Article
Neurosciences
Giovana Benassi-Cezar, Isabela Miranda Carmona, Daniela Baptista-de-Souza, Ricardo Luiz Nunes-de-Souza, Azair Canto-de-Souza
Summary: The study found that cohabitation with a conspecific suffering from chronic pain affects the anxiety levels of mice, with changes in neuronal activation observed in the anterior cingulate and insular cortices. Injecting a synaptic blocker in these brain areas can reverse the anxiety-inducing effect caused by cohabitation with a conspecific in chronic pain.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Todeva-Radneva, Sevdalina Kandilarova, Rositsa Paunova, Drozdstoy Stoyanov, Tina Zdravkova, Ronald Sladky
Summary: This study aimed to explore possible differences in whole-brain functional connectivity in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), and healthy controls (HC). The results showed increased connectivity in certain brain regions in the BD group compared to the HC group, while the MDD group showed enhanced connectivity in different regions. These findings suggest that these connectivity patterns may serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers for MDD and BD.
Article
Neurosciences
Carlos Silva, Blake S. Porter, Kristin L. Hillman
Summary: Animals must continually assess effort and physiological states during tasks, with the ACC and anterior insular cortex implicated in cost-benefit decision-making. Contrary to predictions, stimulation of Cg1 did not increase persistence in the task, while stimulation of the anterior insula had little effect on effortful behavior.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yiheng Tu, Yuqi Zhang, Yu Li, Qing Zhao, Yanzhi Bi, Xuejing Lu, Yazhuo Kong, Li Wang, Zhijie Lu, Li Hu
Summary: The study suggests that COVID-19 survivors may experience deteriorations in PTSS, with PCL-5 scores positively correlated with duration after discharge and potential changes in brain structural volumes in bilateral hippocampus and amygdala.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2021)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Karen Savage, Jerome Sarris, Matthew Hughes, Chad A. Bousman, Susan Rossell, Andrew Scholey, Con Stough, Chao Suo
Summary: This study investigated the effects of Kava on central GABA levels in participants with GAD. The results showed that compared to the placebo group, the Kava group had a significant reduction in dACC GABA levels after eight weeks. The study also found a positive correlation between baseline anxiety scores and GABA levels. These findings suggest that dACC GABA levels could serve as a biomarker for diagnosis and treatment response in GAD.
Article
Neurosciences
Joey A. Charbonneau, Jeffrey L. Bennett, Kevin Chau, Eliza Bliss-Moreau
Summary: Accumulating evidence suggests that the adult brain is capable of significant structural change following damage, a capacity once thought to be limited to developing brains. However, the extent of plasticity in interoceptive networks during adulthood remains uncertain. A recent study on adult rhesus monkeys revealed significant neuroplasticity in the interoceptive-allostatic network following neurotoxic lesions, indicating an adaptive response rather than atrophy.
Article
Neurosciences
Yujiao Yang, Dong Chen, Jing Wang, Jie Wang, Zhaofen Yan, Qinqin Deng, Liping Zhang, Guoming Luan, Mengyang Wang, Tianfu Li
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the dynamic coupling between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and anterior insular cortex (AIC) during seizures. The results showed that the functional connectivity and excitability between these two brain regions significantly increased at seizure onset. By analyzing the connectivity and excitability, the seizure-onset zone (SOZ) in ACC and AIC can be identified.
CNS NEUROSCIENCE & THERAPEUTICS
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Daisuke Fujikane, Kazutaka Ohi, Kiyotaka Nemoto, Yuma Horibe, Yunako Ogawa, Runa Taguchi, Riko Toba, Toshiki Shioiri
Summary: This study investigates the genetic factors associated with anxiety disorders and their impact on cortical alterations. The findings suggest a shared genetic etiology between anxiety disorders and structural features of the anterior cingulate gyrus, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders. The study also highlights the potential usefulness of polygenic risk scores in reducing pathological heterogeneity among anxiety disorders.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Reinoud Kaldewaij, Saskia B. J. Koch, Mahur M. Hashemi, Wei Zhang, Floris Klumpers, Karin Roelofs
Summary: Functional MRI study shows that prefrontal cortex activation during emotion control task can predict severity of PTSD symptoms following a traumatic event. Higher activity in anterior prefrontal cortex, dorsal and medial frontal pole is related to lower PTSD symptoms after trauma exposure in police recruits.
NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Magdalena Wlad, Andreas Frick, Jonas Engman, Olof Hjorth, Johanna M. Hoppe, Vanda Faria, Kurt Wahlstedt, Johannes Bjorkstrand, Kristoffer N. T. Mansson, Sara Hultberg, Iman Alaie, Jorgen Rosen, Mats Fredrikson, Tomas Furmark, Malin Gingnell
Summary: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is not associated with cognitive processing biases during non-emotional challenges like the Multisource Interference Task (MSIT). This study found no differences in task performance or neural reactivity between SAD patients and controls during MSIT. There was a significant negative correlation between dACC activity and depressive symptoms in SAD patients.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elizabeth A. Flook, Joseph R. Luchsinger, Marisa M. Silveri, Danny G. Winder, Margaret M. Benningfield, Jennifer Urbano Blackford
Summary: Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a chronic, relapsing disease affecting nearly a third of Americans, with a significant barrier to treatment success being relapse within a year due to increased negative affect during abstinence. While research has focused on reward-related changes in AUD, less is known about anxiety during abstinence, which can trigger relapse. Understanding the neural underpinnings of abstinence, particularly the role of the extended amygdala, is crucial for preventing relapse in AUD.
Article
Neurosciences
Tom Salomon, Adi Cohen, Daniel Barazany, Gal Ben-Zvi, Rotem Botvinik-Nezer, Rani Gera, Shiran Oren, Dana Roll, Gal Rozic, Anastasia Saliy, Niv Tik, Galia Tsarfati, Ido Tavor, Tom Schonberg, Yaniv Assaf
Summary: The study suggests that the brains of healthy individuals may undergo transient volumetric changes related to stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes decrease over time following the lifting of lockdown measures, indicating that intense experiences associated with the pandemic play a role.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ping Hu, Ying Lu, Bing-Xing Pan, Wen-Hua Zhang
Summary: Depression and anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric diseases worldwide, and understanding the causal link between stress-induced inflammation and these diseases is crucial for effective treatment. This review summarizes recent progress in animal and human studies, highlighting the impact of stress-induced inflammation on functional changes in amygdala neurons and its contribution to the pathology of depression and anxiety disorders.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Brenton T. Laing, Megan S. Anderson, Jordi Bonaventura, Aishwarya Jayan, Sarah Sarsfield, Anjali Gajendiran, Michael Michaelides, Yeka Aponte
Summary: The study identified a cluster of glutamatergic parvalbumin-expressing neurons in the anterior hypothalamic area (AHA) that play a critical role in regulating defensive behaviors, including escape responses. Activation of these AHA(PV) neurons increased during exposure to a predator and triggered aversive responses. Neurotransmission between AHA(PV) neurons and the dorsal premammillary nucleus (PMD) was found to be involved in escape responses. The ablation of AHA(PV) neurons impaired escape responses but had no effect on anxiety-like behavior. Whole-brain metabolic mapping revealed activation of downstream areas such as the amygdala and substantia nigra. This study expands our understanding of the neuronal circuits underlying fight-or-flight responses and has important implications for studying neuropsychiatric disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Xiaoyi Qu, Hui Liu, Yazhu Yang, Lumin Liu, Xueyong Shen, Sheng Liu
Summary: This study investigated the impact of 10.6μm laser stimulation at acupoint ST36 on anxiety-like behaviors and ACC c-Fos expression in a rat model of PTSD. The results showed that laser stimulation increased time spent in open arms and central area, as well as increased ACC c-Fos expression. Additionally, a correlation between anxiety-like behaviors and altered ACC neuronal activation was detected.
LASERS IN MEDICAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Johan Lundin Kleberg, Jens Hogstrom, Karin Sundstrom, Andreas Frick, Eva Serlachius
Summary: The study found that youth with SAD are slower in shifting attention away from the eyes of others compared to healthy controls, but do not differ in orienting towards eyes. This may contribute to the aversive experience of eye contact for them, and could be a maintaining factor of childhood SAD.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2021)
Review
Psychiatry
Lisa Klevebrant, Andreas Frick
Summary: The results of the study indicate that caffeine has anxiogenic and panicogenic effects on patients with panic disorder, with patients being more vulnerable to panic attacks and subjective anxiety following caffeine compared to healthy controls. However, limitations in the study range and dose range restricted further analysis of dose-response relationships between caffeine-induced anxiety and panic attacks.
