An fMRI study of cognitive reappraisal in major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder

Background: One common denominator to the clinical phenotypes of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) is emotion regulation impairment. Although these two conditions have been extensively studied separately, it remains unclear whether their emotion regulation impairments are underpinned by shared or distinct neurobiological alterations. Methods: We contrasted the neural correlates of negative emotion regulation across an adult sample of BPD patients (n = 19), MDD patients (n = 20), and healthy controls (HCs; n = 19). Emotion regulation was assessed using an established functional magnetic resonance imaging cognitive reappraisal paradigm. We assessed both task-related activations and modulations of interregional connectivity. Results: When compared to HCs, patients with BPD and MDD displayed homologous decreased activation in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) during cognitive reappraisal. In addition, the MDD group presented decreased activations in other prefrontal areas (i.e., left dorsolateral and bilateral orbitofrontal cortices), while the BPD group was characterized by a more extended pattern of alteration in the connectivity between the vlPFC and cortices of the visual ventral stream during reappraisal. Conclusions: This study identified, for the first time, a shared neurobiological contributor to emotion regulation deficits in MDD and BPD characterized by decreased vlPFC activity, although we also observed disorder-specific alterations. In MDD, results suggest a primary deficit in the strength of prefrontal activations, while BPD is better defined by connectivity disruptions between the vlPFC and temporal emotion processing regions. These findings substantiate, in neurobiological terms, the different profiles of emotion regulation alterations observed in these disorders

Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men

Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women's worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women's brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality

Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men

男女間の不平等と脳の性差 --男女間の不平等は脳構造の性差と関連する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-05-10.Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women’s worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7, 876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women’s brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality

Oculomotor abnormalities during reading in the offspring of late-onset alzheimer’s disease

Abstract: Introduction: Eye movement patterns during reading are well defined and documented. Each eye movement ends up in a fixation point, which allows the brain to process the incoming information and program the following saccade. In this work, we investigated whether eye movement alterations during a reading task might be already present in middle-aged, cognitively normal offspring of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (O-LOAD). Methods: 18 O-LOAD and 18 age-matched healthy individuals with no family history of LOAD participated in the study. Participants were seated in front of a 20-inch LCD monitor, and single sentences were presented on it. Eye movements were recorded with an eye tracker with a sampling rate of 1000 Hz. Results: Analysis of eye movements during reading revealed that O-LOAD displayed more fixations, shorter saccades, and shorter fixation durations than controls. Conclusion: The present study shows that O-LOAD experienced alterations in their eye movements during reading. O-LOAD eye movement behavior could be considered an initial sign of oculomotor impairment. Hence, the evaluation of eye movement during reading might be a useful tool for monitoring well-defined cognitive resources

Higher autonomic activation predicts better performance in Iowa Gambling Task

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the relationship between the autonomic nervous system basal state and performance in decision making tasks. Background: The link between performance in decision making tasks and acute changes in autonomic parameters during their execution has been extensively investigated. However, there is lacking evidence regarding the relationship between decision making and basal autonomic state. Methods: Resting autonomic nervous system activity in 18 healthy subjects was assessed by means of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis before conducting three different decision making tasks: an ambiguous one, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT); a test that assesses risk taking behavior, the Game of Dice Task (GDT); and a test that assesses reversal learning behavior, the Reversal Learning Task (RLT). The tasks were administered in a random fashion. Results: There was a direct correlation between the IGT net score and the resting low frequency HRV (r= 0.73; p<0.001), which is strongly influenced by sympathetic activity. No correlations were found between HRV and the GDT net score or the RLT last error trial. Conclusions: The results are compatible with the idea that a higher basal activation of autonomic nervous system is beneficial for subsequent decision making process

An exploratory study of sleep-wake differences of autonomic activity in patients with mild cognitive impairment: the role of melatonin as a modulating factor

Abstract: Purpose: The objective of the present study was to assess sleep-wake differences of autonomic activity in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared to control subjects. As a post-hoc objective, we sought to evaluate the mediating effect of melatonin on this association. Patients and Methods: A total of 22 MCI patients (13 under melatonin treatment) and 12 control subjects were included in this study. Sleep-wake periods were identified by actigraphy and 24hr-heart rate variability measures were obtained to study sleep-wake autonomic activity. Results: MCI patients did not show any significant differences in sleep-wake autonomic activity when compared to control subjects. Post-hoc analyses revealed that MCI patients not taking melatonin displayed lower parasympathetic sleep-wake amplitude than controls not taking melatonin (RMSSD −7 ± 1 vs 4 ± 4, p = 0.004). In addition, we observed that melatonin treatment was associated with greater parasympathetic activity during sleep (VLF 15.5 ± 0.1 vs 15.1 ± 0.1, p = 0.010) and in sleep-wake differences in MCI patients (VLF 0.5 ± 0.1 vs 0.2 ± 0.0, p = 0.004). Conclusion: These preliminary findings hint at a possible sleep-related parasympathetic vulnerability in patients at prodromal stages of dementia as well as a potential protective effect of exogenous melatonin in this population

