2024 Royer Award Presentation

EEG and fMRI Biomarkers of NMDA-Receptor Hypofunction in Schizophrenia and the Clinical High Risk for Psychosis Syndrome: Evidence From Ketamine Challenge Studies

Daniel H. Mathalon, PhD, MD
Professor in Residence • Deputy Vice Chair for Research • Co-Director, Brain Imaging and EEG Laboratory • Executive Director, UCSF Path Program for Early Psychosis • Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences • UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences

About the speaker:
Dr. Daniel Mathalon is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.  He is the Executive Director of the UCSF Path Program for Early Psychosis.  He also serves as the Deputy Vice Chair for Research representing San Francisco VA-based faculty.  
 
Dr. Mathalon received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Indiana University and his MD from Stanford University, where he also completed his psychiatry residency and research fellowship.  He began his academic career in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University, where he served on the faculty from 2000 to 2008.   
 
Dr. Mathalon’s research lab uses EEG and MRI based measures to study the nature of brain dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly schizophrenia.  A major focus of his work has been to identify neurophysiological biomarkers of risk for psychosis in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis. 
 
Dr. Mathalon has published over 400 papers and has served as principal investigator on a number of NIMH-funded grants focused on schizophrenia spectrum disorders.  He also serves on the editorial boards of several major scientific journals, including Biological Psychiatry and Schizophrenia Research.

Learning objectives:
Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the clinical definition of the clinical high risk for psychosis syndrome and its distinction from full-blown psychotic disorders, principally schizophrenia
• Discuss EEG-based ERP components MMN and P300, their abnormalities in schizophrenia and the CHR syndrome, and their prediction of clinical outcomes in CHR individuals
• Discuss fMRI-based thalamic connectivity, its abnormality in schizophrenia and the CHR syndrome, and its prediction of clinical outcomes in CHR individuals
• Discuss the rationale for pharmacological challenge studies with ketamine as a model of glutamatergic NMDA receptor hypofunction and the acute effects of ketamine on MMN, P300, and thalamic connectivity  

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In addition to the Pritzker Building, DPBS members can also watch this event live at Mount Zion (Room B730) and ZSFG (Bldg. 5, Room 7M30), as well as on Zoom (psychiatry.ucsf.edu/watchgrandrounds).

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Grand Rounds presentations are for educational purposes and intended only for behavioral/mental health professionals and clinical providers.

Continuing education (CE) credit is available for physicians, psychologists, nurses, and therapists who participate in this activity.