Publications by authors named "Erika Nurmi"

The goal of this study was to examine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, including public health measures (mitigation and containment efforts), on new onset mental health diagnoses by age group. This study was a longitudinal retrospective cohort study. Data on new mental health diagnoses were extracted from the University of California Health System Electronic Health Records (EHR) that contained five academic health centers in California.

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Article Synopsis
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects about 1% of people and has a strong genetic component, but previous studies have not fully explained its genetic causes or biological mechanisms.
  • A large genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyzed data from over 53,000 OCD cases and over 2 million control participants, identifying 30 significant genetic markers related to OCD and suggesting a 6.7% heritability from SNPs.
  • The research also found 249 candidate risk genes linked to OCD, particularly in specific brain regions, and showed genetic correlations with various psychiatric disorders, laying the groundwork for further studies and potential treatments.
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California was the first state to implement statewide public health measures, including lockdown and curfews, to mitigate transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The implementation of these public health measures may have had unintended consequences related to mental health for persons in California. This study is a retrospective review of electronic health records of patients who sought care in the University of California Health System to examine changes in mental health status during the pandemic.

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Current knowledge about functional connectivity in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is based on small-scale studies, limiting the generalizability of results. Moreover, the majority of studies have focused only on predefined regions or functional networks rather than connectivity throughout the entire brain. Here, we investigated differences in resting-state functional connectivity between OCD patients and healthy controls (HC) using mega-analysis of data from 1024 OCD patients and 1028 HC from 28 independent samples of the ENIGMA-OCD consortium.

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Objective: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered a first-line treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in pediatric and adult populations. Nevertheless, some patients show partial or null response. The identification of predictors of CBT response may improve clinical management of patients with OCD.

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Initial studies suggested that the fluctuations in the quantity, variety, and composition of the gut microbiota can significantly affect disease processes. This change in the gut microbiota causing negative health benefits was coined dysbiosis. Initial research focused on gastrointestinal illnesses.

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The metabolism of most medications approved for the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is not fully understood. studies using cryopreserved, plated human hepatocytes (cPHHs) and pooled human liver microsomes (HLMs) were performed to more thoroughly characterise the metabolism of several ADHD medications.The use of enzyme-specific chemical inhibitors indicated a role for CYP2D6 in atomoxetine (ATX) metabolism, and roles for CYP3A4/5 in guanfacine (GUA) metabolism.

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Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) is defined as persistent symptoms after apparent recovery from acute COVID-19 infection, also known as COVID-19 long-haul. We performed a retrospective review of electronic health records (EHR) from the University of California COvid Research Data Set (UC CORDS), a de-identified EHR of PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2-positive patients in California. The purposes were to (1) describe the prevalence of PASC, (2) describe COVID-19 symptoms and symptom clusters, and (3) identify risk factors for PASC.

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Background: Widely used psychotropic medications for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may change the volumes of subcortical brain structures, and differently in children vs. adults. We measured subcortical volumes cross-sectionally in patients finely stratified for age taking various common classes of OCD drugs.

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Larger thalamic volume has been found in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and children with clinical-level symptoms within the general population. Particular thalamic subregions may drive these differences. The ENIGMA-OCD working group conducted mega- and meta-analyses to study thalamic subregional volume in OCD across the lifespan.

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Antipsychotic medications are critical to child and adolescent psychiatry, from the stabilization of psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and psychotic depression to behavioral treatment of autism spectrum disorder, tic disorders, and pediatric aggression. While effective, these medications carry serious risk of adverse events-most commonly, weight gain and cardiometabolic abnormalities. Negative metabolic consequences affect up to 60% of patients and present a major obstacle to long-term treatment.

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Emerging data suggest that the effects of infection with SARS-CoV-2 are far reaching extending beyond those with severe acute disease. Specifically, the presence of persistent symptoms after apparent resolution from COVID-19 have frequently been reported throughout the pandemic by individuals labeled as "long-haulers". The purpose of this study was to assess for symptoms at days 0-10 and 61+ among subjects with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Article Synopsis
  • Scientists want to find ways to diagnose obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using brain scans, but so far, there are no good tests.
  • They studied a lot of data from almost 2,300 OCD patients and over 2,000 healthy people using special MRI scans.
  • They discovered that the brain's differences could show up based on whether patients took medication, which made it harder to use these scans as a reliable way to understand OCD.
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Chronic methamphetamine use is linked to abnormalities in brain structure, which may reflect neurotoxicity related to metabolism of the drug. As the cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) enzyme is central to the metabolism of methamphetamine, genotypic variation in its activity may moderate effects of methamphetamine on brain structure and function. This study explored the relationship between CYP2D6 genotype and measures of brain structure and cognition in methamphetamine users.

