Cingulate and Frontopolar Cortical Projections to the Cerebellar Vermis Support Prolonged Reaction Time in Identifying Negative Emotional Scenes in Women.

We previously observed sex differences in the association of individual anxiety and reaction time (RT) during identification of negative emotional scenes in a Hariri task. Prolonged RT, an attention marker, in identifying negative (vs. neutral) images correlated with anxiety level in women but not in men.

Immunosenescence-related T cell phenotypes, structural brain imaging, and cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia: a moderated mediation analysis.

Cognitive impairment is a core characteristic of schizophrenia. Immunosenescence has been consistently implicated in the cognitive dysfunction observed in neurodegenerative diseases, but how it may relate to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia is still unclear. We explored the associations between immunosenescence and cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ, n = 65) and healthy controls (HCs, n = 39).

Functional Inputs to the Subgenual Cingulate Cortex Distinguish Neurotypical Individuals with Severe and Mild Depressive Problems: Granger Causality and Clustering Analyses.

Extant research has implicated functional connectivity of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) in major depressive disorders or depressive traits in neurotypical populations. However, prior studies have not distinguished the inputs and outputs of the sgACC, and the "diagnostic" accuracy of these connectivity metrics remains elusive. Here, we analyzed data of 890 subjects (459 women, age 22 to 35) from the Human Connectome Project using Granger causality analyses (GCA) with the sgACC as the seed and 268 regions of interest from the Shen's atlas as targets.

Serum kynurenine metabolites and cytokine levels: diagnostic and predictive implications in acute manic episodes of bipolar disorder.

In this study, we aimed to integrate serum cytokine and kynurenine metabolite levels to identify key biomarkers for diagnosing and predicting treatment outcomes in bipolar disorder during manic episodes (BDM). A total of 52 patients with BDM and 49 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Serum levels of cytokines and kynurenine metabolites were measured at baseline.

Imaging markers of neuroinflammation in aging and Alzheimer's disease and related dementia: A comprehensive review.

Neuroinflammation represents a key pathophysiological process contributing to cognitive decline during aging and may play a significant role in the development of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD). Many magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have investigated the extent and impact of neuroinflammation in older adults and in individuals at various stages of ADRD. These imaging techniques enable the assessment of blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, structural damage in white and gray matter, and functional brain impairment.

A Randomized Pilot Cognitive Behavioral Sleep Health Trial for Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes.

Objectives: The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to determine whether a cognitive-behavioral sleep health self-management intervention (CB-Sleep Health) would be more effective than a time-balanced attention control (AC) condition in improving multiple dimensions of sleep health (self-reported and objectively derived).

Methods: Young adults with T1D (ages 18-26 years) were randomly assigned to a 12-week CB-Sleep Health ( = 21) or AC condition ( = 18). They wore concurrent continuous glucose monitors and actigraphy devices and completed daily sleep surveys for 14 days at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up.

Cortisol response patterns to stress correlated to white matter integrity and duration of illness in patients with schizophrenia.

Stress plays a critical role in schizophrenia pathogenesis, and blunted cortisol responses to acute stress exposure among patients with schizophrenia may be related to damaged white matter (WM) fibers in specific brain regions. The present aim was to assess correlations between cortisol response patterns and changes in WM integrity in patients with schizophrenia and to determine if such changes relate to the duration of illness. This study included patients with chronic schizophrenia (PCS, n = 92), patients with first-episode schizophrenia (PFS, n = 86), and healthy controls (HC, n = 77).

Wearable Intervention for Alcohol Use Risk and Sleep in Young Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Young adults in the US have the highest prevalence of alcohol use disorder; technology-based interventions may help to reduce drinking.

Objective: To test the efficacy of a multimodal digital intervention of wearable feedback and coaching for improving at-risk drinking and sleep health in young adults.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This parallel phase 2 randomized clinical trial was conducted from December 17, 2018, to May 19, 2021, at a research clinic in Connecticut.

The effects of alcohol use severity and polygenic risk on gray matter volumes in young adults.

Introduction: Genetic factors contribute to alcohol misuse. Chronic alcohol consumption is associated with decreases in gray matter volumes (GMVs) of the brain. However, it remains unclear whether or how genetic risks may alter GMVs independent of the effects of alcohol exposure.

Polygenic Risks for Depression and Neural Responses to Reward and Punishment in Young Adults.

Background: Extensive research has shown aberrant reward and punishment processing in people with depression. Genetic risks contribute to depression, but whether or how these risks of depression may affect behavioral and neural responses to reward and punishment remains unclear.

Methods: We curated the data of 879 young adults performing a gambling task during brain imaging from the Human Connectome Project.

Connectomics modeling of regional networks of white-matter fractional anisotropy to predict the severity of young adult drinking.

Background: Alcohol use impacts brain structure, including white matter integrity, which can be quantified by fractional anisotropy (FA) in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). This study explored the relationship between the severity of alcohol consumption and white matter FA changes, and its sex differences, in young adults, using data from the Human Connectome Project.

Methods: We analyzed DTI data from 949 participants (491 females) and used principal component analysis (PCA) of 15 drinking metrics to quantify drinking severity.

Network structure of psychotic symptoms and childhood trauma in first-episode versus treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Objective: The study aims to examine the network structures of childhood trauma (CT) and psychotic symptoms in patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES) and treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). Specifically, it seeks to elucidate how different dimensions of CT influence symptoms across FES and TRS.

