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Dysfunction of a distributed neural circuitry in schizophrenia patients during a working-memory performance.

BACKGROUND: In a recent longitudinal study of first-episode schizophrenia patients, we found that while dysfunction of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), right thalamus, left cerebellum and cingulate gyrus normalized with antipsychotic treatment and significant reduction in symptomatology, the left DLPFC, left thalamus, and right cerebellum remained disturbed. In the present study we investigated whether these abnormalities are also present in clinically stable, relatively well-functioning schizophrenia patients in comparison to control subjects during performance of the N-back working-memory task. METHOD: Twelve schizophrenia and 12 control subjects completed the study. The functional images collected during scanning were analyzed using a random-effects model in a restricted set of six regions of interest (ROIs). In addition, the exploratory search in the entire brain volume was performed. RESULTS: The ROI analyses revealed relative underactivation in the region of the left DLPFC and the right cerebellum, as well as overactivation in the left cerebellum. The exploratory whole-brain search exposed additional overactivation in the medial frontal, anterior cingulate, and left parietal cortices. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides evidence of significant underactivations in stable schizophrenia patients in regions that we have previously observed to be dysfunctional in acutely psychotic and partially remitted patients, together with extensive overactivations in several regions that potentially reflect some compensatory mechanism or increased effort on the working-memory task.

Adult↗

Integrative multi-omics identifies DOC2A as a novel pharmacological target for bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Current bipolar disorder (BD) therapies suffer from limited efficacy and adverse effects, necessitating mechanistically grounded targets. METHODS: We integrated BD genome-wide association study data (158,036 cases; 2,796,499 controls) with brain proteomics (ROSMAP and Banner dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, n&#xa0;=&#xa0;376 and 152) to perform proteome-wide association studies (PWAS). Bayesian colocalization and summary-data-based Mendelian randomization (SMR) prioritized causal genes. Cell-type-specific transcriptomics validated dysregulation in iPSC-derived neurons, astrocytes, and postmortem hippocampus/prefrontal cortex. Weighted gene co-expression networks (WGCNAs), functional enrichment, and molecular docking assessed functional pathways and druggability. RESULTS: PWAS identified eight BD-associated genes (false discovery rate&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.05), with DOC2A emerging as the top candidate. Colocalization (H4&#xa0;>&#xa0;0.8) and SMR supported a causal association of DOC2A with BD, with no pleiotropy (heterogeneity in dependent instruments P&#xa0;>&#xa0;0.01); DOC2A expression decreased in BD across neurons (P&#xa0;=&#xa0;4.26&#xa0;&#xd7;&#xa0;10-2), astrocytes (P&#xa0;=&#xa0;2.09&#xa0;&#xd7;&#xa0;10-2), hippocampus (P&#xa0;=&#xa0;9.80&#xa0;&#xd7;&#xa0;10-3, t&#xa0;=&#xa0;-2.738), and prefrontal cortex (P&#xa0;=&#xa0;1.44&#xa0;&#xd7;&#xa0;10-2, t&#xa0;=&#xa0;-2.580); WGCNA positioned DOC2A as a key regulator (module membership/gene significance P&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.05) of co-expression networks enriched for BD-associated processes including neurotransmitter secretion and postsynaptic actin cytoskeleton organization (P&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.05); molecular docking revealed favorable-affinity binding (&#x394;G&#xa0;<&#xa0;-4&#xa0;kcal/mol) between DOC2A and BD-related drugs and neuroprotective compounds. CONCLUSIONS: Our convergent multi-omics framework highlights DOC2A dysregulation as a key contributor to synaptic dysfunction in BD and nominates it as a promising therapeutic target. The demonstrated interaction with existing neuroactive compounds provides immediate translational avenues.

