Investigating risk factors and clinical correlates of copy number variants in Autism Spectrum Disorders and schizophrenia

THESIS 9841Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (OMIM 209850) and schizophrenia (OMIM 181510) are both complex neurodevelopmental disorders with extensive emotional and physical costs. Although there has been some progress in understanding the risk factors, neural correlates and treatments for these conditions, the underlying etiology of ASDs and schizophrenia have not yet been elucidated

Real-time mobile monitoring of the dynamic associations among motor activity, energy, mood, and sleep in adults with Bipolar Disorder

Importance: Biologic systems involved in the regulation of motor activity are intricately linked with other homeostatic systems such as sleep, feeding behavior, energy, and mood. Mobile monitoring technology (eg, actigraphy and ecological momentary assessment devices) allows the assessment of these multiple systems in real time. However, most clinical studies of mental disorders that use mobile devices have not focused on the dynamic associations between these systems. Objectives: To examine the directional associations among motor activity, energy, mood, and sleep using mobile monitoring in a community-identified sample, and to evaluate whether these within-day associations differ between people with a history of bipolar or other mood disorders and controls without mood disorders. Design, Setting, and Participants: This study used a nested case-control design of 242 adults, a subsample of a community-based sample of adults. Probands were recruited by mail from the greater Washington, DC, metropolitan area from January 2005 to June 2013. Enrichment of the sample for mood disorders was provided by volunteers or referrals from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center or by participants in the National Institute of Mental Health Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program. The inclusion criteria were the ability to speak English, availability to participate, and consent to contact at least 2 living first-degree relatives. Data analysis was performed from June 2013 through July 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures: Motor activity and sleep duration data were obtained from minute-to-minute activity counts from an actigraphy device worn on the nondominant wrist for 2 weeks. Mood and energy levels were assessed by subjective analogue ratings on the ecological momentary assessment (using a personal digital assistant) by participants 4 times per day for 2 weeks. Results: Of the total 242 participants, 92 (38.1%) were men and 150 (61.9%) were women, with a mean (SD) age of 48 (16.9) years. Among the participants, 54 (22.3%) had bipolar disorder (25 with bipolar I; 29 with bipolar II), 91 (37.6%) had major depressive disorder, and 97 (40.1%) were controls with no history of mood disorders. A unidirectional association was found between motor activity and subjective mood level (β = -0.018, P =.04). Bidirectional associations were observed between motor activity (β = 0.176; P =.03) and subjective energy level (β = 0.027; P =.03) as well as between motor activity (β = -0.027; P =.04) and sleep duration (β = -0.154; P =.04). Greater cross-domain reactivity was observed in bipolar disorder across all outcomes, including motor activity, sleep, mood, and energy. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that interventions focused on motor activity and energy may have greater efficacy than current approaches that target depressed mood; both active and passive tracking of multiple regulatory systems are important in designing therapeutic targets

Adolescents and young adults who are not in employment, education, or training

Newcastle Univ, Inst Neurosci, Wolfson Unit, Dept Acad Psychiat, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE4 6BE, Tyne & Wear, EnglandUniv Sussex, Dept Psychol, Brighton, E Sussex, EnglandUniv Melbourne, Orygen Youth Mental Hlth Res Ctr, Melbourne, Vic, AustraliaUniv Warwick, Warwick, EnglandUniv New S Wales, Black Dog Inst, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaUniv Sydney, Brain & Mind Res Inst, Sydney, NSW 2006, AustraliaUniv Manchester, Inst Brain Behav & Mental Hlth, Manchester, Lancs, EnglandSt Patricks Mental Hlth Serv, Young Adult Serv, Dublin, IrelandUniv Copenhagen, OPUS Early Intervent Serv, Copenhagen, DenmarkUniv Warwick, Dept Mental Hlth & Wellbeing, Warwick, EnglandUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, PRISMA Early Intervent Serv, São Paulo, BrazilOntario Ctr Excellence Child & Youth Mental Hlt, Ottawa, ON, CanadaUniv Lausanne, Dept Psychiat CHUV, Lausanne, SwitzerlandUniv Paris 07, Dept Adult Psychiat & Addict, Paris, FranceRobert Debre Univ Hosp, Dept Child & Adolescent Psychiat, Paris, FranceNTW NHS Trust, Early Intervent Psychosis Serv, Sunderland, EnglandUniv Sydney, Sch Business, Workplace Res Ctr, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaUniv Barcelona, IDIBAPS CIBERSAM, Inst Neurosci, Barcelona, SpainTech Univ Dresden, Dept Psychiat & Psychotherapy, D-01062 Dresden, GermanyInst Psychiat, Sect Psychosis Studies, London, EnglandUniv Sydney, Brain & Mind Res Inst, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, PRISMA Early Intervent Serv, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Adolescents and young adults who are not in employment, education, or training

