The Emotional Brain in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Background Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by distressing obsessions and time-consuming compulsions. The disorder affects 1-3% and can be highly impairing to daily functioning and detrimental to the quality of life. Cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective treatment for 50-75% of people with OCD, leaving a considerable minority who do not benefit from the best available treatments we have today. Neuroimaging has related the disorder to the function and structure of cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical and fronto-limbic circuits. A better understanding of these circuits might contribute to a better understanding of the disorder, how current treatments change the brain, and how we can help non-responders with better treatments in the future. This is likely particularly true for fronto-limbic and affective circuits, given their role in the formation, maintenance, and extinction of fear as well as motivating behavior. The aim of this dissertation was, first, to investigate how OCD is related to brain activation during emotional processing of aversive stimuli. Secondly, we wanted to examine if unaffected siblings of OCD patients showed similar anxiety, brain activation, and connectivity during emotion provocation and regulation as their OCD-affected siblings compared to unrelated healthy controls. Lastly, we wanted to investigate if the resting-state network structure changes in OCD patients directly after the Bergen 4-Day Treatment (B4DT), a concentrated and exposure-based psychological therapy. Methods Paper I was a meta-analysis of 25 functional neuroimaging studies comparing OCD patients and healthy controls during emotion processing, when participants were exposed to aversive or neutral stimuli. In Paper II we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate distress, brain activation, and fronto-limbic connectivity during emotion provocation and regulation of neutral, fear-related, and OCD-related stimuli in 43 unmedicated OCD patients, 19 unaffected siblings, and 38 healthy controls. In Paper III we used resting-state fMRI to study the network structure of 28 OCD patients (21 unmedicated) and 19 healthy controls the day before and three days after B4DT. We examined static and dynamic graph metrics at the global, subnetwork, and regional levels, as well as between-subnetwork connectivity. Results In Paper I, we found that OCD patients showed more activation than healthy controls in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), extending into the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), bilateral amygdala (extending into the right putamen), left inferior occipital cortex, and right middle temporal gyrus during aversive versus neutral stimuli. Meta-regressions showed that medication status and comorbidity moderated amygdala, occipital and ventromedial prefrontal cortex hyperactivation, while symptom severity moderated hyperactivation in medial frontal prefrontal and superior parietal regions. In Paper II we showed that unaffected siblings resembled healthy controls in task-related distress, less amygdala activation/altered timing than OCD patients during emotion provocation. During OCD-related emotion regulation siblings showed no significant difference in dmPFC activation versus either OCD patients or healthy controls, but showed more temporo-occipital activation and dmPFC-amygdala connectivity compared to healthy controls. In Paper III we found that unmedicated OCD patients showed more frontoparietal-limbic connectivity before treatment than healthy controls. This, along with sgACC flexibility, was reduced in OCD patients directly after B4DT. Conclusions OCD patients show hyperactivation of the amygdala and related structures, but this characteristic is not directly shared with unaffected siblings during provocation or regulation of emotional information. However, siblings seem to show compensatory activation and connectivity in other areas. The rapid changes in frontoparietal-limbic connectivity and subgenual ACC flexibility suggests that concentrated treatment leads to a more independent and stable network state. OCD is related to subtle alterations in limbic activation and fronto-limbic connectivity during both emotional tasks and resting-state, which seems to vary with comorbidity and is sensitive to treatment

Er steril triploid torsk redninga for torskeoppdrett?

Oppdrett av torsk har dei siste åra møtt kraftig motvind på grunn av dårleg lønsemd og til dels dårleg omdøme grunna mykje røming. Samtidig har den biologiske føresetnaden for å lukkast med torskeoppdrett blitt betre år for år, og marknadsutsiktene er bra om ein greier å halde produksjonskostnadene nede. :: In recent years, the cod farming industry has faced a steep uphill battle on account of poor profitability and, to some extent, a bad reputation due to a large number of escapes. Meanwhile, the biological conditions for successful cod farming are constantly improving, and the market prospects are good if production costs can be kept down

Will sterile triploid cod save the cod farming industry?

Oppdrett av torsk har dei siste åra møtt kraftig motvind på grunn av dårleg lønsemd og til dels dårleg omdøme grunna mykje røming. Samtidig har den biologiske føresetnaden for å lukkast med torskeoppdrett blitt betre år for år, og marknadsutsiktene er bra om ein greier å halde produksjonskostnadene nede. :: In recent years, the cod farming industry has faced a steep uphill battle on account of poor profitability and, to some extent, a bad reputation due to a large number of escapes. Meanwhile, the biological conditions for successful cod farming are constantly improving, and the market prospects are good if production costs can be kept down

Buoyancy of Atlantic cod larvae in relation to developmental stage and maternal influences

17 pages, 5 figures, 7 tables.In this experimental study on Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, buoyancy was found to vary significantly with season, developmental stage, egg size and maternal condition. Before the start of the experiments, wild fish were caught in the Barents Sea and acclimatized to laboratory conditions. Pairs (n = 8), one female (recruit spawner) and one male, spawned naturally in large, indoor compartments of a circular tank and every third egg batch (out of up to 19 batches collected per female) was incubated in aquaria. Following sedation (50 mg l-1metomidate hydrochloride, 30 min), individual larval specific gravity was precisely reported (30 min) using a density-graduated column. Larval specific gravity (meant) increased steadily during the first early stages of development (0–25 day-degrees), remained nearly constant during the following stages (25–35 day-degrees), but then decreased gradually (35–55 day-degrees). In general, late-season larvae were significantly less buoyant, i.e. showed higher meant, than early-season larvae. Meantwas negatively correlated with female condition and egg size and dry weight. Possible implications of these findings for drift and survival are discussed.This study was supported by the Training and Mobility of Researchers Programme, EU Contract No ERBFMBICT960772 (F.S.-R.). The writing-up of this paper was also supported by EU Contract No FAIRCT- 98-4122, STEREO (O.S.K. and A.T.).Peer reviewe

