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Vuong QC, Allison JR, Finkelmeyer A, Newton J, Durham J. Brain Responses in CFS and TMD to Autonomic Challenges: An Exploratory fMRI Study. JDR Clin Trans Res 2019; 5:224-232. [PMID: 31461628 DOI: 10.1177/2380084419872135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is seen in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). Both conditions have poorly understood pathophysiology. Several brain structures that play a role in pain and fatigue, such as the insular cortex and basal ganglia, are also implicated in autonomic function. OBJECTIVES ANS dysfunction may point to common neurophysiologic mechanisms underlying the predominant symptoms for CFS and TMD. No studies to date have investigated the combination of both conditions. Thus, our aim was to test whether patients with CFS with or without TMD show differences in brain responses to autonomic challenges. METHODS In this exploratory functional imaging study, patients with CFS who screened positive for TMD (n = 26), patients who screened negative for TMD (n = 16), and age-matched control participants (n = 10) performed the Valsalva maneuver while in a 3-T magnetic resonance imaging scanner. This maneuver is known to activate the ANS. RESULTS For all 3 groups, whole-brain F test showed increased brain activation during the maneuver in the superior and inferior frontal gyri, the left and right putamen and thalamus, and the insular cortex. Furthermore, group contrasts with small-volume correction showed that patients with CFS who screened positive for TMD showed greater activity in the left insular cortex as compared with patients who screened negative and in the left caudate nucleus as compared with controls. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that increased activity in the cortical and subcortical regions observed during autonomic challenges may be modulated by fatigue and pain. ANS dysfunction may be a contributing factor to these findings, and further work is required to tease apart the complex relationship among CFS, TMD, and autonomic functions. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT Brain activity related to activation of the autonomic nervous system in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome who screened positive for painful temporomandibular disorder was greater than in patients who screened negative; activity was seen in brain regions associated with autonomic functions and pain. These findings suggest that autonomic dysfunction may play a role in the pathophysiology of both conditions, explain some of the apparent comorbidity between them, and offer avenues to help with treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Q C Vuong
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - J R Allison
- School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - A Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - J Newton
- Institute of Cellular Medicine and NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.,Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - J Durham
- School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.,Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.,Dental Hospital, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Deamer F, Palmer E, Vuong QC, Ferrier N, Finkelmeyer A, Hinzen W, Watson S. Non-literal understanding and psychosis: Metaphor comprehension in individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Schizophr Res Cogn 2019; 18:100159. [PMID: 31497512 PMCID: PMC6718052 DOI: 10.1016/j.scog.2019.100159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2018] [Revised: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 08/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies suggest that understanding of non-literal expressions, and in particular metaphors, can be impaired in people with schizophrenia; although it is not clear why. We explored metaphor comprehension capacity using a novel picture selection paradigm; we compared task performance between people with schizophrenia and healthy comparator subjects and we further examined the relationships between the ability to interpret figurative expressions non-literally and performance on a number of other cognitive tasks. Eye-tracking was used to examine task strategy. We showed that even when IQ, years of education, and capacities for theory of mind and associative learning are factored in as covariates, patients are significantly more likely to interpret metaphorical expressions literally, despite eye-tracking findings suggesting that patients are following the same interpretation strategy as healthy controls. Inhibitory control deficits are likely to be one of multiple factors contributing to the poorer performance of our schizophrenia group on the metaphor trials of the picture selection task.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Stuart Watson
- Newcastle University and Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
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Robinson LJ, Gallagher P, Watson S, Pearce R, Finkelmeyer A, Maclachlan L, Newton JL. Impairments in cognitive performance in chronic fatigue syndrome are common, not related to co-morbid depression but do associate with autonomic dysfunction. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0210394. [PMID: 30721241 PMCID: PMC6363139 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Objectives To explore cognitive performance in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) examining two cohorts. To establish findings associated with CFS and those related to co-morbid depression or autonomic dysfunction. Methods Identification and recruitment of participants was identical in both phases, all CFS patients fulfilled Fukuda criteria. In Phase 1 (n = 48) we explored cognitive function in a heterogeneous cohort of CFS patients, investigating links with depressive symptoms (HADS). In phase 2 (n = 51 CFS & n = 20 controls) participants with co-morbid major depression were excluded (SCID). Furthermore, we investigated relationships between cognitive performance and heart rate variability (HRV). Results Cognitive performance in unselected CFS patients is in average range on most measures. However, 0–23% of the CFS sample fell below the 5th percentile. Negative correlations occurred between depressive symptoms (HAD-S) with Digit-Symbol-Coding (r = -.507, p = .006) and TMT-A (r = -.382, p = .049). In CFS without depression, impairments of cognitive performance remained with significant differences in indices of psychomotor speed (TMT-A: p = 0.027; digit-symbol substitution: p = 0.004; digit-symbol copy: p = 0.007; scanning: p = .034) Stroop test suggested differences due to processing speed rather than inhibition. Both cohorts confirmed relationships between cognitive performance and HRV (digit-symbol copy (r = .330, p = .018), digit-symbol substitution (r = .313, p = .025), colour-naming trials Stroop task (r = .279, p = .050). Conclusion Cognitive difficulties in CFS may not be as broad as suggested and may be restricted to slowing in basic processing speed. While depressive symptoms can be associated with impairments, co-morbidity with major depression is not itself responsible for reductions in cognitive performance. Impaired autonomic control of heart-rate associates with reductions in basic processing speed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy J. Robinson
- School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom, and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Gallagher
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, The Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Stuart Watson
- Academic Psychiatry and Regional Affective Disorders Service Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, and Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Foundation Trust, Wolfson Research Centre, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Ruth Pearce
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, The Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Laura Maclachlan
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
| | - Julia L. Newton
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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Palmos AB, Watson S, Hughes T, Finkelmeyer A, McAllister-Williams RH, Ferrier N, Anderson IM, Nair R, Young AH, Strawbridge R, Cleare AJ, Chung R, Frissa S, Goodwin L, Hotopf M, Hatch SL, Wang H, Collier DA, Thuret S, Breen G, Powell TR. Associations between childhood maltreatment and inflammatory markers. BJPsych Open 2019; 5:e3. [PMID: 30762500 PMCID: PMC6343120 DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2018.80] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Childhood maltreatment is one of the strongest predictors of adulthood depression and alterations to circulating levels of inflammatory markers is one putative mechanism mediating risk or resilience.AimsTo determine the effects of childhood maltreatment on circulating levels of 41 inflammatory markers in healthy individuals and those with a major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnosis. METHOD We investigated the association of childhood maltreatment with levels of 41 inflammatory markers in two groups, 164 patients with MDD and 301 controls, using multiplex electrochemiluminescence methods applied to blood serum. RESULTS Childhood maltreatment was not associated with altered inflammatory markers in either group after multiple testing correction. Body mass index (BMI) exerted strong effects on interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein levels in those with MDD. CONCLUSIONS Childhood maltreatment did not exert effects on inflammatory marker levels in either the participants with MDD or the control group in our study. Our results instead highlight the more pertinent influence of BMI.Declaration of interestD.A.C. and H.W. work for Eli Lilly Inc. R.N. has received speaker fees from Sunovion, Jansen and Lundbeck. G.B. has received consultancy fees and funding from Eli Lilly. R.H.M.-W. has received consultancy fees or has a financial relationship with AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cyberonics, Eli Lilly, Ferrer, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, MyTomorrows, Otsuka, Pfizer, Pulse, Roche, Servier, SPIMACO and Sunovian. I.M.A. has received consultancy fees or has a financial relationship with Alkermes, Lundbeck, Lundbeck/Otsuka, and Servier. S.W. has sat on an advisory board for Sunovion, Allergan and has received speaker fees from Astra Zeneca. A.H.Y. has received honoraria for speaking from Astra Zeneca, Lundbeck, Eli Lilly, Sunovion; honoraria for consulting from Allergan, Livanova and Lundbeck, Sunovion, Janssen; and research grant support from Janssen. A.J.C. has received honoraria for speaking from Astra Zeneca, honoraria for consulting with Allergan, Livanova and Lundbeck and research grant support from Lundbeck.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alish B Palmos
- King's College London,Social,Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre,UK
| | - Stuart Watson
- Academic Clinical Senior Lecturer, Institute of Neuroscience, Wolfson Research Centre,Newcastle University,Campus for Ageing and Vitality;andNorthumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust,UK
| | - Tom Hughes
- Associate Medical Director for Research, Leeds and York NHS Partnership Foundation Trust,UK
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Research Associate, Institute of Neuroscience, Wolfson Research Centre,Newcastle University,Campus for Ageing and Vitality,UK
| | - R Hamish McAllister-Williams
- Professor of Affective Disorders, Institute of Neuroscience, Wolfson Research Centre,Newcastle University,Campus for Ageing and Vitality;andNorthumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust,UK
| | - Nicol Ferrier
- Emeritus Professor, Institute of Neuroscience, Wolfson Research Centre,Newcastle University,Campus for Ageing and Vitality;andNorthumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust,UK
| | - Ian M Anderson
- Honorary Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit,Manchester University and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre,UK
| | - Rajesh Nair
- Associate Clinical Researcher, Consultant Psychiatrist, Institute of Neuroscience, Wolfson Research Centre,Newcastle University,Campus for Ageing and Vitality;andNorthumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust,UK
| | - Allan H Young
- Professor of Mood Disorders, King's College London, Psychological Medicine,Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; andNational Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,the Maudsley Hospital and King's College London,UK
| | - Rebecca Strawbridge
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, King's College London, Psychological Medicine,Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience; andNational Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry,Psychology and Neuroscience,the Maudsley Hospital and King's College London,UK
| | - Anthony J Cleare
- Professor of Psychopharmacology and Affective Disorders, King's College London, Psychological Medicine,Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; andNational Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,the Maudsley Hospital and King's College London,UK
| | - Raymond Chung
- Research Assistant, King's College London, Social,Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre; andNational Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, the Maudsley Hospital and King's College London,UK
| | - Souci Frissa
- King's NIHR Global Health Unit Coordinator, Health Services and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,King's College London,UK
| | - Laura Goodwin
- Visiting Lecturer, Psychological Medicine,Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,King's College London; andLecturer in Epidemiology, Department of Psychological Sciences,University of Liverpool,UK
| | - Matthew Hotopf
- Professor of General Hospital Psychiatry, Psychological Medicine,Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,King's College London,South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; andNational Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,the Maudsley Hospital and King's College London,UK
| | - Stephani L Hatch
- Reader in Sociology and Epidemiology, King's College London,Health Services and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,UK
| | - Hong Wang
- Senior Research Scientist, Eli Lilly and Company,Lilly Corporate Center,USA
| | | | - Sandrine Thuret
- Reader in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience,Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,King's College London,UK
| | - Gerome Breen
- Reader of Neuropsychiatric and Translational Genetics, Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College London; andNational Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,the Maudsley Hospital and King's College London,UK
| | - Timothy R Powell
- Honorary Lecturer and Medical Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, Social,Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College London,UK
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Finkelmeyer A, He J, Maclachlan L, Blamire AM, Newton JL. Intracranial compliance is associated with symptoms of orthostatic intolerance in chronic fatigue syndrome. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0200068. [PMID: 29969498 PMCID: PMC6029803 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2017] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Symptoms of orthostatic intolerance (OI) are common in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and similar disorders. These symptoms may relate to individual differences in intracranial compliance and cerebral blood perfusion. The present study used phase-contrast, quantitative flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine intracranial compliance based on arterial inflow, venous outflow and cerebrospinal fluid flow along the spinal canal into and out of the cranial cavity. Flow-sensitive Alternating Inversion Recovery (FAIR) Arterial Spin Labelling was used to measure cerebral blood perfusion at rest. Forty patients with CFS and 10 age and gender matched controls were scanned. Severity of symptoms of OI was determined from self-report using the Autonomic Symptom Profile. CFS patients reported significantly higher levels of OI (p < .001). Within the patient group, higher severity of OI symptoms were associated with lower intracranial compliance (r = -.346, p = .033) and higher resting perfusion (r = .337, p = .038). In both groups intracranial compliance was negatively correlated with cerebral perfusion. There were no significant differences between the groups in intracranial compliance or perfusion. In patients with CFS, low intracranial compliance and high resting cerebral perfusion appear to be associated with an increased severity of symptoms of OI. This may signify alterations in the ability of the cerebral vasculature to cope with changes to systemic blood pressure due to orthostatic stress, but this may not be specific to CFS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (AF); (JLN)
| | - Jiabao He
- Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
- Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Centre, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Laura Maclachlan
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew M. Blamire
- Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
| | - Julia L. Newton
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (AF); (JLN)
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6
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Tomas C, Finkelmeyer A, Hodgson T, MacLachlan L, MacGowan GA, Blamire AM, Newton JL. Elevated brain natriuretic peptide levels in chronic fatigue syndrome associate with cardiac dysfunction: a case control study. Open Heart 2017; 4:e000697. [PMID: 29344367 PMCID: PMC5761285 DOI: 10.1136/openhrt-2017-000697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2017] [Revised: 11/22/2017] [Accepted: 11/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives To explore levels of the brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and how these associate with the cardiac abnormalities recently identified in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Methods Cardiac magnetic resonance examinations were performed using 3T Philips Intera Achieva scanner (Best, Netherlands) in CFS (Fukuda) participants and sedentary controls matched group wise for age and sex. BNP was also measured by using an enzyme immunoassay in plasma from 42 patients with CFS and 10 controls. Results BNP levels were significantly higher in the CFS cohort compared with the matched controls (P=0.013). When we compared cardiac volumes (end-diastolic and end-systolic) between those with high BNP levels (BNP >400 pg/mL) and low BNP (<400 pg/mL), there were significantly lower cardiac volumes in those with the higher BNP levels in both end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes (P=0.05). There were no relationships between fatigue severity, length of disease and BNP levels (P=0.2) suggesting that our findings are unlikely to be related to deconditioning. Conclusion This study confirms an association between reduced cardiac volumes and BNP in CFS. Lack of relationship between length of disease suggests that findings are not secondary to deconditioning. Further studies are needed to explore the utility of BNP to act as a stratification paradigm in CFS that directs targeted treatments. Trail registration number Registered with NIHR Portfolio CLRN ID 97805.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cara Tomas
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.,Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Tim Hodgson
- Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Laura MacLachlan
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Guy A MacGowan
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.,Cardiology, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Andrew M Blamire
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.,Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Julia L Newton
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.,CRESTA, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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7
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Regenbogen C, Seubert J, Johansson E, Finkelmeyer A, Andersson P, Lundström JN. The intraparietal sulcus governs multisensory integration of audiovisual information based on task difficulty. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 39:1313-1326. [PMID: 29235185 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2017] [Revised: 11/30/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Object recognition benefits maximally from multimodal sensory input when stimulus presentation is noisy, or degraded. Whether this advantage can be attributed specifically to the extent of overlap in object-related information, or rather, to object-unspecific enhancement due to the mere presence of additional sensory stimulation, remains unclear. Further, the cortical processing differences driving increased multisensory integration (MSI) for degraded compared with clear information remain poorly understood. Here, two consecutive studies first compared behavioral benefits of audio-visual overlap of object-related information, relative to conditions where one channel carried information and the other carried noise. A hierarchical drift diffusion model indicated performance enhancement when auditory and visual object-related information was simultaneously present for degraded stimuli. A subsequent fMRI study revealed visual dominance on a behavioral and neural level for clear stimuli, while degraded stimulus processing was mainly characterized by activation of a frontoparietal multisensory network, including IPS. Connectivity analyses indicated that integration of degraded object-related information relied on IPS input, whereas clear stimuli were integrated through direct information exchange between visual and auditory sensory cortices. These results indicate that the inverse effectiveness observed for identification of degraded relative to clear objects in behavior and brain activation might be facilitated by selective recruitment of an executive cortical network which uses IPS as a relay mediating crossmodal sensory information exchange.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Regenbogen
