Exercise induced neuroplasticity to enhance therapeutic outcomes of cognitive remediation in schizophrenia: Analyzing the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor

Cognitive impairment is a major manifestation of schizophrenia and a crucial treatment target as these deficits are closely related to patients' functional outcomes. Cognitive remediation is the gold-standard practice to address cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. There is clear evidence stating that cognitive remediation improves cognitive function and promotes structural neuroplastic changes in patients with schizophrenia, with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression emerging as a potential biomarker for its efficacy. This is particularly important as there is clear evidence relating atypical BDNF expression to cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia. Despite the valuable role of cognitive remediation in the management of schizophrenia, there is still a need to develop methods that allow maximizing its efficacy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Experimental drugs for bipolar psychosis

Psychotic features are common in bipolar disorder (BD), especially during acute mania. Even when early detected, their long-term management is difficult, essentially due to the unsatisfactory efficacy/tolerability profile of currently available treatments, thus soliciting the development of novel experimental drugs. Areas covered: Potential drug targets towards the development of experimental drugs in the treatment of bipolar psychosis are yet to be systematically characterized. Among other potential avenues, the kynurenic acid pathway may represent an intriguing opportunity. Safer lithium alternatives should also be investigated in bipolar psychosis models. Expert opinion: Regardless of the neurobiological pathways potentially worthy of investigation towards the development of experimental drugs in the treatment of bipolar psychosis, a number of unmet needs should be addressed. Primary goals of novel experimental drugs should be a better metabolic and cognitive tolerability profile, ultimately aiming to reduce the burden of acute psychotic mania and BD overall

Exercise-induced neuroprotective effects on neurodegenerative diseases: the key role of trophic factors

Age-related neurodegenerative disorders, like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, are becoming a major issue to public health care. Currently, there is no effective pharmacological treatment to address cognitive impairment in these patients. Here, we aim to explore the role of exercise-induced trophic factor enhancement in the prevention or delay of cognitive decline in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio