Translational Psychiatry Laboratory (Officer In-charge: Dr. G. Venkatasubramanian)

Translational Psychiatry Laboratory (Officer In-charge Dr. G. Venkatasubramanian)

The Translational Psychiatry Laboratory (TransPsych Lab) facilities have been created towards initiation of an integrated clinical research facility with focus on translational applications in psychiatry. This research facility is supported by research grants from Welcome Trust / DBT India Alliance Senior Fellowship Award as well as from the Department of Biotechnology. The goal of the TransPsych Lab is to evaluate & establish composite biomarkers involving neuroimmunobiological abnormalities in Schizophrenia & other disorders like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Bipolar Affective Disorder and Alzheimer’s disease.The vision of this centre is to create an international calibre translational research facility integrating clinical, neuroimmunological, neuropathological, neuroimaging & advanced computational research techniques to examine the “Neuroimmunopathogenetic Model for Schizophrenia”.

Completed research activities include; evidence for brain derived neurotrophic factor abnormalities in schizophrenia, clinical & neurobiological studies on the effect of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in schizophrenia, hippocampal & superior temporal gyrus abnormalities in schizophrenia, structural brain abnormalities in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), functional MRI studies involving symptom provocation paradigm in OCD. Ongoing research activities examine the Neuroimmunogenetic and neuroplastic correlates of brain abnormalities in schizophrenia, neuromodulatory effects of tDCS in schizophrenia, eye movement abnormalities in schizophrenia and OCD, EEG / ERP abnormalities in schizophrenia and OCD, neurohemodynamic abnormalities in schizophrenia using functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy and imaging-genetics studies in OCD.

The laboratory has 10 ongoing funded projects (including one COE Grant and 2 non funded projects. More than 35 researchers including PhD scholars, MD, MSc, M.Tech, DM students and faculty from NIMHANS and other collaborative institutes are currently using the lab facility. The researchers have received several awards and honors for the research carried out in the laboratory. TransPsych lab team in collaboration with the schizophrenia clinic & metabolic clinic as well as the Indian Psychiatric Society conducted a PG symposium on the art and science of choosing antipsychotics in schizophrenia at NIMHANS in March 2014.

TransPsych lab critically facilitates provision of transcranial direct current stimulation for schizophrenia patients (n=46). Research staff in the lab contributes to the clinical services of the schizophrenia clinic as well as the metabolic clinic. In addition, they facilitate in-patient care as well.

Publications ( 2013-2014)