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.,JARA - BRAIN Institute 1: Structure-Function Relationship: Decoding the Human Brain at systemic levels, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
| | - Janina Seubert
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Neurobiology, Aging Research Center, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Emilia Johansson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Patrik Andersson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Stockholm University Brain Imaging Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden
| | - Johan N Lundström
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.,Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Maclachlan L, Watson S, Gallagher P, Finkelmeyer A, Jason LA, Sunnquist M, Newton JL. Are current chronic fatigue syndrome criteria diagnosing different disease phenotypes? PLoS One 2017; 12:e0186885. [PMID: 29053742 PMCID: PMC5650174 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Importance Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterised by a constellation of symptoms diagnosed with a number of different polythetic criteria. Heterogeneity across these diagnostic criteria is likely to be confounding research into the as-yet-unknown pathophysiology underlying this stigmatised and debilitating condition and may diagnose a disease spectrum with significant implications for clinical management. No studies to date have objectively investigated this possibility using a validated measure of CFS symptoms–the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire (DSQ). Objective To examine whether current CFS diagnostic criteria are identifying different disease phenotypes using the DSQ. Design Case control study. Setting Clinical Research Facility of the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Participants 49 CFS subjects and ten matched, sedentary community controls, excluded for co-morbid depression. Main outcomes and measures Self-reported autonomic and cognitive features were assessed with the Composite Autonomic Symptom Score (COMPASS) and Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (COGFAIL) respectively. Objective autonomic cardiovascular parameters were examined using the Task Force® Monitor and a battery of neuropsychological tests administered for objective cognitive assessment. Results Self-reported autonomic and cognitive symptoms were significantly greater in CFS subjects compared to controls. There were no statistically significant differences in objective autonomic measures between CFS and controls. There were clinically significant differences between DSQ subgroups on objective autonomic testing. Visuospatial memory, verbal memory and psychomotor speed were significantly different between DSQ subgroups. Conclusions and relevance The finding of no significant differences in objective autonomic testing between CFS and control subjects may reflect the inclusion of sedentary controls or exclusion for co-morbid depression. Consistent exclusion criteria would enable better delineation of these two conditions and their presenting symptoms. Findings across CFS subgroups suggest subjects have a different disease burden on subjective and objective measures of function, autonomic parameters and cognitive impairment when categorised using the DSQ. Different CFS criteria may at best be diagnosing a spectrum of disease severities and at worst different CFS phenotypes or even different diseases. This complicates research and disease management and may contribute to the significant stigma associated with the condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Maclachlan
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Stuart Watson
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Gallagher
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Julia L. Newton
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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9
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Finkelmeyer A, He J, Maclachlan L, Watson S, Gallagher P, Newton JL, Blamire AM. Grey and white matter differences in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - A voxel-based morphometry study. Neuroimage Clin 2017; 17:24-30. [PMID: 29021956 PMCID: PMC5633338 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2017.09.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Revised: 09/07/2017] [Accepted: 09/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Investigate global and regional grey and white matter volumes in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and recent voxel-based morphometry (VBM) methods. METHODS Forty-two patients with CFS and thirty healthy volunteers were scanned on a 3-Tesla MRI scanner. Anatomical MRI scans were segmented, normalized and submitted to a VBM analysis using randomisation methods. Group differences were identified in overall segment volumes and voxel-wise in spatially normalized grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) segments. RESULTS Accounting for total intracranial volume, patients had larger GM volume and lower WM volume. The voxel-wise analysis showed increased GM volume in several structures including the amygdala and insula in the patient group. Reductions in WM volume in the patient group were seen primarily in the midbrain, pons and right temporal lobe. CONCLUSION Elevated GM volume in CFS is seen in areas related to processing of interoceptive signals and stress. Reduced WM volume in the patient group partially supports earlier findings of WM abnormalities in regions of the midbrain and brainstem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK.
| | - Jiabao He
- Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Centre, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
| | - Laura Maclachlan
- Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Göteborgs Universitet, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Stuart Watson
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK
| | - Peter Gallagher
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK
| | - Julia L Newton
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK
| | - Andrew M Blamire
- Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK
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Petrides G, Zalewski P, McCulloch D, Maclachlan L, Finkelmeyer A, Hodgson T, Blamire A, Newton JL. Cardiac sympathetic innervation associates with autonomic dysfunction in chronic fatigue syndrome – a pilot study. Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior 2017; 5:184-186. [PMID: 29780660 PMCID: PMC5942146 DOI: 10.1080/21641846.2017.1322235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- George Petrides
- Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Pawel Zalewski
- Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland
| | - David McCulloch
- Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Laura Maclachlan
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
- Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Tim Hodgson
- Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Andrew Blamire
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
- Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Julia L. Newton
- Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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11
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Finkelmeyer A, Nilsson J, He J, Stevens L, Maller JJ, Moss RA, Small S, Gallagher P, Coventry K, Ferrier IN, McAllister-Williams RH. Altered hippocampal function in major depression despite intact structure and resting perfusion. Psychol Med 2016; 46:2157-2168. [PMID: 27192934 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291716000702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hippocampal volume reductions in major depression have been frequently reported. However, evidence for functional abnormalities in the same region in depression has been less clear. We investigated hippocampal function in depression using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychological tasks tapping spatial memory function, with complementing measures of hippocampal volume and resting blood flow to aid interpretation. METHOD A total of 20 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and a matched group of 20 healthy individuals participated. Participants underwent multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): fMRI during a spatial memory task, and structural MRI and resting blood flow measurements of the hippocampal region using arterial spin labelling. An offline battery of neuropsychological tests, including several measures of spatial memory, was also completed. RESULTS The fMRI analysis showed significant group differences in bilateral anterior regions of the hippocampus. While control participants showed task-dependent differences in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal, depressed patients did not. No group differences were detected with regard to hippocampal volume or resting blood flow. Patients showed reduced performance in several offline neuropsychological measures. All group differences were independent of differences in hippocampal volume and hippocampal blood flow. CONCLUSIONS Functional abnormalities of the hippocampus can be observed in patients with MDD even when the volume and resting perfusion in the same region appear normal. This suggests that changes in hippocampal function can be observed independently of structural abnormalities of the hippocampus in depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University,Newcastle-upon-Tyne,UK
| | - J Nilsson
- Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute,Stockholm,Sweden
| | - J He
- Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Centre, University of Aberdeen,Aberdeen,UK
| | - L Stevens
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University,Newcastle-upon-Tyne,UK
| | - J J Maller
- Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Monash University,Melbourne,VIC,Australia
| | - R A Moss
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University,Newcastle-upon-Tyne,UK
| | - S Small
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University,Newcastle-upon-Tyne,UK
| | - P Gallagher
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University,Newcastle-upon-Tyne,UK
| | - K Coventry
- School of Psychology, University of East Anglia,Norwich,UK
