bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
10 State dissociation and interoception in functional neurological disorder
Authors: Pick Susannah , Butler Morgan , Rojas-Aguiluz Maya , Nicholson Timothy , Laura H 
Published: July 2020

Objective/aimsInteroceptive differences have been proposed as an aetiological factor in functional neurological disorder (FND) but there is limited supportive evidence. Previous studies are few, have mixed findings and assessed only (objective) interoceptive accuracy, but not (metacognitive) interoceptive awareness. The aim of this study was to explore interoception in FND in greater detail, by assessing interoceptive accuracy and awareness in individuals with a range of FND presentations. As dissociative symptoms (e.g., depersonalisation, derealisation) are common in FND and could influence interoception, we sought to examine the effects of induced acute dissociation on interoception. We hypothesised that interoceptive accuracy/awareness would be impaired at baseline in FND relative to healthy controls, but that the differences would be exacerbated following dissociation induction.MethodsTwenty adults with FND were recruited from online FND support groups. Diagnosis was confirmed by medical documentation from a relevant healthcare professional. The FND group was compared to a group of 20 healthy controls recruited from online community groups. A modified heart-beat tracking task measured interoceptive accuracy (correct detection of heart beats) and awareness (confidence judgements). A control task involved counting visually presented geometric shapes. Both tasks were completed before and after a validated dissociation induction procedure (mirror-gazing).ResultsThe FND group reported elevated dissociation at baseline relative to controls (p<0.01) but this difference was larger following mirror-gazing (p<0.001). Interoceptive accuracy did not differ significantly between groups at baseline; however, the FND group had significantly lower accuracy scores following mirror-gazing (p<0.05). There was no effect of group on shape counting accuracy at either timepoint. Confidence ratings on the interoception and shape counting tasks were significantly lower at both timepoints in the FND group relative to controls (all p-values <0.05 or <0.01).ConclusionsIndividuals with FND reported elevated dissociation both before and after a dissociation induction procedure, although this was exacerbated post-dissociation induction. In contrast, interoceptive accuracy was unimpaired at baseline, but impaired following dissociation induction, relative to controls. The FND group showed reduced metacognitive awareness for detection of bodily states and external (visual) stimuli. Future research should better determine the nature of interoceptive deficits in FND and assess the impact of dissociation on a range of cognitive and affective processes relevant to the disorder.
11 Development of psychopathology: how can neurocognitive and genetically informative research improve our understanding of environmental risk?
Authors: Viding Essi 
Published: July 2020

Essi Viding is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London where she co-directs the Developmental Risk and Resilience Unit. She is also adjunct faculty at Yale University Medical School Child Study Centre. Her research combines a variety of methodologies in an effort to chart different developmental pathways to persistent antisocial behaviour. Professor Viding has received several prizes for her work, including the British Academy Wiley Prize in Psychology, the British Psychological Society Spearman Medal, and the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award.To progress our understanding of how psychopathology develops, we need to combine different analytical approaches within a longitudinal, developmental, genetically informative framework. In this talk I will provide a brief overview of neurocognitive and genetically informative research into developmental risk for conduct disorder. I will use this overview as a framework for considering how atypical neurocognitive functioning may serve to generate and maintain maladaptive social interactions. I will argue that neurocognitive studies can inform our understanding of individuals as active agents in the generation of particular social ecologies and that unlocking the mechanisms of gene-environment and environment- environment correlation will be of key importance. Advances in this area of research have scope to inform theoretical understanding, as well as interventions designed to help children at risk of developing a disorder and their families.
12 Neuroscience of pleasure and eudaimonia
Authors: Kringelbach Morten L 
Published: July 2020

