Author Archives: samweiss

There are a variety of mental health symptoms that can vary by menstrual phase and by person. Clinical psychologist Crystal Schiller, PhD, director of the UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders, recommends tracking your mood across multiple menstrual cycles to see whether there are any patterns, and then planning out self-care activities...

Dr. Dawkins recently received the Dr. Mary G. Austrom Women in Psychiatry Award! The award was presented by alumni, Dr. Emily Holmes, currently psychiatry faculty member at Indiana University School of Medicine, UNC Psychiatry Class of 2016. The Dr. Mary G. Austrom Women in Psychiatry Award is presented each year...

This article reviews what is known about the developing visual system in ASD in the first years of life; it also explores the potential canalizing role that atypical visual system maturation may have in the emergence of ASD by placing findings in the context of developmental cascades involving brain development,...

Alcohol drinking that persists despite negative consequences is a core feature of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Here we investigate whether individual variability in this behavior are due to extended alcohol exposure or pre-existing differences in rats.

In this manuscript we used a mouse model of dementia that harbors a human mutation in the tau protein. We found that neurons that are lost in Alzheimer’s Disease (locus coeruleus norepinephrine neurons) have reduced function as compared to their age matched controls.

We developed an explainable AI model that analyzes 3D CBCT scans to automatically classify and measure upper airway obstruction caused by adenoid hypertrophy in children. This tool provides clinicians with clear visual explanations and accurate assessments to support diagnosis and treatment planning.

Factors identified with a higher odds of leaving outpatient psychiatric care during COVID-19 included demographic (male sex, uninsured (self-pay) status), behavioral (inactive patient health portal), and diagnostic (anxiety and trauma stressor disorders, pervasive and specific developmental disorders, and disorders of childhood) factors. These results highlight that the reasons patients left...

Our women’s mood disorders group produced this case series on our experience treating patients with zuranolone for severe postpartum depression with suicidality.

Estrogen treatment during menopause increased right hippocampal volumes in women without depression.

We investigated how different breathing techniques impact electrical activity in the brain.