Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Masahiro Sawada, Ralph Adolphs, Brian J. Dlouhy, Rick L. Jenison, Ariane E. Rhone, Christopher K. Kovach, Jeremy D. W. Greenlee, Matthew A. Howard, Hiroyuki Oya
Summary: This study examines the functional connectivity of the human amygdala in patients with epilepsy using direct electrical stimulation. The findings reveal complex connectivity patterns in the human amygdala and provide important insights for further functional neuroimaging studies.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(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
Neurosciences
Denis G. Sukhodolsky, Karim Ibrahim, Carla B. Kalvin, Rebecca P. Jordan, Jeffrey Eilbott, Michelle Hampson
Summary: Childhood maladaptive aggression is associated with disrupted functional connectivity within the amygdala-prefrontal circuitry. Children with aggressive behavior demonstrate increased global connectivity in the bilateral amygdala and decreased global connectivity in the dorsal anterior cingulate and ventromedial prefrontal cortex compared to healthy controls. The severity of aggression is positively correlated with connectivity between the left amygdala and the dorsal anterior cingulate, ventromedial, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortical regions. These findings suggest a potential role of amygdala and medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices connectivity in modulating the severity of aggressive behavior in treatment-seeking children.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Christian Cazares, Drew C. Schreiner, Mariela Lopez Valencia, Christina M. Gremel
Summary: This study reveals the important role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in utilizing prior action information to guide behavior. Using experiments on mice, researchers discovered that genetically identified lOFC subpopulations instantiate current and prior action information to varying degrees during ongoing action execution.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Tomislav D. Zbozinek, Omar D. Perez, Toby Wise, Michael Fanselow, Dean Mobbs
Summary: In the natural world, stimulus-outcome associations are often ambiguous and highly complex. Learning to disambiguate these associations is critical for survival. In two studies, we investigated the role of higher order Pavlovian occasion setting in humans and developed a computational model to predict different types of associative learning. The results suggest that 2nd-order occasion setting was learned and provide insights into complex associative learning.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Anthony Steven Dick, Karina Silva, Raul Gonzalez, Matthew T. Sutherland, Angela R. Laird, Wesley K. Thompson, Susan F. Tapert, Lindsay M. Squeglia, Kevin M. Gray, Sara Jo Nixon, Linda B. Cottler, Annette M. La Greca, Robin H. Gurwitch, Jonathan S. Comer
Summary: This study found that disaster exposure had an impact on post-traumatic stress in children aged 9 to 11, with media exposure exacerbating this effect. Neural responses in brain regions associated with anxiety increased vulnerability to media exposure.
NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Ka Ng, Michael Pollock, Abraham Escobedo, Brent Bachman, Nanami Miyazaki, Edward L. L. Bartlett, Susan Sangha
Summary: Stressful events can disrupt regulation of fear and reward processing, leading to maladaptive fear responses. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by persistent fear reactions to safety cues. In this study, the necessity of specific projections from the infralimbic cortex (IL) to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) or central amygdala (CeA) during safety recall was tested. The IL->CeA pathway was found to be necessary for suppressing fear responses in the presence of a learned safety cue, similar to the behavioral disruption seen in individuals with PTSD.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Daniel J. Wilson, Azadeh HajiHosseini, Cendri A. Hutcherson
Summary: Recent research suggests that cognitive regulation can alter both immediate choices and long-lasting preferences. Using fMRI, this study found evidence that regulation can temporarily reconfigure neural drivers of choice and result in more goal-consistent changes. Additionally, the study found that the extent to which the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) was recruited for different regulatory goals negatively predicted lingering changes in preference.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Ellen P. Woon, Laura M. Butkovich, Arianna A. Peluso, Aziz Elbasheir, Kian Taylor, Shannon L. Gourley
Summary: We have discovered a connection between the ventral hippocampus and the medial orbitofrontal cortex that plays an important role in the updating of value memories, and this connection is mediated by the neuroplasticity-associated neurotrophin receptor TrkB.