  1. Venkatasubramanian G, Debnath M. Neuroimmunological Aberrations & Cerebral Asymmetry Abnormalities in Schizophrenia: Select Perspectives on Pathogenesis. Clinical Psychopharmacology & Neurosciences. 2014;12(1):8-18.
  2. Narayanaswamy JC, Shivakumar V, Bose A, Agarwal SM, Venkatasubramanian G, Gangadhar BN. Sustained Improvement of Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia with Add-on tDCS: A Case Report. Clinical Schizophrenia And Related Psychoses 2014 (accepted for publication)
  3. Shivakumar V, Narayanaswamy JC, Agarwal SM, Bose A, Subramaniam A, Venkatasubramanian G. Targeted, Intermittent Booster tDCS: A Novel Add-on Application for Maintenance Treatment in a Schizophrenia Patient with Refractory Auditory Verbal Hallucinations. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 2014 (accepted for publication).
  4. Sharma E, Venkatasubramanian G, Varambally S, Sivakumar P.T., Subbakrishna D.K., Gangadhar B.N. Antipsychotic Induced Metabolic Changes & Treatment Response: A Prospective Study. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 2014 (accepted for publication).
  5. Sharma E, Rao NP, Venkatasubramanian G. Response Letter to Comment on Association between Antipsychotic-induced Metabolic Side-effects and Clinical Improvement: A Review on the Evidence for “Metabolic Threshold”. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 2014;8:12-21.
  6. Amaresha AC, Danivas V, Shivakumar V, Agarwal SM, Kalmady SV, Narayanaswamy JC, Venkatasubramanian G. Clinical Correlates of Parametric Digit-Symbol Substitution Test in Schizophrenia. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 2014 (accepted for publication).
  7. Amaresha AC, Venkatasubramanian G, Muralidhar D. Needs of Siblings of Persons With Psychosis: A Systematic Descriptive Review. Clinical Psychopharmacology & Neurosciences 2014 (Accepted for publication).
  8. Narayanaswamy JC, Kalmady SV, Venkatasubramanian G, Gangadhar BN. Clinical Correlates of Superior Temporal Gyrus Volume Abnormalities in Antipsychotic-naïve Schizophrenia. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 2014 (accepted for publication)
  9. Shivakumar V, Kalmady SV, Venkatasubramanian G, Ravi V, Gangadhar BN. Do Schizophrenia Patients Age Early? Asian Journal of Psychiatry 2014 (accepted for publication)
  10. Kalmady SV, Venkatasubramanian G, Shivakumar V, Gautham S, Subramaniam A, Jose DA, Maitra A, Ravi V, Gangadhar BN. Relationship between Interleukin-6 Gene Polymorphism and Hippocampal Volume in Antipsychotic-naïve Schizophrenia: Evidence for Differential Susceptibility? PLOS One 2014;9(5):e96021.
  11. Arasappa R, Rao NP, Venkatasubramanian G, Reddy NN, Behere RV, Sivakumar PT, Gangadhar BN. Rimonabant-induced depression in schizophrenia. Indian J Psychiatry. 2014 Apr;56(2):205.
  12. Bose A, Shivakumar V, Narayanaswamy JC, Nawani H, Subramaniam A, Agarwal SM, Chhabra H, Kalmady SV, Venkatasubramanian G. Insight facilitation with add-on tDCS in Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 2014;156(1):63-65.
  13. Narayanaswamy JC, Kalmady SV, Cherian AV, Venkatasubramanian G, Reddy JY. Neuroanatomical correlates of naturalistic long-term outcome of obsessive-compulsive disorder treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2014;34(2):282-5.
  14. Nawani H, Bose, Agarwal SM, Shivakumar V, Chhabra H, Subramaniam A, Kalmady S, Narayanaswamy JC, Venkatasubramanian G. Modulation of Corollary Discharge Dysfunction in Schizophrenia by tDCS: Preliminary Evidence. Brain Stimulation 2014;7(3):486-488.
  15. Vijay Kumar, et al, Venkatasubramanian G. Antipsychotic induced Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) treated with Gabapentin: a case report. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 2014;9:89-90.
  16. Holla B, Viswanath B, Agarwal SM, Kalmady SV, Maroky AS, Jayarajan D, Bharath RD, Venkatasubramanian G, Benegal V. Visual Image-Induced Craving for Ethanol (VICE): Development, Validation, and a Pilot fMRI Study. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine 2014; 36(2): 164-169.
  17. Bose A, Agarwal SM, Kalmady SV. Venkatasubramanian G. Cognitive Mapping Deficits in Schizophrenia: A Critical Overview. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine 2014;36(1):9-26.
  18. Agarwal SM, Shivakumar V, Bose A, Subramaniam A, Nawani H, Chhabra H, Kalmady SV, Narayanaswamy JC, Venkatasubramanian G. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Schizophrenia – A Review. Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience 2013;11(3):118-125.
  19. Sharma E, Rao NP, Venkatasubramanian G. Association between Antipsychotic-induced Metabolic Side-effects and Clinical Improvement: A Review on the Evidence for “Metabolic Threshold”. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 2014;8:12-21.
  20. Narayanaswamy JC, Jose DA, Kalmady SV, Venkatasubramanian G, Janardhana Reddy YC. Clinical correlates of caudate volume in drug-naïve adult patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Res. 2013 Apr 30;212(1):7-13.