Bipolar Disorder↗

Structural brain abnormalities in male schizophrenics reflect fronto-temporal dissociation.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have separately reported abnormalities of frontal and temporal lobe structures in schizophrenia, but little is known of structural fronto-temporal associations in this condition. We investigated whether male patients with chronic schizophrenia would show abnormal patterns of correlation between regional brain volumes. METHODS: Structural magnetic resonance images of the brain in 42 patients were compared with 43 matched unaffected controls. We explored the pattern of association between regional brain volumes by correlational analyses, and non-parametrically tested for significance of between-group differences by randomization. RESULTS: The schizophrenics demonstrated significant volume deficits in several brain regions (left temporal lobe and hippocampus, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), and significant volume increases in the ventricular system (third ventricle and left temporal horn of the lateral ventricle). Controls demonstrated large positive correlations (r > 0.4) between prefrontal and temporal lobe regions. By contrast, inter-regional correlations significantly reduced in schizophrenics included those between prefrontal, anterior cingulate and temporal regions, and between posterior cingulate and hippocampus (P < 0.05). The most salient abnormality in patients was a dissociation between prefrontal and superior temporal gyrus volumes (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results support the existence of a relative 'fronto-temporal dissociation' in schizophrenia which we suggest may be due to lack of mutually trophic influences during frontal and temporal lobe development.

Chronic Disease↗

Measuring liability for schizophrenia using optimized antisaccade stimulus parameters.

The ability to identify unaffected gene carriers within families may be crucial to the success of schizophrenia genetics studies. Data collected from three family samples (N = 365) demonstrated that poor antisaccade performance is an exceptionally promising indicator of liability for schizophrenia. A particular antisaccade task version provides large separations (5-6 sigma) between proband and normal groups. Poor antisaccade performance alone correctly identified 70% of patients in California, Utah, and Micronesia schizophrenia samples. Twenty-five to 50% of these patients' nonpsychotic first-degree relatives also had poor antisaccade performance, yielding risk ratios around 20:1 for simplex and 50:1 for multiplex schizophrenia families. Poor antisaccade performance is associated with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex pathology, suggesting that dysfunction of this circuitry also may predispose individuals to developing this disease.

Adult↗

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation improves depersonalization: a case report.

Depersonalization disorder is a poorly understood and treatment-resistant condition. This report describes a patient with depersonalization disorder who underwent six sessions of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation produced a 28% reduction on depersonalization scores.

Adult↗

Brain activation on fMRI and verbal memory ability: functional neuroanatomic correlates of CVLT performance.

We have recently reported (Saykin et al., 1999b) selective activation of left medial temporal lobe structures during processing of novel compared to familiar words using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The current study describes the relationship between a widely used clinical test of verbal learning, the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), and the previously reported fMRI activations. Thirteen right-handed healthy adult participants were studied with whole brain echo-planar fMRI while listening to novel and recently learned (familiar) words intermixed pseudorandomly in an event-related design. These participants were also tested with the CVLT. Scores for CVLT Trial 1 (immediate encoding of novel words) and recognition discriminability (recognition of familiar vs. novel words) were correlated with fMRI signal change during processing of novel versus familiar words using a covariance model implemented in SPM96. For the novel words analysis, voxels in the right anterior hippocampus correlated significantly with Trial 1 (r = .76 at the maxima). For the recognition analysis, a significant cluster of voxels was found in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (r = .88 at the maxima). Our prior results of separable left medial temporal activation to novel and familiar words, together with results of the covariance analyses reported here, suggest that in addition to the left medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions that are engaged during novel and familiar word processing, the right hippocampus and right frontal lobe are also involved, particularly in those participants with better memory ability. This positive relationship between fMRI activation and CVLT performance suggests a role for these right hemisphere regions in successful memory processing of verbal material, perhaps reflecting more efficient encoding and retrieval strategies that facilitate memory.