Professor Morten L Kringelbach leads the Hedonia Research Group based at the Universities of Oxford and Aarhus. His prizewinning research uses neuroimaging and whole-brain computational models of, for example, food, infants, sex, drugs and music to find ways to increase eudaimonia (the life well-lived). He has published fourteen books, and over 300 scientific papers, chapters and other articles and his research features regularly in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. He is a fellow of The Queen’s College, Oxford, of the Association for Psychological Science, on the advisory board of Scientific American and a board member of the world’s first Empathy Museum.Anhedonia, the lack of pleasure, has been shown to be a critical feature of a range of neuropsychiatric disorders. Yet, it is currently measured primarily through subjective self- reports and as such has been difficult to submit to rigorous scientific analysis. New insights from affective neuroscience hold considerable promise in improving our understanding of anhedonia and for providing useful objective behavioral measures to complement traditional self-report measures, potentially leading to better diagnoses and novel treatments.Reviewing the state-of-the-art of hedonia research and specifically the established mechanisms of wanting, liking, and learning, I propose to conceptualize anhedonia as impairments in some or all of these processes; thereby departing from the longstanding view of anhedonia as solely reduced subjective experience of pleasure. I show how advances in whole-brain computational modelling can help stratify the heterogeneity of anhedonia across neuropsychiatric disorders, depending on which parts of the pleasure networks are most affected. These advances may also help us finally get a handle on eudaimonia and well-being which are difficult to study empirically. I will show how diverse routes such as caregiving of infants, drugs or music could potentially offer new insights. The evidence suggests that eudaimonia could be linked to optimal metastability in the pleasure system, which in turn has implications for diagnosis and treatment of anhedonia.
1 Large-scale tractography of the anterior limb of the internal capsule: predictors of capsulotomy outcomes in obsessive compulsive disorder
Authors: Zhang Chencheng , Kim Seung-Goo , Li Jun , Zhang Yingying , Lv Qiming , Zeljic Kristina , Gong Hengfen , Zhan Shikun , Lin Guozhen , Sun Bomin , Wang Zheng , Voon Valerie 
Published: July 2020

Objectives/AimsSurgical procedures targeting the anterior limb of the internal capsule (aLIC) can be effective in medically refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The aLIC consists of white-matter tracts connecting cortical and subcortical structures. Here we assess how specific aLIC tracts are affected in OCD and which tracts predicts improvement post-capsulotomy.MethodsLarge-scale diffusion imaging was used to compare detailed white- matter connectivity via aLIC between OCD patients (n=100) and healthy controls (n=88). For each individual, the fractional anisotropy and tract counts were calculated for each white-matterfiber bundle connecting a functionally defined prefrontal and subcortical region. Correlations between tractography measures and pre- and post- capsulotomy clinical outcomes (in obsessive-compulsive, anxiety and depression scores 6 months after surgery) were assessed in 41 OCD patients. We focused on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsal cingulate, regions implicated in prediction of capsulotomy and stimulation outcomes.ResultsHierarchical clustering dendograms show an aLIC organization clustering lateral and dissociating ventral and dorsal prefrontal-thalamic tracts highly relevant to targeting. OCD patients had lower aLIC fractional anisotropy across prefrontal cortical-subcortical regions compared to healthy controls (p=0.023, FDR-adjusted). Greater fractional anisotropy and tract counts of the dorsolateral prefrontal-thalamic and -subthalamic tracts in OCD patients predicted greater post-capsulotomy obsessive-compulsive improvements. In contrast, greater counts of the dorsal cingulate-thalamic tracts predicted surgical outcome mediated by depressive and anxiety improvements.ConclusionsThese findings shed light on the critical role of the aLIC in OCD and potentially leads towards precision targeting to optimize outcomes as a function of symptom dimension in OCD.
2 The history of psychedelics in psychiatry
Authors: Jay Mike 
Published: July 2020

Mike Jay has written widely on the history of science and medicine, and particularly on the discovery of psychoactive drugs during the 18th and 19th centuries. His books on the subject include Emperors of Dreams: drugs in the nineteenth century (2000, revised edition 2011) and most recently High Society: mind-altering drugs in history and culture (2010), which accompanied the exhibition he curated at Wellcome Collection in London. The Atmosphere of Heaven is also the third book in his series of biographical narratives of political reformers in 1790s Britain. It follows The Air Loom Gang (2003, revised edition forthcoming 2012) and The Unfortunate Colonel Despard (2004).The history of psychedelics in psychiatry is longer than usually recognised. The potential of psychedelic drugs to effect mental cures, and the difficulty of managing their powerful effects, were both recognised over a century ago. Since 1962 the research protocols for demonstrating drug efficacy have posed particular problems for psychedelic-assisted therapy.
5 Differentiating transient epileptic amnesia from epilepsy in dementia and mild cognitive impairment
Authors: Baker John , Savage Sharon , Zeman Adam 
Published: July 2020

