Adolescent self-control predicts midlife hallucinatory experiences:40-year follow-up of a national birth cohort

Associations between self-control in adolescence and adult mental health are unclear in the general population; to our knowledge, no study has investigated self-control in relation to psychotic-like symptoms

Neural correlates of prenatal stress in young women.

open5noBACKGROUND: Prenatal stress is hypothesized to have a disruptive impact on neurodevelopmental trajectories, but few human studies have been conducted on the long-term neural correlates of prenatal exposure to stress. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between prenatal stress exposure and gray-matter volume and resting-state functional connectivity in a sample of 35 healthy women aged 14-40 years. METHOD: Voxel-based morphometry and functional connectivity analyses were performed on the whole brain and in specific regions of interest (hippocampus and amygdala). Data about prenatal/postnatal stress and obstetric complications were obtained by interviewing participants and their mothers, and reviewing obstetric records. RESULTS: Higher prenatal stress was associated with decreased gray-matter volume in the left medial temporal lobe (MTL) and both amygdalae, but not the hippocampus. Variance in gray-matter volume of these brain areas significantly correlated with depressive symptoms, after statistically adjusting for the effects of age, postnatal stress and obstetric complications. Prenatal stress showed a positive linear relationship with functional connectivity between the left MTL and the pregenual cortex. Moreover, connectivity between the left MTL and the left medial-orbitofrontal cortex partially explained variance in the depressive symptoms of offspring. CONCLUSIONS: In young women, exposure to prenatal stress showed a relationship with the morphometry and functional connectivity of brain areas involved in the pathophysiology of depressive disorders. These data provide evidence in favor of the hypothesis that early exposure to stress affects brain development and identified the MTL and amygdalae as possible targets of such exposure.openFavaro, Angela; Tenconi, Elena; Degortes, Daniela; Manara, R; Santonastaso, PaoloFavaro, Angela; Tenconi, Elena; Degortes, Daniela; Manara, R; Santonastaso, Paol

Duration of Posttraumatic Amnesia Predicts Neuropsychological and Global Outcome in Complicated Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

OBJECTIVES: Examine the effects of posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) duration on neuropsychological and global recovery from 1 to 6 months after complicated mild traumatic brain injury (cmTBI). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 330 persons with cmTBI defined as Glasgow Coma Scale score of 13 to 15 in emergency department, with well-defined abnormalities on neuroimaging. METHODS: Enrollment within 24 hours of injury with follow-up at 1, 3, and 6 months. MEASURES: Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended, California Verbal Learning Test II, and Controlled Oral Word Association Test. Duration of PTA was retrospectively measured with structured interview at 30 days postinjury. RESULTS: Despite all having a Glasgow Coma Scale Score of 13 to 15, a quarter of the sample had a PTA duration of greater than 7 days; half had PTA duration of 1 of 7 days. Both cognitive performance and Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale outcomes were strongly associated with time since injury and PTA duration, with those with PTA duration of greater than 1 week showing residual moderate disability at 6-month assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Findings reinforce importance of careful measurement of duration of PTA to refine outcome prediction and allocation of resources to those with cmTBI. Future research would benefit from standardization in computed tomographic criteria and use of severity indices beyond Glasgow Coma Scale to characterize cmTBI

Altered decision-making under risk in obesity

Background: The negative consequences of energy dense foods are well known, yet people increasingly make unhealthy food choices leading to obesity (i.e., risky decisions). The aims of this study were: [1] to compare performance in decision-making tasks under risk and under ambiguity between individuals with obesity, overweight and normal weight; [2] to examine the associations between body mass index (BMI) and decision-making, and the degree to which these associations are modulated by reward sensitivity. Methods: Seventy-nine adults were recruited and classified in three groups according to their BMI: obesity, overweight and normal-weight. Groups were similar in terms of age, education and socio-economic status, and were screened for comorbid medical and mental health conditions. Decision-making under risk was measured via the Wheel of Fortune Task (WoFT) and decision-making under ambiguity via the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Reward sensitivity was indicated by the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ). Results: Individuals with obesity made riskier choices in the WoFT, specifically in choices with an expected value close to zero and in the propensity to risk index. No differences were found in IGT performance or SPSRQ scores. BMI was associated with risk-taking (WoFT performance), independently of reward sensitivity. Conclusions: Obesity is linked to a propensity to make risky decisions in experimental conditions analogous to everyday food choices

One-year regional brain volume changes as potential predictors of cognitive function in multiple sclerosis: a pilot study

BackgroundThe most reliable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) marker of cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis (MS) is brain atrophy. However, 1-year volumetric changes prior to cognitive assessment were never studied as potential predictors of cognition, which we aim to assess with this pilot work.MethodsTwenty-two MS patients were submitted to a baseline measure of 83 regional brain volumes with MRI and re-evaluated 1 year later; they were also tested with the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS): sustained attention and processing speed were examined with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), verbal and visuo-spatial learning and memory with the learning trials from the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT) and the Brief Visuo-spatial Memory Test-revised (BVMT), respectively. Controlling for age, sex, and years of education, a multivariate linear regression model was created for each cognitive score at 1-year follow-up in a backward elimination manner, considering cross-sectional regional volumes and 1-year volume changes as potential predictors.ResultsDecreases in the volumes of the left amygdala and the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex in the year prior to assessment were identified as possible predictors of worse performance in verbal memory (P = 0.009) and visuo-spatial memory (P = 0.001), respectively, independently of cross-sectional brain regional volumes at time of testing.ConclusionOur work reveals novel 1-year regional brain volume changes as potential predictors of cognitive deficits in MS. This suggests a possible role of these regions in such deficits and might contribute to uncover cognitively deteriorating patients, whose detection is still unsatisfying in clinical practice.Open access funding provided by FCT|FCCN (b-on). Biogen, Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, UIDB/50026/2020, Fundacao para a ciencia e tecnologia, UIDP/50026/2020, Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, EXPL/MEC-NEU/0888/2021, Torcato Meira

Impulsivity and body fat accumulation are linked to cortical and subcortical brain volumes among adolescents and adults

Obesity is associated not only with metabolic and physical health conditions, but with individual variations in cognition and brain health. This study examined the association between body fat (an index of excess weight severity), impulsivity (a vulnerability factor for obesity), and brain structure among adolescents and adults across the body mass index (BMI) spectrum. We used 3D T1 weighted anatomic magnetic resonance imaging scans to map the association between body fat and volumes in regions associated with obesity and impulsivity. Participants were 127 individuals (BMI: 18–40 kg/m2; M = 25.69 ± 5.15), aged 14 to 45 years (M = 24.79 ± 9.60; female = 64). Body fat was measured with bioelectric impendence technology, while impulsivity was measured with the UPPS-P Impulsive Behaviour Scale. Results showed that higher body fat was associated with larger cerebellar white matter, medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and nucleus accumbens volume, although the latter finding was specific to adolescents. The relationship between body fat and medial OFC volume was moderated by impulsivity. Elevated impulsivity was also associated with smaller amygdala and larger frontal pole volumes. Our findings link vulnerability and severity markers of obesity with neuroanatomical measures of frontal, limbic and cerebellar structures, and unravel specific links between body fat and striatal volume in adolescence