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Godfrey Pearlson, MA, MBBS

Professor of Psychiatry and of Neuroscience

Contact Information

Godfrey Pearlson, MA, MBBS

Research Summary

Large-scale studies of individuals with major psychiatric disorders and their close relatives, and of healthy persons, combining genotyping results with biological measurements to determine risk of both neuropsychiatric disorders, and associations of normal behaviors and personality traits.

Specialized Terms: Endophenenotypes; multivariate genotype/phenotype relationships; psychosis; addiction; fMRI, DTI

Extensive Research Description

Large-scale, multi-disciplinary, multi-center, endophenotype-genotype investigations to study genetic determinants of pathologic conditions, including psychosis & alcoholism, as well as quantitative traits such as impulsivity and affective instability. Many of the data from these investigations are analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques such as parallel independent component analysis.

BSNIP:Bipolar Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes. A 3000-person study examining multiple endophenotypes in individuals with schizophrenia, psychotic bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder and their first-degree relatives that includes functional and structural imaging, EEG, cognitive and oculomotor testing and genotyping.

PARDIP:Psychosis and Related Domains- Intermediate Phenotypes. Similar to BSNIP, but conducted in non-psychotic bipolar patients and controls

BARCS:Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students. A longitudinal study that examines 2100 local college students for alcoholism risk and cannabis use using genotyping and multiple endophenotypes including EEG and structural/functional imaging over a 24-month period. This study includes regular Web-based reporting.of cannabis-impaired driving:

Neuroscience of cannabis-impaired vehicle driving: this NIDA-supported research examines the evolution over time of acute effects of various doses of smoked marijuana versus placebo on realistically simulated motor vehicle driving and various neurocognitive paradigms, both inside and outside the MRI scanner, along with biological measures of THC and metabolites inblood and saliva.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Genotype; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neurobiology; Phenotype; Psychiatry; Psychotic Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Endophenotypes

Research Images

Selected Publications

Clinical Trials

ConditionsStudy Title
Addictive Behaviors; Alcohol AddictionBrief training for 18-26 year olds: Regulation of alcohol craving
Addictive Behaviors; Alcohol Addiction; Diseases of the Nervous SystemStudy for Teens with Depression