bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Peripheral endocannabinoids in eating disorders and obesity and its relationship with clinical and anthropometric variables
Authors: Baenas-Soto I. , Miranda-Olivos R. , Vos L. , Granero R. , Sánchez I. , Riesco N. , Pino-Gutiérrez A. Del , Codina E. , Fernández-Formoso J. A. , Vilarrasa N. , Virgili N. , Lopez-Urdiales R. , Pastor A. , De La Torrre R. , Jimenez-Murcia S. , Soriano-Mas C. , Fernandez-Aranda F.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Anandamide (AEA) and 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) play a pivotal role in food intake and reward aspects of feeding. Aberrant functioning in the endocannabinoid system has been observed in patients with eating disorders (EDs). This dysfunction may influence the incentive processes stimulating behaviors towards food acquisition or the hedonic evaluation of ingested food.

Objectives

The aims of this study are to compare fasting peripheral levels of AEA and 2-AG in ED patients, obese subjects (OB) and healthy controls (HCs), and to explore their association with clinical and anthropometric variables.

Methods

The sample included a total of 63 adult women. Peripheral blood samples were collected to investigate fasting levels of AEA and 2-AG in 31 ED patients: 22 Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and 9 Binge Eating Disorder (BED), compared to 21 OB and 11 HCs. Several clinical and anthropometric variables were also assessed.

Results

Comparing groups, significant differences in AEA levels were found (p=0.001). Specifically, individuals with AN exhibited lower AEA than OB (p<0.001) and BED (p=0.007), while OB showed higher AEA than HCs (p=0.015). 2-AG was positively correlated with hostility dimension in EDs and negatively associated with impulsive traits in OB. AEA showed a direct association with body dissatisfaction in AN, contrary to OB. Finally, in AN, AEA negatively correlated with the body mass index, while 2-AG was positively associated with the fat mass.

Conclusions

These results suggest an interaction between biological and clinical factors defining a vulnerability pathway that could help fitting personalized therapeutic approaches in each condition.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Empathy and embodied self: Neural underpinnings of interpersonal relations
Authors: Gallese V.
Published: February 2022

In spite of the historically consolidated psychopathological perspective, neuroscientific research applied to schizophrenia has so far almost entirely neglected the first-person experiential dimension of this syndrome, mainly focusing on higher-order cognitive functions such as executive function, working memory, theory of mind, and the like. An alternative view posits that schizophrenia is a self-disorder characterized by anomalous self-experience and awareness. This view may not only shed new light on the psychopathological features of psychosis but also inspire empirical research targeting the bodily and neurobiological changes underpinning this disorder. Recent empirical evidence on the neurobiological basis of a minimal notion of the self, the bodily self, will be presented. The relationship between the body, its motor potentialities and the notion of minimal self will be illustrated. I will posit that this approach can shed new light on the self-disturbances and social deficits characterizing schizophrenia. I will propose that cognitive neuroscience can today address classic topics of psychopathology by adding a new level of description, finally enabling the correlation between the first-person experiential aspects of psychiatric diseases and their neurobiological roots. To this purpose, I’ll describe putative neural mechanisms underpinning the blurring of self-other distinction in schizophrenic patients. I will posit that brain function anomalies of multisensory integration, differential processing of self- and other-related bodily information, mediating self-experience, might be at the basis of the imbalance in the pre-reflective relationship of the embodied self to the social world observed in schizophrenia.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Home treatment for adolescents with eating disorders as an add-on to family based therapy
Authors: Flütsch N. , Pauli D.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Family-based therapy (FBT) has been proven effective in treating eating disorders among children and adolescents. However, many families have difficulties implementing the measures recommended in outpatient therapy.

Objectives

This study examines the effectiveness of add-on home treatment (HT) to family based therapy (FBT) in adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN). The HT intervention is delivered by specialized nurses and aims at supporting patients and parents to re-establish family meals in the home environment.

Methods

We performed an case-control study in AN patients comparing 44 (42 female, 2 male) adolescents receiving FBT augmented with HT compared to 22 (22 female, 1 male) participants receiving FBT alone. Eating disorder diagnosis, psychopathology and severity of clinical symptoms were assessed using (EDE, EDI-2) and clinical parameters (BMI, menstrual status, level of over-exercising) at baseline and after 3-months.

