Corticolimbic dysfunction during facial and prosodic emotional recognition in first-episode psychosis patients and individuals at ultra-high risk

Emotional processing dysfunction is widely reported in patients with chronic schizophrenia and first-episode psychosis (FEP), and has been linked to functional abnormalities of corticolimbic regions. However, corticolimbic dysfunction is less studied in people at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR), particularly during processing prosodic voices. We examined corticolimbic response during an emotion recognition task in 18 UHR participants and compared them with 18 FEP patients and 21 healthy controls (HC). Emotional recognition accuracy and corticolimbic response were measured during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using emotional dynamic facial and prosodic voice stimuli. Relative to HC, both UHR and FEP groups showed impaired overall emotion recognition accuracy. Whilst during face trials, both UHR and FEP groups did not show significant differences in brain activation relative to HC, during voice trials, FEP patients showed reduced activation across corticolimbic networks including the amygdala. UHR participants showed a trend for increased response in the caudate nucleus during the processing of emotionally valenced prosodic voices relative to HC. The results indicate that corticolimbic dysfunction seen in FEP patients is also present, albeit to a lesser extent, in an UHR cohort, and may represent a neural substrate for emotional processing difficulties prior to the onset of florid psychosis

Probing the chemistry of CdS paints in The Scream by in situ noninvasive spectroscopies and synchrotron radiation x-ray techniques

The degradation of cadmium sulfide (CdS)-based oil paints is a phenomenon potentially threatening the iconic painting The Scream (ca. 1910) by Edvard Munch (Munch Museum, Oslo) that is still poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence for the presence of cadmium sulfate and sulfites as alteration products of the original CdS-based paint and explore the external circumstances and internal factors causing this transformation. Macroscale in situ noninvasive spectroscopy studies of the painting in combination with synchrotron-radiation x-ray microspectroscopy investigations of a microsample and artificially aged mock-ups show that moisture and mobile chlorine compounds are key factors for promoting the oxidation of CdS, while light (photodegradation) plays a less important role. Furthermore, under exposure to humidity, parallel/secondary reactions involving dissolution, migration through the paint, and recrystallization of water-soluble phases of the paint are associated with the formation of cadmium sulfates

Mood Induction in Depressive Patients: A Comparative Multidimensional Approach

Anhedonia, reduced positive affect and enhanced negative affect are integral characteristics of major depressive disorder (MDD). Emotion dysregulation, e.g. in terms of different emotion processing deficits, has consistently been reported. The aim of the present study was to investigate mood changes in depressive patients using a multidimensional approach for the measurement of emotional reactivity to mood induction procedures. Experimentally, mood states can be altered using various mood induction procedures. The present study aimed at validating two different positive mood induction procedures in patients with MDD and investigating which procedure is more effective and applicable in detecting dysfunctions in MDD. The first procedure relied on the presentation of happy vs. neutral faces, while the second used funny vs. neutral cartoons. Emotional reactivity was assessed in 16 depressed and 16 healthy subjects using self-report measures, measurements of electrodermal activity and standardized analyses of facial responses. Positive mood induction was successful in both procedures according to subjective ratings in patients and controls. In the cartoon condition, however, a discrepancy between reduced facial activity and concurrently enhanced autonomous reactivity was found in patients. Relying on a multidimensional assessment technique, a more comprehensive estimate of dysfunctions in emotional reactivity in MDD was available than by self-report measures alone and this was unsheathed especially by the mood induction procedure relying on cartoons. The divergent facial and autonomic responses in the presence of unaffected subjective reactivity suggest an underlying deficit in the patients' ability to express the felt arousal to funny cartoons. Our results encourage the application of both procedures in functional imaging studies for investigating the neural substrates of emotion dysregulation in MDD patients. Mood induction via cartoons appears to be superior to mood induction via faces and autobiographical material in uncovering specific emotional dysfunctions in MDD

Recurrent horizontal transfer identifies mitochondrial positive selection in a transmissible cancer

Abstract: Autonomous replication and segregation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) creates the potential for evolutionary conflict driven by emergence of haplotypes under positive selection for ‘selfish’ traits, such as replicative advantage. However, few cases of this phenomenon arising within natural populations have been described. Here, we survey the frequency of mtDNA horizontal transfer within the canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), a contagious cancer clone that occasionally acquires mtDNA from its hosts. Remarkably, one canine mtDNA haplotype, A1d1a, has repeatedly and recently colonised CTVT cells, recurrently replacing incumbent CTVT haplotypes. An A1d1a control region polymorphism predicted to influence transcription is fixed in the products of an A1d1a recombination event and occurs somatically on other CTVT mtDNA backgrounds. We present a model whereby ‘selfish’ positive selection acting on a regulatory variant drives repeated fixation of A1d1a within CTVT cells