  21. Kumar D, Rao M, Raveendranathan D, Venkatasubramanian G, Varambally S, Gangadhar B. Metacognitive training for delusion in treatment resistant schizophrenia. Clin Schizophr Relat Psychoses. 2013 Mar 21:1-11.
  22. Meherwan Mehta U, Agarwal SM, Kalmady SV, Shivakumar V, Kumar CN, Venkatasubramanian G, Thirthalli J, Gangadhar BN, Pascual-Leone A, Keshavan MS. Enhancing putative mirror neuron activity with magnetic stimulation: a single-case functional neuroimaging study. Biol Psychiatry. 2013 Aug 1;74(3):e1-2.
  23. Venkatasubramanian G, Debnath M. The TRIPS (Toll-like receptors in immuno-inflammatory pathogenesis) Hypothesis: a novel postulate to understand schizophrenia. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2013 Jul;44:301-11.
  24. Dhandapani A, Narayanaswamy JC, Venkatasubramanian G. Adjuvant raloxifene treatment for negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Asian J Psychiatr. 2013Jun;6(3):254-5.
  25. Jayaram N, Rao MG, Narasimha A, Raveendranathan D, Varambally S, Venkatasubramanian G, Gangadhar BN. Vitamin B₁₂ levels and psychiatric symptomatology: a case series. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2013 Spring;25(2):150-2.
  26. Danivas V, Venkatasubramanian G. Current perspectives on chlorpromazine equivalents: Comparing apples and oranges! Indian J Psychiatry. 2013 Apr;55(2):207-8.
  27. Raveendranathan D, Shiva L, Venkatasubramanian G, Rao MG, Varambally S, Gangadhar BN. Clozapine-induced restless legs syndrome treated with aripiprazole. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2013 Spring;25(2):E62-3.
  28. Raveendranathan D, Shiva L, Venkatasubramanian G, Rao MG, Varambally S, Gangadhar BN. Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency masquerading as clozapine-resistant psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2013 Spring;25(2):E34-5.
  29. Danivas V, Kalmady SV, Venkatasubramanian G, Gangadhar BN. Thalamic shape abnormalities in antipsychotic naïve schizophrenia. Indian J Psychol Med. 2013 Jan;35(1):34-8.
  30. Agarwal SM, Jose D, Baruah U, Shivakumar V, Kalmady SV, Venkatasubramanian G, Mataix-Cols D, Reddy YC. Neurohemodynamic Correlates of Washing Symptoms in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: A Pilot fMRI Study Using Symptom Provocation Paradigm. Indian J Psychol Med. 2013 Jan;35(1):67-74.
  31. Kalmady SV, Venkatasubramanian G, Shivakumar V, Jose D, Ravi V, Gangadhar BN. Relationship between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Schneiderian First Rank Symptoms in Antipsychotic-Naïve Schizophrenia. Front Psychiatry. 2013 Jul2;4:64.
  32. Debnath M, Venkatasubramanian G. Recent advances in psychoneuroimmunology relevant to schizophrenia therapeutics. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2013Sep;26(5):433-9.
  33. Shivakumar V, Bose A, Rakesh G, Nawani H, Subramaniam A, Agarwal SM, Kalmady SV, Narayanaswamy JC, Venkatasubramanian G. Rapid improvement of auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia after add-on treatment with transcranial direct-current stimulation. J ECT. 2013 Sep;29(3):e43-4.
  34. Hariprasad VR, Varambally S, Shivakumar V, Kalmady SV, Venkatasubramanian G, Gangadhar BN. Yoga increases the volume of the hippocampus in elderly subjects. Indian J Psychiatry. 2013 Jul;55(Suppl 3):S394-6.
  35. Jayaram N, Varambally S, Behere RV, Venkatasubramanian G, Arasappa R, Christopher R, Gangadhar BN. Effect of yoga therapy on plasma oxytocin and facial emotion recognition deficits in patients of schizophrenia. Indian J Psychiatry. 2013 Jul;55(Suppl 3):S409-13.
  36. Agarwal SM, Venkatasubramanian G. Metabolic syndrome in schizophrenia: theoretical, clinical and translational perspectives. Indian J Psychol Med. 2013 Apr;35(2):117-20.
  37. Nawani H, Kalmady SV, Bose A, Shivakumar V, Rakesh G, Subramaniam A, Narayanaswamy JC, Venkatasubramanian G. Neural Basis of tDCS Effects on Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Schizophrenia : A Case Report Evidence for Cortical Neuroplasticity Modulation. J ECT. 2014;30(1) e2-4.
  38. Dahale AB, Narayanaswamy JC, Venkatasubramanian G, Bagewadi VI. Successful use of agomelatine and venlafaxine combination in major depression. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2014;36(1):e3.
  39. Divakaran A, Narayanaswamy JC, Kalmadi SV, Narayan V, Rao NP, Venkatasubramanian G. Parent-of-origin Effect in Schizophrenia and Non-affective Psychoses: Evidence from Dermatoglyphics. Indian J Psychol Med. 2013 Jul;35(3):260-7.
  40. Mehta UM, Naveen Kumar C, Venkatasubramanian G, Thirthalli J. Multimodal Sensory Distortions in Post-partum Exacerbation of Schizophrenia. Clin Schizophr Relat Psychoses. 2013 Nov 25:1-9.
  41. Rakesh G, Shivakumar V, Subramaniam A, Nawani H, Amaresha AC, Narayanaswamy JC, Venkatasubramanian G. Monotherapy with bifocal tDCS for Schizophrenia: A Case Report. Brain Stimulation 2013 Jul;6(4):708-9.
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