| | - I N Ferrier
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University,Newcastle-upon-Tyne,UK
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12
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Newton JL, Finkelmeyer A, Petrides G, Frith J, Hodgson T, Maclachlan L, MacGowan G, Blamire AM. Reduced cardiac volumes in chronic fatigue syndrome associate with plasma volume but not length of disease: a cohort study. Open Heart 2016; 3:e000381. [PMID: 27403329 PMCID: PMC4932290 DOI: 10.1136/openhrt-2015-000381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2015] [Revised: 04/28/2016] [Accepted: 05/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives To explore potential mechanisms that underpin the cardiac abnormalities seen in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) using non-invasive cardiac impedance, red cell mass and plasma volume measurements. Methods Cardiac MR (MR) examinations were performed using 3 T Philips Intera Achieva scanner (Best, NL) in participants with CFS (Fukuda; n=47) and matched case-by-case controls. Total volume (TV), red cell volume (RCV) and plasma volume (PV) measurements were performed (41 CFS and 10 controls) using the indicator dilution technique using simultaneous 51-chromium labelling of red blood cells and 125-iodine labelling of serum albumin. Results The CFS group length of history (mean±SD) was 14±10 years. Patients with CFS had significantly reduced end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes together with reduced end-diastolic wall masses (all p<0.0001). Mean±SD RCV was 1565±443 mL with 26/41 (63%) having values below 95% of expected. PV was 2659±529 mL with 13/41 (32%) <95% expected. There were strong positive correlations between TV, RCV and PV and cardiac end-diastolic wall mass (all p<0.0001; r2=0.5). Increasing fatigue severity correlated negatively with lower PV (p=0.04; r2=0.2). There were no relationships between any MR or volume measurements and length of history, suggesting that deconditioning was unlikely to be the cause of these abnormalities. Conclusions This study confirms an association between reduced cardiac volumes and blood volume in CFS. Lack of relationship between length of disease, cardiac and plasma volumes suggests findings are not secondary to deconditioning. The relationship between plasma volume and severity of fatigue symptoms suggests a potential therapeutic target in CFS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia L Newton
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - George Petrides
- Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , Newcastle upon Tyne , UK
| | - James Frith
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Tim Hodgson
- Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre , Newcastle upon Tyne , UK
| | | | - Guy MacGowan
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Andrew M Blamire
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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13
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McAllister-Williams RH, Anderson IM, Finkelmeyer A, Gallagher P, Grunze HCR, Haddad PM, Hughes T, Lloyd AJ, Mamasoula C, McColl E, Pearce S, Siddiqi N, Sinha BNP, Steen N, Wainwright J, Winter FH, Ferrier IN, Watson S. Antidepressant augmentation with metyrapone for treatment-resistant depression (the ADD study): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Psychiatry 2016; 3:117-27. [PMID: 26727041 DOI: 10.1016/s2215-0366(15)00436-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2015] [Revised: 09/11/2015] [Accepted: 09/11/2015] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Many patients with major depressive disorder have treatment-resistant depression, defined as no adequate response to two consecutive courses of antidepressants. Some evidence suggests that antiglucocorticoid augmentation of antidepressants might be efficacious in patients with major depressive disorder. We aimed to test the proof of concept of metyrapone for the augmentation of serotonergic antidepressants in the clinically relevant population of patients with treatment-resistant depression. METHODS This double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial recruited patients from seven UK National Health Service (NHS) Mental Health Trusts from three areas (northeast England, northwest England, and the Leeds and Bradford area). Eligible patients were aged 18-65 years with treatment-resistant depression (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 17-item score of ≥18 and a Massachusetts General Hospital Treatment-Resistant Depression staging score of 2-10) and taking a single-agent or combination antidepressant treatment that included a serotonergic drug. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) through a centralised web-based system to metyrapone (500 mg twice daily) or placebo, in addition to their existing antidepressant regimen, for 21 days. Permuted block randomisation was done with a block size of two or four, stratified by centre and primary or secondary care setting. The primary outcome was improvement in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score 5 weeks after randomisation, analysed in the modified intention-to-treat population of all randomly assigned patients that completed the MADRS assessment at week 5. The study has an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN45338259) and is registered with the EU Clinical Trial register, number 2009-015165-31. FINDINGS Between Feb 8, 2011, and Dec 10, 2012, 165 patients were recruited and randomly assigned (83 to metyrapone and 82 to placebo), with 143 (87%) completing the primary outcome assessment (69 [83%] in the metyrapone and 74 [90%] in the placebo group). At 5 weeks, MADRS score did not significantly differ between groups (21·7 points [95% CI 19·2-24·4] in the metyrapone group vs 22·6 points [20·1-24·8] in the placebo group; adjusted mean difference of -0·51 points [95% CI -3·48 to 2·46]; p=0·74). 12 serious adverse events were reported in four (5%) of 83 patients in the metyrapone group and six (7%) of 82 patients in the placebo group, none of which were related to study treatment. 134 adverse events occurred in 58 (70%) patients in the metyrapone group compared with 95 events in 45 (55%) patients in the placebo group, of which 11 (8%) events in the metyrapone group and four (4%) in the placebo group were judged by principle investigators at the time of occurrence to be probably related to the study drug. INTERPRETATION Metyrapone augmentation of antidepressants is not efficacious in a broadly representative population of patients with treatment-resistant depression within the NHS and therefore is not an option for patients with treatment-resistant depression in routine clinical practice at this time. Further research is needed to clarify if such augmentation might benefit subpopulations with demonstrable hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis abnormalities. FUNDING Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme, a UK Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research partnership.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Hamish McAllister-Williams
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
| | - Ian M Anderson
- Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, Manchester University, Manchester, UK
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Peter Gallagher
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Heinz C R Grunze
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Peter M Haddad
- Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, Manchester University, Manchester, UK; Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
| | - Tom Hughes
- Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Leeds, UK
| | - Adrian J Lloyd
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | | | - Elaine McColl
- Newcastle Clinical Trials Unit, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Simon Pearce
- Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Najma Siddiqi
- Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford, UK; Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Baxi N P Sinha
- Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, Darlington, UK
| | - Nick Steen
- Newcastle Clinical Trials Unit, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - June Wainwright
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Fiona H Winter
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - I Nicol Ferrier
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Stuart Watson
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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14
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Moss RA, Finkelmeyer A, Robinson LJ, Thompson JM, Watson S, Ferrier IN, Gallagher P. The Impact of Target Frequency on Intra-Individual Variability in Euthymic Bipolar Disorder: A Comparison of Two Sustained Attention Tasks. Front Psychiatry 2016; 7:106. [PMID: 27378954 PMCID: PMC4909748 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2016] [Accepted: 06/03/2016] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Greater intra-individual variability (IIV) in reaction time (RT) on a sustained attention task has been reported in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) compared with healthy controls. However, it is unclear whether IIV is task specific, or whether it represents general cross-task impairment in BD. This study aimed to investigate whether IIV occurs in sustained attention tasks with different parameters. Twenty-two patients with BD (currently euthymic) and 17 controls completed two sustained attention tasks on different occasions: a low target frequency (~20%) Vigil continuous performance test (CPT) and a high target frequency (~70%) CPT version A-X (CPT-AX). Variability measures (individual standard deviation and coefficient of variation) were calculated per participant, and ex-Gaussian modeling was also applied. This was supplemented by Vincentile analysis to characterize RT distributions. Results indicated that participants (patients and controls) were generally slower and more variable when completing the Vigil CPT compared with CPT-AX. Significant group differences were also observed in the Vigil CPT, with euthymic BD patients being more variable than controls. This result suggests that IIV in BD demonstrates some degree of task specificity. Further research should incorporate analysis of additional RT distributional models (drift diffusion and fast Fourier transform) to fully characterize the pattern of IIV in BD, as well as its relationship to cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Lucy J Robinson
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | | | - Stuart Watson
- Institute of Neuroscience , Newcastle upon Tyne , UK
| | - I Nicol Ferrier
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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15
