Publications by authors named "C van Hooijdonk"
Background: In the future, clinicians might use information about neurobiological processes, obtained through imaging techniques, to guide personalized prevention and intervention strategies for psychosis and related disorders. However, this requires more knowledge about these individuals’ brain function.
Aim: To advance the current knowledge on neurobiological processes in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and individuals at increased risk of these disorders.
The association of tobacco smoking and metabolite levels in the anterior cingulate cortex of first-episode psychosis patients: A case-control and 6-month follow-up H-MRS study.
Schizophr Res
September 2024
Tobacco smoking is highly prevalent among patients with psychosis and associated with worse clinical outcomes. Neurometabolites, such as glutamate and choline, are both implicated in psychosis and tobacco smoking. However, the specific associations between smoking and neurometabolites have yet to be investigated in patients with psychosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia suggests that increased activity of dopamine in the brain is linked to psychotic symptoms, with social stress potentially exacerbating these effects.
- A review of 28 studies using SPECT and PET imaging explored how chronic social stress affects dopamine functioning in humans, but found only weak connections between social stressors and changes in dopamine levels.
- Overall, the studies reviewed had low quality, and the evidence linking chronic social stress to increased dopamine activity is insufficient, indicating a need for better measurement methods and study designs in future research.
Background: Interactions between the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and neurotransmitter systems might mediate the risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD). Consequently, we investigated in patients with SSD and healthy controls (HC) the relations between (1) plasma concentrations of two prototypical endocannabinoids (N-arachidonoylethanolamine [anandamide] and 2-arachidonoylglycerol [2-AG]) and (2) striatal dopamine synthesis capacity (DSC), and glutamate and y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). As anandamide and 2-AG might reduce the activity of these neurotransmitters, we hypothesized negative correlations between their plasma levels and the abovementioned neurotransmitters in both groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prediction of treatment resistance in schizophrenia (TRS) would be helpful to reduce the duration of ineffective treatment and avoid delays in clozapine initiation. We applied machine learning to identify clinical, sociodemographic, familial, and environmental variables that are associated with TRS and could potentially predict TRS in the future.
Study Design: Baseline and follow-up data on trait(-like) variables from the Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) study were used.