Reduced GABA Levels in the ACC of Actively Drinking High Risk Individuals Compared to Recently Detoxified Alcohol-Dependent Patients.

Background: Acute gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAergic) effects of alcohol consumption are well-known, whereas prior research has yielded inconsistent findings regarding on adaptations of the GABAergic neurotransmitter system to chronic alcohol use. Previous studies indicate either elevated or reduced GABA levels in cortical regions such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in persons with alcohol use disorder (AUD). We tested the hypothesis that active alcohol consumption compared to abstinence contributes to GABA levels as observed in prior research on chronic alcohol use.

Digital Health Applications in the Area of Mental Health.

Background: The introduction of digital health applications (DiGA) is a fundamental innovation in Germany. In the field of mental health, numerous applications are already available whose efficacy has been tested in clinical trials. We investigated whether, and to what extent, the use of DiGA can be recommended on the basis of the available evidence.

Adiponectin, leptin, cortisol, neuropeptide Y and profile of mood states in athletes participating in an ultramarathon during winter: An observational study.

The Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra (YAU) is one of the longest (690 km) and coldest (+10.6°C-43.9°C) ultramarathons worldwide.

Influences on glycocalyx shedding during the Yukon Arctic Ultra: the longest and the coldest ultramarathon.

The endothelial glycocalyx maintains vascular structure and may be subject to shedding during inflammation and also during high-intensive exercise. There are no studies on shedding during ultra-endurance exercise. The "Yukon Arctic Ultra" (YAU) is one of the longest and coldest ultramarathons and its impact on glycocalyx shedding was investigated.

Mapping Research Domain Criteria using a transdiagnostic mini-RDoC assessment in mental disorders: a confirmatory factor analysis.

This study aimed to build on the relationship of well-established self-report and behavioral assessments to the latent constructs positive (PVS) and negative valence systems (NVS), cognitive systems (CS), and social processes (SP) of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework in a large transnosological population which cuts across DSM/ICD-10 disorder criteria categories. One thousand four hundred and thirty one participants (42.1% suffering from anxiety/fear-related, 18.

Reduced mitochondrial respiration in T cells of patients with major depressive disorder.

Converging evidence indicates that major depressive disorder (MDD) and metabolic disorders might be mediated by shared (patho)biological pathways. However, the converging cellular and molecular signatures remain unknown. Here, we investigated metabolic dysfunction on a systemic, cellular, and molecular level in unmedicated patients with MDD compared with matched healthy controls (HC).

Neural correlates of RDoC-specific cognitive processes in a high-functional autistic patient: a statistically validated case report.

The level of functioning of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) varies widely. To better understand the neurobiological mechanism associated with high-functioning ASD, we studied the rare case of a female patient with an exceptional professional career in the highly competitive academic field of Mathematics. According to the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) approach, which proposes to describe the basic dimensions of functioning by integrating different levels of information, we conducted four fMRI experiments targeting the (1) social processes domain (Theory of mind (ToM) and face matching), (2) positive valence domain (reward processing), and (3) cognitive domain (N-back).

Glutamate in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Patients With Schizophrenia: A Meta-analysis of H-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Studies.

Background: To date, there is no systematic overview of glutamate in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of patients with schizophrenia. Here, we meta-analyzed case-control studies of high-field proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) investigating glutamate in DLPFC. Additionally, we estimated variance ratios to investigate homo/heterogeneity.

Development of the COVID-19-Anxiety Questionnaire and first psychometric testing.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may cause psychological distress in the general population and has the potential to cause anxiety regarding COVID-19. No validated questionnaires exist for the measurement of specific COVID-19 anxiety. We modified the DSM 5 - Severity Measure for Specific Phobia-Adult scale specifically for anxiety regarding COVID-19, and report the psychometric properties from an online study with 6262 participants from the general population in Germany.

Associations between COVID-19 related media consumption and symptoms of anxiety, depression and COVID-19 related fear in the general population in Germany.

In context of the current COVID-19 pandemic the consumption of pandemic-related media coverage may be an important factor that is associated with anxiety and psychological distress. Aim of the study was to examine those associations in the general population in Germany. 6233 participants took part in an online-survey (March 27th-April 6th, 2020), which included demographic information and media exploitation in terms of duration, frequency and types of media.

Risk, resilience, psychological distress, and anxiety at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

Background: The current COVID-19 pandemic comes with multiple psychological stressors due to health-related, social, economic, and individual consequences and may cause psychological distress. The aim of this study was to screen the population in Germany for negative impact on mental health in the current COVID-19 pandemic and to analyze possible risk and protective factors.

Methods: A total of 6,509 people took part in an online survey in Germany from 27 March to 6 April.

The IMAGEN study: a decade of imaging genetics in adolescents.

Imaging genetics offers the possibility of detecting associations between genotype and brain structure as well as function, with effect sizes potentially exceeding correlations between genotype and behavior. However, study results are often limited due to small sample sizes and methodological differences, thus reducing the reliability of findings. The IMAGEN cohort with 2000 young adolescents assessed from the age of 14 onwards tries to eliminate some of these limitations by offering a longitudinal approach and sufficient sample size for analyzing gene-environment interactions on brain structure and function.