Adult↗

Parametric manipulation of working memory load in traumatic brain injury: behavioral and neural correlates.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is often associated with enduring impairments in high-level cognitive functioning, including working memory (WM). We examined WM function in predominantly chronic patients with mild, moderate and severe TBI and healthy comparison subjects behaviorally and, in a small subset of moderate-to-severe TBI patients, with event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), using a visual n-back task that parametrically varied WM load. TBI patients showed severity-dependent and load-related WM deficits in performance accuracy, but not reaction time. Performance of mild TBI patients did not differ from controls; patients with moderate and severe TBI were impaired, relative to controls and mild TBI patients, but only at higher WM-load levels. fMRI results show that TBI patients exhibit altered patterns of activation in a number of WM-related brain regions, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and Broca's area. Examination of the pattern of behavioral responding and the temporal course of activations suggests that WM deficits in moderate-to-severe TBI are due to associative or strategic aspects of WM, and not impairments in active maintenance of stimulus representations. Overall, results demonstrate that individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI exhibit WM deficits that are associated with dysfunction within a distributed network of brain regions that support verbally mediated WM.

Adult↗

Gene expression of tryptophan hydroxylase 2 in post-mortem brain of suicide subjects.

The tryptophan hydroxylase isoform-2 gene (TPH2) is located on chromosome 12 and is expressed primarily in brain tissue. While genetic association and mRNA expression studies implicate the tryptophan hydroxylase isoform-1 gene (TPH1) in depression and suicidality, the TPH1 gene is 150-fold less expressed in mouse brain than TPH2. We hypothesized that completed suicide is associated with abnormal TPH2 expression in the brain. TPH2 and beta-actin mRNA levels were measured in post-mortem brain using quantitative real-time PCR. mRNA samples provided by the Stanley Foundation Array Collection were derived from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann Area 46) of 23 completed suicides and 23 control subjects. There is no difference in the mRNA levels between the suicide group and non-suicide group (p = 0.69). Although greater amounts of TPH2 mRNA were found in the suicide group, this difference was not significant. Further investigation of TPH2 gene expression is needed to clarify the potential role of this gene in the pathophysiology of suicide.

Adult↗

Predictors of antidepressant response in clinical trials of transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Although previous clinical trials have suggested that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has a significant antidepressant effect, the results of these trials are heterogeneous. We hypothesized that individual patients' characteristics might contribute to such heterogeneity. Our aim was to identify predictors of antidepressant response to rTMS. We pooled data from six separate clinical trials conducted independently, which evaluated the effects of rapid rTMS of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in patients with major depression. We investigated 195 patients with regard to demographic, depression and treatment characteristics, psychiatric and drug history. Results showed that age and treatment refractoriness were significant negative predictors of depression improvement when adjusting these variables to other significant predictors and confounders. These findings were not confounded by methodological differences from the six studies, as the results were adjusted for the study site. In conclusion TMS antidepressant therapy in younger and less treatment-resistant patients is associated with better outcome.

Adolescent↗

Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on panic attacks induced by cholecystokinin-tetrapeptide (CCK-4).

Low-frequency (LF) rTMS shows beneficial effects in patients with depression and anxiety disorders. To explore its anxiolytic properties we investigated the effects of rTMS on experimentally induced panic attacks. Eleven healthy subjects underwent 1 Hz rTMS or sham rTMS over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in a randomized cross-over protocol. Panic induction with 50 mug CCK-4 was carried out immediately after rTMS. Response to CCK-4 was assessed using the Acute Panic Inventory and the Panic Symptom Scale and measurements of heart rate, plasma ACTH and cortisol. All subjects reported a marked panic response following CCK-4 administration after both real and sham rTMS. Moreover, injection of CCK-4 induced a marked increase in heart rate, cortisol and ACTH concentrations. However, ANOVA showed no significant differences in any of the measures between both conditions. In contrast to the effects of pretreatment with alprazolam on CCK-4-induced panic in healthy subjects LF rTMS does not affect CCK-4-induced panic and cortisol or ACTH release.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Frontal and temporal lobe sources for a marker of controlled auditory attention: the negative difference (Nd) event-related potential.

