Antisocial behaviour in adolescence: The role of reward processing

Rewards are fundamental in directing our behaviour, yet maladaptive reward processing can lead to risky and impaired decision making. The nature of reward processing in individuals who display antisocial behaviour is poorly understood, particularly in adolescents. The present thesis examined reward processing in young male offenders involved in the criminal justice system. A multi-method approach to the examination of reward was adopted, using personality, neuropsychological and psychophysiological approaches. The heterogeneity of antisocial behaviour was explored by using self-report and official criminal records. The first study explored reward traits in young offenders (n=85) and non-offending controls (n=50). Trait reward drive was heightened in offenders and reward seeking traits positively predicted antisocial behaviour measures, while the response to reward was negatively associated with psychopathic traits and conduct problems. The second chapter focussed on neuropsychological and behavioural measures of reward and the results showed that young offenders (n=56) and matched controls (n=44) both demonstrated an increased preference for reward. However, reward seeking became deficient resulting in increased punishment for the young offenders only. The third study provided evidence that young offenders (n=33) are able to condition to reward but not to fear. The fourth study (n=66) explored descriptively the nature of substance use in young offenders; cannabis and alcohol were used frequently by a number of offenders and aspects of this behaviour were related to increased offence rate, and reward and psychopathic traits. In summary, the findings showed that young offenders differed from controls in terms of personality traits, neuropsychological and emotional functioning. Reward processing was altered in young offenders as a group compared to controls, but reward processing was not consistently associated with any particular dimension of antisocial behaviour. The results also supported past research on the importance of punishment insensitivity in antisocial behaviour. The research has extended the literature on biobehavioural factors associated with antisocial behaviour in adolescent offenders in the community and emphasises the importance of examining multiple dimensions of both reward and antisocial behaviour. The implications of these findings for policy and practitioners working with young offenders were discussed

Longitudinal studies examining the impact of prenatal and subsequent episodes of maternal depression on offspring antisocial behaviour

Maternal depression is associated with adverse child outcomes including antisocial behaviour (ASB). Prospective longitudinal studies have focused on the timing and cumulative exposure to maternal depression to further delineate the association and mechanisms of effect. The objective of this systematic review was to synthesise and evaluate the findings of longitudinal studies of maternal depression and offspring antisocial behaviour. Three databases were searched (Psychinfo, Web of Science, and Medline). Twenty of 5936 studies met inclusion criteria. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme criteria [Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (2017) CASP (cohort observation checklist). https://casp-uk.net/wpcontent/uploads/2018/01/CASP-Cohort-Study-Checklist.pdf]. Results of individual studies were highly varied, using diverse analytical approaches and not all studies explored the independent effects of different episodes. Only three studies examined hypothesised mechanisms. Prenatal, postnatal, and later episodes of depression were all predictive of antisocial outcomes. One particular time period of depression exposure did not emerge as more predictive of offspring ASB than another. However, measures of maternal depression after the perinatal period were limited and typically included a one-off assessment of mothers’ depressive symptoms that was concurrent to the assessment of offspring ASB. When cumulative exposure to maternal depression and specific timing effects were measured within the same study it was cumulative exposure that conferred the greatest risk for offspring ASB—particularly when this exposure began during the perinatal period. Findings are discussed in terms of limitations in the literature and highlight the need for future research to examine the biological and environmental mechanisms that underpin associations between maternal depression and offspring antisocial behaviour during different stages of development

The Iowa Homemaker vol.8, no.6

Pictures for the Home and School by Joanne M. Hansen, page 1 Waste in Leisure by Ethyl Cessna Morgan, page 2 Sauce for the Goose by Margaret L. Marnette, page 3 Estonia Sends Another Student by Isabel Leith, page 4 Home Economics Research by Mildred Deischer, page 5 Girls’ 4-H Clubs by Lulu Tregoning, page 6 State Association Page by Marcia E. Turner, page 8 Editorial, page 11 Who’s There and Where by Vera Caulum, page 1

Comparison of mouse models reveals a molecular distinction between psychotic illness in PWS and schizophrenia

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations affecting paternal chromosome 15q11-q13, and characterized by hypotonia, hyperphagia, impaired cognition, and behavioural problems. Psychotic illness is a challenging problem for individuals with PWS and has different rates of prevalence in distinct PWS genotypes. Previously, we demonstrated behavioural and cognitive endophenotypes of relevance to psychiatric illness in a mouse model for one of the associated PWS genotypes, namely PWS-IC, in which deletion of the imprinting centre leads to loss of paternally imprinted gene expression and over-expression of Ube3a. Here we examine the broader gene expression changes that are specific to the psychiatric endophenotypes seen in this model. To do this we compared the brain transcriptomic profile of the PWS-IC mouse to the PWS-cr model that carries a deletion of the PWS minimal critical interval spanning the snoRNA Snord116 and Ipw. Firstly, we examined the same behavioural and cognitive endophenotypes of relevance to psychiatric illness in the PWS-cr mice. Unlike the PWS-IC mice, PWS-cr exhibit no differences in locomotor activity, sensory-motor gating, and attention. RNA-seq analysis of neonatal whole brain tissue revealed a greater number of transcriptional changes between PWS-IC and wild-type littermates than between PWS-cr and wild-type littermates. Moreover, the differentially expressed genes in the PWS-IC brain were enriched for GWAS variants of episodes of psychotic illness but, interestingly, not schizophrenia. These data illustrate the molecular pathways that may underpin psychotic illness in PWS and have implications for potential therapeutic interventions