Objectives/AimsPatients with TEA experience epileptic seizures characterised primarily by a transient impairment of memory. These seizures sometimes include brief periods of unresponsiveness and other ictal features, including olfactory hallucinations and motor automatisms. TEA patients also report interictal memory difficulties: autobiographical amnesia, accelerated long-term forgetting, and topographical amnesia. Epileptic seizures in dementia can lead to behavioural arrest and altered responsiveness, as well as periods of increased confusion and amnesia.We aimed to compare and contrast these conditions with the objective of developing a decision aid to distinguish them efficiently in typical clinical settings.MethodsThis retrospective study examined the case notes of two groups of patients enrolled in two separate studies. The Impairment of Memory in Epilepsy (TIME) study has established a cohort of 115 patients with TEA. The Presentation of Epileptic Seizures in Dementia (PrESIDe) study assessed 144 patients with MCI or dementia and identified a clinical suspicion of epilepsy in 37 (25.7%). The Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination - Version III (ACE-III) scores were compared as a measure of cognitive function. The prevalence of several key seizures features in both the TEA and epilepsy in dementia populations were identified.ResultsThe average age of seizure onset in the dementia group was 76.91 years, 15 years older than in the TEA group. A range of seizure features were seen in both groups. PrESIDe patients were more likely to have seizures where loss of awareness was a feature. Automatisms occurred in a similar prevalence across both groups, although olfactory hallucinations were significantly more common in the TEA group, as were seizures where amnesia was the sole manifestation. More than 50% of participants in both groups experienced amnestic episodes on waking. Patients with epilepsy in dementia scored significantly lower than patients with TEA on all domains of the ACE-III. However, despite typically normal results on the ACE-III, patients with TEA demonstrate impairments when recall is tested over longer delays (>24 hrs), or on measures of autobiographical memory.ConclusionsIn patients with TEA, the onset of seizures occurs at a younger age than in patients who experience seizures as a feature of their dementia, there are also key differences in the types of seizure reported by these two groups of patients. In contrast to patients with dementia, those with TEA commonly perform normally on standard cognitive tests.
6 Drug treatment of older patients presenting to a tic disorder clinic, a descriptive study
Authors: Raymond Sophia G , Stern Jeremy S , Simmons Helen 
Published: July 2020

AimsDrugs such as neuroleptics are known to have varying efficacy in the management of Tourette’s syndrome, and there is a particular lack of research about their efficacy when used for older patients presenting for treatment for the first time. Therefore, in this study, we aim to describe the outcomes of drug treatment in patients aged 40 years and older who presented to a Tic Disorder clinic.MethodThe Tic Disorder clinic letter database was used to search for patients who presented to the clinic aged 40+. Clinical information gleaned from the letters including age of onset, severity of symptoms, comorbidities and treatments offered was recorded in an Excel spreadsheet. Those patients with incomplete data were removed from the sample. The spreadsheet data was then used to describe the severity of tics in this cohort and the effectiveness of drugs for all patients who used them.ResultsThere were a total of 33 patients aged 40+ who presented to the Tic Disorder Clinic, that we could find a set of clinical notes on. Male: female ratio = 26:7 Tic severity was calculated from either clinical comment, or in most cases, the Yale Global Tic Severity Score (YGTSS). YGTSS of 1–19 is mild, 20–39: moderate and 40–50: severe. Patients with tics since childhood: 75.8%, late onset tics >40 yrs: 15.2%, unknown: 9%. 63.6% have had obsessionality, a common comorbidity of GTS, and 42.4% suffer with two or more psychiatric comorbidities. 25/33 patients tried drugs for tics, whether before or at presentation to this clinic. 40% of them found drugs beneficial; 60% did not, or experienced adverse reactions or were lost to follow up (see bar chart).ConclusionsOverall, even though this study shows that medications for tics is more likely to be unsuccessful or cause adverse effects, it was still effective in a substantial proportion of patients and thus may be a good intervention for some. The study also suggests that this may be more difficult cohort to monitor due to the frequency of absences to follow up.
7 Converging evidence from local field potentials and acute stimulation for subthalamic nucleus theta involvement in internally generated decisions to initiate or withhold actions
Authors: Manssuer Luis , Voon Valerie , Zhang Chen Cheng , Wang Linbin 
Published: July 2020

Objectives/AimsTo examine the causal role of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in externally cued or internally generated decisions to execute or withhold an action by recording and stimulating neural activity in this region using deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes implanted for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD).Methods20 PD patients completed an intentional inhibition task in which they were instructed by visual cues to go, stop or choose to go or stop. Each cue was on the screen until the patient pressed a button with their left thumb or for a maximum of 1500 ms and was preceded by a fixation cross for 1000–1500 ms. Local field potentials (LFP) were simultaneously recorded from the left STN and stimulated in the right STN at the clinical frequency of 130Hz or theta frequency 7Hz for 500 ms prior to the onset of the cue on half of the choice trials.ResultsOn non-stimulation choice trials, analysis of the LFP’s showed a significant decrease in theta activity when patients chose to stop compared to go. This difference began prior to the onset of the response. Behaviourally, patients chose to respond less when the STN was stimulated at a frequency of 7 hz for 500 ms prior to the onset of the cue but not at 130 Hz.On non-stimulation choice trials, analysis of the LFP’s also showed that there was a significant decrease in theta activity when patients chose to stop compared to go. This difference began prior to the onset of the response.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that pre-existing theta activity in the STN may bias one’s pre-disposition to choose to initiate an action and that stimulation of this activity may interfere with this process.
3 The emerging role of cannabis therapeutics in psychiatry
Authors: Valerie Curran H 
Published: July 2020