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Derntl B, Michel TM, Prempeh P, Backes V, Finkelmeyer A, Schneider F, Habel U. Empathy in individuals clinically at risk for psychosis: brain and behaviour. Br J Psychiatry 2015; 207:407-13. [PMID: 26294367 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.159004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2014] [Accepted: 01/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Empathy is a basic human ability, and patients with schizophrenia show dysfunctional empathic abilities on the behavioural and neural level. AIMS These dysfunctions may precede the onset of illness; thus, it seems mandatory to examine the empathic abilities in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis. METHOD Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we measured 15 individuals at clinical high risk of psychosis (CHR group) and compared their empathy performance with 15 healthy volunteers and 15 patients with schizophrenia. RESULTS Behavioural data analysis indicated no significant deficit in the CHR group. Functional data analysis revealed hyperactivation in a frontotemporoparietal network including the amygdala in the CHR group compared with the other two groups. CONCLUSIONS Despite normal behavioural performance, the CHR group activated the neural empathy network differently and specifically showed hyperactivation in regions critical for emotion processing. This could suggest a compensatory mechanism reflecting emotional hypersensitivity or dysfunctional emotion regulation. Further investigations should clarify the role of these neural alterations for development and exacerbation of psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birgit Derntl
- Birgit Derntl, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany and Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Aachen, Germany; Tanja Maria Michel, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Pamela Prempeh, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Volker Backes, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany, Andreas Finkelmeyer, PhD, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Biomedicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; Frank Schneider, MD, PhD, Ute Habel, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
| | - Tanja Maria Michel
- Birgit Derntl, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany and Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Aachen, Germany; Tanja Maria Michel, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Pamela Prempeh, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Volker Backes, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany, Andreas Finkelmeyer, PhD, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Biomedicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; Frank Schneider, MD, PhD, Ute Habel, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
| | - Pamela Prempeh
- Birgit Derntl, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany and Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Aachen, Germany; Tanja Maria Michel, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Pamela Prempeh, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Volker Backes, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany, Andreas Finkelmeyer, PhD, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Biomedicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; Frank Schneider, MD, PhD, Ute Habel, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
| | - Volker Backes
- Birgit Derntl, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany and Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Aachen, Germany; Tanja Maria Michel, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Pamela Prempeh, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Volker Backes, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany, Andreas Finkelmeyer, PhD, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Biomedicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; Frank Schneider, MD, PhD, Ute Habel, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Birgit Derntl, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany and Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Aachen, Germany; Tanja Maria Michel, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Pamela Prempeh, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Volker Backes, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany, Andreas Finkelmeyer, PhD, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Biomedicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; Frank Schneider, MD, PhD, Ute Habel, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
| | - Frank Schneider
- Birgit Derntl, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany and Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Aachen, Germany; Tanja Maria Michel, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Pamela Prempeh, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Volker Backes, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany, Andreas Finkelmeyer, PhD, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Biomedicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; Frank Schneider, MD, PhD, Ute Habel, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
| | - Ute Habel
- Birgit Derntl, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany and Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Aachen, Germany; Tanja Maria Michel, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Pamela Prempeh, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Volker Backes, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany, Andreas Finkelmeyer, PhD, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Biomedicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; Frank Schneider, MD, PhD, Ute Habel, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
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16
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Gallagher P, Nilsson J, Finkelmeyer A, Goshawk M, Macritchie KA, Lloyd AJ, Thompson JM, Porter RJ, Young AH, Ferrier IN, McAllister-Williams RH, Watson S. Neurocognitive intra-individual variability in mood disorders: effects on attentional response time distributions. Psychol Med 2015; 45:2985-2997. [PMID: 26073667 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291715000926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Attentional impairment is a core cognitive feature of major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). However, little is known of the characteristics of response time (RT) distributions from attentional tasks. This is crucial to furthering our understanding of the profile and extent of cognitive intra-individual variability (IIV) in mood disorders. METHOD A computerized sustained attention task was administered to 138 healthy controls and 158 patients with a mood disorder: 86 euthymic BD, 33 depressed BD and 39 medication-free MDD patients. Measures of IIV, including individual standard deviation (iSD) and coefficient of variation (CoV), were derived for each participant. Ex-Gaussian (and Vincentile) analyses were used to characterize the RT distributions into three components: mu and sigma (mean and standard deviation of the Gaussian portion of the distribution) and tau (the 'slow tail' of the distribution). RESULTS Compared with healthy controls, iSD was increased significantly in all patient samples. Due to minimal changes in average RT, CoV was only increased significantly in BD depressed patients. Ex-Gaussian modelling indicated a significant increase in tau in euthymic BD [Cohen's d = 0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09-0.69, p = 0.011], and both sigma (d = 0.57, 95% CI 0.07-1.05, p = 0.025) and tau (d = 1.14, 95% CI 0.60-1.64, p < 0.0001) in depressed BD. The mu parameter did not differ from controls. CONCLUSIONS Increased cognitive variability may be a core feature of mood disorders. This is the first demonstration of differences in attentional RT distribution parameters between MDD and BD, and BD depression and euthymia. These data highlight the utility of applying measures of IIV to characterize neurocognitive variability and the great potential for future application.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Gallagher
- Institute of Neuroscience,Newcastle University,Newcastle upon Tyne,UK
| | - J Nilsson
- Institute of Neuroscience,Newcastle University,Newcastle upon Tyne,UK
| | - A Finkelmeyer
- Institute of Neuroscience,Newcastle University,Newcastle upon Tyne,UK
| | - M Goshawk
- Institute of Neuroscience,Newcastle University,Newcastle upon Tyne,UK
| | - K A Macritchie
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust,London,UK
| | - A J Lloyd
- Institute of Neuroscience,Newcastle University,Newcastle upon Tyne,UK
| | - J M Thompson
- Institute of Neuroscience,Newcastle University,Newcastle upon Tyne,UK
| | - R J Porter
- Department of Psychological Medicine,University of Otago,Christchurch,New Zealand
| | - A H Young
- King's College London,Institute of Psychiatry,Psychology and Neurosciences,London,UK
| | - I N Ferrier
- Institute of Neuroscience,Newcastle University,Newcastle upon Tyne,UK
| | | | - S Watson
- Institute of Neuroscience,Newcastle University,Newcastle upon Tyne,UK
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Schulz MA, Regenbogen C, Moessnang C, Neuner I, Finkelmeyer A, Habel U, Kellermann T. On utilizing uncertainty information in template-based EEG-fMRI ballistocardiogram artifact removal. Psychophysiology 2015; 52:857-63. [PMID: 25649223 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2014] [Accepted: 11/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The correction of ballistocardiogram artifacts in simultaneous EEG-fMRI often yields unsatisfactory results. To improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of results, we inferred EEG signal uncertainty from postcorrection artifact residuals and computed the uncertainty-weighted mean of ERPs. Using an uncertainty-weighted mean significantly and consistently reduced both inter- and intrasubject SEM in the analysis of auditory evoked responses (AER, indicated by the N1-P2 complex) and in the effects of an auditory oddball paradigm (N1-P3 complex, standard-deviant difference). SNR increased by 3% on average for the AER amplitude (intrasubject) and 17% on average for the auditory oddball ERP (intersubject). This demonstrates that weighting by uncertainty complements existing artifact correction algorithms to increase SNR in ERPs. More specifically, it is an efficient method to utilize seemingly corrupt (difficult-to-correct) EEG data that might otherwise be discarded.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc-Andre Schulz
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Christina Regenbogen
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.,Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Carolin Moessnang
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Irene Neuner
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.,JARA Translational Brain Medicine
