College of Medicine

Repeat after me: Mental illness is physical

If you've ever tried to warn teenagers of the consequences of risky behavior — only to have them sigh and roll their eyes — don't blame them.

Blame their brain anatomy.

Sociologists and psychologists have long known that teen brains are predisposed to downplay risk, act impulsively and be undaunted by the threat of punishment. But now scientists are beginning to understand why.

"I think teenage behavior is probably the most misunderstood of any age group — not only by parents but by teenagers themselves," says Pradeep Bhide, a Florida State University College of Medicine neuroscientist and director of the Center for Brain Repair.

"It's a critical time in life, and a very stressful one, when they are going through so many changes at the same time that their brains are changing. The teen years are actually a very busy time for brain development."

During the past year, Bhide brought together some of the world's foremost brain researchers in a quest to explain why teenagers — and male teens in particular — often behave erratically. He and two Cornell University colleagues examined 20 of the leading research projects from brain experts around the world and recently published their findings in a special volume of the scientific journal Developmental Neuroscience.

What they found surprised them — not so much because of the behavior uncovered, but because of how much of it was explained by brain development, or lack thereof.

Unlike children or adults, for instance, teenage boys show enhanced activity in the part of the brain responsible for emotions when confronted with a threat, making the threat more difficult to ignore. In one study, even when the teens were specifically told not to respond to a threat, many could not stop themselves. Magnetic-resonance-scanner readings revealed their brain activity was strikingly different from that in adult men.

In the past decade, Bhide says, technological advances in such imaging have shed new light on what goes on inside our heads. Now researchers essentially can watch an individual's brain in action as it responds to various stimuli.

"This field has exploded," he says. "Psychologists, psychiatrists, educators, neuroscientists, criminal-justice professionals and parents are engaged in a daily struggle to understand and solve the enigma of teenage risky behaviors," Bhide said. "Such behaviors impact not only the teenagers who obviously put themselves at serious and lasting risk, but also families and societies in general."

Soldiers and first responders — as well as terrorists — are often teenage males and young men willing to put themselves in harm's way.

From an evolutionary standpoint, some theorize, such risk-taking may have been necessary to hunt, fend off danger or even compete for a mate.

"If you compare the same person as a teenager and then later as an adult, they will still tend to be more impulsive as a teenager," Bhide says. "And different parts of the brain develop on a different timetable."

All species that humans have studied begin their existence with a period of rapid brain development. For humans, brain growth inside the womb and during the first three years of life occurs at a phenomenal rate in both overall brain size and the number of pathways developed.

But as people get older, some of those pathways sort of fall by the wayside while others become major thoroughfares. The teen years, Bhide says, are an especially busy time for that process.

"The body's hormones have a pretty big effect on the brain as well," Bhide says. "And of course it's different for females and males. But, for instance, schizophrenia and certain other mental disorders appear during this time for that reason."

Teen brains also may be more susceptible to lasting damage from drugs and alcohol ingested during that brain-remodeling process — although Bhide says researchers are still looking at that issue. "What we do know is that the damage is different."

Regardless, few of us will be the same person at 47 that we were at 17, a fact you may find comforting.

"I'm always reminded of a quote from Mark Twain," Bhide says. "'When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned.'"

It’s common knowledge that teenage boys seem predisposed to risky behaviors. Now, a series of new studies is shedding light on specific brain mechanisms that help to explain what might be going on inside juvenile male brains.

Florida State University College of Medicine neuroscientist Pradeep Bhide brought together some of the world’s foremost researchers in a quest to explain why teenagers — boys, in particular — often behave erratically.

The result is a series of 19 studies that approached the question from multiple scientific domains, including psychology, neurochemistry, brain imaging, clinical neuroscience and neurobiology. The studies are published in a special volume of Developmental Neuroscience, “Teenage Brains: Think Different?”

“Psychologists, psychiatrists, educators, neuroscientists, criminal justice professionals and parents are engaged in a daily struggle to understand and solve the enigma of teenage risky behaviors,” Bhide said. “Such behaviors impact not only the teenagers who obviously put themselves at serious and lasting risk but also families and societies in general.

“The emotional and economic burdens of such behaviors are quite huge. The research described in this book offers clues to what may cause such maladaptive behaviors and how one may be able to devise methods of countering, avoiding or modifying these behaviors.”

