Editorial Material
Clinical Neurology
Trevor. W. Robbins
Summary: This scientific commentary discusses the research conducted by Kim et al. on the unbalanced fronto-pallidal neurocircuit underlying set shifting in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, published in the journal Brain.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Clara Law, Snigdha Kamarsu, Immanuela C. Obisie-Orlu, Gina M. Belli, Maria Mancebo, Jane Eisen, Steven Rasmussen, Christina L. Boisseau
Summary: Personality traits may impact the course and symptom presentation of OCD, with low extraversion being associated with a decreased rate of remission. Other personality traits were not associated with remission.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2023)
Review
Psychiatry
Louise Destree, Mary-Ellen E. Brierley, Lucy Albertella, Laura Jobson, Leonardo F. Fontenelle
Summary: This study conducted a systematic review on the relationships between childhood trauma and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) severity. The results showed a significant relationship between exposure to childhood trauma and OCS severity in both clinical and non-clinical populations. It was also found that a range of childhood trauma types, rather than a single type, was associated with OCD.
JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Katherine Parkin, Shanquan Chen, Marjan Biria, James Plaistow, Helen Beckwith, Isaac Jarratt-Barnham, Nuria Segarra, Yulia Worbe, Naomi A. Fineberg, Rudolf N. Cardinal, Trevor W. Robbins, Emilio Fernandez-Egea
Summary: Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) commonly occur in patients treated with clozapine and can significantly affect subjective wellbeing. This study found that OCS severity had a negative impact on wellbeing scores, independent of depressive and psychotic symptoms. However, OCS did not impair general functioning. Obsessional thinking and hoarding behavior, rather than compulsions, were specifically associated with decreased wellbeing, possibly due to the nature of the compulsions.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Irena Smaga, Malgorzata Frankowska, Malgorzata Filip
Summary: N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a well-known mucolytic agent that has shown beneficial effects on different psychiatric disorders. It exerts its effects through regulating neurotransmitters, oxidative balance, and inflammatory mediators. While preclinical studies have shown positive results, further research is needed to establish the clinical efficacy of NAC for psychiatric disorders.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Psychology, Clinical
Behrang Mahjani, Katharina Bey, Julia Boberg, Christie Burton
Summary: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a heritable, polygenic disorder with contributions from both common and rare genetic variants. Genetics play an important role in the susceptibility to OCD, with discrete OCD symptom dimensions having both shared and unique genetic risks. Genome-wide studies show that OCD shares genetic risk with its comorbid conditions.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Psychiatry
Prerika Sharma, Maria C. Rosario, Ygor A. Ferrao, Lucy Albertella, Euripedes C. Miguel, Leonardo F. Fontenelle
Summary: This study investigated the characteristics of patients with comorbid generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and found that comorbid GAD was associated with an increased number of avoidant behaviors and greater severity of anxiety.
PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Livia Fukuda, Melissa Tamelini, Guilherme Messas
Summary: The clinical presentation of obsessive-compulsive patients is characterized by unwanted, intrusive, nonsensical, self-related, and recurrent ideas, thoughts, images, or impulses associated with active compulsive compensations. These patients are diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder under the operational diagnostic criteria adopted by the neopositivist medical paradigm. However, this paradigm has limitations and controversies, leading us to propose a complementary approach based on dialectical phenomenological psychopathology. By analyzing the structural imbalances and compensations in the obsessive-compulsive existential type, we aim to understand the complex clinical manifestations and provide insights for scientific research and therapeutic proposals.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Aleya A. Marzuki, Matilde M. Vaghi, Anna Conway-Morris, Muzaffer Kaser, Akeem Sule, Annemieke Apergis-Schoute, Barbara J. Sahakian, Trevor W. Robbins
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between action and confidence in adolescents with OCD, and found that they displayed increased learning rates, particularly following small prediction errors. This tendency was primarily driven by unmedicated patients. Patients' confidence was less affected by prediction errors compared to controls. There were no significant differences between patients and controls in the extent to which they updated actions and confidence.
JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Samantha N. Hellberg, Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Heidi J. Ojalehto, Megan W. Butcher, Jennifer L. Buchholz, Bradley C. Riemann
Summary: Depressive and obsessive-compulsive (OCD) symptoms often co-occur. Network analysis revealed the relationship between these symptoms, with key nodes including obsessions, negative affectivity, and cognitive-somatic changes. Unique connections were found between symmetry OCD symptoms and cognitive-somatic changes.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Faranak Kadivari, Mahmoud Najafi, Vahid Khosravani
Summary: This study found that childhood maltreatment has both direct and indirect effects on obsessive-compulsive symptoms, with the indirect effect mediated by the behavioral inhibition system. The findings highlight the role of the behavioral inhibition system in linking childhood maltreatment to obsessive-compulsive symptomology.
CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Alexandra E. Dingemans, S. Alida Volkmer, Sandra Mulkens, Richard Vuijk, Yanda R. van Rood
Summary: Several studies have found that OCD, ED, ASD, and BDD share common symptoms and often co-occur, suggesting a common etiological basis. The study found that executive functioning skills such as attention switching and social communication skills were central in individuals with these disorders. Difficulty with cognitive flexibility and social factors are key factors in OC-spectrum disorders.
PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Pasquale Paribello, Bernardo Carpiniello, Roberto Murgia, Antonio Andrea Porcheddu, Sabrina El-Kacemi, Marco Pinna, Martina Contu, Giulia Costa, Rossella Barbarossa, Egea Sanna, Sara Carucci, Alessandro Zuddas, Paola Fadda, Simona Dedoni, Carlotta Siddi, Patrizia Congiu, Michela Figorilli, Michela Fanzecco, Monica Puligheddu, Antonella Gagliano, Federica Pinna, Maria Scherma, Mirko Manchia
Summary: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common and highly disabling mental disorder. Different subgroups of OCD may have different impacts on cognition, functioning, sleep quality, and treatment response. There is a lack of evidence on the variation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in OCD subgroups. Assessing inflammatory states, electroencephalogram, and polysomnography to characterize these subtypes has been hardly explored. The present project aims to increase accuracy in characterizing different OCD subtypes through clinical, cognitive, and sleep markers, along with other possible markers that may be biologically plausible.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Irina A. Vanzhula, Shruti S. Kinkel-Ram, Cheri A. Levinson
Summary: The study found that difficulty controlling thoughts acts as a bridge between ED and OCD symptoms, with perfectionism playing a significant role in the ED-OCD-Perfectionism comorbidity network. Additionally, specific and distinct pathways were identified between OCD and two types of ED pathology.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Anette-Eleonore Schrag, Davide Martino, Hanyuying Wang, Gareth Ambler, Noa Benaroya-Milstein, Maura Buttiglione, Francesco Cardona, Roberta Creti, Androulla Efstratiou, Tammy Hedderly, Isobel Heyman, Chaim Huyser, Pablo Mir, Astrid Morer, Natalie Moll, Norbert E. Muller, Kirsten R. Muller-Vahl, Kerstin J. Plessen, Cesare Porcelli, Renata Rizzo, Veit Roessner, Markus Schwarz, Zsanett Tarnok, Susanne Walitza, Andrea Dietrich, Pieter J. Hoekstra
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the association between group A streptococcal (GAS) infections and tic incidence among unaffected children with a family history of chronic tic disorders (CTDs). Findings showed a strong association between sex and tic onset, with girls having a lower risk of developing tics compared to boys. However, there was no statistical evidence to suggest an association between GAS exposure and tic onset.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Lucie Lenglart, Alice Cartaud, Francois Quesque, Adriana Sampaio, Yann Coello
Summary: Previous studies have shown that objects in the peripersonal space (PPS) receive enhanced attention compared with objects in extrapersonal space (EPS). The present study found that self-owned objects are processed faster than other-owned objects, especially in the PPS, with biases in reachability judgements and an extension of the PPS representation for individuals with high scores on the fantasy scale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Additionally, there is a progressive shift from an egocentric to an allocentric frame-of-reference when moving from the PPS to EPS, regardless of object ownership.
QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Rheumatology
Ana Margarida Pinto, Rinie Geenen, Tor D. Wager, Mark A. Lumley, Winfried Hauser, Eva Kosek, Jacob N. Ablin, Kirstine Amris, Jaime Branco, Dan Buskila, Joao Castelhano, Miguel Castelo-Branco, Leslie J. Crofford, Mary-Ann Fitzcharles, Marina Lopez-Sola, Mariana Luis, Tiago Reis Marques, Philip J. Mease, Filipe Palavra, Jamie L. Rhudy, Lucina Q. Uddin, Paula Castilho, Johannes W. G. Jacobs, Jose A. P. da Silva
Summary: This article presents a new model called FITSS (Fibromyalgia: Imbalance of Threat and Soothing Systems), which proposes that an imbalance in emotion regulation, specifically an overactive 'threat' system and underactive 'soothing' system, may contribute to the development of fibromyalgia. This model provides a new perspective for future research and may stimulate the discovery of novel therapeutic interventions.
NATURE REVIEWS RHEUMATOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Diana R. Pereira, Ana C. Teixeira-Santos, Adriana Sampaio, Ana P. Pinheiro
Summary: This meta-analysis examined the effects of valence and arousal on source memory accuracy and identified variables that moderate these effects. The findings showed that emotional stimuli impaired source memory accuracy, while stimuli with high and medium arousal improved source memory. Methodological factors were found to modulate the emotion effects on source memory.
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Patricia Oliveira-Silva, Liliana Maia, Joana Coutinho, Ana Filipa Moreno, Lucia Penalba, Brandon Frank, Jose Miguel Soares, Adriana Sampaio, Oscar F. Goncalves
Summary: Empathy, the ability to understand and share another person's feelings, is crucial for social interactions. Recent studies suggest that the Default Mode Network (DMN) plays an important role in empathy-related behaviors. This study examines the relationship between empathic responses and DMN activity, finding that high levels of empathy are associated with sustained DMN activation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Dongha Lee, Raquel Guiomar, Oscar F. Goncalves, Jorge Almeida, Ana Ganho-Avila
Summary: This study investigated the effects of cathodal tDCS stimulation to the right dlPFC on neural activity and connectivity patterns during delayed fear extinction. The results showed that tDCS increased classification accuracy of threat and safe cues and enhanced functional connectivity between the insula and dlPFC.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Diogo Branco, Oscar F. Goncalves, Sergi Bermudez I Badia
Summary: Standardized Emotion Elicitation Database (SEEDs) are used to study emotions in controlled laboratory settings by replicating real-life emotions. The International Affective Pictures System (IAPS) is a popular SEED that contains 1182 colored images as stimuli. This review examines 69 studies that validate the IAPS through self-report and physiological data, and discusses cross-age, cross-cultural, and sex differences. Overall, the IAPS is a robust instrument for emotion elicitation worldwide.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Diogo Pinto, Ricardo Martins, Antonio Macedo, Miguel Castelo Branco, Joao Valente Duarte, Nuno Madeira
Summary: This study compared brain asymmetry in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder (BPD), and healthy controls. Significant differences in gray matter asymmetry were found between SCZ patients and BPD patients, SCZ patients and healthy controls, and BPD patients and healthy controls.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Physics, Applied
Nicolas Lori, Clovis Jacinto de Matos
Summary: The Physics-cell (PC) approach to quantum gravity derives General Relativity from the average correlation of quantum fields and predicts mass creation in physical systems with quantum entanglement between fermions. Recent experiments found an increase in electron mass during Cooper pair's quantum entanglement in superconductors. Therefore, we propose using the PC approach to explain the anomalous mass excess of Cooper pairs reported in superconductors, indicating the potential experimental effects of the PC approach to quantum gravity in superconductors.
