The effects of physical activity on white matter microstructure in children with overweight or obesity: The ActiveBrains randomized clinical trial.

Background: Emerging research supports the idea that physical activity benefits brain development. However, the body of evidence focused on understanding the effects of physical activity on white matter microstructure during childhood is still in its infancy, and further well-designed randomized clinical trials are needed.

Aim: This study aimed: (i) to investigate the effects of a 20-week physical activity intervention on global white matter microstructure in children with overweight or obesity, and (ii) to explore whether the effect of physical activity on white matter microstructure is global or restricted to a particular set of white matter bundles.

Computational modelling of reinforcement learning and functional neuroimaging of probabilistic reversal for dissociating compulsive behaviours in gambling and cocaine use disorders.

Background: Individuals with cocaine use disorder or gambling disorder demonstrate impairments in cognitive flexibility: the ability to adapt to changes in the environment. Flexibility is commonly assessed in a laboratory setting using probabilistic reversal learning, which involves reinforcement learning, the process by which feedback from the environment is used to adjust behavior.

Aims: It is poorly understood whether impairments in flexibility differ between individuals with cocaine use and gambling disorders, and how this is instantiated by the brain.

Early life factors and structural brain network in children with overweight/obesity: The ActiveBrains project.

Background: The aims of this study were to investigate the association of early life factors, including birth weight, birth length, and breastfeeding practices, with structural brain networks; and to test whether structural brain networks associated with early life factors were also associated with academic performance in children with overweight/obesity (OW/OB).

Method: 96 children with OW/OB aged 8-11 years (10.03 ± 1.

Intrinsic neural network dynamics underlying the ability to down-regulate emotions in male perpetrators of intimate partner violence against women.

Research has pointed to difficulties in emotion regulation as a risk factor for perpetrating intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW). While efforts have been made to understand the brain mechanisms underlying emotion regulation strategies such as reappraisal, little is known about the intrinsic neural dynamics supporting this strategy in male perpetrators. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to characterise the network dynamics underlying reappraisal.

Early morning physical activity is associated with healthier white matter microstructure and happier children: the ActiveBrains project.

The background of this study is to examine the associations of individual and combined early morning patterns (i.e., active commuting to school, physical activity before school, having breakfast and good sleep) with white matter microstructure (WMM) and, whether the associated white mater microstructure outcomes were related to mental health outcomes in children with overweight or obesity.

Physical activity, sedentary time, and fitness in relation to brain shapes in children with overweight/obesity: Links to intelligence.

Objectives: To examine the association between physical activity, sedentary time, and physical fitness with the shapes of subcortical brain structures in children with overweight/obesity. Further, we analyzed whether differences in the shapes of subcortical brain structures were related to intelligence. We hypothesized that those children with higher physical activity levels, lower sedentary time, and better fitness, would show greater expansion of the brain regions analyzed, and these expansions would be associated with higher intelligence.

Effects of an Exercise Program on Brain Health Outcomes for Children With Overweight or Obesity: The ActiveBrains Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Pediatric overweight and obesity are highly prevalent across the world, with implications for poorer cognitive and brain health. Exercise might potentially attenuate these adverse consequences.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of an exercise program on brain health indicators, including intelligence, executive function, academic performance, and brain outcomes, among children with overweight or obesity and to explore potential mediators and moderators of the main effects of exercise.

Influence of Gestational Diabetes and Pregestational Maternal BMI on the Brain of Six-Year-Old Offspring.

Background: Gestational diabetes (GD) and maternal excess weight are common pregnancy conditions that increase the risk of future complications for both the mother and her offspring. Their consequences on neurodevelopment are widely described in the literature, but less is known concerning the potential transgenerational influence on the brain structure.

Methods: We used a combination of support vectors machine and hierarchical clustering to investigate the potential presence of anatomical brain differences in a sample of 109 children aged six years, born to mothers with overweight or obesity, or to mothers diagnosed with GD during pregnancy.

Resting-state functional connectivity and socioemotional processes in male perpetrators of intimate partner violence against women.

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a serious and overwhelming public concern. Neuroimaging techniques have provided insights into the brain mechanisms underlying IPVAW perpetration. The purpose of this study is to examine the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) involving the process of social decision-making of male perpetrators.

Brain networks alterations in cocaine use and gambling disorders during emotion regulation.

Background: Cocaine use disorder (CUD) and gambling disorder (GD) share clinical features and neural alterations, including emotion regulation deficits and dysfunctional activation in related networks. However, they also exhibit differential aspects, such as the neuroadaptive effects of long-term drug consumption in CUD as compared to GD. Neuroimaging research aimed at disentangling their shared and specific alterations can contribute to improve understanding of both disorders.

Social mentalizing in male perpetrators of intimate partner violence against women is associated with resting-state functional connectivity of the Crus II.

Social mentalizing refers to the ability to understand the intentions, causes, emotions and beliefs of another person or the self and is crucial for interpersonal understanding. Disturbances in this process may lead to aggressive and violent behaviors. Literature has shown that male perpetrators convicted for intimate partner crime (IPVAW) present alterations in different measures related to social mentalizing, in particular, they present more irrational thoughts toward women and difficulties in emotional recognition and empathy processes.

Infant Formula Supplemented With Milk Fat Globule Membrane, Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, and Synbiotics Is Associated With Neurocognitive Function and Brain Structure of Healthy Children Aged 6 Years: The COGNIS Study.

Background: Adequate nutrient intake during the first few months of life plays a critical role on brain structure and function development.

