Association of participation in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 with mental disorders and suicidal behaviour

OBJECTIVESIn prospective follow-up studies, participants are normally contacted during the follow-up period. Even though the idea is not to intervene, the studies conducted during follow-up may affect the target population. Our hypotheses were that participation in the prospective Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 study (NFBC 1986) increased the use of mental health services and reduced suicidal behaviour due to participation in follow-up studies.METHODSThe NFBC 1986 study covered people with an expected date of birth between July 1985 and June 1986 in northern Finland (n=9,396). The participants of the NFBC 1986 were followed since the antenatal period with follow-ups including clinical examinations. The comparison cohort comprised people born in the same area in 1987 (n=8,959), who were not contacted. Registry data on psychiatric treatment, suicide attempts, and suicides were available. Crude risk ratios (RRs) and adjusted (for marital status and education) Mantel-Haenszel RRs were reported.RESULTSNo increase in mental disorders were found in NFBC 1986 compared to comparison cohort. In the crude RR analysis of female participants, a lower risk for suicide attempts was found (RR, 0.67; 95% confidence interval, 0.49 to 0.92; p=0.011).CONCLUSIONSThe results did not support our first hypothesis regarding the increased use of mental health services in the NFBC 1986 cohort. However, our second hypothesis gained some support as female participants of the NFBC 1986 had a lower risk of suicide attempts, although it was not due to a higher number of participants receiving psychiatric treatment.</p

The relationship of genetic susceptibilities for psychosis with physiological fluctuation in functional MRI data

Previously, schizophrenia is found to be related to the variability of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal in the white matter. However, evidence about the relationship between genetic vulnerabilities and physiological fluctuation in the brain is lacking. We investigated whether familial risk for psychosis (FR) and polygenic risk score for schizophrenia (PRS) are linked with physiological fluctuation in fMRI data. We used data from the Oulu Brain and Mind study (n. = 140-149, aged 20-24 years) that is a substudy of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. The participants underwent a resting-state fMRI scan. Coefficient of variation (CV) of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal (CVBOLD) was used as a proxy of physiological fluctuation in the brain. Familial risk was defined to be present if at least one parent had been diagnosed with psychosis previously. PRS was computed based on the results of the prior GWAS by the Schizophrenia Working Group. FR or PRS were not associated with CVBOLD in cerebrospinal fluid, white matter, or grey matter. The findings did not provide evidence for the previous suggestions that genetic vulnerabilities for schizophrenia become apparent in alterations of the variation of the BOLD signal in the brain.Peer reviewe

Emotional neglect and parents’ adverse childhood events

Abstract Introduction Emotional neglect means that the child’s emotional and developmental needs are not fulfilled by the parents or other caregivers. Adverse childhood events (ACEs) are a risk factor for mental health problems and impaired parenting skills. The objective here was to examine whether parents’ ACEs increase the child’s risk of experiencing emotional neglect. Methods The participants in the present study were members of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986). Emotional neglect experiences were measured in 190 members of this cohort by means of the Trauma and Distress Scale (TADS), and ACEs in both parents were measured with a specific questionnaire. A linear regression model was used to examine the association between parents’ ACEs and the children’s emotional neglect scores. Results The children’s mean emotional neglect score was 8.11 on a scale from 5 to 25. There was no significant difference between males (mean 8.01) and females (mean 8.19). Only father’s ACEs were associated with child’s emotional neglect score. In the linear regression model, the children’s emotional neglect scores increased by 0.3 points for father’s ACE. Conclusions Our findings suggest that father’s ACEs may increase the child’s risk of experiencing emotional neglect. It seems that childhood adversities are transferred from parents to children, but larger samples would be needed to confirm these findings

Impacts of Data Synthesis: A Metric for Quantifiable Data Standards and Performances

