Matricide : a brief review

Matricídio, o ato de matar a mãe cometido por um(a) filho(a) é talvez o mais impactante e destruidor de todos os crimes. Sua incidência, descrita em estudos de relato de caso e de séries de casos, fica ao redor de 1% de todos os homicídios, contudo sua ocorrência sempre é chocante e historicamente considerada um tabu. Os autores descrevem a epidemiologia, características e uma breve revisão da literatura, contendo as três abordagens explicativas mais relatadas (cognitivo-comportamental, sistemas familiares e psicanalítica), a fim de embasar o relato de um caso de tentativa de matricídio.Matricide, the act of killing one’s mother by her son or daughter, is perhaps the most shocking and destructive of all crimes. Its incidence, taken from case reports and series of cases, is around 1% of all homicides – yet its occurrence is always terrifying and historically considered a taboo. The authors describe its epidemiology and characteristics and present a brief literature review comprising the three most referred theoretical approaches (cognitive-behavioral, systemic therapy and psychoanalytical) in order to set the grounds to the report of a case of matricide attempt

Analysis of structural brain asymmetries in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in 39 datasets

Objective: Some studies have suggested alterations of structural brain asymmetry in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but findings have been contradictory and based on small samples. Here, we performed the largest ever analysis of brain left-right asymmetry in ADHD, using 39 datasets of the ENIGMA consortium. Methods: We analyzed asymmetry of subcortical and cerebral cortical structures in up to 1,933 people with ADHD and 1,829 unaffected controls. Asymmetry Indexes (AIs) were calculated per participant for each bilaterally paired measure, and linear mixed effects modeling was applied separately in children, adolescents, adults, and the total sample, to test exhaustively for potential associations of ADHD with structural brain asymmetries. Results: There was no evidence for altered caudate nucleus asymmetry in ADHD, in contrast to prior literature. In children, there was less rightward asymmetry of the total hemispheric surface area compared to controls (t = 2.1, p = .04). Lower rightward asymmetry of medial orbitofrontal cortex surface area in ADHD (t = 2.7, p = .01) was similar to a recent finding for autism spectrum disorder. There were also some differences in cortical thickness asymmetry across age groups. In adults with ADHD, globus pallidus asymmetry was altered compared to those without ADHD. However, all effects were small (Cohen's d from -0.18 to 0.18) and would not survive study-wide correction for multiple testing. Conclusion: Prior studies of altered structural brain asymmetry in ADHD were likely underpowered to detect the small effects reported here. Altered structural asymmetry is unlikely to provide a useful biomarker for ADHD, but may provide neurobiological insights into the trait

Characterizing neuroanatomic heterogeneity in people with and without ADHD based on subcortical brain volumes

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder. Neuroanatomic heterogeneity limits our understanding of ADHD's etiology. This study aimed to parse heterogeneity of ADHD and to determine whether patient subgroups could be discerned based on subcortical brain volumes. Methods: Using the large ENIGMA-ADHD Working Group dataset, four subsamples of 993 boys with and without ADHD and to subsamples of 653 adult men, 400 girls, and 447 women were included in analyses. We applied exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to seven subcortical volumes in order to constrain the complexity of the input variables and ensure more stable clustering results. Factor scores derived from the EFA were used to build networks. A community detection (CD) algorithm clustered participants into subgroups based on the networks. Results: Exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors (basal ganglia, limbic system, and thalamus) in boys and men with and without ADHD. Factor structures for girls and women differed from those in males. Given sample size considerations, we concentrated subsequent analyses on males. Male participants could be separated into four communities, of which one was absent in healthy men. Significant case-control differences of subcortical volumes were observed within communities in boys, often with stronger effect sizes compared to the entire sample. As in the entire sample, none were observed in men. Affected men in two of the communities presented comorbidities more frequently than those in other communities. There were no significant differences in ADHD symptom severity, IQ, and medication use between communities in either boys or men. Conclusions: Our results indicate that neuroanatomic heterogeneity in subcortical volumes exists, irrespective of ADHD diagnosis. Effect sizes of case-control differences appear more pronounced at least in some of the subgroups

