Publications by authors named "Fouche J"

Alterations in subcortical brain regions are linked to motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, associations between clinical expression and regional morphological abnormalities of the basal ganglia, thalamus, amygdala and hippocampus are not well established. We analyzed 3D T1-weighted brain MRI and clinical data from 2525 individuals with PD and 1326 controls from 22 global sources in the ENIGMA-PD consortium.

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Background: Children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected (HEU) are at risk for early neurodevelopmental impairment. Smaller basal ganglia nuclei have been reported in neonates who are HEU compared to HIV-unexposed (HU); however, neuroimaging studies outside infancy are scarce. We examined subcortical brain structures and associations with neurocognition in children who are HEU.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study was conducted to explore the brain structure of children who were exposed to HIV in utero but did not get infected (HEU) compared to those who were not exposed (HU), particularly focusing on the prefrontal cortex.
  • Using MRI scans from 162 children, researchers found that HEU children had thicker cortices in certain prefrontal areas than HU children, specifically in the medial orbitofrontal cortex.
  • However, HEU children performed worse in language development compared to HU children, linking lower language scores to the structural differences in their brain's prefrontal cortex.
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Central nervous system involvement in HIV infection leads to neurobehavioural sequelae. Although apathy is a well-recognised symptom in adults living with HIV linked to alterations in brain structure, there is scarce research examining motivation in children living with HIV (CLWH). We used the Children's Motivation Scale (CMS; normative mean = 50, SD = 10) to assess motivation levels in 76 CLWH aged 6-16 years (63 on antiretroviral therapy [ART]; 13 ART-naïve slow progressors) in South Africa.

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Childhood trauma (CT) may influence brain white matter microstructure; however, few studies have examined the differential impact of distinct CT types on white matter microstructure in psychiatrically healthy adults living in a developing country. In adults without significant medical or psychiatric disorders, we investigated the association(s) between CT, including abuse and neglect, and fractional anisotropy (FA) of limbic tracts previously shown to be associated with CT. Participants underwent diffusion tensor imaging and completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

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White matter pathways, typically studied with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), have been implicated in the neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, due to limited sample sizes and the predominance of single-site studies, the generalizability of OCD classification based on diffusion white matter estimates remains unclear. Here, we tested classification accuracy using the largest OCD DTI dataset to date, involving 1336 adult participants (690 OCD patients and 646 healthy controls) and 317 pediatric participants (175 OCD patients and 142 healthy controls) from 18 international sites within the ENIGMA OCD Working Group.

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We have previously shown accelerated ageing in adolescents perinatally infected with HIV (PHIV +), based on discrepancies between epigenetic and chronological age. The current study examines follow-up longitudinal patterns of epigenetic ageing and the association of epigenetic ageing with cognition as well as whole brain structure changes in PHIV + and healthy controls enrolled in the Cape Town Adolescent Antiretroviral Cohort Study (CTAAC). The Illumina EPIC array was used to generate blood DNA methylation data from 60 PHIV + adolescents and 36 age-matched controls aged 9-12 years old at baseline and again at a 36-month follow-up.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Neuroimaging research indicates that trichotillomania, an obsessive-compulsive related disorder, involves specific brain regions including frontal, striatal, limbic, and cerebellar areas, but the exact neural circuits remain poorly understood.
  • - A study used T1-weighted MRI scans and graph theoretical analysis to assess brain networks in 23 adult females with trichotillomania compared to 16 healthy controls, noting hubs of connectivity in areas like the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes in affected individuals.
  • - The study found that the inferior temporal gyrus, important for object recognition, had significantly higher connectivity in trichotillomania patients, aligning with previous research
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  • Maternal perinatal depression can negatively impact child development and brain structure, particularly in low- and middle-income countries like South Africa.
  • This study assessed the effects of maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy and after birth on the brains of children aged 2-3 years, using MRI to analyze brain structure.
  • Results showed that only postpartum depression, especially if persistent, was linked to smaller amygdala volumes in children, highlighting the need for early identification and support for mothers experiencing depression during the perinatal period.
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Importance: Anemia affects millions of pregnant women and their children worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Although anemia in pregnancy is a well-described risk factor for cognitive development, the association with child brain structure is poorly understood.

Objective: To explore the association of anemia during pregnancy and postnatal child anemia with brain structure in early life.

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Objective: Both cognitive impairment and alterations in white matter tissue microstructure are well recognised in schizophrenia. We investigated whether differences in white matter microstructure underpin cognitive impairments in patients with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders when controlling for multiple confounding factors.

Methods: We employed a cross-sectional study design and compared fractional anisotropy (FA) between individuals diagnosed with first- episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders (FES) (n = 68) and matched healthy controls (n = 120).

