REWRITALIZE your recovery: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial (RCT) examining the effectiveness of the new recovery-oriented creative writing group intervention REWRITALIZE for people with severe mental illness.

Background: Health institutions advocate for psychosocial and recovery-oriented interventions alongside pharmacological treatment for severe mental illness. Participatory arts interventions appear promising in promoting personal recovery by fostering connectedness, hope, renegotiation of identity, meaning-making, and empowerment. Despite encouraging findings, however, the evidence base remains thin.

Hippocampal volume changes in a pharmacological sex-hormone manipulation risk model for depression in women.

Hormone transition phases may trigger depression in some women, yet the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In a pharmacological sex-hormone manipulation model, we previously reported that estradiol reductions, induced with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa), provoked subclinical depressive symptoms in healthy women, especially if neocortical serotonin transporter (SERT) binding also increased. Within this model, we here evaluated if GnRHa, compared to placebo, reduced hippocampal volume, in a manner that depended on the magnitude of the estradiol decrease and SERT binding, and if this decrease translated to the emergence of subclinical depressive symptoms.

A randomized placebo-controlled intranasal oxytocin study on first impressions and reactions to social rejection.

Oxytocin is central to pair-bonding in non-human animals. We assessed effects of intranasal oxytocin on bond formation between two opposite-sex strangers. In a double-blind placebo-controlled design, 50 pairs of one man and one woman received oxytocin or placebo spray intranasally.

Emotion recognition associated with polymorphism in oxytocinergic pathway gene ARNT2.

The ability to correctly understand the emotional expression of another person is essential for social relationships and appears to be a partly inherited trait. The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin have been shown to influence this ability as well as face processing in humans. Here, recognition of the emotional content of faces and voices, separately and combined, was investigated in 492 subjects, genotyped for 25 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in eight genes encoding proteins important for oxytocin and vasopressin neurotransmission.

A missense polymorphism in the putative pheromone receptor gene VN1R1 is associated with sociosexual behavior.

Pheromones regulate social and reproductive behavior in most mammalian species. These effects are mediated by the vomeronasal and main olfactory systems. Effects of putative pheromones on human neuroendocrine activity, brain activity and attractiveness ratings suggest that humans may communicate via similar chemosignaling.

Pharmacologically Induced Sex Hormone Fluctuation Effects on Resting-State Functional Connectivity in a Risk Model for Depression: A Randomized Trial.

Women are at relatively greater lifetime risk for depression than men. This elevated risk in women is partly due to heightened risk during time periods characterized by marked fluctuations in sex hormones, including postpartum and perimenopausal periods. How sex hormone fluctuations contribute to heightened risk is not fully understood but may involve intrinsic functional connectivity.

Variation in the Oxytocin Receptor Gene Is Associated with Face Recognition and its Neural Correlates.

The ability to recognize faces is crucial for daily social interactions. Recent studies suggest that intranasal oxytocin administration improves social recognition in humans. Oxytocin signaling in the amygdala plays an essential role for social recognition in mice, and oxytocin administration has been shown to influence amygdala activity in humans.

Serotonergic neurotransmission in emotional processing: New evidence from long-term recreational poly-drug ecstasy use.

The brain's serotonergic system plays a crucial role in the processing of emotional stimuli, and several studies have shown that a reduced serotonergic neurotransmission is associated with an increase in amygdala activity during emotional face processing. Prolonged recreational use of ecstasy (3,4-methylene-dioxymethamphetamine [MDMA]) induces alterations in serotonergic neurotransmission that are comparable to those observed in a depleted state. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigated the responsiveness of the amygdala to emotional face stimuli in recreational ecstasy users as a model of long-term serotonin depletion.

Social memory associated with estrogen receptor polymorphisms in women.

The ability to recognize the identity of faces and voices is essential for social relationships. Although the heritability of social memory is high, knowledge about the contributing genes is sparse. Since sex differences and rodent studies support an influence of estrogens and androgens on social memory, polymorphisms in the estrogen and androgen receptor genes (ESR1, ESR2, AR) are candidates for this trait.

Contribution of non-genetic factors to dopamine and serotonin receptor availability in the adult human brain.

The dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) neurotransmission systems are of fundamental importance for normal brain function and serve as targets for treatment of major neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite central interest for these neurotransmission systems in psychiatry research, little is known about the regulation of receptor and transporter density levels. This lack of knowledge obscures interpretation of differences in protein availability reported in psychiatric patients.

Role of emotional processing in depressive responses to sex-hormone manipulation: a pharmacological fMRI study.

Sex-hormone fluctuations may increase risk for developing depressive symptoms and alter emotional processing as supported by observations in menopausal and pre- to postpartum transition. In this double-blinded, placebo-controlled study, we used blood-oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate if sex-steroid hormone manipulation with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) influences emotional processing. Fifty-six healthy women were investigated twice: at baseline (follicular phase of menstrual cycle) and 16 ± 3 days post intervention.

Association between polymorphisms in NOS3 and KCNH2 and social memory.

Social memory, including the ability to recognize faces and voices, is essential for social relationships. It has a large heritable component, but the knowledge about the contributing genes is sparse. The genetic variation underlying inter-individual differences in social memory was investigated in an exploratory sample (n = 55), genotyped with a chip comprising approximately 200,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and in a validation sample (n = 582), where 30 SNPs were targeted.

Sex-Steroid Hormone Manipulation Reduces Brain Response to Reward.

Mood disorders are twice as frequent in women than in men. Risk mechanisms for major depression include adverse responses to acute changes in sex-steroid hormone levels, eg, postpartum in women. Such adverse responses may involve an altered processing of rewards.