Skreitokt 2023 — Kartlegging av gytebestanden av skrei i 2023

Toktet dekket kystområdet fra 70° nord sørover til og med Røstbanken, samt Vestfjorden, og ga et mengdeanslag på 128 tusen tonn moden skrei (aldersgruppene eldre enn 5 år). Dette er noe lavere enn de siste års resultat, og på størrelse med skreiinnsigene vi så tidlig på 2000-tallet. Ettersom bestanden av Nordøst-arktisk torsk er beregnet å være nedadgående, og ettersom skreinnsigene i 2021 og 2022 også var små, er resultatet i tråd med forventning. Hovedvekten av den gytende skreien var fisk som var mellom 7 og 9 år gamle.Skreitokt 2023 — Kartlegging av gytebestanden av skrei i 2023publishedVersio

Skreitokt 2020 - Kartlegging av gytebestanden av skrei 2020

Toktets akustiske dekning av torsk, hyse og sei dekket kystområdet fra 71° nord sørover til og med Røstbanken, samt Vestfjorden. Dekningen ga et mengdeanslag på 553 tusen tonn skrei (aldersgruppene 5+, modne individer). Mengdeanslaget av skrei er noe lavere enn fjorårets, men sett over tid kan dette karakteriseres som et godt gyteinnsig. Gyteinnsiget er likevel betydelig lavere enn hva man skulle forvente ut ifra bestandsberegningen som ble gjort i april 2020. Gytebestanden består i all hovedsak av 8, 9 og 10 år gammel fisk. Gjennomsnittlig lengde og vekt ved alder er nær langtidsgjennomsnittet. Gode registreringer av skreiegg ble funnet over store områder både på «yttersida» og «innsida» (Vestfjorden), men de høyeste konsentrasjonene var likevel på et noe lavere nivå enn det vi ellers har sett de siste årene. Når vi vurderte bare de nygytte eggstadiene (opp til 12 timer gamle), fant vi disse bare konsentrert i mindre områder. Disse overlappet i stor grad med de beste registreringene av skrei. I Vestfjorden og ved Røst var de tetteste registreringene uvanlig nært land i tillegg til at tettheten av fisk på et par små områder var det høyeste vi noen gang har observert. De hydrografiske undersøkelsene viste at det i disse områdene var uvanlige temperaturforhold som har muliggjort denne adferden. Vi har bevisst prøvd å gjøre toktrapporten lettlest og har unngått detaljerte vitenskapelige beskrivelser.publishedVersio

Skreitokt 2021 - Kartlegging av gytebestanden av skrei i 2021

Toktnummer 2021204Skreitokt 2021 - Kartlegging av gytebestanden av skrei i 2021Toktets akustiske dekning av torsk, hyse og sei dekket kystområdet fra 71° nord sørover til og med Røstbanken, samt Vestfjorden, og ga et mengdeanslag på 233 tusen tonn moden skrei (aldersgruppene eldre enn 5 år). Som i 2020 var gyteinnsiget lavere enn ventet ut i fra tidligere bestandsberegninger. Det var også vesentlig lavere enn de to foregående år, og nede på under 2018 nivå. Nær 70% av den gytende skreien så ut til å skrive seg fra 9, 10 og 11 år gammel fisk. Dette var de samme årsklassene som dominerte gyteinnsiget i 2020. I tillegg til at gyteinnsiget var lite, var det vesentlig forskjøvet mot ytre områder i forhold til tidligere år. Gytende torskeforekomster i Vestfjorden var vesentlig mindre enn tidligere år, også sammenlignet med 2018 hvor innsiget totalt sett var av sammenlignbar størrelse. De torskeobservasjonene som ble gjort i Vestfjorden var i hovedsak kysttorsk. Observasjoner av torskeegg var i samsvar med observasjonene av gytefisk; svært lave verdier i Vestfjorden, men mer gjennomsnittlige observasjoner på utsiden. Hydrografiske observasjoner med CTD (salinitet, temperatur og dyp) viste normale forhold i hele toktområdet.publishedVersio

Advances in methods for determining fecundity: application of the new methods to some marine fishes

Estimation of individual egg production (realized fecundity) is a key step either to understand the stock and recruit relationship or to carry out fisheries-independent assessment of spawning stock biomass using egg production methods. Many fish are highly fecund and their ovaries may weigh over a kilogram; therefore the work time can be consuming and require large quantities of toxic fixative. Recently it has been shown for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) that image analysis can automate fecundity determination using a power equation that links follicles per gram ovary to the mean vitellogenic follicular diameter (the autodiametric method). In this article we demonstrate the precision of the autodiametric method applied to a range of species with different spawning strategies during maturation and spawning. A new method using a solid displacement pipette to remove quantitative fecundity samples (25, 50, 100, and 200 milligram [mg]) is evaluated, as are the underlying assumptions to effectively fix and subsample the ovary. Finally, we demonstrate the interpretation of dispersed formaldehyde-fixed ovarian samples (whole mounts) to assess the presence of atretic and postovulatory follicles to replace labor intensive histology. These results can be used to estimate down regulation (production of atretic follicles) of fecundity during maturation