Results

After 3 months both treatment groups showed a significant early weight gain, a reduction in the rate of AN diagnoses assessed with the EDE interview and a reduction in EDI-2 total scores. The combined HT/FBT group showed a significantly greater increase in BMI than the FBT-only group. In the combined HT/FBT group none of the patients had to be admitted to hospital while 13.6% of the FBT-only group had to be referred to inpatient treatment. Treatment satisfaction in the combined HT/FBT group was high in both patients and parents.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that HT augmented FBT is superior compared to FBT alone in terms of early weight gain and might reduce the risk of hospital admission in adolescent AN.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
The relationship between perfectionism, generalized problematic internet use and bulimic behaviours
Authors: Pereira M. , Pereira A.T. , Araujo A. , Soares M.J. , Sobral J. , Mota D. , Maia B. , Macedo A.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Perfectionism is a consistent risk factor for various psychopathological conditions, including psychological distress and eating disorders. Recently, we have shown, for the first time, that there is a relationship between perfectionism and generalized problematic internet use/GPIU (Sobral et al. 2020). Specifically, we found that the role of perfectionism in psychological disorder is partially mediated by GPIU. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the widespread use of digital media can lead to negative body image perception and abnormal eating attitudes and behaviors.

Objectives

To explore, for the first time, the relationship between perfectionism, GPIU and disordered eating behavior.

Methods

475 university students (78.9% girls; mean age 20.22±1.695) answered the Portuguese validated versions of: Composite Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, GPIU Scale and Eating Attitudes Test-25. SPSS and Hayes’ Process Macro (2020) were used.

Results

Bulimic Behaviours/BB significantly and moderately correlated with Perfectionist efforts (r=.263), Perfectionist concerns (r=.284) and GPIU (r=.25) (all p<.001). The mediation analyses revealed that GPIU is a partial mediator of the relationship between both perfectionism dimensions and BB.

Conclusions

The evidence that both negative and “positive” perfectionism dimensions are associated to eating pathology is in line with our previous research. The present study adds, for the first time, that one of the perfectionism pathways of influence on BB operates through UGPI. Assessment and intervention to diminish eating psychopathology should focus on perfectionism and compulsive traits which could be involved in both ED and GPIU and in their comorbidity.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Constructing socioeconomic index (SEI) in predicting mental health in young adults
Authors: Wong C.S. , Tang W.C. , Chang W. , Hui C.L. , Chan S.K. , Lee E.H. , Chen E.Y.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Socioeconomic status (SES) are well known to be associated with mental health. Previous studies are often restricted by the use of individual SES indicators, while contextual measures aggregating multiple dimensions would present a better picture of SES in multivariate context.

Objectives

The present study aims to construct the socioeconomic index (SEI) by integrating significant socioeconomic factors in predicting mental health of young adults in Hong Kong.

Methods

Data were drawn from the Hong Kong Youth Epidemiological Study of Mental Health (HKYES), a population-based psychiatric study of young people in Hong Kong. The present study exacted data of 1,164 participants who had completed baseline interviews between April 2019 to August 2020. Socioeconomic characteristics including age, gender, education years, income, expenditure, home ownership, housing type, household crowdedness and parental occupation were collected. Data were checked for the assumptions for normality, linearity and homoscedasticity before the standardized SEI were derived using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Logistic regression analyses were performed to further examine the association between SEI and mental health outcomes.

Results

Our results identified five significant socioeconomic factors (education years, personal income, home ownership, housing type and household crowdedness) which together explained 67.7% of the total variation. SEI was associated with depression (OR=0.671, p=.003) and anxiety (OR=0.667, p=.015) after adjusting for potential confounders.

Conclusions

The PCA-generated SEI took account of the multiple dimensions of SES in younger adults including education, income, expenditure and housing. The indices would provide meaningful contextual information of SES across geographical areas or different groups of interest.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Prejudice against and desired social distance from refugees, people with mental illness and patients with COVID-19 in athens
Authors: Peppou L.E. , Bechraki A. , Petraki G. , Marouga M. , Mareta D. , Kontoangelos K. , Economou M.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Stigma is omnipresent in human societies, both globally and historically; while it is also discerned in other primates. On these grounds, it has been suggested to be the product of natural selection and therefore to protect against threats to effective group functioning. Nonetheless, in contemporary society, stigma raises fundamental ethical concerns, while it actually impinges on public health

Objectives

To explore prejudicial attitudes and desired social distance from recovered COVID-19 patients, people with mental illness and refugees in Athens region.

Methods

A convenience sample of 360 residents of Athens region participated in the study, after being recruited from social media. The questionnaire was distributed online and encompassed: i) the Prejudicial Attitudes Survey, (ii) the Social Distance scale, (iii) the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and information about respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics and personal experience with the three population subgroups. The stigma measures were included three times, one for each out-group.

Results

Repeated ANOVA revealed that negative attitudes were predominantly expressed for refugees. On the contrary, positive attitudes were predominantly expressed for people with mental illness. Interestingly, desired social distance was greater from people with mental illness (mean = 32.37) compared to refugees (mean = 25.47) and recovered COVID-19 patients (mean = 24.17).