Predictors of gaming disorder in children and adolescents : a school-based study

Objective: To determine whether psychiatric and gaming pattern variables are associated with gaming disorder in a school-based sample. Methods: We analyzed data from the Brazilian High-Risk Cohort for Psychiatric Disorders, a community sample aged 10 to 18, using questionnaires on gaming use patterns. We applied the Gaming Addiction Scale to diagnose gaming disorder and the Development and Well-Being Behavior Assessment for other diagnoses. Results: Out of 407 subjects, 83 (20.4%) fulfilled the criteria for gaming disorder. More role-playing game players were diagnosed with gaming disorder that any other genre. Gaming disorder rates increased proportionally to the number of genres played. Playing online, being diagnosed with a mental disorder, and more hours of non-stop gaming were associated with higher rates of gaming disorder. When all variables (including age and gender) were considered in a logistic regression model, the number of genres played, the number of non-stop hours, the proportion of online games, and having a diagnosed mental disorder emerged as significant predictors of gaming disorder. Conclusion: Each variable seems to add further risk of gaming disorder among children and adolescents. Monitoring the length of gaming sessions, the number and type of genres played, time spent gaming online, and behavior changes may help parents or guardians identify unhealthy patterns of gaming behavior

Reduced fronto-striatal volume in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in two cohorts across the lifespan

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been associated with altered brain anatomy in neuroimaging studies. However, small and heterogeneous study samples, and the use of region-of-interest and tissuespecific analyses have limited the consistency and replicability of these effects. We used a data-driven multivariate approach to investigate neuroanatomical features associated with ADHD in two independent cohorts: the Dutch NeuroIMAGE cohort (n = 890, 17.2 years) and the Brazilian IMpACT cohort (n = 180, 44.2 years). Using independent component analysis of whole-brain morphometry images, 375 neuroanatomical components were assessed for association with ADHD. In both discovery (corrected-p = 0.0085) and replication (p = 0.032) cohorts, ADHD was associated with reduced volume in frontal lobes, striatum, and their interconnecting whitematter. Current results provide further evidence for the role of the fronto-striatal circuit in ADHD in children, and for the first time show its relevance to ADHD in adults. The fact that the cohorts are from different continents and comprise different age ranges highlights the robustness of the findings

Age-effects in white matter using associated diffusion tensor imaging and magnetization transfer ratio during late childhood and early adolescence

In the last decade, several studies have described the typical brain white matter maturation in children and adolescents. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is the most frequent MRI technique used to investigate the structural changes across development. However, few previous studies have used the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR), which gives a closer measure of myelin content. Here, we employed both techniques for the same sample of 176 typically developing children from 7 to 14 years of age. We investigated the associations between DTI parameters and MTR measure, to assess the myelination in the brain in development. Secondly, we investigated age-effects on DTI parameters (fractional anisotropy, axial, radial and mean diffusivities) and MTR. No significant correlations between MTR and DTI parameters were observed. In addition, a significant age-effect was detected for DTI data but was not visible for MTR data. Thereby, changes in white matter at this age might be primarily correlated with microstructural changes. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.CAPES FoundationSao Paulo Research Foundation-FAPESPCNPq, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Psychiat, Rua Borges Lagoa 570,1 Andar, BR-04039032 Sao Paulo, BrazilFed Univ Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Interdisciplinary Lab Clin Neurosci LiNC, Sao Paulo, BrazilCNPq, Natl Inst Dev Psychiat Children & Adolescents, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed ABC, Ctr Math Computat & Cognit, Santo Andre, BrazilKings Coll London, Inst Psychiat Psychol & Neurosci, London WC2R 2LS, EnglandUniv Sao Paulo, Lab Magnet Resonance Neuroradiol, LIM 44, Inst & Dept Radiol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Hosp Clin Porto Alegre, Dept Psychiat, BR-90046900 Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Psychiat, Rua Borges Lagoa 570,1 Andar, BR-04039032 Sao Paulo, BrazilFed Univ Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Interdisciplinary Lab Clin Neurosci LiNC, Sao Paulo, BrazilCAPES: 17930/12-0FAPESP: 2013/10498-6FAPESP: 2013/00506-1FAPESP: 2013/08531-5FAPESP: 2008/ 57896-8CNPq: 573974/2008-0CNPq: 442026/2014-5Web of Scienc

Connectome hubs at resting state in children and adolescents:reproducibility and psychopathological correlation