Article
Neurosciences
Caesar M. Hernandez, Joseph A. McQuail, Tyler W. Ten Eyck, Alexa-Rae Wheeler, Chase C. Labiste, Barry Setlow, Jennifer L. Bizon
Summary: The ability to choose between immediate and delayed gratification is crucial for well-being. This study investigates the neural mechanisms underlying age differences in intertemporal choice using a rat model. The findings suggest that GABA(B) receptors in the prelimbic cortex and basolateral amygdala contribute to these age differences, and the expression of GABA(B)R subunits differs in these brain regions among aged rats.
Article
Neurosciences
Nowrin Ahmed, Denis Pare
Summary: This study aimed to determine the neurotransmitter used by MD-projecting BLA cells in male and female rats. The results indicate that the BLA sends a mixed, glutamatergic-GABAergic projection to MD, which likely influences coordination of activity between BLA, MD, and medial prefrontal cortex.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Linlin Fan, Hans Klein, Emily Bass, Cassi Springfield, Amy Pinkham
Summary: The study revealed that paranoia is associated with increased connectivity between the right amygdala and the prefrontal cortex, frontal cortex, and insula. This hyperconnectivity is independent of diagnosis and may help improve the social functioning of individuals with clinical diagnoses.
JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Olena Bukalo, Mio Nonaka, Chase A. Weinholtz, Adriana Mendez, William W. Taylor, Andrew Holmes
Summary: The study investigates the role of the infralimbic cortex to basolateral amygdala pathway in fear extinction, finding that optogenetic stimulation of IL neurons projecting to BLA at different titers produces varying effects on extinction memory formation and fear suppression. This highlights the importance of the IL -> BLA pathway in fear regulation and emphasizes methodological factors in optogenetic studies of neural circuits underlying behavior.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Kuldeep Shrivastava, Rachel Schayek, Milly Kritman, Mouna Maroun
Summary: Post-weaning is a critical period for brain maturation in rats, comparable to childhood and adolescence in humans. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) continue to mature during this period and play a crucial role in regulating conditioned fear acquisition and extinction. Previous studies have shown that stress exposure leads to differences in extinction behavior and long-term potentiation between adults and post-weaning rats. In this study, the researchers investigated whether fear or extinction learning would affect the ability to induce electrical long-term potentiation (LTP) in the mPFC-BLA pathway in adult and post-weaning animals. The results showed that comparable extinction kinetics were necessary for LTP induction in both age groups, and significant differences in potentiation levels were observed after extinction between adults and post-weaning rats. These findings suggest that synaptic changes following fear extinction are different in adult and post-weaning animals, supporting the notion that fear extinction learning may rely on different mechanisms during these developmental stages.
Article
Neurosciences
Karim Ibrahim, Carla Kalvin, Simon Morand-Beaulieu, George He, Kevin A. Pelphrey, Gregory McCarthy, Denis G. Sukhodolsky
Summary: Children with aggressive behavior exhibit reduced amygdala connectivity during face emotion processing, which is moderated by social impairment. The association between reduced amygdala-ventrolateral PFC connectivity and severity of aggression is influenced by social deficits in these children. Amygdala reactivity to fearful faces is not associated with aggressive behavior severity in children with social impairments.
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Ikuo Otsuka, Hanga Galfalvy, Jia Guo, Masato Akiyama, Dan Rujescu, Gustavo Turecki, Akitoyo Hishimoto, J. John Mann
Summary: This study found that major psychiatric disorders and diathesis-related traits contribute to suicidal behavior, and there are shared polygenic effects between different psychiatric disorders/traits. Although the sample size is small and limits the analysis, these results are still significant.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Pediatrics
Catherine Bianco, Ayesha Sania, Margaret H. Kyle, Beatrice Beebe, Jennifer Barbosa, Mary Bence, Lerzan Coskun, Andrea Fields, Morgan R. Firestein, Sylvie Goldman, Amie Hane, Violet Hott, Maha Hussain, Sabrina Hyman, Maristella Lucchini, Rachel Marsh, Isabelle Mollicone, Michael Myers, Dayshalis Ofray, Nicolo Pini, Cynthia Rodriguez, Lauren C. Shuffrey, Nim Tottenham, Martha G. Welch, William Fifer, Catherine Monk, Dani Dumitriu, Dima Amso
Summary: Studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on infant temperament, with higher postnatal maternal stress and COVID-related life disruptions being associated with negative emotionality in infants at 6 months of age. However, prenatal maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection does not have a direct effect on infant temperament.