Newcastle Univ, Inst Neurosci, Wolfson Unit, Dept Acad Psychiat, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE4 6BE, Tyne & Wear, EnglandUniv Sussex, Dept Psychol, Brighton, E Sussex, EnglandUniv Melbourne, Orygen Youth Mental Hlth Res Ctr, Melbourne, Vic, AustraliaUniv Warwick, Warwick, EnglandUniv New S Wales, Black Dog Inst, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaUniv Sydney, Brain & Mind Res Inst, Sydney, NSW 2006, AustraliaUniv Manchester, Inst Brain Behav & Mental Hlth, Manchester, Lancs, EnglandSt Patricks Mental Hlth Serv, Young Adult Serv, Dublin, IrelandUniv Copenhagen, OPUS Early Intervent Serv, Copenhagen, DenmarkUniv Warwick, Dept Mental Hlth & Wellbeing, Warwick, EnglandUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, PRISMA Early Intervent Serv, São Paulo, BrazilOntario Ctr Excellence Child & Youth Mental Hlt, Ottawa, ON, CanadaUniv Lausanne, Dept Psychiat CHUV, Lausanne, SwitzerlandUniv Paris 07, Dept Adult Psychiat & Addict, Paris, FranceRobert Debre Univ Hosp, Dept Child & Adolescent Psychiat, Paris, FranceNTW NHS Trust, Early Intervent Psychosis Serv, Sunderland, EnglandUniv Sydney, Sch Business, Workplace Res Ctr, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaUniv Barcelona, IDIBAPS CIBERSAM, Inst Neurosci, Barcelona, SpainTech Univ Dresden, Dept Psychiat & Psychotherapy, D-01062 Dresden, GermanyInst Psychiat, Sect Psychosis Studies, London, EnglandUniv Sydney, Brain & Mind Res Inst, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, PRISMA Early Intervent Serv, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Predicting Alcohol-Related Memory Problems in Older Adults: A Machine Learning Study with Multi-Domain Features

Memory problems are common among older adults with a history of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Employing a machine learning framework, the current study investigates the use of multi-domain features to classify individuals with and without alcohol-induced memory problems. A group of 94 individuals (ages 50-81 years) with alcohol-induced memory problems (the memory group) were compared with a matched control group who did not have memory problems. The random forests model identified specific features from each domain that contributed to the classification of the memory group vs. the control group (AUC = 88.29%). Specifically, individuals from the memory group manifested a predominant pattern of hyperconnectivity across the default mode network regions except for some connections involving the anterior cingulate cortex, which were predominantly hypoconnected. Other significant contributing features were: (i) polygenic risk scores for AUD, (ii) alcohol consumption and related health consequences during the past five years, such as health problems, past negative experiences, withdrawal symptoms, and the largest number of drinks in a day during the past twelve months, and (iii) elevated neuroticism and increased harm avoidance, and fewer positive "uplift" life events. At the neural systems level, hyperconnectivity across the default mode network regions, including the connections across the hippocampal hub regions, in individuals with memory problems may indicate dysregulation in neural information processing. Overall, the study outlines the importance of utilizing multidomain features, consisting of resting-state brain connectivity data collected ~18 years ago, together with personality, life experiences, polygenic risk, and alcohol consumption and related consequences, to predict the alcohol-related memory problems that arise in later life

The Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism: Overview

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are commonly occurring, heritable and polygenic disorders with etiological origins in the brain and the environment. To outline the causes and consequences of alcohol-related milestones, including AUD, and their related psychiatric comorbidities, the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) was launched in 1989 with a gene-brain-behavior framework. COGA is a family based, diverse (~25% self-identified African American, ~52% female) sample, including data on 17,878 individuals, ages 7-97 years, in 2246 families of which a proportion are densely affected for AUD. All participants responded to questionnaires (e.g., personality) and the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) which gathers information on psychiatric diagnoses, conditions and related behaviors (e.g., parental monitoring). In addition, 9871 individuals have brain function data from electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings while 12,009 individuals have been genotyped on genome-wide association study (GWAS) arrays. A series of functional genomics studies examine the specific cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying AUD. This overview provides the framework for the development of COGA as a scientific resource in the past three decades, with individual reviews providing in-depth descriptions of data on and discoveries from behavioral and clinical, brain function, genetic and functional genomics data. The value of COGA also resides in its data sharing policies, its efforts to communicate scientific findings to the broader community via a project website and its potential to nurture early career investigators and to generate independent research that has broadened the impact of gene-brain-behavior research into AUD

Diagnostic Criteria for Identifying Individuals at High Risk of Progression From Mild or Moderate to Severe Alcohol Use Disorder

ImportanceCurrent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) (DSM-5) diagnoses of substance use disorders rely on criterion count-based approaches, disregarding severity grading indexed by individual criteria.ObjectiveTo examine correlates of alcohol use disorder (AUD) across count-based severity groups (ie, mild, moderate, mild-to-moderate, severe), identify specific diagnostic criteria indicative of greater severity, and evaluate whether specific criteria within mild-to-moderate AUD differentiate across relevant correlates and manifest in greater hazards of severe AUD development.Design, setting, and participantsThis cohort study involved 2 cohorts from the family-based Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) with 7 sites across the United States: cross-sectional (assessed 1991-2005) and longitudinal (assessed 2004-2019). Statistical analyses were conducted from December 2022 to June 2023.Main outcomes and measuresSociodemographic, alcohol-related, psychiatric comorbidity, brain electroencephalography (EEG), and AUD polygenic score measures as correlates of DSM-5 AUD levels (ie, mild, moderate, severe) and criterion severity-defined mild-to-moderate AUD diagnostic groups (ie, low-risk vs high-risk mild-to-moderate).ResultsA total of 13 110 individuals from the cross-sectional COGA cohort (mean [SD] age, 37.8 [14.2] years) and 2818 individuals from the longitudinal COGA cohort (mean baseline [SD] age, 16.1 [3.2] years) were included. Associations with alcohol-related, psychiatric, EEG, and AUD polygenic score measures reinforced the role of increasing criterion counts as indexing severity. Yet within mild-to-moderate AUD (2-5 criteria), the presence of specific high-risk criteria (eg, withdrawal) identified a group reporting heavier drinking and greater psychiatric comorbidity even after accounting for criterion count differences. In longitudinal analyses, prior mild-to-moderate AUD characterized by endorsement of at least 1 high-risk criterion was associated with more accelerated progression to severe AUD (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 11.62; 95% CI, 7.54-17.92) compared with prior mild-to-moderate AUD without endorsement of high-risk criteria (aHR, 5.64; 95% CI, 3.28-9.70), independent of criterion count.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study of a combined 15 928 individuals, findings suggested that simple count-based AUD diagnostic approaches to estimating severe AUD vulnerability, which ignore heterogeneity among criteria, may be improved by emphasizing specific high-risk criteria. Such emphasis may allow better focus on individuals at the greatest risk and improve understanding of the development of AUD