorder showed changes in anxiety following participation in a peer-mediated, theatre-based intervention.

Michelle Failla, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow in Carissa Cascio's lab, was one of two postdocs selected to present her research at the Postdoctoral Association & Shared Resources Symposium in late April.  Failla used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as a ‘communication independent’ tool to measure pain responses and found that individuals with ASD seem to register pain in a similar manner as individuals without ASD.

Carissa Cascio, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, was one of several co-authors whose paper was recently published in the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. The paper, "A functional neuroimaging study of fusiform response to restricted interests in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder," can be found in the April 2016 edition of the journal. View the paper on BioMed Central.