Executive functioning in cognitively normal middle-aged offspring of late-onset Alzheimer's disease patients

Episodic memory deficits are traditionally seen as the hallmark cognitive impairment during the prodromal continuum of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). Previous studies identified early brain alterations in regions subserving executive functions in asymptomatic, middle-aged offspring of patients with LOAD (O-LOAD), suggesting that premature episodic memory deficits could be associated to executive dysfunction in this model. We hypothesized that O-LOAD would exhibit reduced executive performance evidenced by increased errors and decreased strategy use on an episodic memory task. We assessed 32 asymptomatic middle-aged O-LOAD and 28 age-equivalent control subjects (CS) with several tests that measure executive functions and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) to measure memory performance. All tests were scored using both traditional and process scores (quantification of errors and strategies underlying overall performance). T-tests were used to compare performance between both groups and Spearman correlations were implemented to measure associations between variables. O-LOAD participants exhibited decreased executive performance compared to CS as it relates to initiation time (Tower of London), mental switching (Trail Making Test B), and interference effects (Stroop Word-Color condition). Traditional RAVLT measures showed a poorer performance by O-LOAD and RAVLT process scores revealed increased interference effects on this group. Positive correlations (rs) were found between the executive measures and several RAVLT measures for O-LOAD but not for CS. In conclusion, O-LOAD participants exhibited early subtle cognitive changes in executive processing. Observed memory difficulties may be associated in part to executive deficits suggesting an interplay between memory and executive functions. Process score impairments were observed earlier than clinical decline on neuropsychological scores in this at-risk cohort and might be useful cognitive markers of preclinical LOAD.status: publishe

Cardiac autonomic activity predicts dominance in verbal over spatial reasoning tasks : results from a preliminary study

Abstract: The present study sought to determine whether autonomic activity is associated with dominance in verbal over spatial reasoning tasks. A group of 19 healthy adults who performed a verbal and spatial aptitude test was evaluated. Autonomic function was assessed by means of heart rate variability analysis, before and during the tasks. The results showed that a better relative performance in verbal over spatial reasoning tasks was associated with vagal prevalence in normal subjects

Circadian biomarkers in asymptomatic offspring of patients with late-onset Alzheimer's disease and their relationship with cognitive performance

Abstract: Introduction: Early neuropathological changes characteristic of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) impact structures that regulate circadian rhythms and particularly sleep. Indeed, sleep pattern is emerging as a potential biomarker, mechanistic pathway and treatment target in LOAD. We hypothesized that circadian rhythm anomalies would already be present in asymptomatic, middle-aged offspring of patients with LOAD (O-LOAD) prior to cognitive decline. Materials and methods: We tested 35 subjects with at least one parent with LOAD (O-LOAD) and 31 healthy individuals without family history of Alzheimer's disease (control subjects, CS) with a series of cognitive tests, as well as actigraphy measures of sleep-wake rhythm, cardiac autonomic function via heart rate variability (HRV), and bodily temperature. Results: O-LOAD displayed subtle yet significant deficits in verbal episodic memory (RAVLT learning 48.32 ± 1.59 vs. 44.12 ± 1.21, p = 0.005; delayed recall 10.55 ± 0.38 vs. 8.68 ± 0.52, p = 0.005) and language (Vocabulary 50.5 ± 1.06 vs. 45.06 ± 1.48, p= 0.004) compared to CS. O-LOAD showed a more extended sleep duration (439.26 min ± 9.41 vs. 473.66 min ± 10.57, p = .018) and reduced sleep efficiency (97.07 % ± .41 vs. 95.75 % ± .48, p = .042). No significant differences were found for body temperature or HRV variables. Correlations between increased sleep duration and poorer cognition were found in CS but not in O-LOAD. Improved cognitive performance was associated to indicators of greater sympathetic activity. Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that sleep pattern disturbances are already present very early on in relatively young asymptomatic subjects. The unexpected reduced cognitive results found in O-LOAD suggest that cognitive decline could start earlier than anticipated in the form of subtle cognitive changes within the clinically normal range. It is widely accepted that sleep pattern disturbances would result in cognitive alterations. Taken these information together with the correlations between sleep duration and cognition present in CS but absent in O-LOAD suggest some impairment in the mechanisms underlying the sleep-cognitive relationship. Sleep pattern deserves further study as a potential biomarker in LOAD, even in healthy middle-aged individuals