Frontal and temporal lobe sources for electrical activity associated with auditory controlled attention (negative difference, Nd) were sought for comparison with those reported to arise from the earlier detection of stimulus-change (mismatch negativity, MMN: Jemel et al. 2002). In two sessions a month apart (T1 and T2), 14 subjects were presented with a 3-tone oddball passively, then as a discrimination task. In EEG recordings (32 sites), Nd was calculated by subtraction of the event-related potential elicited by a non-attended stimulus from that after the same frequency-deviant as target Putative generators in the 180-228 ms latency-range were modelled with brain electrical source analysis and mapped to the modified Montreal brain-atlas. Initial T1-analyses located bilateral Nd dipoles in the superior temporal gyrus (BA22) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA8). Re-test allowed estimates of the temporal and spatial extension of activity. Peak activity occurred 14 ms later. Step-by-stepanalysis showed that the best spatial fit for the inverse-solutions extended 3-6 mm from the point sources, but for temporal lobe sources this increased 15 mm caudally. The right mid-frontal source (BA10) was rostral and ventral from that in the left superior frontal gyrus (BAB). T1 and T2 dipole strengths were well correlated. Nd measures of controlled attention localised to areas associated with sustained attention, problem-solving and working-memory. Temporal lobe sources were later and more posterior and medial than for automatic change-detection. Frontal Nd sources were more dorsal on the right and more rostral on the left than MMN dipoles reported for the right inferior frontal and left anterior cingulate. The sequence of information processing is reviewed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

fMRI during affect discrimination in bipolar affective disorder.

OBJECTIVE: It has been hypothesized that disturbances in affect may represent distinct etiologic factors for bipolar affective disorder. The neural mechanisms mediating affective processes and their relationship to brain development and the pathophysiology of bipolar affective disorder remain to be clarified. Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have made possible the non-invasive examination of specific brain regions during cortical challenge paradigms. This study reports findings based on fMRI data acquired during fearful and happy affect recognition paradigms in patients with bipolar affective disorder and in healthy adult subjects. METHODS: Prior to the scan, subjects were instructed to view the stimuli and to identify the type of facial expression presented. Echo planar scanning was performed on a 1.5 Tesla scanner which had been retrofitted with a whole body echo planar coil, using a head coil. RESULTS: The data indicate that in adult subjects with bipolar affective disorder, there is a reduction in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation and an increase in amygdalar activation in response to fearful facial affect. In a healthy comparison group, signal intensity changes were not found in these regions. In addition, although the patients with bipolar affective disorder completed the task demands, they demonstrated an impaired ability to correctly identify fearful facial affect but not the happy facial affect displayed. CONCLUSION: These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that in some patients with bipolar affective disorder, there may be a reduction of frontal cortical function which may be associated with affective as well as attentional processing deficits.

Adult↗

Successful performance by monkeys with lesions of the hippocampal formation on AB and object retrieval, two tasks that mark developmental changes in human infants.

In this study, (a) what determines success or failure on the AB and object retrieval tasks and (b) the relation between brain maturation and cognitive development as indexed by these tasks were examined. Specifically, does improved performance on these tasks with age reflect maturation of memory functions dependent on the medial temporal lobe? In AB, the S watches a reward being hidden in 1 of 2 wells; after a brief delay S reaches for that reward. The AB error consists of the S continuing to reach to the first location (A) when side of hiding is shifted to the second location (B). In object retrieval, a reward is placed in a transparent box open on 1 side. Although the reward is visible through all sides of the box, it can only be retrieved through the 1 open side. Intact cynomolgus monkeys and those with bilateral lesions of the hippocampal formation (H+) were tested. Although H+ monkeys exhibited impaired memory by performing poorly on the delayed nonmatching to sample taks, they performed well on AB at delays of 2-15 s. Performance declined as delays increased to 30 s, but H+ monkeys never showed the AB error pattern. On object retrieval, H+ monkeys succeeded quickly and efficiently, even when required to detour to the box opening. This reseach demonstrates that memory impairment alone cannot account for deficits on AB or on object retrieval and strengthens the conclusion (Diamond, 1988a, 1988b, in press) that improved performance on AB and object retrieval during infancy reflects maturation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Aging↗

The alpha-2A noradrenergic receptor agonist guanfacine improves visual object discrimination reversal performance in aged rhesus monkeys.

