Can Children See Emotions in Faces?

One way in which we figure out how people are feeling is by looking at their faces. Being able to do this allows us to react in the right way in social situations. But, are young children good at recognizing facial expressions showing emotion? And how does this ability develop throughout childhood and the teenage years? Children are able to recognize certain emotions very well when they are just 6 years old, but become better at recognizing other emotions as they grow older. At all ages, girls seem to have less difficulty than boys in recognizing emotions. Hormones that our bodies produce at puberty do not only influence how our bodies develop but also influence how our brains develop and how we change emotionally. Understanding more about the typical development of emotion recognition can guide us in helping children who have difficulties with these skills

Specific neural correlates of successful learning and adaptation during social exchanges

Cooperation and betrayal are universal features of social interactions, and knowing who to trust is vital in human society. Previous studies have identified brain regions engaged by decision making during social encounters, but the mechanisms supporting modification of future behaviour by utilizing social experience are not well characterized. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we show that cooperation and betrayal during social exchanges elicit specific patterns of neural activity associated with future behaviour. Unanticipated cooperation leads to greater behavioural adaptation than unexpected betrayal, and is signalled by specific neural responses in the striatum and midbrain. Neural responses to betrayal and willingness to trust novel partners both decrease as the number of individuals encountered during repeated social encounters increases. We propose that, as social groups increase in size, uncooperative or untrustworthy behaviour becomes progressively less surprising, with cooperation becoming increasingly important as a stimulus for social learning. Effects on reputation of non-trusting decisions may also act to drive pro-social behaviour. Our findings characterize the dynamic neural processes underlying social adaptation, and suggest that the brain is optimized to cooperate with trustworthy partners, rather than avoiding those who might betray us

The benefits of digitisation of psychiatric care facilities

The potential benefits of providing digital mental healthcare to isolated rural populations are emphasised in two articles from Pakistan. Novel programmes of support have been instituted by both private and publicly funded services

Shared genetic influences between dimensional ASD and ADHD symptoms during child and adolescent development

Abstract Background Shared genetic influences between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms have been reported. Cross-trait genetic relationships are, however, subject to dynamic changes during development. We investigated the continuity of genetic overlap between ASD and ADHD symptoms in a general population sample during childhood and adolescence. We also studied uni- and cross-dimensional trait-disorder links with respect to genetic ADHD and ASD risk. Methods Social-communication difficulties (N ≤ 5551, Social and Communication Disorders Checklist, SCDC) and combined hyperactive-impulsive/inattentive ADHD symptoms (N ≤ 5678, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ-ADHD) were repeatedly measured in a UK birth cohort (ALSPAC, age 7 to 17 years). Genome-wide summary statistics on clinical ASD (5305 cases; 5305 pseudo-controls) and ADHD (4163 cases; 12,040 controls/pseudo-controls) were available from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Genetic trait variances and genetic overlap between phenotypes were estimated using genome-wide data. Results In the general population, genetic influences for SCDC and SDQ-ADHD scores were shared throughout development. Genetic correlations across traits reached a similar strength and magnitude (cross-trait r g ≤ 1, p min  = 3 × 10−4) as those between repeated measures of the same trait (within-trait r g ≤ 0.94, p min  = 7 × 10−4). Shared genetic influences between traits, especially during later adolescence, may implicate variants in K-RAS signalling upregulated genes (p-meta = 6.4 × 10−4). Uni-dimensionally, each population-based trait mapped to the expected behavioural continuum: risk-increasing alleles for clinical ADHD were persistently associated with SDQ-ADHD scores throughout development (marginal regression R 2 = 0.084%). An age-specific genetic overlap between clinical ASD and social-communication difficulties during childhood was also shown, as per previous reports. Cross-dimensionally, however, neither SCDC nor SDQ-ADHD scores were linked to genetic risk for disorder. Conclusions In the general population, genetic aetiologies between social-communication difficulties and ADHD symptoms are shared throughout child and adolescent development and may implicate similar biological pathways that co-vary during development. Within both the ASD and the ADHD dimension, population-based traits are also linked to clinical disorder, although much larger clinical discovery samples are required to reliably detect cross-dimensional trait-disorder relationships

Mental health and neurodevelopment in children and adolescents with Turner syndrome

OBJECTIVES: Turner syndrome (TS) is a rare sex chromosome aneuploidy, with an incidence of four in 10,000 new-born girls. TS is often associated with impaired social communication skills, but the extent to which these are attributable to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is uncertain. We made standardized assessments of the mental health and associated neurodevelopmental disorders in children and adolescents with TS and report on the prevalence of concurrent conditions. METHODS: Our sample comprised 127 girls with TS, 5-19 years of age. We obtained reports of their mental health from a combination of diagnostic interview (the Development and Wellbeing Assessment (DAWBA)), from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and from the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2). Sources of information included parents, teachers and self-reports. The prevalence of mental health disorders in this sample was compared with age/sex matched national English data from typical controls. RESULTS: Most individuals with TS (83%) had experienced significant social communication difficulties and nearly one in four (23%) met diagnostic criteria for ASD on the DAWBA. One-third (34%) had at least one mental health or neurodevelopmental condition, and those girls with an ASD were at a greater risk of a co-occurring emotional disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). CONCLUSION: Children and adolescents with TS are substantially more likely to meet criteria for ASD than their typically developing peers. Our finding has clinical implications for appropriate behavioural management from preschool through to adolescence

The benefits of digitisation of psychiatric care facilities

The potential benefits of providing digital mental healthcare to isolated rural populations are emphasised in two articles from Pakistan. Novel programmes of support have been instituted by both private and publicly funded services

Practising psychiatry in Sri Lanka: challenges and opportunities

This month's issue of BJPsych International focuses on psychiatry in Sri Lanka, with articles on suggested improvements in education and training, the country's outdated legislation regarding involuntary psychiatric treatment, and the misuse of prescription medications