James I. Hudson, MD, ScD, SM

Dr. Hudson, in conjunction with Harrison G. Pope, MD, MPH, founded the Biological Psychiatry Laboratory in 1984 to study the causes, features, and treatments of mood disorders, eating disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, and substance abuse. Their research reflects and reinforces the advancing scientific understanding of mental disorders and their biological basis.

Dr. Hudson is a leading authority on binge eating disorder, a common cause of severe obesity, and also previously pioneered new insights into the causes and treatment of bulimia nervosa. The laboratory is arguably the leading research center in the world on the abuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). In addition, they have published extensively on the neuropsychological effects of cannabis (marijuana), “ecstasy,” and hallucinogens.

Binge eating disorder is a risk factor for obesity and carries a large public health burden. Dr. Hudson’s research addresses the prevalence and correlates of binge eating disorder, the disability associated with binge eating disorder, and the effectiveness of medications to treat binge eating disorder including studies most recently of lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse).

The lab’s other active studies are varied. In a multimodal neuroimaging study, they are using functional MRI (fMRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to identify early functional and neurochemical changes in the brains of patients with major depression who are taking the antidepressant citalopram. These changes might predict later treatment response.

Dr. Hudson and his staff are also using fMRI and MRS to examine functional and neurochemical abnormalities in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex in patients with severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Potentially this will provide valuable insights into the neurobiology of OCD, and further support the investigation of glutamate-modulating treatments for OCD.

The lab has also explored the extent to which borderline personality disorder (BPD) and its sectors of phenotypic traits are familial, and whether BPD coaggregates with other disorders in families, the extent to which latent familial internalizing and externalizing factors contribute to BPD, the degree to which traits such as anxiety, cognitive dysfunction, and aggression are associated with BPD, and the extent to which such associations reflect common familial factors.

Dr. Hudson’s team has published extensively on the issue of memory for traumatic events such as childhood sexual abuse, pointing out that the hypothesis of “repressed memory” is not supported by valid scientific evidence.

Additionally, the lab’s researchers have developed and explored the theory that a shared physiological abnormality contributes to a range of disorders running in families. Collectively labeled “affective spectrum disorder,” these conditions include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and fibromyalgia.