Aggressive behavior, related conduct problems, and variation in genes affecting dopamine turnover.

A number of dopamine-related genes have been implicated in the etiology of violent behavior and conduct problems. Of these genes, the ones that code for the enzymes that influence the turnover of dopamine (DA) have received the most attention. In this study, we investigated 12 genetic polymorphisms in four genes involved with DA functioning (COMT, MAOA and MAOB, and DbetaH) in 179 incarcerated male Russian adolescents and two groups of matched controls: boys without criminal records referred to by their teachers as (a) "troubled-behavior-free" boys, n=182; and (b) "troubled-behavior" boys, n=60.

Childhood intelligence predicts hospitalization with personality disorder in adulthood: evidence from a population-based study in Sweden.

Although low pre-morbid IQ is an established risk factor for severe mental illness, its association with personality disorder (PD) is unclear. We set out to examine whether there is a prospective association between childhood intelligence and PD in adulthood. Using a population-based prospective cohort study, we linked childhood IQ scores to routinely collected hospital discharge records in adulthood.

Association of higher parental and grandparental education and higher school grades with risk of hospitalization for eating disorders in females: the Uppsala birth cohort multigenerational study.

Eating disorders are a leading cause of disease burden among young women. This study investigated associations of social characteristics of parents and grandparents, sibling position, and school performance with incidence of eating disorders. The authors studied Swedish females born in 1952-1989 (n = 13,376), third-generation descendants of a cohort born in Uppsala in 1915-1929.

Association between polymorphisms in the dopamine transporter gene and depression: evidence for a gene-environment interaction in a sample of juvenile detainees.

Previous research has generated examples of how genetic and environmental factors can interact to create risk for psychopathology. Using a gene-by-environment (G x E) interaction design, we tested whether three polymorphisms in the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1, also referred to as SLC6A3, located at 5p15.33) interacted with maternal parenting style to predict first-onset episodes of depression.

Exploring interactive effects of genes and environments in etiology of individual differences in reading comprehension.

It is established that reading and reading-related processes are heritable; genes thus play an important role in the foundation of individual differences in reading. In this article, we focus on one facet of reading-comprehension. Comprehension is a higher order cognitive skill that requires many other cognitive processes for it to unfold completely and successfully.

[Can a laboratory investigation be called anything? "The NPU system" sorts out the concepts and gives systematic stringency].

When communicating results from laboratory investigations from the laboratory to the requesters and further between different information systems, it is important that the value as well as the unique identity and name of the laboratory investigation are correctly cited. A committee under the International Federation for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) and International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has developed a systematic nomenclature for the correct classification of laboratory investigations. Each generic laboratory investigation is provided with a unique NPU code.

The influence of personality, measured by the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP), on symptoms among subjects in suspected sick buildings.

Unlabelled: The aim was to study possible relationships between personality traits as measured by the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP), a self-report personality inventory based on psychobiological theory, and medical symptoms, in subjects with previous work history in suspected sick buildings. The study comprised 195 participants from 19 consecutive cases of suspected sick buildings, initially collected in 1988-92. In 1998-89, the KSP inventory and a symptoms questionnaire were administered in a postal follow-up study.

Childhood behaviour as related to subsequent drinking offences and violent offending: a prospective study of 11- to 14-year-old youths into their fourth decade.

Background: Childhood hyperactivity has previously been found to be closely connected to subsequent alcohol problems and violent offending among men considered to be without major mental disorders. For others, these associations might be moderated or confounded by other factors, predominantly comorbid conduct disorder.

Aims: The purpose of the study was to investigate aspects of childhood hyperactive behaviour in relation to alcohol or violent offences in adult life, taking the possible confounders of early criminality and aggressive behaviour into account.

Cognitive sex differences: speed and problem-solving strategies on computerized neuropsychological tasks.

Skill, strategy, and laterality measures obtained through computerized neuropsychological tasks, a reaction time (RT) test, and a visuospatial problem-solving test, the Perceptual Maze Test, were analyzed in relation to sex and handedness of 56 high-school students. Boys were significantly faster than girls on most RT subtasks (including a response-inhibition task) and made more two-choice RT response errors for right-sided stimuli, which may be interpreted as resulting from a less cautious strategy. In maze performance, boys were superior to girls.

Neuropsychological correlates of platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity in female and male subjects.

Platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity has been found to have behavioral (psychiatric and personality) correlates and is assumed to be linked to central transmitter systems and thus presumably to neuropsychological processes. In the present study, computerized neuropsychological tests, a reaction time (RT) test and a visuo-spatial problem solving test, the Perceptual Maze Test (PMT), were given to 32 female and 29 male students, each sex group divided into three subgroups on the basis of platelet MAO activity. The tests yield measures of laterality (reaction time for left- versus right-sided stimuli) and different aspects of cognitive strategy and skill, e.