Does Armed Conflict Exposure Predict Psychotic Experiences in the General Population? An Experience Sampling Study

There is mounting evidence that exposure to psychological stress and trauma increases risk of subsequent psychotic experiences (PE). However, we lack a clear understanding of the relationships between histories of trauma, stressful events in adulthood, and PE. In the present study, our aim was to investigate whether trauma history augments the risk of experiencing PE when exposed to later stressors in adulthood. We sought to address this by examining the relationship between exposure to rocket-warning sirens and PE during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, using experience sampling. Our sample consisted of 97 healthy Israeli civilians who reported their experiences via smartphone twice daily for 30 days. We conducted multilevel models with time and siren exposure as predictors to estimate PE during the conflict. Siren exposure elicited PE, and PE decreased over time as the conflict persisted. People who had experienced previous trauma in adulthood were more likely to have PE when exposed to sirens compared with people who had experienced childhood trauma. Our current findings are broadly consistent with contemporary models of psychosis, which suggest that stress is involved in its aetiology and could have important implications for early detection and intervention in psychosis

Expert international trauma clinicians’ views on the definition, composition and delivery of reintegration interventions for complex PTSD

Background: Research has previously distinguished between complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) and PTSD, with the former including a range of disturbances in self-regulatory capacities in addition to difficulties associated with PTSD. Clinical guidelines have previously recommended a phase-based approach for the treatment of CPTSD, yet the final ‘reintegration’ phase of treatment has been overlooked in research, with limited evidence into its value and effectiveness, and inconsistencies in its definitions and understanding. Objective: We set out to define and determine the key principles of ‘reintegration’ and to specify the components and method of delivery of treatment. Method: Leading national and international clinical and academic experts in CPTSD were interviewed and asked about their views of how ‘reintegration’ should be defined, its role in the treatment of CPTSD, what it should be composed of, the key principles of its delivery, and how it should be evaluated. We analysed transcripts of the interviews following the principles of Codebook Thematic Analysis. Results: We conducted 16 interviews with leading national and international experts with at least 10 years’ experience of treating people with CPTSD. Themes derived from our analysis demonstrated that while the definition and composition of reintegration varied greatly between experts, the key principles in its delivery were consistent across all experts. Conclusions: The results of this study lay the foundation for a framework of what reintegration is and how it can be used in, but also highlight the need for more research to be conducted on the role of reintegration in the treatment of CPTSD. Consensus for the definition and composition of reintegration is still yet to be reached. Possible measures for evaluating reintegration should also be explored in the future

Exposure to potentially morally injurious events in U.K. health and social care workers during COVID-19: Associations with PTSD and complex PTSD

OBJECTIVE: Health and social care workers (HSCWs) have been shown to be at risk of exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) and mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine associations between exposure to PMIEs and meeting threshold criteria for probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and probable complex PTSD (CPTSD) in U.K. HSCWs immediately after the peak of the first COVID-19 wave. METHOD: Frontline HSCWs from across the United Kingdom working in diverse roles in hospitals, nursing or care homes, and other community settings were recruited to the Frontline-COVID study via social media. Participants (n = 1,056) completed a cross-sectional online survey (May 27, 2020-July 23, 2020) which assessed exposure to PMIEs (nine-item Moral Injury Events Scale), and meeting symptom thresholds for probable PTSD and probable CPTSD (International Trauma Questionnaire). RESULTS: PMIEs related to witnessing others' wrongful actions and betrayal events were more commonly endorsed than perceived self-transgressions. The rate of probable International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11) PTSD was 8.3%, and of probable ICD-11 CPTSD was 14.2%. Betrayal-related PMIEs were a significant predictor of probable PTSD or probable CPTSD, together with having been redeployed during the pandemic. The only variable that differentially predicted probable CPTSD as compared with probable PTSD was not having had reliable access to personal protective equipment; none of the PMIE types were differential predictors for screening positive for probable PTSD versus probable CPTSD. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to PIMEs could be important for PTSD and CPTSD development. Interventions for moral injury in HSCWs should be investigated. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The effects of developmental trauma on theory of mind and its relationship to psychotic experiences: A behavioural study

BACKGROUND: Developmental psychological trauma induces vulnerability to psychosis. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood. Impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM) have been observed in adult survivors of developmental trauma and individuals with psychosis. ToM is therefore a candidate mechanism underlying the association between developmental trauma and psychosis. METHODS: We used a computerised version of the Director task - where a participant is instructed by a confederate to move an object around a 4 × 4 grid, whilst taking account of whether these objects are visible to a confederate who instructs the participant - to investigate impairments in ToM in 209 participants (age: M = 37.8, SD=13.6; 56% female). Participants were divided into a) developmental trauma-positive (DT+) and control groups (DT-) based on their history of developmental trauma and b) then further into subclinical (S) and healthy groups (H) as based on psychotic experiences indexed by the CAPE-P15. After exclusion, the numbers in each group were: DT+H (47), DT+S (84), DT-H (54), DT-S (12). (Total: 197). RESULTS: Developmental trauma exposure was associated with psychotic experiences (OR: 7.89, p < .001), which remained significant after controlling for demographic and clinical confounds (adjusted R2 = 0.452, R2 change = 0.0184, p = .009). Participants with developmental trauma (F1, 194) = 5.46, p = .020, ηp2 = 0.027) and participants more prone to psychotic experiences (F1, 194) = 4.71, p = .031, ηp2 = 0.024) demonstrated significantly lower accuracy on the Director task relative to their respective control, after controlling for the effects of age. CONCLUSIONS: ToM deficits are associated with self-reported developmental trauma and psychotic experiences. Further work is needed to explore these relationships further and whether they represent generalised or specific effect effects on developmental trauma and psychopathological domains