Objectives: To analyze the long-term effects of an experimental infant formula (EF) on neurocognitive function and brain structure in healthy children aged 6 years compared to those fed with a standard infant formula or breastfed.

Methods: The current study involved 108 healthy children aged 6 years and participating in the COGNIS Study.

Effect of chronic alcohol consumption on brain structure in males with alcohol use disorder without a familiar history of alcoholism.

Structural brain damages caused by chronic alcohol consumption have been extensively reported. However, the neuroimaging findings in people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are relatively inconsistent. This inconsistency may be due to the influence of different variables that are not always considered, such as the presence of a family history of alcoholism (FHA).

Early life factors and white matter microstructure in children with overweight and obesity: The ActiveBrains project.

Background & Aims: Exposure to a suboptimal environment during the fetal and early infancy period's results in long-term consequences for brain morphology and function. We investigated the associations of early life factors such as anthropometric neonatal data (i.e.

Emotional Regulation in Male Batterers When Faced With Pictures of Intimate Partner Violence. Do They Have a Problem With Suppressing or Experiencing Emotions?

Emotional regulation is crucial to psychological functioning and mental health. Studies of male batterers indicate the critical role that emotional processing plays in the violence they exert upon their partners or ex-partners. The aim of this study was to investigate the neural bases of emotional regulation in male batterers-both in experiencing and suppressing emotions-when faced with pictures of intimate partner violence (IPV).

Brain substrates explain differences in the adoption and degree of financial digitalization.

This study analyzes neural responses connected to trust and risk to explain financial digitalization decisions. It shows that brain responses distinctively inform differences in the adoption of digital financial channels that are not shown by any other sociodemographic or behavioral indicators. From a methodological standpoint, the study explores if usage patterns of digital financial channels and instruments are associated with psychological and biological indicators; it uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether financial digitalization decisions are linked to the evoked brain response to the safety associated with video images of financial transactions through digitalized and non-digitalized channels; it conducts trust and risk neuro-experiments to identify their impact on financial digitalization decisions and it analyzes whether brain structure is linked to financial digitalization behavior.

Structural Brain Alterations in Female Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been related to brain alterations in female survivors. Nonetheless, few studies have used an exploratory approach, focusing on brain regions that are traditionally studied in other populations with post-traumatic stress. Traumatic brain injury (TBI), strangulation, and childhood trauma are highly prevalent among this population, and have also been associated with brain alterations and functional deterioration.

Effects of Maternal Fish Oil and/or 5-Methyl-Tetrahydrofolate Supplementation during Pregnancy on Offspring Brain Resting-State at 10 Years Old: A Follow-Up Study from the NUHEAL Randomized Controlled Trial.

Recent studies have shown that maternal supplementation with folate and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) during pregnancy may affect children's brain development. We aimed at examining the potential long-term effect of maternal supplementation with fish oil (FO) and/or 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) on the brain functionality of offspring at the age of 9.5-10 years.

Stressing diets? Amygdala networks, cumulative cortisol, and weight loss in adolescents with excess weight.

Objective: The amygdala is importantly involved in stress and obesity, but its role on weight change and diet-related stress remains unexplored among adolescents with excess weight. We aimed to examine the functional connectivity of the Central and Basolateral amygdala nuclei (CeA and BLA) among adolescents, and to explore the longitudinal association between brain connectivity measures and diet-related cortisol and weight loss in adolescents with excess weight.

Methods: We compared resting-state functional connectivity between adolescents with excess (EW, N = 34; Age = 16.

"Would You Allow Your Wife to Dress in a Miniskirt to the Party"? : Batterers Do Not Activate Default Mode Network During Moral Decisions About Intimate Partner Violence.

Moral convictions consist of assessments based on perceptions of morality and immorality, of right and wrong. There are people who, based on morality, commit crimes. For instance, social and moral norms based on inequality appear to play an important role in the batterer's behavior to commit violent acts.

Neural-based valuation of functional foods among lean and obese individuals.

Functional foods may contribute to establish healthy eating habits and reduce obesity and related comorbidities. Differences in the brain mechanisms underpinning the valuation of functional foods in individuals with excess weight may inform the development of attractive functional foods. We aimed to compare brain function during the Willingness to Pay task for functional vs standard foods between individuals with healthy weight (HW), overweight (OW), and obesity (OB).

The relationship between physical activity, apolipoprotein E ε4 carriage, and brain health.

Background: Neuronal hyperexcitability and hypersynchrony have been described as key features of neurophysiological dysfunctions in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum. Conversely, physical activity (PA) has been associated with improved brain health and reduced AD risk. However, there is controversy regarding whether AD genetic risk (in terms of APOE ε4 carriage) modulates these relationships.

Association of Sedentary Behavior with Brain Structure and Intelligence in Children with Overweight or Obesity: The ActiveBrains Project.

Unlabelled: We investigated the associations of different sedentary behaviors (SB) with gray matter volume and we tested whether SB related to gray matter volume is associated with intelligence.

Methods: 99 children with overweight or obesity aged 8-11 years participated in this cross-sectional study. SB was measured using the Youth Activity Profile-Spain questionnaire.

Differences in Brain Volume between Metabolically Healthy and Unhealthy Overweight and Obese Children: The Role of Fitness.

The aim of this study was to examine whether metabolically healthy overweight/obese children have greater global and regional gray matter volumes than their metabolically unhealthy peers. We further examined the association between gray matter volume and academic achievement, along with the role of cardiorespiratory fitness in these associations. A total of 97 overweight/obese children (10.