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Background: Several studies have reported enlarged amygdala and smaller hippocampus volumes in children and adolescents exposed to maternal depression. It is unclear whether similar volumetric differences are detectable in the infants' first weeks of life, following exposure in utero. We investigated subcortical volumes in 2-to-6 week old infants exposed to antenatal maternal depression (AMD) from a South African birth cohort.

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Objective: Neuroimaging studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients have highlighted the important role of deep gray matter structures. Less work has however focused on subcortical shape in OCD patients.

Methods: Here we pooled brain MRI scans from 412 OCD patients and 368 controls to perform a meta-analysis utilizing the ENIGMA-Shape protocol.

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Structural brain differences have been described in first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders (FES), and often overlap with those evident in the metabolic syndrome (MetS). We examined the associations between body mass index (BMI) and brain structures involved in food intake regulation in minimally treated FES patients (n = 117) compared to healthy controls (n = 117). The effects of FES diagnosis, BMI and their interactions on our selected prefrontal cortical thickness and subcortical gray matter volume regions of interest (ROIs) were investigated with hierarchical multivariate regressions, followed by post-hoc regressions for the individual ROIs.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study investigates how childhood trauma, stressful life events, and HIV stigma affect the mental health of South African adolescents, analyzing data from the Cape Town Adolescent Antiretroviral Cohort (CTAAC).
  • - Researchers used various questionnaires to assess trauma and stigma among adolescents living with HIV and healthy controls, finding significant links between these factors and mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and disruptive behavior.
  • - Results showed that a large percentage (63.7%) of adolescents experienced childhood trauma, highlighting the need for awareness of these issues and their impact on mental health among South African youth.
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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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Introduction: There is a growing population of children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected (HEU) with the successful expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) use in pregnancy. Children who are HEU are at risk of delayed neurodevelopment; however, there is limited research on early brain growth and maturation. We aimed to investigate the effects of in utero exposure to HIV/ART on brain structure of infants who are HEU compared to HIV-unexposed (HU).

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  • - Prenatal exposure to maternal depression can increase the likelihood of emotional and behavioral disorders in children, prompting a study on its effects on brain development.
  • - Researchers examined the white matter structures in children at birth and again at ages 2-3, comparing those with prenatal depression exposure to those without, using advanced imaging techniques.
  • - While no differences in white matter integrity were found at birth, by ages 2-3, children exposed to maternal depression showed significant alterations in brain structure that correlated with cognitive and motor skills, indicating potential long-term impacts.
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Background: Nicotine and illicit stimulants are very addictive substances. Although associations between grey matter and dependence on stimulants have been frequently reported, white matter correlates have received less attention.

Methods: Eleven international sites ascribed to the ENIGMA-Addiction consortium contributed data from individuals with dependence on cocaine (n = 147), methamphetamine (n = 132) and nicotine (n = 189), as well as non-dependent controls (n = 333).

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Alcohol use, presents unique challenges for HIV-1 treatment in adolescents with perinatally acquired infection. The effects of alcohol on host-virus interaction in the brain and the immune system remains understudied in this population. Adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV infection (PHIV) well established on ART, from the Cape Town Adolescent Antiretroviral Cohort who self-reported alcohol use (PHIV + alcohol) (n = 26) were compared to age matched 26 PHIV (PHIV-alcohol) and 26 healthy controls (HC) who reported no use of alcohol.

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Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) remains a potentially preventable, but pervasive risk factor to neurodevelopment. Yet, evidence is lacking on the impact of alcohol on brain development in toddlers. This study aimed to investigate the impact of PAE on brain white matter integrity in 2-3-year-old children.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study investigated microstructural changes in brain connections related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using a large sample of 700 adults and 174 pediatric patients.
  • The researchers found that adult OCD patients showed significant reductions in a measure of white matter integrity (fractional anisotropy) in specific brain areas, which were linked to factors like age of onset and illness duration.
  • In contrast, pediatric OCD patients did not show any notable microstructural differences when compared to controls, suggesting variations in the disorder's presentation across age groups.
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Delineating the association of age and cortical thickness in healthy individuals is critical given the association of cortical thickness with cognition and behavior. Previous research has shown that robust estimates of the association between age and brain morphometry require large-scale studies. In response, we used cross-sectional data from 17,075 individuals aged 3-90 years from the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium to infer age-related changes in cortical thickness.

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Age has a major effect on brain volume. However, the normative studies available are constrained by small sample sizes, restricted age coverage and significant methodological variability. These limitations introduce inconsistencies and may obscure or distort the lifespan trajectories of brain morphometry.

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