Conclusions

Stigma towards people with mental illness and refugees is still prevalent in Greece. Anti-stigma efforts should target prejudices in the case of refugees and social distance in the case of mental illness. To date, no stigma attached to COVID-19 has been discerned in the country

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
European study on the attitude of psychiatrists towards their patients
Authors: Ori D. , Szocsics P. , Molnar T. , Guevara K. , Bankovska-Motlova L. , Ivanovic I. , Carbone E.A. , Kotsis K. , Dashi E. , Ahmadova G. , Panayi A. , Kafali H. Yilmaz , Klinkby I.M. , Bruna K. , Vircik M. , Wallies M. , Kisand H. , Hargi A. , Mirkovic A. , Prelog P. Rus , Cabaços C. , Pereira A.T. , Boivin S. , Angyal V. , Grinko N. , Grech G. , Schuster F. , Valdivielso M. , Raaj S. , Maslak J. , Mörkl S. , Strumila R. , Nechepurenko N. , Kazakova O. , Kakar S. , Abdulhakim M. , Matheiken S. , Oanca V. , Salopek I. , Kalpak G. , Gyorffy Z.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Many people think that people with mental disorders might be dangerous or unpredictable. These patients face various sources of disadvantages and experience discrimination in job interviews, in education, and housing. Mental health-related stigma occurs not only within the public community, it is a growing issue among professionals as well. Our study is the first that investigates the stigmatising attitude of psychiatrists across Europe.

Objectives

We designed a cross-sectional, observational, multi-centre, international study of 33 European countries to investigate the attitude towards patients among medical specialists and trainees in the field of general adult and child and adolescent psychiatry.

Methods

An internet-based, anonymous survey will measure the stigmatising attitude by using the local version of the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers. Data gathering started in July this year and will continue until December 2020.

Results

This study will be the first to describe the stigmatising attitude of psychiatric practitioners across Europe from their perspectives.

Conclusions

The study will contribute to knowledge of gaps in stigmatising attitude towards people with mental health problems and will provide with new directions in anti-stigma interventions.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Modernized architecture may reduce coercion
Authors: Harpøth A. , Kennedy H. , Sørensen L.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Prevention and treatment of aggression in psychiatric hospitals is achieved through appropriate medical treatment, professional skills, and optimized physical environment and architecture. Coercive measures are used as a last resort. In 2018 Aarhus University Hospital Psychiatry moved from 19th-century asylum buildings to a newly built modern psychiatric hospital. Advances within psychiatric care have rendered the old psychiatric asylum hospitals inadequate for modern treatment of mental disorders.

Objectives

To examine if relocating from a psychiatric hospital, dating from 19th century to a new, modern psychiatric hospital decreased the use of coercive measures.

Methods

This is a retrospective longitudinal study, with a follow-up from 2017 to 2019. We use two designs; 1) a pre-post analysis of the use of coercive measures at Aarhus University Hospital Psychiatry before and after the relocation and 2) a case-control analysis of Aarhus University Hospital Psychiatry and the other psychiatric hospitals in the Central Region. Data will be analyzed in STATA using an interrupted time-series analysis or similar method. Additionally case-mix and sensitivity analysis will be performed.

Results

Preliminary results show a 45% decrease in the total number of coercive measures and a 52% decrease in the use of mechanical restraint. The reduction that may reasonably be attributed to the relocation is still to be determined and will be presented at the congress.

Conclusions

The study may illuminate how future development and planning of psychiatric facilities might improve psychiatric treatment and increase the understanding of how structural changes might contribute the prevention of the use of coercive measures.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Movement, mood and cognition: Preliminary insight into the effects of electroconvulsive therapy in depression through a data-driven resting-state connectivity analysis
Authors: Belge J.-B. , Mulders P. , Oort J. Van , Diermen L. Van , Timary P. De , Constant E. , Sienaert P. , Schrijvers D. , Sabbe B. , Eijndhoven P. Van
Published: February 2022

Introduction

ECT is an effective treatment for depression. Beyond its therapeutic effect on mood it has a unique impact on psychomotor and cognitive symptoms.Its mechanism of action remains still unclear. To investigate this, we set out to study the brain’s response to ECT from a large-scale brain-network perspective.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to investigate changes in resting-state functional connectivity following ECT at the whole brain, between-network and within-network level, in patients with a depressive episode.

Methods

Resting-state FMRI data were collected from 17 patients with depression before and after an ECT course. Using a group independent component analysis approach, we focused on four networks that are known to be affected in depression: the salience network (SN), default mode network (DMN), cognitive executive network (CEN) and a subcortical network (SCN). Clinical measures including mood, cognition and psychomotor symptoms were assessed.

