Lifespan Normative Models of White Matter Fractional Anisotropy: Applications to Early Psychosis.

This study presents large-scale normative models of white matter (WM) organization across the lifespan, using diffusion MRI data from over 25,000 healthy individuals aged 0-100 years. These models capture lifespan trajectories and inter-individual variation in fractional anisotropy (FA), a marker of white matter integrity. By addressing non-Gaussian data distributions, race, and site effects, the models offer reference baselines across diverse ages, ethnicities, and scanning conditions.

Defeatist performance beliefs in individuals with recent-onset schizophrenia: Relationships with cognition and negative symptoms.

Background: The cognitive model of negative symptoms of schizophrenia suggests that defeatist performance beliefs (DPB), or overgeneralized negative beliefs about one's performance, are an intermediary variable along the pathway from impaired neurocognitive performance to negative symptoms and functioning in daily life. Although reliable associations between these variables have been established in chronic schizophrenia, less is known about the nature of these relationships in recent-onset schizophrenia (ROSz). This current study tested the associations between DPB and variables in the cognitive model (neurocognitive performance, negative symptoms, functioning) as well as mediation by DPB of the association between neurocognitive performance and negative symptoms in ROSz.

Exercise behaviours and motivation after a first psychotic episode: A digital intervention.

Aim: Research has demonstrated that participation in aerobic exercise can have significant beneficial effects across both physical and mental health domains for individuals who are in the early phase of schizophrenia. Despite these notable benefits of exercise, deficits in motivation and a lack of methods to increase engagement are significant barriers for exercise participation, limiting these potentially positive effects. Fortunately, digital health tools have the potential to improve adherence to an exercise program.

The relationship between sex and functional outcome in first-episode schizophrenia: the role of premorbid adjustment and insight.

Background: Studies that examined sex differences in first-episode patients consistently show that males compared to females have poor premorbid adjustment, earlier age of onset, worse clinical characteristics, and poorer outcomes. However, little is known about potential mediators that could explain these sex differences.

Methods: Our sample consisted of 137 individuals with first episode schizophrenia (males, = 105; 77%) with a mean age of 22.

Variability in Cognitive Task Performance in Early Adolescence Is Associated With Stronger Between-Network Anticorrelation and Future Attention Problems.

Background: Intraindividual variability (IIV) during cognitive task performance is a key behavioral index of attention and a consistent marker of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In adults, lower IIV has been associated with anticorrelation between the default mode network (DMN) and dorsal attention network (DAN)-thought to underlie effective allocation of attention. However, whether these behavioral and neural markers of attention are 1) associated with each other and 2) can predict future attention-related deficits has not been examined in a developmental, population-based cohort.

Exercise Predicts a Good Night's Sleep: Preliminary Findings from a UCLA Study of First-Episode Schizophrenia.

Background: Physical exercise can improve sleep quality in the general population. Understanding the negative impact of poor sleep quality on multiple domains of functioning among persons with schizophrenia is a new frontier of exploration. It is also imperative to investigate non-pharmacologic methods to improve sleep quality as these approaches may not carry the side effect burdens associated with medication.

Neural and behavioral effects of modification of visual attention in body dysmorphic disorder.

In individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), perceptual appearance distortions may be related to selective attention biases and aberrant visual scanning, contributing to imbalances in global vs. detailed visual processing. Treatments for the core symptom of perceptual distortions are underexplored in BDD; yet understanding their mechanistic effects on brain function is critical for rational treatment development.

Integrating Mental Health in Safety-net Primary Care: A Five-year Observational Study on Visits in a County Health System.

Background: Beginning in 2010, Los Angeles County Departments of Health Services and Mental Health collaborated to increase access to effective mental health care. The Mental Health Integration Program (MHIP) embedded behavioral health specialists in primary care clinics to deliver brief, problem-focused treatments, and psychiatric consultation support for primary care-prescribed psychotropic medications.

Objective: The aim was to compare primary care visits associated with psychiatric diagnoses before and after MHIP implementation.

The effects of age and sex on cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: Findings from the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS) study.

Recently emerging evidence indicates accelerated age-related changes in the structure and function of the brain in schizophrenia, raising a question about its potential consequences on cognitive function. Using a large sample of schizophrenia patients and controls and a battery of tasks across multiple cognitive domains, we examined whether patients show accelerated age-related decline in cognition and whether an age-related effect differ between females and males. We utilized data of 1,415 schizophrenia patients and 1,062 healthy community collected by the second phase of the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS-2).

Relationship of poor insight to neurocognition, social cognition, and psychiatric symptoms in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.

Background: Poor insight (unawareness) about having a mental disorder is considered to be a core feature of the disorder. Further, poor insight has been associated with another core feature of schizophrenia, neurocognitive deficits. However, previous meta-analyses have shown that poor insight is more strongly related to positive symptoms and social cognition than to neurocognitive functioning.

Changes in inflammation are related to depression and amount of aerobic exercise in first episode schizophrenia.

Introduction: Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines have been reported in meta-analyses of multi-episode schizophrenia patients when compared to controls. However, little is known about whether these same relationships are present in the early course of schizophrenia.

Objective: To assess first episode schizophrenia patients for depression and to assay blood samples collected at baseline and at 6 months for interleukin-6 (IL-6).