An example of findings published in the book that provide new insights about the inner workings of a teenage boy’s brain:

Unlike children or adults, teenage boys show enhanced activity in the part of the brain that controls emotions when confronted with a threat. Magnetic resonance scanner readings in one study revealed that the level of activity in the limbic brain of adolescent males reacting to threat, even when they’ve been told not to respond to it, was strikingly different from that in adult men.

Using brain activity measurements, another team of researchers found that teenage boys were mostly immune to the threat of punishment but hypersensitive to the possibility of large gains from gambling. The results question the effectiveness of punishment as a deterrent for risky or deviant behavior in adolescent boys.

Another study demonstrated that a molecule known to be vital in developing fear of dangerous situations is less active in adolescent male brains. These findings point toward neurochemical differences between teenage and adult brains, which may underlie the complex behaviors exhibited by teenagers.

“The new studies illustrate the neurobiological basis of some of the more unusual but well-known behaviors exhibited by our teenagers,” Bhide said. “Stress, hormonal changes, complexities of psycho-social environment and peer-pressure all contribute to the challenges of assimilation faced by teenagers.

“These studies attempt to isolate, examine and understand some of these potential causes of a teenager’s complex conundrum. The research sheds light on how we may be able to better interact with teenagers at home or outside the home, how to design educational strategies and how best to treat or modify a teenager’s maladaptive behavior.”

FSU plays host to the inaugural Florida Brain Symposium. The two-day event featured neuroscientists from around the state, sharing their studies dealing with brain injuries and better ways to fight against diseases such as alzheimer’s and dementia.

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Perhaps the most talked-about presenter at the recent Florida Brain Project Symposium was not a brain researcher at all, but a Tallahassee patient.

The keynote speaker was Sandy Halperin — a retired assistant professor at Harvard’s dental school who, since being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease four years ago, has become a national advocate for accelerated research on dementia. He alternately praised the researchers for their work, pounded the lectern out of frustration with a slow-moving Congress and, as if to remind his audience of the enemy they’re pursuing, apologized occasionally for losing his train of thought.

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In the span of one year, Melissa Martin has gone from being uncertain she’d get the spot she wanted in the College of Medicine’s doctoral program to winning a prestigious research fellowship that will soon take her to Paris.

As a Chateaubriand Fellow, Martin could be one step closer to achieving her goal of becoming a funded research scientist.

“I’m hoping that what I learn in Paris, which includes really great techniques, I’ll be able to apply to the research we are doing here at the FSU College of Medicine,” Martin said. “I’ll be able to get a really good publication out of it that is both interesting and medically relevant.”

And, with that, she’ll be a better candidate for both research funding of her own and, eventually, an interesting postdoctoral position.

First things first.

While trying to decide which biomedical sciences doctoral program would be the best match for her interests, Martin received good news from a friend. The FSU College of Medicine had just hired distinguished neuroscientist Pradeep Bhide.

“He studies developmental disorders, so it was everything I was interested in,” said Martin, who received a master’s in neuroscience from FSU in 2011 before taking a job doing toxicology and chemistry in Michigan. “I thought it was perfect to come back to FSU to work with Dr. Bhide.”

At the time, Bhide wasn’t sure he’d be able to take on a doctoral candidate, but he agreed to interview Martin, whose master’s focus was on neurotransmitter systems involved in developmental disorders and social behavior.

When he saw how closely her research interests and previous training aligned with the work being done in his lab, Bhide offered Martin a graduate research assistant position.

“When I saw Melissa’s resume, and when I interviewed her, I was convinced that she had the background, preparation, motivation and commitment needed to pursue a career in neuroscience,” he said.

Bhide is director of the Center for Brain Repair at the College of Medicine and is the Jim and Betty Ann Rodgers Eminent Scholar Chair of Developmental Neuroscience. The decision to set her sights on a place in Bhide’s lab was a good one for Martin.

Christine Métin, a scientist at the Institut du Fer à Moulin in Paris, has collaborated with Bhide on previous research. She contacted him to see if he knew of any good candidates for the Chateaubriand Fellowship, which receives hundreds of applications each year for 30 available positions.

“My research collaboration with Dr. Métin is very closely related to the research project Melissa was proposing for her graduate thesis work,” said Bhide. “Therefore, when Christine mentioned the Chateaubriand Fellowship, Melissa was my natural choice. I knew also that Melissa would enjoy the challenge and training opportunities associated with working with Christine in the preparation of the application, and eventually performing new research in Christine’s lab in Paris.”