Results

ECT increased connectivity of the left CEN with the left angular gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus. An increase in left CEN within network connectivity was observed. Both the right CEN and the SCN showed increased connectivity with the precuneus. Furthermore, the anterior DMN showed increased connectivity with the left amygdala. Finally, improvement of psychomotor retardation was positively correlated with an increase of within-posterior DMN connectivity.

Conclusions

We demonstrate that ECT induces a significant increase of connectivity at both the whole brain and within-network level. Furthermore, we provide first evidence on the association between an increase of within posterior DMN connectivity and an improvement of psychomotor retardation, a core symptom of depression.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
The COVID-19 pandemic: Is it a turning point for E-health?
Authors: Möller H.-J.
Published: February 2022

The Covid-19 Pandemia is not a turning point for e-health It might seem meaningful that this e-health approach will also continue in mental health care after the Covid-19, given the obvious pragmatic advantages. But several issues could at least delimitate a future use of e-health technology in psychiatry/psychotherapy: Patient with severe depression and suicidality seem not to be the right target group Same with other serious mental disorders First contact patients (depending among others on their personality characteristics), often have problems to open themselves at phone or video contacts In Germany (and probably other European countries?) a relative high percentage of psychiatrists/psychotherapists are reluctant or at least ambivalent against video based interventions A quite high percentage of psychiatrists/psychotherapists in Germany believe that a relevant proportion of their patients might not accept this very technical approach of doctor-patient-interaction. Currently in Germany, probably also in some other European countries, complain that some legal and billing issues are not fully solved. Some of these problems could decrease in the future and insofar it is difficult to make a valid prediction of the place of e-health technology in psychiatry/psychotherapy. Beside this one point seems of great importance to me: the current e-health success, driven by the Covid-19 Pandemia, should not be the direction of more cost saving psychiatry/psychotherapy, generally neglecting the need for personal interaction between patients and therapists.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Association between abnormal fetal head growth and autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Regev O. , Cohen G. , Hadar A. , Meiri G. , Flusser H. , Michaelovski A. , Dinstein I. , Hershkovitz R. , Menashe I.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Despite evidence for the prenatal onset of abnormal head growth in ASD children, studies on fetal ultrasound data in ASD are limited and controversial.

Objectives

To understand whether people with ASD have abnormal head growth during gestation

Methods

A longitudinal matched case-sibling-control study on prenatal ultrasound biometric measures of ASD children was conducted. Children with ASD were matched to two control groups: (1) typically developed sibling (TDS) and (2) typically developed population (TDP). The cohort comprised 528 children (72.7% males): 174 ASD, 178 TDS, and 176 TDP.

Results

Second-trimester ASD and TDS fetuses had significantly smaller biparietal diameter (BPD) than TDP fetuses (aORzBPD=0.685, 95%CI=0.527-0.890 and aORzBPD=0.587, 95%CI=0.459-0.751, respectively). However, these differences became statistically indistinguishable in the third trimester. Head biometric measures were associated with the sex of the fetus, with males having larger heads than females within and across groups. A linear mixed-effect model assessing the effects of sex and group assignment on fetal longitudinal head growth indicated faster BPD growth in TDS vs both ASD and TDP in males (β=0.084 and β=0.100 respectively; p<0.001) but not in females, suggesting an ASD–sex interaction in head growth during gestation. Fetal head shape showed sex-specific characteristics, and head growth was inversely correlated with ASD severity in males and females, thus further supporting the sex effect on the association between fetal head growth and ASD.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that abnormal fetal head growth is a familial trait of ASD, which is modulated by sex and is associated with the severity of the disorder.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Effects of substance misuse and family history of substance use disorder on brain structure in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and healthy controls
Authors: Novi M. , Paraskevopoulou M. , Rooij D. Van , Schene A. , Buitelaar J. , Schellekens A.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Literature shows overlapping alterations in brain structure in Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and substance use disorder (SUD), suggesting shared pathophysiological mechanisms. It is unclear to what extent family history (trait) effects and/or substance misuse (state) effects explain the observed overlap.

Objectives

Our aim was to examine the effects of (i) SUD family history (FH) and (ii) substance misuse on brain structure in ADHD.

Methods

We compared structural MRI data (cortical thickness; subcortical volumes) between (i) ADHD subjects and controls with or without FH (ADHD-FH+: n=139; ADHD-FH-: n=86; controls-FH+: n=60; controls-FH-: n=74), and (ii) FH-matched ADHD groups with and without substance misuse and controls (ADHD+SM, ADHD-only and controls, n=68 per group). Furthermore, we explored whether FH effects were more pronounced in subjects with SUD in both parents (n=63) compared to subjects with one SUD parent (n=105) and without FH (n=160).