Methods: 289 patients with FES and 50 patients with TRS were assessed using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

Comparison of clinical symptoms and symptom structure across different onset ages in schizophrenia inpatients.

Objective: This study aimed to explore differences in clinical symptom profiles and symptom network structures of inpatients with schizophrenia among early-onset schizophrenia (EOS), typical-onset schizophrenia (TOS), and late-onset schizophrenia (LOS) patients.

Methods: Symptom severity was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in 654 EOS, 1664 TOS, and 369 LOS inpatients with schizophrenia from an open dataset. Symptom severity comparisons were conducted among the three age of onset groups.

Diminished reward circuit response underlies pain avoidance learning deficits in problem drinkers.

Individuals engaging in problem drinking show impaired proactive pain avoidance. As successful pain avoidance is intrinsically rewarding, this impairment suggests reward deficiency, as hypothesized for those with alcohol and substance misuse. Nevertheless, how reward circuit dysfunctions impact avoidance learning and contribute to drinking behavior remains poorly understood.

The effects of alcohol use severity and polygenic risk on gray matter volumes in young adults.

Genetic factors contribute to alcohol misuse. Chronic alcohol consumption is associated with decreases in gray matter volumes (GMVs) of the brain. However, it remains unclear whether or how genetic risks may alter GMVs independent of the effects of alcohol exposure.

Cingulate and Frontopolar Cortical Projections to the Cerebellar Vermis Support Prolonged Reaction Time in Identifying Negative Emotional Scenes in Women.

We previously observed sex differences in the association of individual anxiety and reaction time (RT) during identification of negative emotional scenes in a Hariri task. Prolonged RT in identifying negative (vs. neutral) images represents a behavioral marker of individual anxiety in women but not in men.

Neural, Motivational, and Psychological Measures of Pain Avoidance Predict Future Alcohol Use in Adult Drinkers.

Drinking as a coping method in response to pain is a complex behaviour, involving multiple neural, motivational, and psychological factors. Among these factors, pain sensitivity and pain-related drinking motive can significantly promote alcohol use. In contrast, proactive avoidance - a beneficial strategy of initiating overt actions to avoid negative outcomes - reduces harmful consumption.

Hypothalamic resting-state functional connectivity and self-evaluated aggression in young adults.

Introduction: The hypothalamus plays a pivotal role in supporting motivated behaviors, including aggression. Previous work suggested differential roles of the medial (MH) and lateral hypothalamus (LH) in aggressive behaviors, but little is known about how their resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) may relate to aggression in humans.

Methods: We employed the data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and examined the rsFC's of LH and MH in 745 young adults (393 women).

Polygenic risk for depression and resting-state functional connectivity of subgenual anterior cingulate cortex in young adults.

Background: Genetic variants may confer risk for depression by modulating brain structure and function; evidence has underscored the key role of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) in depression. We sought to examine how the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the sgACC was associated with polygenic risk for depression in a subclinical population.

Methods: Following published protocols, we computed seed-based whole-brain sgACC rsFC and calculated polygenic risk scores (PRS) using data from healthy young adults from the Human Connectome Project.

N-Methyl-d-Aspartate Receptor Antibody and Sensory Gating Deficits in Non-smoking, Minimal Antipsychotic Medication Exposure, and First-Episode Patients With Schizophrenia.

Background And Hypothesis: Sensory gating deficit is considered a pathophysiological feature of schizophrenia, which has been linked to N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) hypofunction as one of the potential underlying mechanisms. Here, we hypothesize that higher levels of NMDAR antibody (Ab) may contribute to the sensory gating deficits in schizophrenia.

Study Design: We enrolled 72 non-smoking inpatients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES), most of them with only a relatively short duration of exposure to antipsychotic medications, and 51 non-smoking healthy controls (HC).

Hypothalamic connectivities and self-evaluated aggression in young adults.

Introduction: The hypothalamus plays a pivotal role in supporting motivated behavior, including aggression. Previous work suggested differential roles of the medial hypothalamus (MH) and lateral hypothalamus (LH) in aggressive behaviors, but little is known about how their resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) may relate to aggression in humans.

Methods: We employed the data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and examined the rsFC's of LH and MH in 745 young adults (393 women).

Drinking severity mediates the relationship between hypothalamic connectivity and rule-breaking/intrusive behavior differently in young women and men: an exploratory study.

Background: The hypothalamus is a key hub of the neural circuits of motivated behavior. Alcohol misuse may lead to hypothalamic dysfunction. Here, we investigated how resting-state hypothalamic functional connectivities are altered in association with the severity of drinking and clinical comorbidities and how men and women differ in this association.

Progressive alterations of resting-state hypothalamic dysconnectivity in schizophrenia.

Background: The hypothalamus may be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Investigating hypothalamus dysfunction in schizophrenia and probing how it is related to symptoms and responds to antipsychotic medication is crucial for understanding the potential mechanism of hypothalamus dysfunction under the long-term illness.

Methods: We recruited 216 patients with schizophrenia, including 140 antipsychotic-naïve first-episode patients (FES, including 44 patients with 1-year follow-up data), 76 chronically treated schizophrenia (CTS), and 210 healthy controls (HC).