| | | | - Ute Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.,JARA Translational Brain Medicine
| | - Thilo Kellermann
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.,JARA Translational Brain Medicine
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18
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Chechko N, Drexler EI, Voss B, Kellermann T, Finkelmeyer A, Schneider F, Habel U. Neural Correlates of Unsuccessful Memory Performance in MCI. Front Aging Neurosci 2014; 6:201. [PMID: 25165448 PMCID: PMC4131189 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2014.00201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2014] [Accepted: 07/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
People with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at an elevated risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. Although the neural correlates of successful memory performance in MCI have been widely investigated, the neural mechanisms involved in unsuccessful memory performance remain unknown. The current study examines the differences between patients suffering from stable amnestic MCI with multiple deficit syndromes and healthy elderly controls in relation to the neural correlates of both successful and unsuccessful encoding and recognition. Forty-six subjects (27 controls, 19 MCI) from the HelMA (Helmholtz Alliance for Mental Health in an Aging Society) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and participated in an fMRI experiment for associative face-name memory. In patients, the areas of frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices were less involved during unsuccessful encoding and recognition. A temporary dysfunction of the top-down control of frontal or parietal (or both) areas is likely to result in a non-selective propagation of task-related information to memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Chechko
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine , Jülich and Aachen , Germany
| | - E I Drexler
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine , Jülich and Aachen , Germany
| | - B Voss
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine , Jülich and Aachen , Germany
| | - T Kellermann
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine , Jülich and Aachen , Germany
| | - A Finkelmeyer
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine , Jülich and Aachen , Germany ; Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Campus for Ageing and Vitality , Newcastle upon Tyne , UK
| | - F Schneider
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine , Jülich and Aachen , Germany
| | - U Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine , Jülich and Aachen , Germany
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19
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Moessnang C, Pauly K, Kellermann T, Krämer J, Finkelmeyer A, Hummel T, Siegel SJ, Schneider F, Habel U. The scent of salience--is there olfactory-trigeminal conditioning in humans? Neuroimage 2013; 77:93-104. [PMID: 23558094 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.03.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2012] [Revised: 02/15/2013] [Accepted: 03/17/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Pavlovian fear conditioning has been thoroughly studied in the visual, auditory and somatosensory domain, but evidence is scarce with regard to the chemosensory modality. Under the assumption that Pavlovian conditioning relies on the supra-modal mechanism of salience attribution, the present study was set out to attest the existence of chemosensory aversive conditioning in humans as a specific instance of salience attribution. fMRI was performed in 29 healthy subjects during a differential aversive conditioning paradigm. Two odors (rose, vanillin) served as conditioned stimuli (CS), one of which (CS+) was intermittently coupled with intranasally administered CO2. On the neural level, a robust differential response to the CS+ emerged in frontal, temporal, occipito-parietal and subcortical brain regions, including the amygdala. These changes were paralleled by the development of a CS+-specific connectivity profile of the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC), which is a key structure for processing salience information in order to guide adaptive response selection. Increased coupling could be found between key nodes of the salience network (anterior insula, neo-cerebellum) and sensorimotor areas, representing putative input and output structures of the aMCC for exerting adaptive motor control. In contrast, behavioral and skin conductance responses did not show significant effects of conditioning, which has been attributed to contingency unawareness. These findings imply substantial similarities of conditioning involving chemosensory and other sensory modalities, and suggest that salience attribution and adaptive control represent a general, modality-independent principle underlying Pavlovian conditioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Moessnang
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, Aachen, Germany.
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20
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Nilsson J, Ferrier IN, Coventry K, Bester A, Finkelmeyer A. Negative BOLD response in the hippocampus during short-term spatial memory retrieval. J Cogn Neurosci 2013; 25:1358-71. [PMID: 23530922 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
A parieto-medial temporal pathway is thought to underlie spatial navigation in humans. fMRI was used to assess the role of this pathway, including the hippocampus, in the cognitive processes likely to underlie navigation based on environmental cues. Participants completed a short-term spatial memory task in virtual space, which required no navigation but involved the recognition of a target location from a foil location based on environmental landmarks. The results showed that spatial memory retrieval based on environmental landmarks was indeed associated with increased signal in regions of the parieto-medial temporal pathway, including the superior parietal cortex, the retrosplenial cortex, and the lingual gyrus. However, the hippocampus demonstrated a signal decrease below the fixation baseline during landmark-based retrieval, whereas there was no signal change from baseline during retrieval based on viewer position. In a discussion of the origins of such negative BOLD response in the hippocampus, we consider both a suppression of default activity and an increase in activity without a corresponding boost in CBF as possible mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonna Nilsson
- Newcastle University, Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
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21
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Schneider D, Regenbogen C, Kellermann T, Finkelmeyer A, Kohn N, Derntl B, Schneider F, Habel U. Empathic behavioral and physiological responses to dynamic stimuli in depression. Psychiatry Res 2012; 200:294-305. [PMID: 22560057 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2012.03.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2011] [Revised: 03/26/2012] [Accepted: 03/30/2012] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is strongly linked to social withdrawal and interpersonal problems which characterize the disorder and further aggravate symptoms. Investigating the nature of impaired emotional-social functioning as a basis of interpersonal functioning in MDD has been widely restricted to static stimuli and behavioral emotion recognition accuracy. The present study aimed at examining higher order emotional processes, namely empathic responses and its components, emotion recognition accuracy and affective responses in 28 MDD patients and 28 healthy control participants. The dynamic stimulus material included 96 short video clips depicting actors expressing basic emotions by face, voice prosody, and sentence content. Galvanic skin conductance measurements revealed implicit processes in the multimethod assessment of empathy. Overall, patients displayed lower empathy, emotion accuracy, and affective response rates than controls. Autonomous arousal was higher in patients. A generalized emotion processing deficit is in line with the "emotional context insensitivity" (ECI) theory which proposes decreased overall responsiveness to emotional stimuli. The dissociation between hypo-reactivity in explicit and hyper-reactivity in implicit measures of emotion processing can be related to the "limbic-cortical dysregulation" model of depression. Our findings support the dissociation of autonomic and subjective emotional responses which may account for interpersonal as well as emotional deficits in depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Schneider
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
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22
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Regenbogen C, De Vos M, Debener S, Turetsky BI, Mössnang C, Finkelmeyer A, Habel U, Neuner I, Kellermann T. Auditory processing under cross-modal visual load investigated with simultaneous EEG-fMRI. PLoS One 2012; 7:e52267. [PMID: 23251704 PMCID: PMC3522643 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2012] [Accepted: 11/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive task demands in one sensory modality (T1) can have beneficial effects on a secondary task (T2) in a different modality, due to reduced top-down control needed to inhibit the secondary task, as well as crossmodal spread of attention. This contrasts findings of cognitive load compromising a secondary modality’s processing. We manipulated cognitive load within one modality (visual) and studied the consequences of cognitive demands on secondary (auditory) processing. 15 healthy participants underwent a simultaneous EEG-fMRI experiment. Data from 8 participants were obtained outside the scanner for validation purposes. The primary task (T1) was to respond to a visual working memory (WM) task with four conditions, while the secondary task (T2) consisted of an auditory oddball stream, which participants were asked to ignore. The fMRI results revealed fronto-parietal WM network activations in response to T1 task manipulation. This was accompanied by significantly higher reaction times and lower hit rates with increasing task difficulty which confirmed successful manipulation of WM load. Amplitudes of auditory evoked potentials, representing fundamental auditory processing showed a continuous augmentation which demonstrated a systematic relation to cross-modal cognitive load. With increasing WM load, primary auditory cortices were increasingly deactivated while psychophysiological interaction results suggested the emergence of auditory cortices connectivity with visual WM regions. These results suggest differential effects of crossmodal attention on fundamental auditory processing. We suggest a continuous allocation of resources to brain regions processing primary tasks when challenging the central executive under high cognitive load.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Regenbogen
