This study will provide preliminary information regarding the durability of long-term symptom relief after response to acute TMS administration in a medication-free population comparing two different methods of maintenance treatment: a) scheduled once monthly TMS treatment with TMS reintroduction for symptomatic worsening or b) regularly scheduled observational follow up with on-demand TMS for symptomatic worsening.

This pilot study will examine the effects of TMS on pain and craving among individuals with prescription opiate dependence. The study will involve 10 participants and six study visits.

The purpose of this pilot study is to investigate alterations in neural activity among individuals with Tourettes Syndrome. This will be acheived with single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These techniques are non-invasive. TMS is a brain stimulation method that allows us to measure the speed of information processing between brain regions as well as between the brain and the muscles. Combine with MRI, these techniques allow us to create a dynamic image of brain activity which may help guide future treatments. It is important to note that this will be used for research purposes and is not diagnostic.

The Sleep Research Data Repository (SRDR) aimed to systematically collect, analyze and store for future research sleep and sleep disorders related biological and psychological information. It will include sleep physiological measurements and the results of interviews, questionnaires, and laboratory tests. The SRDR will contain sleep related information obtained from healthy subjects and patients with psychiatric, substance abuse, neurological disorders, or any medical conditions associated with sleep disturbances. SRDR data will be made available to current and future IRB-approved investigators associated with this protocol.

MUSC is one of several sites throughout the US linked together into a clinical trials consortium. Numerous medications and devices will be tested over the next few years at the study sites. This omnibus protocol is designed to uniformly acquire brain MRI data in all participants in all of the trials at all of the sites in a manner that ultimately will allow for large analyses. There are also plans to recruit screen and scan control subjects.

This study is testing the efficacy of Prolonged Exposure for PTSD (PE) relative to treatment-as-usual in Veterans with severe and persistent mental illness (SMI; schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, severe unipolar disorder) treated at the Charleston VAMC.

Thousands of Americans each year are bereaved by the violent death of a loved one. Violent deaths may include homicide, suicide, and motor vehicle fatalities. This proposed project will be a qualitative study of perceived treatment needs and attitudes towards treatment among violently bereaved individuals. Participants will be invited to take part in a series of focus groups designed to help identify and develop interventions tailored to meet the mental health needs of the violently bereaved, particularly those experiencing more severe psychiatric problems like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and complicated bereavement. Information provided by participants will be used to help develop a psychological treatment for violently bereaved individuals.

Our recently completed study has provided the first evidence that administration of the medication propranolol, following exposure to cocaine cues, can alter drug-associated memories and reduce craving and other drug cue-elicited responses in cocaine addicted persons. The proposed research will use two methods to increase the memory altering effects of propranolol observed in our recently completed study, and document lasting effects not only on craving and cue-elicited reactions, but also on cocaine use. Positive findings will set the stage for a formal clinical trial that could lead to significantly improved treatment outcomes for this treatment-resistant addiction.

This study aims to establish a patient registry, collecting data in patients with mood disorders who are treated in routine clinical care at the participating centers in the National Network of Depression Centers (NNDC). Participants will be followed during the course (s) of their treatment. Data will be uploaded into the NNDC Data Coordinating Center database.

This study is a prospective, randomized (1:1), controlled, multisite study of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction [MBSR] in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]. MBSR will be compared to Present Centered Group Therapy [PCGT].

The specific aims of this study are:
Primary Aim: (H1) to evaluate the efficacy of MBSR in the treatment of PTSD.
Secondary Aims: (S1) to evaluate the effects of MBSR on mindfulness, depression, PTSD symptom clusters, rates of response and (S2) to evaluate the safety and tolerability of MBRS.

Exploratory Aims: It will also evaluate: (E1) whether or not the subjects’ treatment preference influences outcome; (E2) the stress-immunological-biomarkers as they relate to treatment outcome; (E3) the durability of therapeutic effects of MBSR in the treatment of PTSD, and (E4) the subjects’ acceptance of and satisfaction with MBSR.