PEDIATRIC RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Laura A. Berner, Samantha R. Winter, Hasan Ayaz, Patricia A. Shewokis, Meltem Izzetoglu, Rachel Marsh, Jennifer A. Nasser, Alyssa J. Matteucci, Michael R. Lowe
Summary: This study used fNIRS to measure activation in the prefrontal cortices of individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN) and healthy controls (HC) during eating inhibition tasks. The results showed that individuals with BN made more errors in inhibiting eating responses. Those with more severe loss of control (LOC) eating and stronger binge eating feelings exhibited abnormal activation in specific brain regions associated with eating inhibition. Lower activation in specific brain region was also related to more frequent and severe LOC eating in the overall BN sample. These findings suggest that diminished prefrontal cortex activation may contribute to more severe eating-specific control deficits in BN.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Noam Schneck, Sarah Herzog, Jun Lu, Ashley Yttredahl, R. Todd Ogden, Hanga Galfalvy, Ainsley Burke, Barbara Stanley, J. John Mann, Kevin N. Ochsner
Summary: This study investigated the neural dynamics of emotion regulation in healthy control subjects and subjects with major depressive disorder. The results showed that individuals with major depressive disorder exhibited a more rigid neural dynamic of reappraisal, suggesting a diminished ability to flexibly regulate emotion.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Review
Psychiatry
Alejandro de la Torre-Luque, Andres Pemau, Wala Ayad-Ahmed, Guilherme Borges, Jessica Fernandez-Sevillano, Nathalia Garrido-Torres, Lucia Garrido-Sanchez, Marina Garriga, Itxaso Gonzalez-Ortega, Ana Gonzalez-Pinto, Iria Grande, Marti Guinovart, Daniel Hernandez-Calle, Luis Jimenez-Trevino, Clara Lopez-Sola, Roberto Mediavillab, Adrian Perez-Aranda, Miguel Ruiz-Veguilla, Elisa Seijo-Zazo, Alba Toll, Victor Perez-Sola, Jose Luis Ayuso-Mateos
Summary: This study aims to estimate the risk of suicide attempt repetition and examine the role of risk factors and prevention programs. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 110 studies showed that one in five suicide attempters will engage in a new attempt. Female sex, self-cutting methods, and mental disorder diagnosis were associated with an increased risk of repetition. Preventive programs, especially psychotherapy interventions, can contribute to reducing repetition risk.
GENERAL HOSPITAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Gerard Anmella, Miriam Sanabra, Mireia Prime-Tous, Xavier Segu, Myriam Cavero, Ivette Morilla, Iria Grande, Victoria Ruiz, Ariadna Mas, Ines Martin-Villalba, Alejandro Caballo, Julia-Parisad Esteva, Arturo Rodriguez-Rey, Flavia Piazza, Francisco Jose Valdesoiro, Claudia Rodriguez-Torrella, Marta Espinosa, Giulia Virgili, Carlota Sorroche, Alicia Ruiz, Aleix Solanes, Joaquim Radua, Maria Antonieta Also, Elisenda Sant, Sandra Murgui, Mireia Sans-Corrales, Allan H. Young, Victor Vicens, Jordi Blanch, Elsa Caballeria, Hugo Lopez-Pelayo, Clara Lopez, Victoria Olive, Laura Pujol, Sebastiana Quesada, Brisa Sole, Carla Torrent, Anabel Martinez-Aran, Joana Guarch, Ricard Navines, Andrea Murru, Giovanna Fico, Michele de Prisco, Vicenzo Oliva, Silvia Amoretti, Casimiro Pio-Carrino, Maria Fernandez-Canseco, Marta Villegas, Eduard Vieta, Diego Hidalgo-Mazzei
Summary: This study developed a chatbot named Vickybot, which aimed to screen, monitor, and reduce anxiety-depressive symptoms and work-related burnout, as well as detect suicide risk in primary care and healthcare workers. The feasibility and potential effectiveness of Vickybot were tested in healthy controls and patients, showing that Vickybot was useful in screening and detecting suicide risk, but its effectiveness in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms was limited.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
David Pagliaccio, Kenneth Wengler, Katherine Durham, Martine Fontaine, Meryl Rueppel, Hannah Becker, Emily Bilek, Sarah Pieper, Caroline Risdon, Guillermo Horga, Kate D. Fitzgerald, Rachel Marsh