Administration of either low or high doses of the alpha-2A adrenergic agonist guanfacine (GFC) to aged monkeys has been shown to improve performance of the delayed-response task, a task linked to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Monkeys treated with higher guanfacine doses also appeared less disinhibited, suggesting enhanced ventromedial-orbital PFC (vmPFC) function. To test this hypothesis, the current study examined the effects of low versus high doses of GFC on reversal of a visual object discrimination task, a task particularly sensitive to vmPFC lesions. The results of this study showed that high (0.1 mg/kg) but not low (0.00001-0.001 mg/kg) doses of GFC significantly improved reversal performance in aged monkeys. These results may be relevant to GFC's calming effects in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists↗

Visuospatial dysfunction and problem solving in Parkinson's disease.

Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) perform deficiently on Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM), in contrast to their relatively good performance on many other problem-solving tasks. The question is raised as to whether a visuospatial deficit may account for poor RCPM performance in PD. The authors analyzed RCPM results in 50 nondemented participants with PD and 39 age-matched healthy control participants. The PD group made significantly more errors than the control group on all RCPM subtests, including the subtest that mainly assessed visuospatial function (RCPM-A). For the PD group, the composite score of other visuospatial tests, but not the composite scores of tests of executive function or verbal memory, significantly predicted performance on the RCPM-A. Visuospatial impairment in PD may arise from dysfunction of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit that also includes the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and, importantly, the posterior parietal lobes.

Aged↗

Strategic processing and memory for temporal order in patients with frontal lobe lesions.

This study evaluated whether deficits in memory for temporal order in patients with frontal lobe lesions result from impaired automatic encoding of temporal information or are secondary to deficits in effortful processes, such as the use of organizational strategies and control of interference. Patients with lesions in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and control participants were tested on temporal order reconstruction of semantically related and unrelated word lists learned under intentional or incidental conditions. Memory for temporal order in patients with frontal lobe lesions was sensitive to semantic relatedness but not to intention to learn. Tests of item free recall and recognition using similar encoding manipulations indicated that order performance in these patients was dissociable from item memory. Results indicate that automatic processing of temporal information is intact in patients with frontal lobe lesions but that strategic processing of this information is impaired.

Aged↗

Frontotemporal cerebral blood flow change during executive and declarative memory tasks in schizophrenia: a positron emission tomography study.

Schizophrenia affects prefrontal and temporal-limbic networks. These regions were examined by contrasting regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during executive (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test [WCST]), and declarative memory tasks (Paired Associate Recognition Test [PART]). The tasks, and a resting baseline, were administered to 15 patients with schizophrenia and 15 healthy controls during 10 min positron emission tomography 15O-water measures of rCBF. Patients were worse on both tasks. Controls activated inferior frontal, occipitotemporal, and temporal pole regions for both tasks. Similar results were obtained for controls matched to level of patient performance. Patients showed no activation of hypothesized regions during the WCST and activated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during the PART. On the PART, occipitotemporal activation correlated with better performance for controls only. Better WCST performance correlated with CBF increase in prefrontal regions for controls and in the parahippocampal gyrus for patients. Results suggest that schizophrenia may involve a breakdown in the integration of a frontotemporal network that is responsive to executive and declarative memory demands in healthy individuals.

Adult↗

Compensatory recruitment of neural resources during overt rehearsal of word lists in Alzheimer's disease.

Functional neuroanatomical correlates subserving maintenance rehearsal relative to a reading control task were investigated with positron emission tomography imaging of cerebral blood flow in 6 healthy older participants and 6 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Rehearsal and reading rates and number of unique words rehearsed did not differ significantly for the 2 groups. The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was activated in both groups during rehearsal, highlighting this region's role in short-term maintenance of verbal information. A shift in cortical processing resources to more anterior brain regions with increased rehearsal list length was seen, likely reflecting greater demands on frontal cortex as cognitive load grows. Whereas controls showed unilateral right frontal activation during rehearsal, AD patients demonstrated bilateral frontal activation, possibly reflecting compensatory recruitment of neural resources.

Adaptation, Physiological↗