Results

There was no main FH effect on brain structure. ADHD+SM showed decreased CT in inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) compared to controls, while no difference was found between ADHD-only and ADHD+SM or controls. Subjects with SUD in both parents showed decreased thickness of IFG and volume of nucleus accumbens (NAcc), compared to those with one SUD parent.

Conclusions

Substance misuse in ADHD might result in smaller IFG, which is in line with findings in SUD-literature. A contribution of premorbid alterations, due to FH, could not be ruled out, particularly for IFG thickness. Future studies should further investigate the potential role of these regions in treatment and prevention strategies.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
The effects of recreational use of marijuana in adolescent brain health: A review
Authors: Kurnijuanto G. , Kantohe T.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Marijuana is widely used among people, recreationally and medically. However, recent studies have shown that Marijuana has negative effects on brain structures and functions.

Objectives

To discuss the effects of Marijuana use on brain development in adolescence.

Methods

The method that is used in this study is literature review, through analyzing and summarizing the data that were collected from PubMed, epidemiology articles from BNN and CDC, and other online journals to understand the effects of Marijuana on the brain development in adolescence. There were 25499 articles that were filtered and screened resulting in 10 articles that were used as data of this literature review.

Results

Marijuana effects on the brain are divided into structural changes and functional changes. Structural changes are seen in the brain hemispheres, amygdala, hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens. While functional changes are seen in behavioral and cognitive changes in everyday life and even psychotic disorders.

Conclusions

Marijuana use has shown negative effects on the human body, organs that are rich in cannabinoid receptors, especially the Brain. Therefore, Marijuana use among adolescents may disrupt their developing brain, and cause adolescents to have structural and functional changes in the brain.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Predictive biomarkers for negative symptoms in schizophrenia
Authors: Cakici N. , Haan L. De , Beveren N. Van
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Increasing evidence shows that impaired neuroplasticity and high inflammation play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Prospective studies demonstrated that patients with high inflammation usually have a poor treatment response and clinical practice learns that negative symptoms are challenging to treat. The predictive value of biomarkers for negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia has sparsely been explored.

Objectives

Here, we investigated whether biomarkers are associated with negative symptoms at baseline, and whether biomarkers could predict negative symptoms after six years in patients with schizophrenia.

Methods

We investigated serum biomarkers in an epidemiological study on schizophrenia (N, baseline=110; N, follow-up=65). Negative symptoms were measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Biomarkers (N=189) were measured with a multi-analyte profiling platform and analysed using linear regression models, adjusted for site, age, gender, ethnicity, anti-inflammatory agents, smoking, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and adjusted for multiple comparisons (q, Benjamini-Hochberg procedure).

Results

In particular, decreased platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) (responsible for proliferation of oligodendrocytes) was associated with more negative symptoms at baseline and follow-up (figure). Several other biomarkers associated with inflammation, neuroplasticity and metabolism correlated with the severity of negative symptoms cross-sectionally and/or prospectively. Figure. Biomarkers for Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia.

Conclusions

Although our sample size at follow-up was limited, we feel that these analyses contribute to further research of possible predictive biomarkers for negative symptoms in schizophrenia. During the conference we will elaborate our findings with applied machine learning techniques which might shed more light on the predictive value of biomarkers for negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Correlation of neurotrophic and neuropsychological parameters in alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Sidenkova A.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative pathology that develops mainly in elderly and senile people. Disruption of BDNF transport or suppression of its production appears to be typical for people of old age.

Objectives

Objective: To investigate the influence of Alzheimer’s disease on the secretion of brain factors and correlate with neuropsychological profiles.

Methods

12 men (2) and women (10) with Alzheimer’s disease were examined. The average age of the subjects was 76.25 + 4.89. Methods: MMSE, ADAS-COG, laboratory - BDNF was performed using the G7611 BDNF Emax (R) ImmunoAssaySystem 5 x 96 wells, BDNF Emax® Immunological test.

Results

2 patients have mild dementia, 8 patients have moderate dementia, 2 patients have severe dementia. The average age of patients with mild dementia was 72.0 + 1.0. The average MMSE score is 16.7 + 3.4. Correlation analysis showed a close relationship between a pronounced decrease in memory in memory tests (ADAS-COG) and a pronounced decrease in blood BDNF content (r = 0.676). A close statistically significant relationship was found between a low result of the recognition test and a low blood BDNF content (r = 0.598).

