Neurogenetics of Dynamic Connectivity Patterns Associated With Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Healthy Children

Background: Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCSs) during childhood predispose to obsessive-compulsive disorder and have been associated with changes in brain circuits altered in obsessive-compulsive disorder samples. OCSs may arise from disturbed glutamatergic neurotransmission, impairing cognitive oscillations and promoting overstable functional states. Methods: A total of 227 healthy children completed the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Child Version and underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging examination. Genome-wide data were obtained from 149 of them. We used a graph theory-based approach and characterized associations between OCSs and dynamic functional connectivity (dFC). dFC evaluates fluctuations over time in FC between brain regions, which allows characterizing regions with stable connectivity patterns (attractors). We then compared the spatial similarity between OCS-dFC correlation maps and mappings of genetic expression across brain regions to identify genes potentially associated with connectivity changes. In post hoc analyses, we investigated which specific single nucleotide polymorphisms of these genes moderated the association between OCSs and patterns of dFC. Results: OCSs correlated with decreased attractor properties in the left ventral putamen and increased attractor properties in (pre)motor areas and the left hippocampus. At the specific symptom level, increased attractor properties in the right superior parietal cortex correlated with ordering symptoms. In the hippocampus, we identified two single nucleotide polymorphisms in glutamatergic neurotransmission genes (GRM7, GNAQ) that moderated the association between OCSs and attractor features. Conclusions: We provide evidence that in healthy children, the association between dFC changes and OCSs may be mapped onto brain circuits predicted by prevailing neurobiological models of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Moreover, our findings support the involvement of glutamatergic neurotransmission in such brain network changes

Functional brain connectivity prior to the COVID-19 outbreak moderates the effects of coping and perceived stress on mental health changes. A first year of COVID-19 pandemic follow-up study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to investigate the psychological impact of a global major adverse situation. Our aim was to examine, in a longitudinal prospective study, the demographic, psychological, and neurobiological factors associated with interindividual differences in resilience to the mental health impact of the pandemic. Methods: We included 2023 healthy participants (age: 54.32 ± 7.18 years, 65.69% female) from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative cohort. A linear mixed model was used to characterize the change in anxiety and depression symptoms based on data collected both pre-pandemic and during the pandemic. During the pandemic, psychological variables assessing individual differences in perceived stress and coping strategies were obtained. In addition, in a subsample (n = 433, age 53.02 ± 7.04 years, 46.88% female) with pre-pandemic resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging available, the system segregation of networks was calculated. Multivariate linear models were fitted to test associations between COVID-19-related changes in mental health and demographics, psychological features, and brain network status. Results: The whole sample showed a general increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms after the pandemic onset, and both age and sex were independent predictors. Coping strategies attenuated the impact of perceived stress on mental health. The system segregation of the frontoparietal control and default mode networks were found to modulate the impact of perceived stress on mental health. Conclusions: Preventive strategies targeting the promotion of mental health at the individual level during similar adverse events in the future should consider intervening on sociodemographic and psychological factors as well as their interplay with neurobiological substrates

Functional brain connectivity prior to the COVID-19 outbreak moderates the effects of coping and perceived stress on mental health changes. A first year of COVID-19 pandemic follow-up study

The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to investigate the psychological impact of a global major adverse situation. Our aim was to study, in a longitudinal prospective, the demographic, psychological and neurobiological factors associated with inter-individual differences in resilience to mental health pandemic impact. We included 2,023 healthy participants (age: 54.32±7.18 years, 65.69% females) from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative cohort. A linear mixed model was used to characterize the change in anxiety and depression symptoms based on the collected pre- and during-COVID-19 data. During pandemic, psychological variables assessing individual differences in perceived stress and coping strategies were obtained. Additionally, in a subsample (N=433, age:53.02 ± 7.04 years, 46.88% females) with pre-pandemic resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging available, networks' system segregation (SyS) was calculated. Multivariate linear models were fitted to test associations between COVID-19-related changes in mental health and demographics, psychological features and brain networks status. The whole sample showed a general increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms after the pandemic onset, and both age and sex were independent predictors. Coping strategies attenuated the impact of perceived stress on mental health. SyS of fronto-parietal control and default mode networks were found to modulate the impact of perceived stress on mental health. Preventive strategies destined for the promotion of mental health at an individual's level during future similar adverse events should consider intervening on sociodemographic and psychological factors, as well as their interplay with neurobiological substrates