Summary: This study is the first to use neuromelanin-sensitive MRI as a proxy for dopaminergic function in pediatric psychiatry. The results show that children with OCD have higher neuromelanin-MRI signal compared to those without, and this signal is related to symptom severity and illness duration. These findings demonstrate the potential application of neuromelanin-MRI in pediatric psychiatric research and provide in vivo evidence of midbrain dopamine alterations in treatment-seeking youth with OCD.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Hanga Galfalvy, Eileen Shea, Jacqueline de Vegvar, Spiro Pantazatos, Yung-yu Huang, Ainsley K. Burke, M. Elizabeth Sublette, Maria A. Oquendo, Francesca Zanderigo, Jeffrey M. Miller, J. John Mann
Summary: Childhood and lifetime adversity may influence brain serotonergic neurotransmission through epigenetic mechanisms. This study found that recent stress was correlated with DNA methylation of the 5-HT1A receptor gene and binding potential in participants with major depressive disorder (MDD), but not in controls. Childhood adversity was not associated with methylation or binding potential in MDD participants.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Review
Clinical Neurology
Sudan Prasad Neupane, Federico M. Daray, Elizabeth D. Ballard, Hanga Galfalvy, Liat Itzhaky, Aviv Segev, Assaf Shelef, Oren Tene, Mina M. Rizk, J. John Mann, Gil Zalsman
Summary: This study conducted a meta-analysis comparing immune biomarkers between individuals with and without a history of suicidal behavior, finding that suicidal behavior is associated with higher levels of CRP and IL-6, independent of psychiatric disorders.
EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Muriel Vicent-Gil, Joan Trujols, Maria Serra-Blasco, Guillem Navarra-Ventura, Dolors Puigdemont, Carlo Alemany, Sara Crivilles, Javier de Diego-Adelino, Narcis Cardoner, Maria J. Portella
Summary: This study indicates a strong association between the appraisal of executive competence and psychosocial functioning in patients with depression, both in remitted and non-remitted states. Therefore, in clinical management, attention should be given not only to the relief of core depressive symptoms, but also to cognitive issues.
EUROPEAN PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Neurosciences
Elizabeth Bartlett, Francesca Zanderigo, Barbara Stanley, Tse-Hwei Choo, Hanga Galfalvy, Akiva Mintz, M. Elizabeth Sublette, Jeffrey Miller, J. John Mann
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Neurosciences
Paul Bloom, Ranqing Lan, Hanga Galfalvy, Ying Liu, Nicholas B. Allen, Karla Joyce, Giovanna Porta, David Brent, David Pagliaccio, Randy P. Auerbach
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Neurosciences
Hanga Galfalvy, Anna Szucs, Qetsiyah Wang, Madison Stoms, Katalin Szanto
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Qiong Sha, Zhen Fu, Martha L. Escobar Galvis, Zach Madaj, Mark D. Underwood, Jennifer A. Steiner, Andrew Dwork, Norman Simpson, Hanga Galfalvy, Gorazd Rozoklija, Eric D. Achtyes, J. John Mann, Lena Brundin
Summary: Suicide rates have been steadily increasing worldwide, causing a significant burden to affected families and society. This study analyzed the brain tissue of suicide victims and identified inflammatory mechanisms, dysfunctional oligodendrocytes, and altered glutamate neurotransmission associated with suicidal behavior. NPAS4 may be a key regulator in these processes, warranting further research to explore its potential as a biomarker or therapeutic target for suicidality.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Integrative & Complementary Medicine
Nithya Ganesh, Shengnan Sun, Ann Feder, Hanga Galfalvy, Rachel Yehuda, Lauren Byma, Fatemeh Haghighi
Summary: This study found that telehealth complementary and integrative health interventions show promise in improving mental health symptoms among Veterans, especially in reducing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. In addition, this intervention also helps improve pain symptoms and stress management skills.
JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
(2023)
