Stroke and Depression
Dr. Andrew Leuchter, Director of Adult Psychiatry at UCLA, talks about research that helps identify which patients are at highest risk for depression after a stroke. Dr. Leuchter explains that, "...It appears that strokes in the frontal portions of ...
Helping Families Cope
Dr. Ed McCabe, Chief of the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, talks about his role in helping families cope when they learn they are going to have a child with a genetic abnormality of some type. "My main job in those situations," Dr. McCabe expla...
Emotions and Physical Reactions
Psychologist and author Paul Ekman talks about the physiological changes that accompany emotions. "We were able to...establish different patterns of changes in heart rate, skin conductants, skin temperature for fear, anger, sadness and disgust," Dr ...
Bipolar Disorder
Dr. Andrew Leuchter, Director of Adult Psychiatry at UCLA, talks about bipolar disorder, explaining the cyclical, up and down nature of the illness. Dr. Leuchter notes that it tends to run in families, then discusses the use of mood stabilizers like...
Alzheimer's Disease: Prevention and Protection (Part One)
Dr. Andrew Leuchter, Director of Adult Psychiatry at UCLA, talks about the possible links between intellectual activity and Alzheimer's disease. "I'm a firm believer in use it or lose it," Dr. Leuchter explains. He also notes that, "...the rates of ...
Windows of Vulnerability
Dr. Andrew Leuchter, Director of Adult Psychiatry at UCLA, talks about times in life (for example, in one's twenties and thirties) when people have what he calls, "a large window of vulnerability" for various illnesses, including bipolar disorder (m...
Schizophrenia and the Brain
Dr. Andrew Leuchter, Director of Adult Psychiatry at UCLA, talks about studies showing distinctive features in the brains and brain function of many schizophrenic patients.
Depression and the Brain
Dr. Andrew Leuchter, Director of Adult Psychiatry at UCLA, talks about brain-mapping and other techniques for looking into the brain that may predict whether a patient suffering from depression is going to benefit from a particular treatment that's ...
Alzheimer's Disease and the Brain
Dr. Andrew Leuchter, Director of Adult Psychiatry at UCLA, explains that the brains of those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease have , "... characteristic neuropathology if one looks at the hippocampus area, which is the area that is most involved i...
Depression and Medication (Part Two)
Dr. Andrew Leuchter, Director of Adult Psychiatry at UCLA, talks about the link between the severity or frequency of depression episodes and the appropriate medication indicated. Dr. Leuchter notes that most of the available medications for depressi...