Virtual reality assessment of functional capacity in the early course of schizophrenia: Associations with cognitive performance and daily functioning.

Aim: Computer-based virtual reality assessments of functional capacity have shown promise as a reliable and valid way to assess individuals with multi-episode schizophrenia. However, there has been little research utilizing this innovative approach with young patients who are in the early phase of schizophrenia.

Methods: Outpatients in the early course of schizophrenia (n = 42) were compared to controls (n = 13) at cross-sectional study points.

Motivational and cognitive correlates of community integration in homeless veterans entering a permanent supported housing program.

Homelessness is a major public health problem, and serious mental illness (SMI) is highly prevalent in the homeless population. Although supported housing services-which provide permanent housing in the community along with case management-improve housing outcomes, community integration typically remains poor, and little is known about the underlying determinants of poor community integration postresidential placement. The general SMI literature has indicated that motivational and cognitive ability factors are key determinants of successful community integration, which provides a foundation for examining this issue.

Parsing components of auditory predictive coding in schizophrenia using a roving standard mismatch negativity paradigm.

Background: Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related potential (ERP) component reflecting auditory predictive coding. Repeated standard tones evoke increasing positivity ('repetition positivity'; RP), reflecting strengthening of the standard's memory trace and the prediction it will recur. Likewise, deviant tones preceded by more standard repetitions evoke greater negativity ('deviant negativity'; DN), reflecting stronger prediction error signaling.

Social vs. non-social measures of learning potential for predicting community functioning across phase of illness in schizophrenia.

Studies demonstrate that dynamic assessment (i.e., learning potential) improves the prediction of response to rehabilitation over static measures in individuals with schizophrenia.

Cognitive remediation can improve negative symptoms and social functioning in first-episode schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Meta-analyses have reported that the effects of cognitive remediation might go beyond improvement in cognition to include unexpected benefits for schizophrenia patients such as negative symptom reduction and improvements in functioning. In addition, some evidence indicated that these potentially beneficial effects are also present in the initial course of schizophrenia, but work in this area is still developing.

Method: A RCT compared Cognitive Remediation (CR) to Healthy Behaviors Training (HBT) in 80 patients (78% male) with a mean age of 21.

Episodic Memory for Dynamic Social Interaction Across Phase of Illness in Schizophrenia.

Although a number of studies examined recollection and familiarity memory in schizophrenia, most of studies have focused on nonsocial episodic memory. Little is known about how schizophrenia patients remember social information in everyday life and whether social episodic memory changes over the course of illness. This study aims to examine episodic memory for dynamic social interaction with multimodal social stimuli in schizophrenia across phase of illness.

Sex differences in tobacco withdrawal and responses to smoking reduced-nicotine cigarettes in young smokers.

Rationale: Policies that establish a standard for reduced nicotine content in cigarettes can decrease the prevalence of smoking in the USA. Cigarettes with nicotine yields as low as 0.05 mg produce substantial occupancy of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (26%), but women and men respond differently to these cigarettes.

Glutamate in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Response to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Randomized Clinical Trial.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but non-response is common. Brain glutamate (Glu) signaling may contribute to OCD pathophysiology and moderate CBT outcomes. We assessed whether Glu measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was associated with OCD and/or CBT response.

Reduced-Nicotine Cigarettes in Young Smokers: Impact of Nicotine Metabolism on Nicotine Dose Effects.

The use of cigarettes delivering different nicotine doses allows evaluation of the contribution of nicotine to the smoking experience. We compared responses of 46 young adult smokers to research cigarettes, delivering 0.027, 0.

Combination Extended Smoking Cessation Treatment Plus Home Visits for Smokers With Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: The majority of people with schizophrenia have a diagnosis of tobacco dependence during their lifetime. A major obstacle to reducing the burden of cigarette smoking in this population is that these smokers have lower quit rates when undergoing standard treatment compared to smokers with no mental illness. We sought to determine if combination extended treatment (COMB-EXT) and home visits (HV) would lead to improved outcomes in smokers with schizophrenia.

Longitudinal stability of social cognition in schizophrenia: A 5-year follow-up of social perception and emotion processing.

Background: Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit marked and disproportional impairment in social cognition, which is associated with their level of community functioning. However, it is unclear whether social cognitive impairment is stable over time, or if impairment worsens as a function of illness chronicity. Moreover, little is known about the longitudinal associations between social cognition and community functioning.

Symptom profiles of autism spectrum disorder in tuberous sclerosis complex.

Objective: To determine the extent to which deficits associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in toddlers with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) overlap with those in toddlers with nonsyndromic ASD (nsASD) and to examine cognitive function and epilepsy severity in toddlers with TSC and comorbid ASD. This is the endpoint analysis from a longitudinal investigation of ASD risk factors in children with TSC.

Methods: Measures included the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, and clinical epilepsy variables.

A randomized placebo-controlled lovastatin trial for neurobehavioral function in neurofibromatosis I.

Objective: Lovastatin has been shown to reverse learning deficits in a mouse model of Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1), a common monogenic disorder caused by a mutation in the Ras-MAPK pathway and associated with learning disabilities. We conducted a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial to assess lovastatin's effects on cognition and behavior in patients with NF1.

Method: Forty-four NF1 patients (mean age 25.