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
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23
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Regenbogen C, Schneider DA, Finkelmeyer A, Kohn N, Derntl B, Kellermann T, Gur RE, Schneider F, Habel U. The differential contribution of facial expressions, prosody, and speech content to empathy. Cogn Emot 2012; 26:995-1014. [DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2011.631296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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24
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Abstract
Humans tend to have a positive self-evaluation (PSE). To what extent positive self-perception is interacting with valenced self-related memories is debated. The underlying neural substrates are not adequately explained yet. To explore the cerebral correlates of PSE and its influence on memory, 24 healthy subjects were asked during fMRI to decide in two conditions whether presented positive and negative personality traits characterized their own selves (self-evaluation) or an intimate other (other-evaluation). A lexical condition served as control task. In a subsequent unannounced recognition task, trait adjectives had to be classified as old or new. Activation during positive self- vs positive other-evaluation was found in the medial ventral and dorsolateral prefrontal gyri, the parahippocampus and the supplementary motor area. Memory increased for positive personality traits and traits that had been referred to oneself or the other. In contrast to adjectives of the other-evaluation or lexical condition, recollection of negative vs positive traits of the self-evaluation condition specifically induced increased activation in the hippocampus and several prefrontal and temporal areas. Our data imply a specific network for PSE (although intimate others are perceived similarly). Moreover, memory for traits contradicting PSE resulted in activation increases indicating greater cognitive effort and emotional involvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Pauly
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatic Medicine, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
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25
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Derntl B, Finkelmeyer A, Voss B, Eickhoff SB, Kellermann T, Schneider F, Habel U. Neural correlates of the core facets of empathy in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2012; 136:70-81. [PMID: 22306196 PMCID: PMC7988185 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2011.12.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2011] [Revised: 12/05/2011] [Accepted: 12/21/2011] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Empathy is a multidimensional construct composed of several components such as emotion recognition, emotional perspective taking and affective responsiveness. Even though patients with schizophrenia demonstrate deficits in all core components of this basic social ability, the neural underpinnings of these dysfunctions are less clear. Using fMRI, we analyzed data from 15 patients meeting the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia and 15 matched healthy volunteers performing three separate paradigms tapping the core components of empathy, i.e. emotion recognition, perspective taking and affective responsiveness. Behavioral data analysis indicated a significant empathic deficit in patients, reflected in worse performance in all three domains. Analysis of functional data revealed hypoactivation in a fronto-temporo-parietal network including the amygdala in patients. Moreover, amygdala activation correlated negatively with severity of negative symptoms. The results suggest that schizophrenia patients not only suffer from a broad range of emotional deficits but also show cortical and subcortical abnormalities, extending previous findings on fronto-temporal cortical dysfunctions. Since empathy is related to psychosocial functioning and hence of high clinical relevance in schizophrenia, a more detailed understanding of the exact nature of these impairments is mandatory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birgit Derntl
- Institute for Clinical, Biological and Differential Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany,Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany,Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Biomedicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, UK
| | - Bianca Voss
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany,Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
| | - Simon B. Eickhoff
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany,Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany,Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Thilo Kellermann
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany,Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
| | - Frank Schneider
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany,Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
| | - Ute Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany,Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Translational Brain Medicine, Germany
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26
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Moessnang C, Finkelmeyer A, Vossen A, Schneider F, Habel U. Assessing implicit odor localization in humans using a cross-modal spatial cueing paradigm. PLoS One 2011; 6:e29614. [PMID: 22216331 PMCID: PMC3246472 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2011] [Accepted: 12/01/2011] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Navigation based on chemosensory information is one of the most important skills in the animal kingdom. Studies on odor localization suggest that humans have lost this ability. However, the experimental approaches used so far were limited to explicit judgements, which might ignore a residual ability for directional smelling on an implicit level without conscious appraisal. Methods A novel cueing paradigm was developed in order to determine whether an implicit ability for directional smelling exists. Participants performed a visual two-alternative forced choice task in which the target was preceded either by a side-congruent or a side-incongruent olfactory spatial cue. An explicit odor localization task was implemented in a second experiment. Results No effect of cue congruency on mean reaction times could be found. However, a time by condition interaction emerged, with significantly slower responses to congruently compared to incongruently cued targets at the beginning of the experiment. This cueing effect gradually disappeared throughout the course of the experiment. In addition, participants performed at chance level in the explicit odor localization task, thus confirming the results of previous research. Conclusion The implicit cueing task suggests the existence of spatial information processing in the olfactory system. Response slowing after a side-congruent olfactory cue is interpreted as a cross-modal attentional interference effect. In addition, habituation might have led to a gradual disappearance of the cueing effect. It is concluded that under immobile conditions with passive monorhinal stimulation, humans are unable to explicitly determine the location of a pure odorant. Implicitly, however, odor localization seems to exert an influence on human behaviour. To our knowledge, these data are the first to show implicit effects of odor localization on overt human behaviour and thus support the hypothesis of residual directional smelling in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolin Moessnang
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
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27
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Paulzen M, Finkelmeyer A, Grözinger M. Augmentative Effects of Fluvoxamine on Duloxetine Plasma Levels in Depressed Patients. Pharmacopsychiatry 2011; 44:317-23. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1284426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Paulzen
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
- JARA – Translational Brain Medicine
| | | | - M. Grözinger
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
- JARA – Translational Brain Medicine
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28
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Paulzen M, Finkelmeyer A, Grözinger M. Augmentative effects of fluvoxamine on duloxetine plasma levels in depressed patients. Pharmacopsychiatry 2011. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1292527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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29
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Finkelmeyer A, Kellermann T, Bude D, Niessen T, Schwenzer M, Mathiak K, Reske M. Effects of aversive odour presentation on inhibitory control in the Stroop colour-word interference task. BMC Neurosci 2010; 11:131. [PMID: 20955569 PMCID: PMC2974738 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-11-131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2010] [Accepted: 10/18/2010] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Due to the unique neural projections of the olfactory system, odours have the ability to directly influence affective processes. Furthermore, it has been shown that emotional states can influence various non-emotional cognitive tasks, such as memory and planning. However, the link between emotional and cognitive processes is still not fully understood. The present study used the olfactory pathway to induce a negative emotional state in humans to investigate its effect on inhibitory control performance in a standard, single-trial manual Stroop colour-word interference task. An unpleasant (H2S) and an emotionally neutral (Eugenol) odorant were presented in two separate experimental runs, both in blocks alternating with ambient air, to 25 healthy volunteers, while they performed the cognitive task. Results Presentation of the unpleasant odorant reduced Stroop interference by reducing the reaction times for incongruent stimuli, while the presentation of the neutral odorant had no effect on task performance. Conclusions The odour-induced negative emotional state appears to facilitate cognitive processing in the task used in the present study, possibly by increasing the amount of cognitive control that is being exerted. This stands in contrast to other findings that showed impaired cognitive performance under odour-induced negative emotional states, but is consistent with models of mood-congruent processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Finkelmeyer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr, 30, Aachen, Germany.