Role of Serotonin Transporter Changes in Depressive Responses to Sex-Steroid Hormone Manipulation: A Positron Emission Tomography Study.

Background: An adverse response to acute and pronounced changes in sex-hormone levels during, for example, the perimenopausal or postpartum period appears to heighten risk for major depression in women. The underlying risk mechanisms remain elusive but may include transiently compromised serotonergic brain signaling. Here, we modeled a biphasic ovarian sex hormone fluctuation using a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) and evaluated if emergence of depressive symptoms was associated with change in cerebral serotonin transporter (SERT) binding following intervention.

The Center for Integrated Molecular Brain Imaging (Cimbi) database.

We here describe a multimodality neuroimaging containing data from healthy volunteers and patients, acquired within the Lundbeck Foundation Center for Integrated Molecular Brain Imaging (Cimbi) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The data is of particular relevance for neurobiological research questions related to the serotonergic transmitter system with its normative data on the serotonergic subtype receptors 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, 5-HT2A, and 5-HT4 and the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT), but can easily serve other purposes. The Cimbi database and Cimbi biobank were formally established in 2008 with the purpose to store the wealth of Cimbi-acquired data in a highly structured and standardized manner in accordance with the regulations issued by the Danish Data Protection Agency as well as to provide a quality-controlled resource for future hypothesis-generating and hypothesis-driven studies.

Amygdala signals subjective appetitiveness and aversiveness of mixed gambles.

People are more sensitive to losses than to equivalent gains when making financial decisions. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to illuminate how the amygdala contributes to loss aversion. The blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response of the amygdala was mapped while healthy individuals were responding to 50/50 gambles with varying potential gain and loss amounts.

Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene is associated with behavioral and neural correlates of empathic accuracy.

The neuromodulators oxytocin and serotonin have been implicated in regulating affective processes underlying empathy. Understanding this dependency, however, has been limited by a lack of objective metrics for measuring empathic performance. Here we employ a novel psychophysical method for measuring empathic performance that quantitatively measures the ability of subjects to decode the experience of another person's pain.

Association between amygdala reactivity and a dopamine transporter gene polymorphism.

Essential for detection of relevant external stimuli and for fear processing, the amygdala is under modulatory influence of dopamine (DA). The DA transporter (DAT) is of fundamental importance for the regulation of DA transmission by mediating reuptake inactivation of extracellular DA. This study examined if a common functional variable number tandem repeat polymorphism in the 3' untranslated region of the DAT gene (SLC6A3) influences amygdala function during the processing of aversive emotional stimuli.

Influence of having a male twin on body mass index and risk for dyslipidemia in middle-aged and old women.

Background: Animal experiments suggest that exposure to elevated levels of androgens during development by means of so-called hormonal programming causes metabolic aberrations at adulthood. An indirect strategy to address the possible importance of such an influence also in humans would be to study female dizygotic twins, presuming that those with a twin brother--due to diffusion of testosterone--have been exposed to higher androgen levels prenatally.

Design: We have compared 8409 women with a male twin with 9166 women with a dizygotic female twin with respect to self-reported indices of anthropometry and metabolic aberrations at age 42 or older.

Further exploration of the possible influence of polymorphisms in HTR2C and 5HTT on body weight.

Receptors of the 5-HT2C subtype are of importance for the influence of serotonin on food intake, and 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms in this gene (HTR2C)--Cys23Ser (rs6318) and -759C>T (rs3813929)--have been reported to be associated with weight and/or antipsychotic-induced weight gain. The present study aimed to replicate these associations; in addition, the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) was assessed. The polymorphisms were genotyped in subjects recruited from the normal population (n = 510), and possible associations between genotype and body mass index (BMI) were assessed.

Genetic variation in brain-derived neurotrophic factor is associated with serotonin transporter but not serotonin-1A receptor availability in men.

Background: The serotonergic system, including the serotonin transporter (5-HTT), which is the target of many antidepressants, seems to be influenced by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

Methods: Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to address, in 25 and 53 healthy volunteers, respectively, the possible association between six polymorphisms in the gene encoding BDNF and the availability of two proteins expressed by serotonergic neurons: the 5-HTT, measured with the radioligand [(11)C]MADAM, and the serotonin-1A (5-HT1A) receptor, measured with [(11)C]WAY-100635.

Results: Several single nucleotide polymorphisms were associated with [(11)C]MADAM binding potential (BP) in most brain regions, male carriers of the valine/valine genotype of the Val66Met polymorphism displaying higher availability.

Influence of androgen receptor repeat polymorphisms on personality traits in men.

Background: Testosterone has been attributed importance for various aspects of behaviour. The aim of our study was to investigate the potential influence of 2 functional polymorphisms in the amino terminal of the androgen receptor on personality traits in men.

Methods: We assessed and genotyped 141 men born in 1944 recruited from the general population.

Possible association between the androgen receptor gene and autism spectrum disorder.

Autism is a highly heritable disorder but the specific genes involved remain largely unknown. The higher prevalence of autism in men than in women, in conjunction with a number of other observations, has led to the suggestion that prenatal brain exposure to androgens may be of importance for the development of this condition. Prompted by this hypothesis, we investigated the potential influence of variation in the androgen receptor (AR) gene on the susceptibility for autism.

Serotonin transporter genotype is associated with cognitive performance but not regional 5-HT1A receptor binding in humans.

The human serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene is one of the most extensively studied in psychiatry. A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the 5-HTT gene (5-HTTLPR) has been associated with several psychiatric disorders as well as anxiety-related personality traits. In search of a mechanistic understanding of the functional implications of 5-HTTLPR, the influence of this polymorphism on regional 5-HT1A receptor density has previously been examined in two positron emission tomography (PET) studies in humans, yielding, however, contradictory results.