Conclusions

we assume that blood BDNF is a marker of pathologically accelerated aging of the central nervous system, since low test results for mnestic function are an indicator of severe degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Modeling the appearance and progression of cognitive impairment
Authors: Mainguy B. , Mehl-Madrona L. , Ruben D.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

It remains difficult to predict which individuals will develop cognitive impairment and progress to major neurocognitive disorders. Prevention studies suffer from the long time frames and the manner in which this topic does not lend itself to randomized, double-blinded controlled trials.

Objectives

We aimed to construct a computer simulation model that would accurate portray the time course for a series of individuals to develop cognitive impairment and to progress to major neurocognitive disorder.

Methods

We built a computer simulation model that incorporated the role of exercise, genetic load, age, quality of diet, presence of diabetes and level of hemoglobin A1C, ongoing levels of cognitive stimulation, presence or absence of micronutrients, presence or absence of other co-morbidities, an overall general health index, levels of smoking and other substance use, and family history. We modeled the life course of 10 individuals, adjusting parameters to make correct predictions for all 10 people. Then we entered the data from another 10 people to determine how accurate the model would be with ten new individuals for whom it had not been developed.

Results

We defined success as a prediction of onset within 10% of the actual date and a prediction of the slope of the trend within 20%. We had 7 successes. We were able to engage 6 of the 10 in interacting with the model to change health behaviors.

Conclusions

Computer simulation modeling may provide an opportunity to study the long-term effects of health behaviors and to engage people in interacting with the program to change behavior.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Study retention prediction with AI
Authors: Mereu A.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism are dimensional personality traits known as the Big Five. Study attrition is a common but often hard to anticipate problem. Artificial intelligence (AI) could examine both fronts to mitigate the unpredictability of the latter.

Objectives

To investigate whether AI could predict study attrition employing personality traits scores.

Methods

Data from 2,697 questionnaires were analysed using an AI. The short form of the International Personality Item Pool was used to assess the Big Five personality traits on the first of three planned waves. The personality traits scores were employed to predict the missing of at least one wave. Overall attrition was 17.6%. The AI was conservatively tuned to minimize the negative likelihood ratio when confronting predicted and real attrition. The free and open source programming language R was used for all the analyses. Dataset source: Hansson, Isabelle; Berg, Anne Ingeborg; Thorvaldsson, Valgeir (2018), “Can personality predict longitudinal study attrition? Evidence from a population-based sample of older adults”, Mendeley Data, V1, doi: 10.17632/g3jx8zt2t9.1

Results

Predictions obtained a negative likelihood ratio of 0.333 and a negative predictive value of 0.933. The results were indicative of fair performance.

Conclusions

AI might be useful to predict study retention. Furthermore, the results of this study might indicate a moderate effect of the Big Five on the probability of study retention. Finally, the AI used in this study is freely available, allowing anyone to experiment.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Pharmacogenetic drug use in young danish individuals with severe mental disorders
Authors: Lunenburg C. , Ishtiak-Ahmed K. , Werge T. , Gasse C.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Pharmacogenetics (PGx) studies genetic variance and related differences in drug outcomes. PGx guidelines for psychotropic drugs are available (PGx drugs), but PGx testing is used only limitedly in psychiatric clinical practice.

Objectives

The aim of this study is to pinpoint different aspects of PGx drug use in the population, to support clinical uptake of PGx.

Methods

This drug utilization study investigated prescription PGx drug use in 56,065 young individuals with different severe mental disorders (SMD) in the Danish iPSYCH sample (born 1981-2005). We investigated the number of PGx drug users (incidence, prevalence), age (at first PGx drug use), sex, multiple PGx drugs per user (in light of panel-based PGx testing) and concomitant use of PGx drugs (in light of combinatorial PGx testing).

Results

We identified substantial PGx drug use in terms of incidence rates (e.g. 333 per 10,000 person years for the anticonvulsant lamotrigine) and prevalence (e.g. 15,260 users for the antidepressant citalopram) in patients with SMD. The age of first time PGx drug use ranged from 11.6-20 years, depending on SMD and sex. On average, more than one PGx drug was used by a single person (range 1.6-5.6 drugs, depending on SMD) or even used concomitantly (41-69%) affecting mostly two different PGx genes (84-92% of concomitant PGx drug users).

Conclusions

PGx drugs were frequently used in young individuals with SMD, often subsequently and concomitantly, arguing for panel-based/combinatorial PGx testing over single-gene testing. PGx testing could be applied already at a very young age.