AbstractFunctional brain hubs are key integrative regions in brain networks. Recently, brain hubs identified through resting-state fMRI have emerged as interesting targets to increase understanding of the relationships between large-scale functional networks and psychopathology. However, few studies have directly addressed the replicability and consistency of the hub regions identified and their association with symptoms. Here, we used the eigenvector centrality (EVC) measure obtained from graph analysis of two large, independent population-based samples of children and adolescents (7–15 years old; total N=652; 341 subjects for site 1 and 311 for site 2) to evaluate the replicability of hub identification. Subsequently, we tested the association between replicable hub regions and psychiatric symptoms. We identified a set of hubs consisting of the anterior medial prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal lobule/intraparietal sulcus (IPL/IPS). Moreover, lower EVC values in the right IPS were associated with psychiatric symptoms in both samples. Thus, low centrality of the IPS was a replicable sign of potential vulnerability to mental disorders in children. The identification of critical and replicable hubs in functional cortical networks in children and adolescents can foster understanding of the mechanisms underlying mental disorders

Reduced fronto-striatal volume in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in two cohorts across the lifespan

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been associated with altered brain anatomy in neuroimaging studies. However, small and heterogeneous study samples, and the use of region-of-interest and tissue-specific analyses have limited the consistency and replicability of these effects. We used a data-driven multivariate approach to investigate neuroanatomical features associated with ADHD in two independent cohorts: the Dutch NeuroIMAGE cohort (n = 890, 17.2 years) and the Brazilian IMpACT cohort (n = 180, 44.2 years). Using independent component analysis of whole-brain morphometry images, 375 neuroanatomical components were assessed for association with ADHD. In both discovery (corrected-p = 0.0085) and replication (p = 0.032) cohorts, ADHD was associated with reduced volume in frontal lobes, striatum, and their interconnecting white-matter. Current results provide further evidence for the role of the fronto-striatal circuit in ADHD in children, and for the first time show its relevance to ADHD in adults. The fact that the cohorts are from different continents and comprise different age ranges highlights the robustness of the findings

Gêmeos monozigóticos discordantes para transtorno de identidade de gênero : um estudo da espessura cortical e de morfometria baseada em voxels através de imagens de ressonância magnética estrutural

O transtorno de identidade de gênero (TIG) carateriza-se pela persistente convicção de pertencer ao sexo oposto. Apesar das diferentes abordagens metodológicas e de inúmeros estudos, sua etiologia ainda permanece desconhecida. Sabe-se da influência de fatores ambientais, hormonais, genéticos e de alterações neuroanatômicas. A literatura em neuroimagem ainda é extremamente restrita, e estudos com foco em espessura cortical inexistem. Achados neuroanatômicos de morfometria baseada em voxels com maior volume de massa cinzenta já foram relatados em regiões ligadas ao circuito neural da senso-percepção. Hipotetizamos que diferenças de espessura cortical estariam localizadas nas regiões desse circuito. Estudamos um par de gêmeos monozigóticos masculinos discordantes para TIG (masculino-para-feminino) aplicando VBM e SBM (FreeSurfer). Evidenciamos maior volume de substância cinzenta e maior espessura cortical na junção tempo-parietal direita, córtex frontal inferior direito e córtex da insula direito no gêmeo TIG-MTF em relação ao seu irmão. O presente estudo agrega o achado de espessura cortical na caracterização das alterações neuroanatômicas do TIG.Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is characterized by the persistent conviction of belonging to the opposite sex. Despite all the different technical approaches and the several studies performed, its etiology still remains unknown. There is knowledge about the influence of environmental hormonal, genetic and neuroanatomic factors involved. The literature about GID neuroimaging is extremely restrict and there are no studies focusing on cortical thickness. The neuroanatomical findings from Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM) have reported regions within the sense-perception network with increased grey matter volume. We hypothesized that differences of cortical thickness would be found in the cortical areas of this network. Thus we studied a male monozigotic twin pair discordant for GID (male-to-female) using VBM and SBM (FreeSurfer). We found increased grey matter volume and thicker cortex in the right temporo-parietal junction, right inferior frontal cortex and right insular cortex in the affected twin in comparison to his brother. The present study adds the findings on cortical thickness to the characterization of the neuroanatomic alterations in Gender Identity Disorder