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30
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Schneider F, Reske M, Finkelmeyer A, Wojtecki L, Timmermann L, Brosig T, Backes V, Amir-Manavi A, Sturm V, Habel U, Schnitzler A. Predicting acute affective symptoms after deep brain stimulation surgery in Parkinson's disease. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 2010; 88:367-73. [PMID: 20861660 DOI: 10.1159/000319046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2009] [Accepted: 07/06/2010] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The current study aimed to investigate predictive markers for acute symptoms of depression and mania following deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery of the subthalamic nucleus for the treatment of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). Fourteen patients with PD (7 males) were included in a prospective longitudinal study. Neuropsychological tests, psychopathology scales and tests of motor functions were administered at several time points prior to and after neurosurgery. Pre-existing psychopathological and motor symptoms predicted postoperative affective side effects of DBS surgery. As these can easily be assessed, they should be considered along with other selection criteria for DBS surgery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Schneider
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. fschneider @ ukaachen.de
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31
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Zobel S, Hummel T, Ilgner J, Finkelmeyer A, Habel U, Timmann D, Schulz JB, Kronenbuerger M. Involvement of the human ventrolateral thalamus in olfaction. J Neurol 2010; 257:2037-43. [PMID: 20640578 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-010-5656-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2010] [Revised: 06/17/2010] [Accepted: 07/01/2010] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
It is widely assumed that the thalamus is not involved in olfaction. The ventrolateral thalamus is, however, closely connected to the contralateral cerebellum, which is involved in the sense of smell based on findings from functional imaging studies and findings of olfactory deficits in patients with cerebellar disease. We hypothesized that olfactory deficits following lesions of the ventrolateral thalamus may be similar to olfactory deficits following cerebellar lesions. Fifteen patients with a focal thalamic lesion involving the ventrolateral thalamus were examined and compared to 15 patients with a focal cerebellar lesion and 15 healthy controls. A detailed olfactory test ("Sniffin' Sticks") was used to assess different olfactory functions separately for each nostril. In the group of patients with a lesion of the ventrolateral thalamus, an impairment of the odor threshold was found at the ipsilateral nostril, consistent with the unilateral orientation of the olfactory system in the telencephalon. In the group of patients with a cerebellar lesion, an olfactory deficit at the contralesional nostril emerged. In controls, no significant side difference was found. The involvement of the ventrolateral thalamus in olfaction is comparable to that of the cerebellum in respect to odor threshold. Further study is needed to assess if these findings are related to an impairment of an olfactomotor loop. Present evidence for this hypothesis is indirect. Effects were subclinical as none of the patients reported olfactory disturbance. The results suggest that the cerebello-thalamic axis plays an adjuvant role in olfaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Zobel
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, University Hospital Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany
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32
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Seidel EM, Habel U, Finkelmeyer A, Schneider F, Gur RC, Derntl B. Implicit and explicit behavioral tendencies in male and female depression. Psychiatry Res 2010; 177:124-30. [PMID: 20199811 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2010.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2009] [Revised: 01/20/2010] [Accepted: 02/02/2010] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Emotional facial expressions are the most salient cues in social life. Successful social interaction is based on correct recognition, interpretation and appropriate reaction to these cues. However, social skill deficits are among the most debilitating symptoms of depression, leading to social withdrawal and aggravating the disorder in various domains. We used an implicit joystick task to measure automatic behavioral tendencies in response to evoked facial expressions (anger, fear, sadness, happiness and neutral). Additionally, we implemented a rating procedure to assess explicit approach and avoidance reactions to these social stimuli. Our sample consisted of 24 depressed patients and 24 healthy controls. Data analysis indicated that depressed patients appear to understand the expression depicted on the emotional faces but react differently to these social cues. Female patients displayed stronger avoidance tendencies in the explicit condition whereas social withdrawal was less pronounced in the implicit condition. Our data suggest that a cognitive bias negatively influences the unimpaired automatic reactions to emotional expressions in depressed patients, and this bias may result in the characteristic social withdrawal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva-Maria Seidel
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
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Derntl B, Finkelmeyer A, Eickhoff S, Kellermann T, Falkenberg DI, Schneider F, Habel U. Multidimensional assessment of empathic abilities: neural correlates and gender differences. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2010; 35:67-82. [PMID: 19914001 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 245] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2009] [Revised: 10/09/2009] [Accepted: 10/10/2009] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Empathy is a multidimensional construct and comprises the ability to perceive, understand and feel the emotional states of others. Gender differences have been reported for various aspects of emotional and cognitive behaviors including theory of mind. However, although empathy is not a single ability but a complex behavioral competency including different components, most studies relied on single aspects of empathy, such as perspective taking or emotion perception. To extend those findings we developed three paradigms to assess all three core components of empathy (emotion recognition, perspective taking and affective responsiveness) and clarify to which extent gender affects the neural correlates of empathic abilities. A functional MRI study was performed with 12 females (6 during their follicular phase, 6 during their luteal phase) and 12 males, measuring these tasks as well as self-report empathy questionnaires. Data analyses revealed no significant gender differences in behavioral performance, but females rated themselves as more empathic than males in the self-report questionnaires. Analyses of functional data revealed distinct neural networks in females and males, and females showed stronger neural activation across all three empathy tasks in emotion-related areas, including the amygdala. Exploratory analysis of possible hormonal effects indicated stronger amygdala activation in females during their follicular phase supporting previous data suggesting higher social sensitivity and thus facilitated socio-emotional behavior. Hence, our data support the assumption that females and males rely on divergent processing strategies when solving emotional tasks: while females seem to recruit more emotion and self-related regions, males activate more cortical, rather cognitive-related areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
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Zobel S, Ilgner J, Finkelmeyer A, Habel U, Hummel T, Schulz J, Kronenbuerger M. In wieweit sind Kleinhirn oder Thalamus an der Riechwahrnehmung beteiligt? Akt Neurol 2009. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1238728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Finkelmeyer A, Kronenbürger M, Habel U. Olfaktorische Modulation von Lernleistung bei Patienten mit einseitiger Schädigung des Kleinhirns oder des Thalamus. Akt Neurol 2009. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1238438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Derntl B, Finkelmeyer A, Toygar TK, Hülsmann A, Schneider F, Falkenberg DI, Habel U. Generalized deficit in all core components of empathy in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2009; 108:197-206. [PMID: 19087898 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2008.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 157] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2008] [Revised: 10/08/2008] [Accepted: 11/06/2008] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Empathy is a multidimensional construct composed of several components such as emotion recognition, emotional perspective taking and affective responsiveness. Patients with schizophrenia demonstrate deficits in several domains of emotion processing and perspective taking, thus suggesting a dysfunctional emotional competence. We assessed empathic abilities via three paradigms measuring emotion recognition, perspective taking and affective responsiveness as well as self-report empathy questionnaires in 24 (12 females, 12 males) schizophrenia patients meeting the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia and 24 matched healthy volunteers. Patients were recruited from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University and healthy volunteers were recruited via advertisement. Groups were matched for age, gender and parental education. Data analysis indicates a significant empathic deficit in patients, reflected in worse performance in all three domains. This deficit was only partly reflected in the self-report empathy questionnaires. Comparing the different tasks, emotional perspective taking was the most difficult task for all subjects and symptomatology worsened affective responsiveness. Schizophrenia patients not only struggle to correctly identify emotions, but also have difficulties in spontaneously simulating another person's subjective world (perspective taking) and might not be able to respond adequately in terms of their own emotional experience (affective responsiveness), which are not caused by emotion perception deficits. The results suggest that all domains of empathy are affected in schizophrenia and have to be addressed independently in behavioral therapies, thereby offering a possibility to improve socio-occupational life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
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Trepagnier CY, Sebrechts MM, Finkelmeyer A, Stewart W, Woodford J, Coleman M. Simulating social interaction to address deficits of autistic spectrum disorder in children. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006; 9:213-7. [PMID: 16640482 DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2006.9.213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed on the basis of impairment in reciprocal social interaction and language, and rigidity of behavior. This brief paper describes the development of an experimental intervention for preschool children newly diagnosed with ASD. The rationale for this intervention is the hypothesis that failure to attend to social cues in very early life, of itself, may bear a large share of responsibility for core social and communicative deficits. The intervention, therefore, uses eye-tracking to monitor and trigger rewards for attention to facial expression and direction of gaze.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl Y Trepagnier
- Department of Psychology, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA.
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