Disclosure

We thank the iPSYCH consortium, in specific the iPSYCH PI’s (Merete Nordentoft, Anders Børglum, Preben B. Mortensen, Ole Mors, Thomas Werge and David M. Hougaard). The iPSYCH project is funded by the Lundbeck Foundation Denmark and the universities and un
Identification of robust and interpretable brain signatures of autism and clinical symptom severity using a dynamic time-series deep neural network
Authors: Supekar K. , Ryali S. , Yuan R. , Kumar D. , De Los Angeles C. , Menon V.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is among the most common and pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet, despite decades of research, the neurobiology of ASD is still poorly understood, as inconsistent findings preclude the identification of robust and interpretable neurobiological markers and predictors of clinical symptoms.

Objectives

Identify robust and interpretable dynamic brain markers that distinguish children with ASD from typically-developing (TD) children and predict clinical symptom severity.

Methods

We leverage multiple functional brain imaging cohorts (ABIDE, Stanford; N = 1004) and exciting recent advances in explainable artificial intelligence (xAI), to develop a novel multivariate time series deep neural network model that extracts informative brain dynamics features that accurately distinguish between ASD and TD children, and predict clinical symptom severity.

Results

Our model achieved consistently high classification accuracies in cross-validation analysis of data from the ABIDE cohort. Crucially, despite the differences in symptom profiles, age, and data acquisition protocols, our model also accurately classified data from an independent Stanford cohort without additional training. xAI analyses revealed that brain features associated with the default mode network, and the human voice/face processing and communication systems, most clearly distinguished ASD from TD children in both cohorts. Furthermore, the posterior cingulate cortex emerged as robust predictor of the severity of social and communication deficits in ASD in both cohorts.

Conclusions

Our findings, replicated across two independent cohorts, reveal robust and neurobiologically interpretable brain features that detect ASD and predict core phenotypic features of ASD, and have the potential to transform our understanding of the etiology and treatment of the disorder.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Home environment as a factor in maintaining the mental health of the individual in the family
Authors: Gutkevich E. , Shalygina E. , Maltseva Y. , Vladimirova S.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

The relevance of studying the characteristics of the home environment of a person with mental health problems is determined by the need to identify the resources of the individual and the family to form multilevel adaptive competencies aimed at maintaining mental health.

Objectives

The present study was conducted to obtain standardized assessments of attitudes towards the home environment, towards the home as a place of functioning of the family with mental patients.

Methods

The study involved 12 patients aged 21-60 years diagnosed according to ICD-10 F2 with the disease duration of more than 1 year and readmission. Methods used were experimental psychological questionnaire “My home” (Reznichenko, Nartova-Bochaver, Kuznetsova, 2016), mathematical statistics

Results

The test results showed that the average score for the “strength of significance of the home for its inhabitants” across the data set was 4.14, which differed from the average value of 3.73.

Conclusions

The psychological foundations of attachment can be associated with a variety of facts, including the frequent absence of patients outside the home environment during readmission periods. The home environment can be a complex of positive feelings and experiences in relation to the home as a personally significant place. The study revealed some of the psychological traits of the subjective attitude to home, which can become indicators of psychological adaptation in persons with mental disorders in the future. Reznichenko S.I., Nartova-Bochaver S.K., Kuznetsova V.B. (2016) Home Attachment Assessment Method. Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics. 13(3): 498-518.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Pro-inflammatory cytokine alterations in unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients
Authors: Kurtulmus A.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

A growing body of evidence in both chronic and first-episode schizophrenia report increased expression of pro-inflammatory substances in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of patients. However, there is not much data in the literature on immune alterations in unaffected first-degree relatives (FDRs) of the patients.

Objectives

We aimed to evaluate inflammatory aberrancies in patients with schizophrenia, their unaffected first-degree relatives (FDRs) and healthy controls.

Methods

50 chronic, stable schizophrenia patients, 42 FDRs and 40 healthy subjects with no family history (HCSs) were recruited to the study. IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-a and CRP levels were measured. Complete blood counts, fasting glucose and lipid levels were analyzed and neutrofil-lymohocyte ratio (NLR) were calculated.

Results

There was a significant group difference in all cytokine levels after controlling for age, gender, smoking status, comorbid medical diseases, BMI and blood glucose and tyrigliseride levels (p<.001). FDRs showed significantly higher serum levels of cytokines than HCs, in the same way as the corresponding schizophrenia patients but a lower level. Pairwaise comparisions revealed that the differences were significant between each group after controlling for confounders (p<.001 for all comparisons). However, NLR and CRP levels were not different between groups.