Val Curran is Director and Founder of the UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit at UCL, Professor of Psychopharmacology, a founding member of the charity DrugScience, Research Lead at a London NHS Drug Service and an advisor to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Drug Policy Reform. Her research focuses on the short- and long-term effects of drugs on our mood, thought processes, memory and the brain. Her research is funded mainly by the Medical Research Council. Val’s work spans drugs used in medical treatments, drugs used recreationally and some drugs (e.g. cannabinoids, ketamine, opiates) used in both contexts. Currently she is running several projects on cannabinoids including their differential effects on adolescents compared with adults; the use of cannabidiol (CBD) as a treatment for cannabis addiction and other potential medical uses of cannabinoids. Val’s cannabis research formed the basis of the Channel 4 documentary: Drugs Live: Cannabis on Trial.Cannabis contains over 140 unique ‘cannabinoids’ and levels of these vary in different types of cannabis. Research to date has focussed on just two of these cannabinoids:Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). We have shown that this variation can influence the effects of cannabis and people’s vulnerability to experiencing mental health problems such as addiction and psychosis. On the opposite side of the coin, THC and CBD and their combination are emerging as potential treatments for some mental health problems. Cannabis based medicines can now be prescribed in the UK, although hardly any patients have yet received these treatments on the NHS. This talk will summarise relevant background research in experimental medicine before presenting new data from a recent RCT of the effects of different doses of CBD for treating cannabis use disorder. I will argue that research on cannabinoids is not only about the ‘cause or cure’ of mental health problems; critically, we should emphasise prevention as a key approach which will require politicians to take evidence-based decisions on UK drug policy.
12 tDCS modulation of pavlovian bias under intermittent loss of control
Authors: Sedlinská Terezie Lekscha , Bolte Lara , Melsæter Eirik , Csifcsák Gábor , Mittner Matthias 
Published: July 2020

Objectives/AimsLearning from experience and making decisions based on integrated environmental feedback is crucial for human functioning and wellbeing. Difficulties in learning and decision-making have been found in several psychiatric conditions. Pavlovian bias, a tendency to approach reward and remain passive in the face of punishment, can be advantageous in some situations, while in others, it can lead to maladaptive decisions and needs to be overcome by cognitive control. It has been suggested that healthy humans rely more heavily on Pavlovian bias when instrumental control over environmental reinforcers is compromised. In our study, we were focusing on the influence of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on Pavlovian bias during and after an intermittent loss of control over rewards and losses.MethodsIn our pilot study, 19 adults underwent three blocks of an orthogonalized go-nogo reinforcement learning task. Blocks 1 and 3 had a response-feedback contingency of 70–30%, enabling learning via trial-and-error. In the second block, the outcome was independent of the participants’ responses (50%-50% contingency level). Cortical responses of all participants were recorded via EEG. Multi-electrode tDCS targeting the medial prefrontal cortex was administered in a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled manner.ResultsWe conducted a repeated-measures ANOVA with ‘session’ (PRE x tDCS x POST), ‘valence’ (Win x Avoid) and ‘PB-congruency’ (Pavlovian bias congruent x incongruent) as within-factors, ‘group’ (Active stimulation x Sham) as the between- factor and ‘accuracy’ as the dependent variable. The interaction of ‘session’ and ‘PB- congruency’ with F(2,16)=2.62, p=0.09 were marginally significant, pointing towards slightly enhanced Pavlovian bias in the second block. However, the interaction of ‘session’, ‘PB-congruency’ and ‘group’ was not significant (F(2,16)=0.46, p=0.63). The evaluation of the feedback-related negativity (FRN) in the EEG revealed gradually increasing amplitudes in reward trials in the sham group, whereas we found a trend towards reduced FRN amplitude in the active group with F(2,13)=2.83, p=0.08.ConclusionsOur preliminary data show that a loss of control over feedbacks might increase the effect of Pavlovian bias on the choices of all participants. Although active tDCS seems to attenuate cortical responses during feedback evaluation, this effect is not accompanied by alterations in choice behaviour. Our data collection is still ongoing. The results from the full sample of 50 participants will be analysed by February 2020.