Clinical data analysis could lead to breakthroughs. However, clinical data contain sensitive information about participants that could be utilized for unethical activities, such as blackmailing, identity theft, mass surveillance, or social engineering. Data anonymization is a standard step during data collection, before sharing, to overcome the risk of disclosure. However, conventional data anonymization techniques are not foolproof and also hinder the opportunity for personalized evaluations. Much research has been done for synthetic data generation using generative adversarial networks and many other machine learning methods; however, these methods are either not free to use or are limited in capacity. This study evaluates the performance of an emerging tool named synthpop, an R package producing synthetic data as an alternative approach for data anonymization. This paper establishes data standards derived from the original data set based on the utilities and quality of information and measures variations in the synthetic data set to evaluate the performance of the data synthesis process. The methods to assess the utility of the synthetic data set can be broadly divided into two approaches: general utility and specific utility. General utility assesses whether synthetic data have overall similarities in the statistical properties and multivariate relationships with the original data set. Simultaneously, the specific utility assesses the similarity of a fitted model’s performance on the synthetic data to its performance on the original data. The quality of information is assessed by comparing variations in entropy bits and mutual information to response variables within the original and synthetic data sets. The study reveals that synthetic data succeeded at all utility tests with a statistically non-significant difference and not only preserved the utilities but also preserved the complexity of the original data set according to the data standard established in this study. Therefore, synthpop fulfills all the necessities and unfolds a wide range of opportunities for the research community, including easy data sharing and information protection

Association between developmental milestones and age of schizophrenia onset: Results from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.

We investigated relationships between early developmental milestones, schizophrenia incidence and variability in its age at onset. We hypothesized that the period of risk for schizophrenia would be longer for those with later development. The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 was followed until 47 years of age, and those members diagnosed with schizophrenia or any other non-affective psychoses identified. Latent profile analysis was used to classify people into homogenous classes with respect to developmental milestones, and subsequently survival analysis explored relationship between classes and age of schizophrenia onset. Results suggest that 4-classes (early, regular, late, and extra late developers) can be identified, but due to few cases in one class (n = 93, <0.01% of 10,501), only 3 classes (early, regular, late) could be meaningfully compared. Schizophrenia incidence until 47 years of age differed systematically between classes: late developers had the highest cumulative incidence (2.39%); regular were intermediate (1.25%); and early developers had the lowest incidence (0.99%). However, age at onset and its variability was similar across classes, suggesting that our hypothesis of a wider 'window' for schizophrenia onset in late developers was not supported

Longitudinal regional brain volume loss in schizophrenia: Relationship to antipsychotic medication and change in social function.

BACKGROUND: Progressive brain volume loss in schizophrenia has been reported in previous studies but its cause and regional distribution remains unclear. We investigated progressive regional brain reductions in schizophrenia and correlations with potential mediators. METHOD: Participants were drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. A total of 33 schizophrenia individuals and 71 controls were MRI scanned at baseline (mean age=34.7, SD=0.77) and at follow-up (mean age=43.4, SD=0.44). Regional brain change differences and associations with clinical mediators were examined using FSL voxelwise SIENA. RESULTS: Schizophrenia cases exhibited greater progressive brain reductions than controls, mainly in the frontal and temporal lobes. The degree of periventricular brain volume reductions were predicted by antipsychotic medication exposure at the fourth ventricular edge and by the number of days in hospital between the scans (a proxy measure of relapse duration) at the thalamic ventricular border. Decline in social and occupational functioning was associated with right supramarginal gyrus reduction. CONCLUSION: Our findings are consistent with the possibility that antipsychotic medication exposure and time spent in relapse partially explain progressive brain reductions in schizophrenia. However, residual confounding could also account for the findings and caution must be applied before drawing causal inferences from associations demonstrated in observational studies of modest size. Less progressive brain volume loss in schizophrenia may indicate better preserved social and occupational functions.Academy of Finland, Medical Research Council, Sigrid Jusélius Foundation and the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, Finland, Stanley Foundation, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. The work was partially completed within the University of Cambridge Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, supported by a joint award from the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2015.06.01