The acute effects of cannabidiol on emotional processing and anxiety: a neurocognitive imaging study

Rationale: There is growing interest in the therapeutic potential of cannabidiol (CBD) across a range of psychiatric disorders. CBD has been found to reduce anxiety during experimentally induced stress in anxious individuals and healthy controls. However, the mechanisms underlying the putative anxiolytic effects of CBD are unknown. // Objectives: We sought to investigate the behavioural and neural effects of a single dose of CBD vs. placebo on a range of emotion-related measures to test cognitive-mechanistic models of its effects on anxiety. // Methods: We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover, acute oral challenge of 600 mg of CBD in 24 healthy participants on emotional processing, with neuroimaging (viewing emotional faces during functional magnetic resonance imaging) and cognitive (emotional appraisal) measures as well as subjective response to experimentally induced anxiety. // Results: CBD did not produce effects on brain responses to emotional faces and cognitive measures of emotional processing, or modulate experimentally induced anxiety, relative to placebo. // Conclusions: Given the rising popularity of CBD for its putative medical benefits, these findings question whether further research is warranted to investigate the clinical potential of CBD for the treatment of anxiety disorders

Systems Biology of the Clock in Neurospora crassa

A model-driven discovery process, Computing Life, is used to identify an ensemble of genetic networks that describe the biological clock. A clock mechanism involving the genes white-collar-1 and white-collar-2 (wc-1 and wc-2) that encode a transcriptional activator (as well as a blue-light receptor) and an oscillator frequency (frq) that encodes a cyclin that deactivates the activator is used to guide this discovery process through three cycles of microarray experiments. Central to this discovery process is a new methodology for the rational design of a Maximally Informative Next Experiment (MINE), based on the genetic network ensemble. In each experimentation cycle, the MINE approach is used to select the most informative new experiment in order to mine for clock-controlled genes, the outputs of the clock. As much as 25% of the N. crassa transcriptome appears to be under clock-control. Clock outputs include genes with products in DNA metabolism, ribosome biogenesis in RNA metabolism, cell cycle, protein metabolism, transport, carbon metabolism, isoprenoid (including carotenoid) biosynthesis, development, and varied signaling processes. Genes under the transcription factor complex WCC ( = WC-1/WC-2) control were resolved into four classes, circadian only (612 genes), light-responsive only (396), both circadian and light-responsive (328), and neither circadian nor light-responsive (987). In each of three cycles of microarray experiments data support that wc-1 and wc-2 are auto-regulated by WCC. Among 11,000 N. crassa genes a total of 295 genes, including a large fraction of phosphatases/kinases, appear to be under the immediate control of the FRQ oscillator as validated by 4 independent microarray experiments. Ribosomal RNA processing and assembly rather than its transcription appears to be under clock control, suggesting a new mechanism for the post-transcriptional control of clock-controlled genes

The effects of psychosocial stress on dopaminergic function and the acute stress response

Chronic psychosocial adversity induces vulnerability to mental illnesses. Animal studies demonstrate that this may be mediated by dopaminergic dysfunction. We therefore investigated whether long-term exposure to psychosocial adversity was associated with dopamine dysfunction and its relationship to psychological and physiological responses to acute stress. Using 3,4- dihydroxy-6-[18F]-fluoro-l-phenylalanine ([18F]-DOPA) positron emission tomography (PET), we compared dopamine synthesis capacity in n = 17 human participants with high cumulative exposure to psychosocial adversity with n = 17 age- and sex-matched participants with low cumulative exposure. The PET scan took place 2 hr after the induction of acute psychosocial stress using the Montre´ al Imaging Stress Task to induce acute psychosocial stress. We found that dopamine synthesis correlated with subjective threat and physiological response to acute psychosocial stress in the low exposure group. Long-term exposure to psychosocial adversity was associated with dampened striatal dopaminergic function (p=0.03, d = 0.80) and that psychosocial adversity blunted physiological yet potentiated subjective responses to acute psychosocial stress. Future studies should investigate the roles of these changes in vulnerability to mental illnesses

Does human presynaptic striatal dopamine function predict social conformity?

Socially desirable responding (SDR) is a personality trait which reflects either a tendency to present oneself in an overly positive manner to others, consistent with social conformity (impression management (IM)), or the tendency to view one's own behaviour in an overly positive light (self-deceptive enhancement (SDE)). Neurochemical imaging studies report an inverse relationship between SDR and dorsal striatal dopamine D2/3 receptor availability. This may reflect an association between SDR and D2/3 receptor expression, synaptic dopamine levels or a combination of the two. In this study, we used a [(18)F]-DOPA positron emission tomography (PET) image database to investigate whether SDR is associated with presynaptic dopamine function. Striatal [(18)F]-DOPA uptake, ( kicer, min-1), was determined in two independent healthy participant cohorts (n=27 and 19), by Patlak analysis using a cerebellar reference region. SDR was assessed using the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R) Lie scale, and IM and SDE were measured using the Paulhus Deception Scales. No significant associations were detected between Lie, SDE or IM scores and striatal [(18)F]-DOPA kicer . These results indicate that presynaptic striatal dopamine function is not associated with social conformity and suggests that social conformity may be associated with striatal D2/3 receptor expression rather than with synaptic dopamine levels.</p