Time scale ovarian maturation in Greenland halibut

In this paper possible evidence of a prolonged ovarian development phase in Greenland halibut is presented. The reproductive cycle in this species has been originally described based on the assumption that this phase should last about one year. The results of several years of analysis showed that there is more than one year between the mean age of females at the onset of the ovarian development and the mean age of actually spawning females. Two possible interpretations of this fact are discussed: the ovarian development phase (vitellogenesis) could last more than one year, and individual spawning does not necessarily occur on an annual basis as a consequence, or the incidence of non-spawning females every year could be very high. Both possibilities have important implications for the species’ reproductive potential and stock dynamics of this valuable deep water resource

Young offenders' emotion recognition dysfunction across emotion intensities: Explaining variation using psychopathic traits, conduct disorder and offense severity

Antisocial individuals have problems recognizing negative emotions (e.g. Marsh & Blair in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 32:454–465, 2009); however, due to issues with sampling and different methods used, previous findings have been varied. Sixty-three male young offenders and 37 age-, IQ- and socio-economic status-matched male controls completed a facial emotion recognition task, which measures recognition of happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise and neutral expressions across 4 emotional intensities. Conduct disorder (YSR), and psychopathic and callous/unemotional traits (YPI) were measured, and offenders’ offense data were taken from the Youth Offending Service’s case files. Relative to controls, offenders were significantly worse at identifying sadness, low intensity disgust and high intensity fear. A significant interaction for anger was also observed, with offenders showing reduced low- but increased high-intensity anger recognition in comparison with controls. Within the young offenders levels of conduct disorder and psychopathic traits explained variation in sadness and disgust recognition, whereas offense severity explained variation in anger recognition. These results suggest that antisocial youths show specific problems in recognizing negative emotions and support the use of targeted emotion recognition interventions for problematic behavior

Walk with Me: a protocol for a pilot RCT of a peer-led walking programme to increase physical activity in inactive older adults

Background: Levels of physical activity decline with age. Some of the most disadvantaged individuals in society, such as those from lower socio-economic position, are also the most inactive. Increasing physical activity levels, particularly among those most inactive, is a public health priority. Peer-led physical activity interventions may offer a model to increase physical activity in the older adult population. This study aims to test the feasibility of a peer-led, multicomponent physical activity intervention in socio-economically disadvantaged community dwelling older adults. Methods: The Medical Research Council framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions will be used to design and test the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a multicomponent peer-led physical activity intervention. Data will be collected at baseline, immediately after the intervention (12 weeks) and 6 months after baseline measures. The pilot RCT will provide information on recruitment of peer mentors and participants and attrition rates, intervention fidelity, and data on the variability of the primary outcome (minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity measured with an accelerometer). The pilot trail will also assess the acceptability of the intervention and identify potential resources needed to undertake a definitive study. Data analyses will be descriptive and include an evaluation of eligibility, recruitment, and retention rates. The findings will be used to estimate the sample size required for a definitive trial. A detailed process evaluation using qualitative and quantitative methods will be conducted with a variety of stakeholders to identify areas of success and necessary improvements. Discussion: This paper describes the protocol for the ‘Walk with Me’ pilot RCT which will provide the information necessary to inform the design and delivery of a fully powered trial should the Walk with Me intervention prove feasible

A computational index derived from whole-genome copy number analysis is a novel tool for prognosis in early stage lung squamous cell carcinoma.

AbstractSquamous cell carcinoma of the lung is remarkable for the extent to which the same chromosomal abnormalities are detected in individual tumours. We have used next generation sequencing at low coverage to produce high resolution copy number karyograms of a series of 89 non-small cell lung tumours specifically of the squamous cell subtype. Because this methodology is able to create karyograms from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded material, we were able to use archival stored samples for which survival data were available and correlate frequently occurring copy number changes with disease outcome. No single region of genomic change showed significant correlation with survival. However, adopting a whole-genome approach, we devised an algorithm that relates to total genomic damage, specifically the relative ratios of copy number states across the genome. This algorithm generated a novel index, which is an independent prognostic indicator in early stage squamous cell carcinoma of the lung

Diverse sediment microbiota shape methane emission temperature sensitivity in Arctic lakes

Northern post-glacial lakes are significant, increasing sources of atmospheric carbon through ebullition (bubbling) of microbially-produced methane (CH4) from sediments. Ebullitive CH4 flux correlates strongly with temperature, reflecting that solar radiation drives emissions. However, here we show that the slope of the temperature-CH4 flux relationship differs spatially across two post-glacial lakes in Sweden. We compared these CH4 emission patterns with sediment microbial (metagenomic and amplicon), isotopic, and geochemical data. The temperature-associated increase in CH4 emissions was greater in lake middles—where methanogens were more abundant—than edges, and sediment communities were distinct between edges and middles. Microbial abundances, including those of CH4-cycling microorganisms and syntrophs, were predictive of porewater CH4 concentrations. Results suggest that deeper lake regions, which currently emit less CH4 than shallower edges, could add substantially to CH4 emissions in a warmer Arctic and that CH4 emission predictions may be improved by accounting for spatial variations in sediment microbiota