Conclusions

Our results support the role of inflammatory aberrancies in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The finding of abnormal cytokine levels both in schizophrenic patients and FDRs indicates that such immunological alterations are not exclusive to the patients and can be possible endophenotypes for the disorder.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Relationship between internalizing and externalizing symptoms trajectories and perinatal risk factors in an epidemiological sample: Preliminary results from the remind project
Authors: Grazioli S. , Rosi E. , Villa F. , Mauri M. , Brambilla P. , Bonivento C. , Molteni M. , Nobile M.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Our 15-years follow-up ReMIND project aims to re-assess an epidemiological and a clinical sample of adults (Wave 3), who were assessed in preadolescence (Wave 1) and adolescence (Wave 2), to evaluate symptoms trajectories and their relationship with genetic/epigenetic data, environmental risk factors and neuroimaging measures.

Objectives

Here, we depict preliminary results regarding the epidemiological sample.

Methods

We assessed internalizing and externalizing symptoms in 40 italian subjects (25 F) from general population at three waves (W1 mean age: 12±0,82; W2 mean age: 17±0,88, W3 mean age: 28±1), through the Child Behavior Checklist (W1 and W2) or the Adult Self Report (W3), and perinatal risk factors through a socio-anamnestic questionnaire, by a new online platform (MedicalBit). We analyzed symptoms trajectories and their relation with perinatal risk factors through a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (rm-MANOVA).

Results

rm-MANOVA results show that high number of perinatal risks was significantly associated with higher internalizing symptomatology in preadolescence but not in adolescence and adult life. The mean difference was 8 T-points. The same trend is evident in adolescence but not in adult age (Graph 1). Perinatal risk factors did not have a significant effect on externalizing symptoms at any time point, despite a non-significant trend is evident (Graph 2).

Conclusions

Our preliminary results suggest a trend of increased internalizing symptoms from childhood to adulthood and a significant role of perinatal risk factors in pre-adolescence. Further investigations are necessary to better understand symptoms trajectories and the role of biological and environmental factors.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
EAN Perspective
Authors: Bassetti C.
Published: February 2022

29th European Congress of Psychiatry (EPA 2021) „You can tell a good workman by his tools: The instruments of psychiatrists, psychologists and neurologists: Why so different?“ The term psychology („the study of the soul“) appeared for the first time in a printed book of Freigius in 1578, while the term neurology („the study of the form and function of the nervous system“) was coined by Willis in 1664 and that of psychiatry („the medical treatment of the soul“) by Reil in 1808. First physicians to devote entirely to neurology appeared in the midst of the 19th century in France, Germany, and England. Around this time neurology, (biological) psychiatry and (experimental) psychology converged to share similar roots in the brain. The three disciplines separated (again) at the beginning of the 20th century. Neurology remained for over 100 years mainly a diagnostic discipline, in which history and clinical examination were expected to lead to the identification of a topographic syndrome (or lesion) and eventually its etiology. In the last 30 years neurology underwent a revolution. While the importance (and validity) of phenotypical diagnoses remained, new (e.g. neuroimaging, genetic) tools have made precise diagnoses and causal treatments increasingly possible, transforming neurology into a treating discipline. The author will discuss why the separation between neurology, psychiatry and psychology is artificial (and even harmful for patients), how the multidimensional tools developed over the years by these disciplines can be of common interest, and what the EAN does to promote interdisciplinary scientific, educational, and political collaborations.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.
Safety of esketamine nasal spray: Analysis of post-marketing reports submitted to the FDA adverse event reporting system in the first year on the market
Authors: Gastaldon C. , Raschi E. , Kane J. , Barbui C.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

The approval of the esketamine nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression in March 2019 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and few months later by the European Medicine Agency, triggered a vivid debate and many concerns, mainly because of the lack of convincing evidence on its efficacy and safety, based on the development programs, approval trials and few post-marketing trials.

Objectives

We aimed to detect and characterize safety signals for esketamine, by analyzing relevant adverse events (AEs) reports in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database (March 2019-March 2020).

Methods

We performed disproportionality analysis through the case/non-case approach: reporting odds ratios (ROR) and information components (IC) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were estimated for esketamine-related AEs with at least four counts. We compared serious and non-serious AEs using non-parametrical tests.

Results

The FAERS database registered 962 reports of esketamine-related AEs in one year. Signals (i.e., statistically significant disproportionality) were detected for several AEs, such as dissociation, sedation, feeling drunk, suicidal ideation and completed suicide. Signals for suicidal ideation, but not suicide attempt and completed suicide, remained significant when comparing esketamine to venlafaxine. The comparison of patients with serious vs. non-serious esketamine AEs revealed that females, patients receiving antidepressant polypharmacy, co-medication with antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, benzodiazepines or somatic medications were more likely to suffer from serious AEs.

Conclusions

This real-world pharmacovigilance analysis detected signals of serious unexpected esketamine-related AEs, thus reinforcing current worries regarding esketamine safety/acceptability. Further real-world studies are urgently needed to unravel the safety profile of esketamine.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.