PHYSICA C-SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND ITS APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Filipa Julio, Maria J. Ribeiro, Mario R. Simoes, Miguel Castelo-Branco, Cristina Januario
Summary: More realistic assessment tools are needed to understand the impact of age-related cognitive deficits on functional status. The EcoKitchen task is an effective computerized neuropsychological assessment tool that can accurately capture the effects of aging on everyday cognitive function and is less influenced by confounding factors.
APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY-ADULT
(2023)
Article
Business
Ricardo Cayolla, Rui Biscaia, Roy F. Baumeister, Marc Fetscherin, Sonia Brito-Costa, Isabel C. Duarte, Miguel Castelo-Branco
Summary: This neuroimaging study examines the brain activation patterns of sport fans in response to team stimuli. The study aims to identify the brain structures involved in positive, neutral, and negative events, as well as to determine which events elicit stronger limbic network activation. The results reveal activation of the cingulate gyrus, hippocampus, parahippocampus, and ventral tegmental area, indicating the involvement of the limbic and reward systems. Positive videos have a greater impact on emotional regulation and memory areas compared to neutral and negative videos. The study highlights the neural basis of fan reactions to team-related stimuli and emphasizes the importance of understanding the influence of different types of content on emotional and memory processes.
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
(2023)
Review
Psychology, Clinical
Courtney L. Irwin, Patricia S. Coelho, Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon, Anabela Silva-Fernandes, Oscar F. Goncalves, Jorge Leite, Sandra Carvalho
Summary: This article reviews the effect of non-pharmacological treatments on molecular biomarker levels in patients with major depressive disorder. Although there is little consensus on the association between molecular biomarkers and symptomology or treatment response, brain metabolites accessed through molecular biomarker-focused neuroimaging techniques may provide promising information on positive response to non-pharmacological treatments.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Marta Lapo Pais, Lilia Jorge, Ricardo Martins, Nadia Canario, Ana Carolina Xavier, Rui Bernardes, Antero Abrunhosa, Isabel Santana, Miguel Castelo-Branco
Summary: Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, characterized by the accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. This study explores the use of textural parameters as an alternative to kinetic models for assessing the state and progression of Alzheimer's disease in (R)-[C-11]PK11195 PET images. The results show that textural parameters can achieve similar classification accuracy to kinetic analysis in the evaluation of Alzheimer's disease.
BRAIN COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mariana Lapo Pais, Joao Martins, Miguel Castelo-Branco, Joana Goncalves
Summary: Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that plays a role in neuropsychiatric diseases. Women have a higher susceptibility to serotonin alterations due to changes in tryptophan levels, leading to a female sex bias in neuropsychiatric diseases. Further research is needed on the impact of diet and sex steroids on tryptophan metabolism.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Neuroimaging
Helena Jorge, Isabel C. Duarte, Miguel Melo, Ana Paula Relvas, Miguel Castelo-Branco
Summary: Neuroimaging studies in patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus reveal that health-consequent decision-making is associated with reward-related neural regions, and the trajectory of blood sugar control is correlated with neural risk processing in the saliency network.
BRAIN IMAGING AND BEHAVIOR
(2023)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Tong Cheng, Zhusheng Chen, Yibin Qin, Xiang Zhu, Hongsheng Chen, Zhongling Xu, Xiaqing Ma
Summary: Morphine is commonly used and effective for pain relief, but its side effect of itching limits its clinical use. This paper discusses the potential of using esketamine to treat morphine-induced itching.
MEDICAL HYPOTHESES
(2024)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Sung Eun Lee, Eunjung Park, Ji-yun Kim, HyukHoon Kim
Summary: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a potential therapeutic modality that has been recognized for its favorable mechanisms in various diseases, including sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE). HBOT has neuroprotective effects through its anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects as well as increased tissue oxygenation capacity. However, there are caveats and limitations in applying HBOT in sepsis.
MEDICAL HYPOTHESES
(2024)