GENERAL HOSPITAL PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andreas Frick, Johannes Bjorkstrand, Mark Lubberink, Allison Eriksson, Mats Fredrikson, Fredrik Ahs
Summary: Research has shown that humans release dopamine in the amygdala and striatum during fear learning, and the amount of dopamine release is linked to strength of conditioned fear responses and linearly coupled to learning-induced activity in the amygdala. This suggests an evolutionary conserved neurochemical mechanism for aversive memory formation in humans.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Helena Gauffin, Anne-Marie Landtblom, Patrick Vigren, Andreas Frick, Maria Engstroem, Anita McAllister, Thomas Karlsson
Summary: This study compared cognitive function and quality of life in young adults with focal or generalized epilepsy. The results showed similar impairments in cognitive function between the two types of epilepsy. Participants with focal epilepsy reported lower quality of life and both epilepsy groups had lower self-esteem values.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Review
Psychiatry
Monique C. Pfaltz, Sarah L. Halligan, Shilat Haim-Nachum, Marie R. Sopp, Fredrik Ahs, Rahel Bachem, Eleonora Bartoli, Habte Belete, Tilahun Belete, Azi Berzengi, Daniel Dukes, Aziz Essadek, Naved Iqbal, Laura Jobson, Rachel Langevin, Einat Levy-Gigi, Antonia M. Luond, Chantal Martin-Soelch, Tanja Michael, Misari Oe, Miranda Olff, Deniz Ceylan, Vijaya Raghavan, Muniarajan Ramakrishnan, Vedat Sar, Georgina Spies, Dany Laure Wadji, Rachel Wamser-Nanney, Natalia E. Fares-Otero, Ulrich Schnyder, Soraya Seedat
Summary: This article discusses the impact of childhood maltreatment on social functioning and the mediating role of positive relationships in promoting health benefits for individuals exposed to maltreatment. The article proposes research recommendations and methodological suggestions to advance understanding in this area and ultimately develop interventions that prevent maltreatment and enhance positive relationships.
PSYCHOTHERAPY AND PSYCHOSOMATICS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Johannes Bjorkstrand, Daniel S. Pine, Andreas Frick
Summary: This study used an internet-delivered version of the Screaming Lady paradigm to evaluate the effects on negative affective ratings and response time to an auditory probe, and observed fear acquisition and extinction. The findings suggest the feasibility and importance of employing remotely delivered fear conditioning paradigms.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Mona Guath, Johan Lundin Kleberg, Jan Weis, Ebba Widegren, Matilda Frick, Stefan Moller, Lisa Klevebrant, Barry Karlsson, David Fallmar, Johanna Martensson, Daniel S. Pine, Karin Brocki, Malin Gingnell, Andreas Frick
Summary: Depressive symptoms are associated with altered pupillary responses during learning and reward prediction as well as with changes in neurometabolite levels. The present pilot study found that pupil dilation during learning was related to depressive symptoms and choline concentrations in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). However, glutamate and GABA were not related to depressive symptoms or pupillary responses.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Psychiatry
Simon Cervenka, Andreas Frick, Robert Boden, Mark Lubberink
Summary: Mental disorders are a growing source of disability and high costs worldwide. Molecular imaging techniques like PET have the potential to advance knowledge and treatment approaches for these disorders. However, PET research in psychiatric disorders has largely focused on monoaminergic neurotransmission, leading to limited progress. This article outlines methodological developments in new radioligands, PET data quantification, PET systems, multimodal imaging, and study protocols to overcome these obstacles.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Psychiatry
Olof Hjorth, Andreas Frick, Malin Gingnell, Jonas Engman, Johannes Bjorkstrand, Vanda Faria, Iman Alaie, Per Carlbring, Gerhard Andersson, My Jonasson, Mark Lubberink, Gunnar Antoni, Margareta Reis, Kurt Wahlstedt, Mats Fredrikson, Tomas Furmark
Summary: The combination of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is an effective treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD). In this study, the effects of this treatment combination on monoaminergic signaling were investigated using positron emission tomography (PET). The results suggest that the co-expression of serotonin and dopamine transporter proteins influences symptom severity and treatment success in SAD. However, the modulation of monoamine transporters differs when ICBT is combined with either an SSRI medication or a placebo.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Developmental Biology
Livio Tarchi, Stefano Damiani, Paolo La Torraca Vittori, Andreas Frick, Giovanni Castellini, Pierluigi Politi, Paolo Fusar-Poli, Valdo Ricca