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Background: Radioligands for the translocator protein (TSPO) 18 kDa have been used with positron emission tomography (PET) to assess neuroinflammation and microglial activation in psychiatric disorders. One study using this approach showed substantial TSPO elevation throughout the brain in chronic methamphetamine users following long-term abstinence (0.5-4 years), but clients typically present for treatment earlier in abstinence.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study compares ADHD, ASD, and OCD using brain imaging data from over 5,000 healthy controls and numerous patients across different age groups, focusing on structural differences in the brain.
  • No consistent differences were observed across all three disorders, with some specific findings like smaller hippocampal volumes in children with ADHD compared to OCD.
  • The results highlight that while subtle differences exist between these disorders, the distinctions are most apparent in specific age groups, emphasizing ADHD's unique brain volume differences in younger individuals and ASD's cortical thickness variations in adults.
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Neuroimaging has played an important part in advancing our understanding of the neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). At the same time, neuroimaging studies of OCD have had notable limitations, including reliance on relatively small samples. International collaborative efforts to increase statistical power by combining samples from across sites have been bolstered by the ENIGMA consortium; this provides specific technical expertise for conducting multi-site analyses, as well as access to a collaborative community of neuroimaging scientists.

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Brain structural covariance networks reflect covariation in morphology of different brain areas and are thought to reflect common trajectories in brain development and maturation. Large-scale investigation of structural covariance networks in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may provide clues to the pathophysiology of this neurodevelopmental disorder. Using T1-weighted MRI scans acquired from 1616 individuals with OCD and 1463 healthy controls across 37 datasets participating in the ENIGMA-OCD Working Group, we calculated intra-individual brain structural covariance networks (using the bilaterally-averaged values of 33 cortical surface areas, 33 cortical thickness values, and six subcortical volumes), in which edge weights were proportional to the similarity between two brain morphological features in terms of deviation from healthy controls (i.

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Background: Antipsychotic (AP) medications are the first line of treatment for schizophrenia. However, most conferr a risk of antipsychotic-induced weight gain (AIWG). The objective of this investigation was to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of AIWG, followed by comprehensive, post-GWAS approaches.

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Article Synopsis
  • Scientists studied the brains of kids and adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to see if there are differences in brain structure on either side.
  • They looked at a lot of data from different patients and healthy people using special brain scans.
  • They found that kids with OCD had small differences in certain brain structures, but adults with OCD didn’t show these differences, which might mean kids’ brains develop differently when they have OCD.
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Atomoxetine is a nonstimulant medication used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Cytochrome P450 (CYP)2D6 polymorphisms influence the metabolism of atomoxetine thereby affecting drug efficacy and safety. We summarize evidence from the published literature supporting these associations and provide therapeutic recommendations for atomoxetine based on CYP2D6 genotype (updates at www.

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Brain imaging communities focusing on different diseases have increasingly started to collaborate and to pool data to perform well-powered meta- and mega-analyses. Some methodologists claim that a one-stage individual-participant data (IPD) mega-analysis can be superior to a two-stage aggregated data meta-analysis, since more detailed computations can be performed in a mega-analysis. Before definitive conclusions regarding the performance of either method can be drawn, it is necessary to critically evaluate the methodology of, and results obtained by, meta- and mega-analyses.

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Rationale: Attentional bias toward drug-related stimuli is a feature of drug addiction that is linked to craving and drug-seeking behavior.

Objectives/method: An attentional bias modification (ABM) program was tested in 42 methamphetamine-dependent clients (DSM-IV criteria) receiving residential treatment for their drug use. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups (N = 21 each), receiving 12 sessions of either computerized ABM training (designed to train attention away from methamphetamine stimuli 100% of the time) or an attentional control condition (designed to train attention away from methamphetamine stimuli 50% of the time).

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