The serotonin transporter (5-hydroxytryptamine transporter, 5- HTT) gene (SLC6A4) is considered to be one of the most important candidate genes for genetic involvement in psychiatric conditions like anxiety, self- confidence and motivation. In the present study, we aimed to analyze the distribution of SLC6A4 promoter long and short (L and S, respectively) polymorphism in young Turkish basketball players. We enrolled 24 players in the study, 17 were females and 7 were males. 12%, 35% and 53% of the females had SS, LS and LL genotype, respectively; whereas 28,5% of the males had SS and the same percentage of them had LS, and 43% had LL genotype. When we examined the allelic counts, L allele was recorded as 71% in females and 57% in males; S allele was 29% in females and 43% in males. Our results were in agreement with the previous ones, indicating the presence of L allele in individuals dealing with sport. We suggest that SLC6A4 promoter analysis is important for genetic counseling for the individuals who are prone to be successful in sports.

The possible involvement of different neurotransmitters in the action of neuromedin S (NMS) in the memory consolidation of passive avoidance behavior was studied by pretreating rats with different receptor blockers which alone did not change the test. The involvement of cholinergic, dopaminergic, adrenergic, serotonergic, opiate and GABA-ergic receptors and nitric oxide was tested. The animals were pretreated with the non selective muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist, atropine, the non selective β-adrenergic receptor antagonist phenoxybenzamine, the β-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol, the D2, D3, D4 dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol , the non selective 5-HT2 serotonergic receptor antagonist cyproheptadine, the nonselective opioid receptor antagonist naloxone,. the γ-aminobutyric acid subunit A (GABA-A) receptor antagonist bicuculline, or the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor nitro-L-arginine. Atropine, haloperidol, phenoxybenzamine, propranolol, cyproheptadine, naloxone and nitro-Larginine prevented the effects of NMS on passive avoidance learning. Bicuculline did not change the effects of NMS. The results demonstrate that muscarinic acetylcholine, α- and β- adrenergic, dopaminergic , 5-HT2 serotonergic and opioid receptors and nitric oxide are involved as mediators. In the action of NMS on the consolidation of passive avoidance learning

Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental brain disease and a severe psychiatric disorder which is seen approximately in 1% of the society. About the half of the individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia have substance abuse story, and this rate is higher than the general population. Alcohol dependence, smoking and substance abuse has been reported very often in schizophrenia. Especially smoking rate is very high in patients with schizophrenia. The aim of this paper is to briefly review the literature related to the relationship between schizophrenia and nicotine-alcohol dependency.

Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusion that the affected person can transform into, has transformed into, or is a non-human animal. Its name is connected to the mythical supranatural stories of lycanthropy, in which humans are said to physically shape shift into wolves. According to suggested diagnostic criteria for lycanthropy, either a delusional belief in current or past transformation or behavior that suggests a person thinks of himself as transformed is considered evidence of clinical lycanthropy. Hereby we present a case of clinical lycanthropy in a male patient reporting moments of feeling himself as a wolf and behaving in a manner that resembles wolf behavior, for example howling and growling.

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Cerebellar mutism has been a well-known clinical entity that develops in a subset of patients who have undergone resection of posterior fossa tumors. It is characterized by severely diminished or absent speech output as well as other neurological, cognitive, and behavioral impairments. Though increasing numbers of case reports and literature reviews that indicate the cerebellar mutism, the mechanism of occurrence and best therapeutic approaches are not established. This article reviews current status of this devastating complication with respect to epidemiology, anatomical substrate, pathophysiology, risk factors, treatment options, prognosis and prevention.

False memories are the erroneous recollection of events that did not actually occur. False memories have been broadly investigated within the domain of long-term memory, while studies involving short-term memory are less common and provide a far less detailed ‘picture’ of this phenomenon. We tested participants in a short-term memory task involving lists of four semantically related words that had to be matched with a probe word. Crucially, the probe word could be one of the four words of the list, it could be semantically related to them, or it could be semantically unrelated to the list. Participants had to decide whether the probe was in the list. To this task we added articulatory suppression to impair rehearsal, concurrent material to remember, and changes to the visual appearance of the probes to assess the mechanism involved in short-term memory retrieval. The results showed that, similarly to the studies on longterm memory, false memories emerged more frequently for probes semantically related to the list and when rehearsal was impaired by concurrent material. The visual appearance of the stimuli did not play an important role. This set of results suggests that deep semantic processing, rather than only superficial visual processing, is taking place within a few seconds from the presentation of the probes.

Patients with anxiety spectrum disorders are a highly heterogeneous group, requiring new therapeutic strategies and individualized treatment monitoring. Today, there is a growing interest for implementing biological approaches to clinical practice in psychiatry. Quantitative EEG is an excellent tool in this regard, though it has been widely underestimated when compared to recent neuroimaging techniques. In this case series, we presented four cases with a different diagnosis of anxiety spectrum disorder and evaluated their qEEG changes before and after the treatment. In addition, we also calculated the so-called EEG cordance values as an index of cerebral perfusion and cingulate cortex activity. According to the results, there appears to be an increase in the frontal beta and theta band in our cases, which has responded to treatment. In regards to the cordance values, we found that there was a reduction in the prefrontal regions up to %38 percent following the treatment. Based on previous studies, this may also indirectly suggest reduction in the cingulate cortex activity. The possible implications of these findings were discussed. Taken together, this case series highlighted the potential use of qEEG power values, normative z-scores and cordance values in treatment response monitoring of anxiety spectrum disorders.

Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease is an incurable and invariably fatal degenerative brain disease. Sporadic and variant forms of the disease can be observed among patients. We report on a patient for calling attention to clinical features and laboratory findings of CreutzfeldtJakob Disease and the psychiatric prodromal symptoms. This case demonstrates that psychiatric symptoms may also be a presenting symptom of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and this diagnosis should be considered when rapid deterioration in cognition is observed with presence of psychiatric and neurological symptoms.

Trichotillomania is a psychiatric disorder that involves repetitive hair pulling to the point of apparent loss. No approved treatment algorithm is available for trichotillomania. We present a case report of a 28-year-old female diagnosed as trichotillomania, with complaints of recurrent hair pulling resulting in noticeable hair loss. She was treated with Habit Reversal Training and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (sertraline) over a period of 6 weeks. Habit reversal training includes self-monitoring, awareness training, competing response training, and homework assignments. The aim of this case report is to provide a brief description of habit reversal training, which is unfamiliar to many professionals.