Neurophysiological evidence of motor preparation in inner speech and the effect of content predictability

Self-generated overt actions are preceded by a slow negativity as measured by electroencephalogram, which has been associated with motor preparation. Recent studies have shown that this neural activity is modulated by the predictability of action outcomes. It is unclear whether inner speech is also preceded by a motor-related negativity and inf luenced by the same factor. In three experiments, we compared the contingent negative variation elicited in a cue paradigm in an active vs. passive condition. In Experiment 1, participants produced an inner phoneme, at which an audible phoneme whose identity was unpredictable was concurrently presented. We found that while passive listening elicited a late contingent negative variation, inner speech production generated a more negative late contingent negative variation. In Experiment 2, the same pattern of results was found when participants were instead asked to overtly vocalize the phoneme. In Experiment 3, the identity of the audible phoneme was made predictable by establishing probabilistic expectations. We observed a smaller late contingent negative variation in the inner speech condition when the identity of the audible phoneme was predictable, but not in the passive condition. These findings suggest that inner speech is associated with motor preparatory activity that may also represent the predicted action-effects of covert actions

Modelling the Geographical Origin of Rice Cultivation in Asia Using the Rice Archaeological Database

We have compiled an extensive database of archaeological evidence for rice across Asia, including 400 sites from mainland East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. This dataset is used to compare several models for the geographical origins of rice cultivation and infer the most likely region(s) for its origins and subsequent outward diffusion. The approach is based on regression modelling wherein goodness of fit is obtained from power law quantile regressions of the archaeologically inferred age versus a least-cost distance from the putative origin(s). The Fast Marching method is used to estimate the least-cost distances based on simple geographical features. The origin region that best fits the archaeobotanical data is also compared to other hypothetical geographical origins derived from the literature, including from genetics, archaeology and historical linguistics. The model that best fits all available archaeological evidence is a dual origin model with two centres for the cultivation and dispersal of rice focused on the Middle Yangtze and the Lower Yangtze valleys

Efficacy, safety, and impact on hospitalizations of paliperidone palmitate in recent-onset schizophrenia

Fan Zhang,1 Tianmei Si,2,3 Chiun-Fang Chiou,4 Anthony WF Harris,5 Chang Yoon Kim,6 Padmashree Jahagirdar,7 Steve Ascher8 1Xian Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health (Peking University), Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 4Janssen Asia-Pacific, Singapore; 5Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Australia and Brian Dynamics Center, Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, Westmead, NSW, Australia; 6Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; 7Theorem Clinical Research, Bangalore, India; 8Janssen Research and Development, LLC, Titusville, NJ, USA Objective: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and impact on hospitalizations of long-acting injectable paliperidone palmitate (PP) treatment, in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia who had not responded satisfactorily to oral antipsychotics.Methods: In this 18-month, open-label, Phase-IIIb study from Asia-Pacific region, patients (18–50 years) with recent-onset (≤5 years) schizophrenia unsatisfactorily treated with previous oral antipsychotics were initiated on PP 150 mg eq on day 1, 100 mg eq on day 8, followed by flexible once monthly maintenance doses of 50–150 mg eq. The number and duration of hospitalizations were compared using a mirror analysis method between two periods: retrospective (12 months before PP initiation) and prospective (12 and 18 months after PP treatment) periods.Results: A total of 303 out of 521 (58%) patients (mean age, 28.7 years; 65.5% men, 92.5% Asian) completed the study. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score improved significantly from baseline to month 18 (mean [standard deviation, SD] change: -11.3 [21.38], P<0.0001, primary endpoint). Subgroup analysis revealed greater improvements among patients with worse disease severity at baseline: PANSS ≥70 versus <70 (mean [SD] change: -23.1 [24.62] vs -4.7 [15.98], P<0.0001 each). Secondary efficacy endpoints such as Clinical Global Impression of Schizophrenia (CGI-SCH), Medication Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) scores showed significant improvements (P<0.0001) from baseline; 33.3% patients achieved symptom remission. In mirror analyses set (N=474), PP significantly (P<0.0001) reduced mean number of hospitalization days/person/year (12-month: 74.3 vs 19.7; 18-month: 74.3 vs 18.9) as well as percentage of patients requiring hospitalization in past 12 months (12-month: 39.7% vs 24.6%; 18-month: 39.7% vs 25%), and PP treatment increased the proportion of patients not requiring hospitalization (12-month: 60.3% vs 75.4%; 18-month: 60.3% vs 75%) from retrospective to prospective period. Adverse events (≥15%) were extrapyramidal symptoms-related (31.3%), injection-site pain (18.6%), and insomnia (15.2%).Conclusion: PP was efficacious and generally tolerable with significant reductions observed in both number of hospitalizations and days spent in hospital.Trial registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01051531. Keywords: atypical antipsychotics, long-acting injectables, open-label, paliperidone palmitate, schizophreni