The fellowship is sponsored by the Embassy of France in the United States, which offers U.S. doctoral students in STEM disciplines the opportunity to participate in research in a French lab. The six-month fellowship includes travel expenses, health insurance and a $1,400-a-month stipend.

At the Institut du Fer à Moulin, where research centers on the development and plasticity of the nervous system, Martin plans to learn Métin’s expertise in a technological skill not yet employed in Bhide’s lab.

“I’ll be learning the live cell imaging technique,” said Martin. “It will allow us to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in neuron migration during early brain development.”

In Bhide’s lab, Martin studies inhibitory and excitatory dopamine receptors and the neurological effects of prenatal nicotine exposure.

Martin believes the combination of what she’ll learn through the fellowship and what she is learning from Bhide will prepare her for her career goals.

“I want to apply my knowledge of developmental disorders, in combination with epigenetics research, to people,” she said. “And to understand, for example, what is happening with increased risk of autism.”

Visit the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards to learn more about external awards and resources at FSU to assist during the application process.

Prenatal exposure to nicotine could manifest as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children born a generation later, according to a new study by Florida State University College of Medicine researchers.

Professors Pradeep G. Bhide and Jinmin Zhu have found evidence that ADHD associated with nicotine can be passed across generations. In other words, your child’s ADHD might be an environmentally induced health condition inherited from your grandmother, who may have smoked cigarettes during pregnancy a long time ago. And the fact that you never smoked may be irrelevant for your child’s ADHD.

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You’re Invited to a Valentine’s Day Dinner Theater Event at the University Center Club!!!

Dear Friends & Supporters of the FSU College of Medicine and the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation, What better gift to give this Holiday Season than tickets to our Valentine’s Day event! Cover both holidays by giving a gourmet dinner, a wonderful musical comedy, help a worthy cause plus claim a 50% income tax charitable deduction in 2013! Please join us at the University Center Club for an elegant sit down dinner and the award-winning, highly acclaimed musical revue:

“Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits”

Gather your loved ones and friends for an evening that’s sure to please everyone!

Friday, February 14, 2014 - doors open at 6:00 pm for cocktails, 7:00 p.m. dinner, 7:30 p.m. presentations and 8:00 p.m. show.

Seating is limited so please get your tickets by either calling Mark Marple at 850-431-4080 or visiting www.curtainsforacause.com.

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Curtains for a Cause presents a Valentine's Day dinner theater event with proceeds designated for the Brian Jackson Dystonia Research and Discovery Program at the FSU College of Medicine.

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A Florida State University researcher is making major strides on a new drug that could treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) without addictive side effects.

“If we are successful, it will be the first safe ADHD drug on the market,” said Pradeep Bhide, director of the Center for Brain Repair at Florida State University.

Bhide, a 2013 Fall GAP award winner, received $50,000 from the university to further his research on the promising new drug.

Bhide’s research into ADHD actually began in the mid-1990s when he was studying the role of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, in the fetal brain at Massachusetts General Hospital. Two colleagues at the hospital, Dr. Joseph Biederman and Dr. Tom Spencer, who specialize in pediatric psychiatry, began working with him and turned the focus of his research to the low dopamine levels frequently found in ADHD patients.

Their partnership continues today as they pursue a drug to treat ADHD in children and adults that is not addictive. Current ADHD drugs use highly habit-forming stimulants or have other undesirable side effects. Spencer noted that the addictive nature of current ADHD drugs can cause people who need treatment to avoid them due to the negative side effects.

“Their reputation is quite horrendous,” he said.

Bhide has been conducting preliminary testing on an existing drug compound. The results, so far, have been positive and he and his colleagues predict that more widespread testing will show that the compound will raise dopamine slowly, but not to an addictive level.

That means ADHD could be treated in a safer and more effective way.

Bhide and Spencer also believe longer term studies will show that tweaks to that original compound can create a medicine that will last up to two weeks – most ADHD drugs last only eight to nine hours — and not have the addictive properties of other drugs currently on the market.

This is the second time Bhide has received money from Florida State to further his ADHD work, but his research is starting to generate interest from private enterprises as well.

Drug research is slow though, requiring years of testing and laboratory work. If the studies go as planned, Bhide said it could still take a number of years to bring the drug to market.

But from Spencer’s perspective, the possibility of a safer drug for patients could be a game changer.

“More is better,” he said. “You want a bunch of different options because you never know how someone is going to react to a given type of drug. To have something new and different is very exciting.”