Summary: Homotopic connectivity during resting state is considered a risk marker for neurologic and psychiatric conditions. This study examined voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) in a sample of individuals aged 7-50 years, finding that VMHC decreased with age in minors but not in adults. Four functional networks showed negative correlations between VMHC and age in minors, suggesting that interhemispheric interactions shape late neurodevelopment.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Kevin Vinberg, Jorgen Rosen, Granit Kastrati, Fredrik Ahs
Summary: This study examines the correlation between individual differences in skin conductance response (SCR) during discriminative fear conditioning and neural activity throughout the brain. Results show that SCR correlates with activity in several brain regions, including the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/anterior midcingulate cortex and anterior insula. Additionally, the study confirms previous findings of a positive correlation between amygdala activity and SCR.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Andreas Sarling, Orjan Sundin, Fredrik Ahs, Jenny Gu, Billy Jansson
Summary: The study validated the Swedish translations of the Sussex-Oxford Compassion Scales (SOCS), showing that both SOCS-O and SOCS-S have a five-factor structure with good measurement invariance, internal consistency, and validity, making them reliable instruments for indexing compassion in adult populations in Sweden and Finland.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Magdalena Wlad, Andreas Frick, Jonas Engman, Olof Hjorth, Johanna M. Hoppe, Vanda Faria, Kurt Wahlstedt, Johannes Bjorkstrand, Kristoffer N. T. Mansson, Sara Hultberg, Iman Alaie, Jorgen Rosen, Mats Fredrikson, Tomas Furmark, Malin Gingnell
Summary: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is not associated with cognitive processing biases during non-emotional challenges like the Multisource Interference Task (MSIT). This study found no differences in task performance or neural reactivity between SAD patients and controls during MSIT. There was a significant negative correlation between dACC activity and depressive symptoms in SAD patients.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
My Jonasson, Andreas Frick, Patrik Fazio, Olof Hjorth, Torsten Danfors, Jan Axelsson, Lieuwe Appel, Tomas Furmark, Andrea Varrone, Mark Lubberink
Summary: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the relationships between relative cerebral blood flow and striatal dopamine transporter and dopamine D2/3 availability in healthy subjects. The data included dynamic PET scans with two dopamine transporter tracers [C-11]PE2I and [F-18]FE-PE2I, and the D2/3 tracer [C-11]raclopride. The results suggest that there is an association between resting-state striatal dopamine function and relative blood flow in healthy subjects.
JOURNAL OF CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW AND METABOLISM
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Jakob Clason van de Leur, Fred Johansson, Lance M. M. McCracken, Fredrik Ahs, Gunilla Brodda Jansen, Monica Buhrman
Summary: Little is known about psychological interventions for stress-induced Exhaustion disorder (ED), and further research is needed. This study investigated predictors of improvement in ED symptoms in a large sample receiving Multimodal intervention based on Cognitive Behavior Therapy. The findings suggest that younger age, no previous sick leave due to ED, and high scores on anxiety, depression, insomnia, perfectionism, and treatment credibility were separate predictors of improvement. Moreover, participants who were single and had a lower income showed less improvement. The study highlights perfectionism as a predictor of improvement and the importance of assessing treatment credibility during treatment.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Youling Bai, Jianguo Qu, Dan Li, Huazhan Yin
Summary: This study used resting-state functional connectivity analysis to investigate the neural pathways between internet addiction tendency and sleep quality, and found a positive correlation between internet addiction tendency and the strength of functional connectivity within the default-mode network. Furthermore, internet addiction tendency mediated the relationship between these functional couplings and sleep quality.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Jie Zhang, Xiyan Li, Shiwei Liu, Can Xu, Zhijie Zhang
Summary: In this study, electroencephalogram data was analyzed to compare the resting network activation between heavy media multitaskers (HMM) and light media multitaskers (LMM). The results showed that HMM had weaker activation in the attention network, but enhanced activation in the salience network. They also had an enhanced visual network and may feel less comfortable during resting-state periods. This suggests that chronic media multitasking leads to a bottom-up or stimulus-driven allocation of attention for HMM, while LMM use a top-down approach.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
(2024)