EVIDENCE OF PSITTACINE BEAK AND FEATHER DISEASE VIRUS SPILLOVER INTO WILD CRITICALLY ENDANGERED ORANGE-BELLIED PARROTS (NEOPHEMA CHRYSOGASTER)

We report the recent emergence of a novel beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) genotype in the last remaining wild population of the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster). This virus poses a significant threat to the recovery of the species and potentially its survival in the wild. We used PCR to detect BFDV in the blood of three psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD)–affected wild Orange-bellied Parrot fledglings captured as founders for an existing captive breeding recovery program. Complete BFDV genome sequence data from one of these birds demonstrating a 1,993-nucleotide-long read encompass the entire circular genome. Maximum-likelihood (ML) and neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic analysis supported the solitary position of this viral isolate in a genetically isolated branch of BFDV. On Rep gene sequencing, a homologous genotype was present in a second wild orange-bellied parrot and the third bird was infected with a distantly related genotype. These viruses have newly appeared in a population that has been intensively monitored for BFDV for the last 13 yr. The detection of two distinct lineages of BFDV in the remnant wild population of Orange-bellied Parrots, consisting of fewer than 50 birds, suggests a role for other parrot species as a reservoir for infection by spillover into this critically endangered species. The potential for such a scenario to contribute to the extinction of a remnant wild animal population is supported by epidemiologic theory

Investigating neural circuits of emotion regulation to distinguish euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder

BACKGROUND: Up to 40% of patients with bipolar disorder (BD) are initially diagnosed as having major depressive disorder (MDD), and emotional lability is a key aspect of both sets of mood disorders. However, it remains unknown whether differences in the regulation of emotions through cognitive reappraisal may serve to distinguish BD and MDD. Therefore, we examined this question in euthymic BD and MDD patients. METHODS: Thirty-eight euthymic BD, 33 euthymic MDD and 37 healthy control (HC) participants, matched for age, gender and depression severity, engaged in an emotion regulation (ER) cognitive reappraisal task during an fMRI scan were examined. Participants either reappraised (Think condition) or passively watched negative (Watch condition) or neutral (Neutral condition) pictures and rated their affect. Activation and connectivity analyses were used to examine group differences in reappraisal (Think vs Watch) and reactivity (Watch vs Neutral) conditions in ER-specific neural circuits. RESULTS: Irrespective of group, participants rated most negatively the images during the Watch condition relative to Think and Neutral conditions, and more negatively to Think relative to Neutral. Notably, BD participants exhibited reduced subgenual anterior cingulate activation (sgACC) relative to MDD during reappraisal, but exhibited greater sgACC activation relative to MDD during reactivity, whereas MDD participants elicited greater activation in right amygdala relative to BD during reactivity. We found no group differences in task-related connectivity. CONCLUSIONS: Euthymic BD and MDD patients engage differential brain regions to process and regulate emotional information. These differences could serve to distinguish the clinical groups and provide novel insights into the underlying pathophysiology of BD