Emotional contagion and facial reactions to emotional stimuli in patients with schizophrenia and healthy subjects

Emotionale Ansteckung ist ein häufiges Phänomen innerhalb der verbalen und nonverbalen Kommunikation zwischen Individuen. Besondere Bedeutung besitzt hierbei der mimische Ausdruck. Patienten mit Schizophrenie weisen oftmals Schwierigkeiten beim Erkennen von und angemessenen Reagieren auf emotionale Stimuli auf. Jeweils 17 Schizophreniepatienten und gesunde Kontrollen bekamen eine digitalisierte Version der "Pictures of facial affect" (Ekman & Friesen, 1976) präsentiert und wurden mittels gleichzeitig dargebotener Pfeile dazu aufgefordert, ihre Mundwinkel nach oben bzw. unten zu ziehen (einem fröhlichen oder traurigen Gesichtsausdruck entsprechend). Bei Gesunden erfolgt hierbei eine Bahnung kongruenter Bewegungen (z.B. Mundwinkel nach oben ziehen bei Wahrnehmung eines freudigen Gesichtes). Diese verwendeten wir als Maß für emotionale Ansteckung, da sie mit positiven Gefühlen und einer Aktivierung limbischer Strukturen im fMRT korreliert (Wild et al., 2001). Die Reaktionszeiten wurden mittels Videoaufnahmen gemessen. Zusätzlich wurden der Aufmerksamkeitsbelastungstest d2 und Tests zum Erkennen und Benennen von Emotionen, zur Emotionalen Ansteckbarkeit und momentanen Affektivität (PANAS) durchgeführt. Im Gegensatz zu den Gesunden wurde bei den Patienten das Heraufziehen der Mundwinkel durch die Wahrnehmung eines traurigen Gesichtsausdrucks nicht gehemmt, und das Herunterziehen der Mundwinkel bei Darbietung eines traurigen Gesichtes nicht gebahnt. Diese Effekte waren umso ausgeprägter, je höher die Werte für Allgemeine Psychopathologie in der PANSS, je kränker also die Patienten waren. In der Selbsteinschätzung der emotionalen Ansteckbarkeit und im PANAS unterschieden sich Patienten und Kontrollen nicht. Die Tendenz der Patienten zu positiven Reaktionen selbst bei negativen Stimuli kann als eine Art Strategie angesehen werden, um sich durch das sozial erwünschte und günstige Lächeln vor unangenehmen oder zu starken emotionalen Reizen zu schützen (Walker et al., 1980) . Die in der Selbstbeurteilung gegenüber den Gesunden unveränderte Affektivität und emotionale Ansteckbarkeit zeigt dabei, dass insbesondere nicht von mangelndem emotionalem Erleben ausgegangen werden kann.INTRODUCTION: Emotional Contagion is a common phenomenon in verbal and nonverbal communication between individuals. Perception of facial movements plays an important role in this process. Several studies have demonstrated impaired facial expression recognition in patients with schizophrenia but so far, none examined Emotional Contagion. METHODS: 17 schizophrenic patients and healthy controls were presented with digital versions of happy, sad and neutral faces from the "Pictures of facial affect" (Ekman & Friesen, 1976) and were asked to pull their lip corners up or down (like in smiling or showing a sad face) according to the direction of two arrows that were presented simultaneously. This condition induces facilitation of congruous movements (i.e. pulling the lip corners up when seeing a happy face) and inhibition of dissonant movements in healthy subjects. The facilitating reaction was used as an indicator of Emotional Contagion. RESULTS: Unlike in healthy subjects, pulling up the lip corners was not inhibited and pulling down was not facilitated by the perception of a sad expression in schizophrenics. We found a positive correlation between these effects and the PANSS-Scores for General Psychopathology. DISCUSSION: Patients' tendency towards positive reactions even when a negative stimulus was presented could serve them as a protection against overwhelming emotional impressions

Early Detection and Intervention in Bipolar Affective Disorder: Targeting the Development of the Disorder

The diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder (BD) is often delayed, and preceded by incorrect diagnoses and potentially harmful treatment, and the development of the disorder is associated with suicidal behavior and help-seeking. A number of clinical features have been linked to an increased risk of going on to develop BD, in particular attenuated symptoms of BD, personality traits such as cyclothymia, and general psychopathological symptoms. A number of these show high specificity, indicating that it may be possible to target detection and intervention on people at high risk of BD, and hopefully moderate the course of the illness and improve treatment outcome. This article summarises recent evidence on the characteristics of the prodrome to BD and discusses the potential value and challenges of early detection and intervention in BD