Body mass index in the middle-aged offspring of parents with severe mental illness

Background People with severe mental illness (SMI) have an elevated risk of obesity but the causes and mechanisms are unclear. We explored the familial association between parental SMI and body mass index (BMI) in middle-aged offspring. Our objective was to determine if the offspring of either parent with SMI have an increased risk for obesity. Methods The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 is a cohort study of offspring with expected date of birth in 1966. The data include originally 12 068 mothers and 12 231 children from the provinces of Lapland and Oulu in Finland. The final study sample included 5050 middle-aged offspring. Parental SMI was used as exposure in the study. BMI measured at the age of 46 years was used as a primary outcome. Results Risk for obesity was elevated in the offspring of mothers with SMI [overweight: adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.93 (1.29-2.90), obese class I: 1.97 (1.20-3.25), obese classes II-III: 2.98 (1.67-5.33)]. For the offspring of either parent with SMI, statistically significant results were found in obese class I and obese classes II-III [overweight: adjusted OR 1.21 (0.94-1.54), obese class I: 1.52 (1.03-1.08), obese classes II-III: 1.53 (1.01-2.32)]. Conclusions We found an elevated risk of obesity in the middle-aged offspring of either parent with SMI, especially in the offspring of mothers with SMI. Thus, there might be a common familial pathway leading to the co-occurrence of obesity and SMI.</p

DISC1 Conditioned GWAS for Psychosis Proneness in a Large Finnish Birth Cohort

Peer reviewe

Brain structural deficits and working memory fMRI dysfunction in young adults who were diagnosed with ADHD in adolescence.

When adolescents with ADHD enter adulthood, some no longer meet disorder diagnostic criteria but it is unknown if biological and cognitive abnorma lities persist. We tested the hypothesis that people diagnosed with ADHD during adolescence present residual brain abnormalities both in brain structure and in working memory brain function. 83 young adults (aged 20-24 years) from the Northern Finland 1986 Birth Cohort were classified as diagnosed with ADHD in adolescence (adolescence ADHD, n = 49) or a control group (n = 34). Only one patient had received medication for ADHD. T1-weighted brain scans were acquired and processed in a voxel-based analysis using permutation-based statistics. A sub-sample of both groups (ADHD, n = 21; controls n = 23) also performed a Sternberg working memory task whilst acquiring fMRI data. Areas of structural difference were used as a region of interest to evaluate the implications that structural abnormalities found in the ADHD group might have on working memory function. There was lower grey matter volume bilaterally in adolescence ADHD participants in the caudate (p < 0.05 FWE corrected across the whole brain) at age 20-24. Working memory was poorer in adolescence ADHD participants, with associated failure to show normal load-dependent caudate activation. Young adults diagnosed with ADHD in adolescence have structural and functional deficits in the caudate associated with abnormal working memory function. These findings are not secondary to stimulant treatment, and emphasise the importance of taking a wider perspective on ADHD outcomes than simply whether or not a particular patient meets diagnostic criteria at any given point in time.This work was supported by an Academy of Finland Award to Dr Veijola; a Sigrid Juselius Foundation grant to Dr Moilanen; a Medical Research Council fellowship to Dr Murray (G0701911); a NARSAD, the Brain and Behavior Research Fund independent investigator award to Dr Miettunen; an Oon Khye Beng Ch'Hia Tsio Studentships in Preventative Medicine awarded by Downing College, Cambridge to Dr Roman-Urrestarazu together with a Becas Chile Doctoral Grant awarded by CONICYT, an Academy of Finland grant and Finnish Medical Foundation grant to Dr Kiviniemi, and an award from the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, Finland, to Dr Mäki.. The work was partially conducted with the University of Cambridge Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Centre, supported by a joint award from the Medical Research Council (G1000183) and Wellcome Trust (093875/Z/10Z).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-015-0755-