Psychedelics as an intervention for psychological, existential distress in terminally ill patients: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Background: The interest in psychedelics as a therapeutic intervention for existential distress of people with terminal illness grounds on their mechanism of action and effect on the spiritual/existential aspects accompanying end-of-life experiences.

Aims: This systematic review and network meta-analysis aimed at examining the efficacy and safety of psychedelic compounds for existential distress in terminally ill people.

Methods: PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and clinicaltrials.

Facing infant cuteness: How nurturing care motivation and oxytocin system gene methylation are associated with responses to baby schema features.

Baby schema features are a specific set of physical features-including chubby cheeks, large, low-set eyes, and a large, round head-that have evolutionary adaptive value in their ability to trigger nurturant care. In this study among nulliparous women (N = 81; M age = 23.60, SD = 0.

The Mood and Resilience in Offspring (MARIO) project: a longitudinal cohort study among offspring of parents with and without a mood disorder.

Background: One of the most robust risk factors for developing a mood disorder is having a parent with a mood disorder. Unfortunately, mechanisms explaining the transmission of mood disorders from one generation to the next remain largely elusive. Since timely intervention is associated with a better outcome and prognosis, early detection of intergenerational transmission of mood disorders is of paramount importance.

Childhood abuse neglect and risk for major psychiatric disorders.

Background: Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a strong risk factor for psychiatric disorders but serves in its current definitions as an umbrella for various fundamentally different childhood experiences. As first step toward a more refined analysis of the impact of CM, our objective is to revisit the relation of abuse and neglect, major subtypes of CM, with symptoms across disorders.

Methods: Three longitudinal studies of major depressive disorder (MDD, = 1240), bipolar disorder (BD, = 1339), and schizophrenia (SCZ, = 577), each including controls ( = 881), were analyzed.

Changes in perfusion, and structure of hippocampal subfields related to cognitive impairment after ECT: A pilot study using ultra high field MRI.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients with major depression is associated with volume changes and markers of neuroplasticity in the hippocampus, in particular in the dentate gyrus. It is unclear if these changes are associated with cognitive side effects.

Objectives: We investigated whether changes in cognitive functioning after ECT were associated with hippocampal structural changes.

Exome sequencing in bipolar disorder identifies AKAP11 as a risk gene shared with schizophrenia.

We report results from the Bipolar Exome (BipEx) collaboration analysis of whole-exome sequencing of 13,933 patients with bipolar disorder (BD) matched with 14,422 controls. We find an excess of ultra-rare protein-truncating variants (PTVs) in patients with BD among genes under strong evolutionary constraint in both major BD subtypes. We find enrichment of ultra-rare PTVs within genes implicated from a recent schizophrenia exome meta-analysis (SCHEMA; 24,248 cases and 97,322 controls) and among binding targets of CHD8.

Modular-Level Functional Connectome Alterations in Individuals With Hallucinations Across the Psychosis Continuum.

Functional connectome alterations, including modular network organization, have been related to the experience of hallucinations. It remains to be determined whether individuals with hallucinations across the psychosis continuum exhibit similar alterations in modular brain network organization. This study assessed functional connectivity matrices of 465 individuals with and without hallucinations, including patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, nonclinical individuals with hallucinations, and healthy controls.

A Regional Burden of Sequence-Level Variation in the 22q11.2 Region Influences Schizophrenia Risk and Educational Attainment.

Background: Genomic loci where recurrent pathogenic copy number variants are associated with psychiatric phenotypes in the population may also be sensitive to the collective impact of multiple functional low-frequency single nucleotide variants (SNVs).

Methods: We examined the cumulative impact of low-frequency, functional SNVs within the 22q11.2 region on schizophrenia risk in a discovery cohort and an independent replication cohort (N = 1933 and N = 11,128, respectively), as well as the impact on educational attainment (EA) in a third, independent, general population cohort (N = 2081).

Contribution of Age, Brain Region, Mood Disorder Pathology, and Interindividual Factors on the Methylome of Human Microglia.

Background: Transcriptome studies have revealed age-, disease-, and region-associated microglial phenotypes reflecting changes in microglial function during development, aging, central nervous system homeostasis, and pathology. The molecular mechanisms that contribute to these transcriptomic changes are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to characterize the DNA methylation landscape of human microglia and the factors that contribute to variations in the microglia methylome.

Oxytocin system gene methylation is associated with empathic responses towards children.

Empathy is an essential component of sensitive caregiving behavior, which in turn is an important predictor of children's healthy social-emotional development. The oxytocin (OXT) system plays a key role in promoting sensitive parenting and empathy. In this study, we investigated how OXT system gene methylation was associated with empathic processes in nulliparous women (M age = 23.

Bipolar episodes after reproductive events in women with bipolar I disorder, A study of 919 pregnancies.

Background: Women with bipolar I disorder are at high risk for severe episodes after childbirth, but there is no study that provides an overview on bipolar episode risk both during pregnancy and after childbirth, miscarriage and induced abortion. The aim of this study was to determine the episode risk during all pregnancy outcomes subdivided by first and subsequent pregnancies.

Methods: Participants were 436 women with bipolar I disorder from the Dutch Bipolar Cohort, having 919 pregnancies of which 762 resulted in a live childbirth, 118 ended in a miscarriage and 39 ended in induced abortion.

Functional connectome differences in individuals with hallucinations across the psychosis continuum.

Hallucinations may arise from an imbalance between sensory and higher cognitive brain regions, reflected by alterations in functional connectivity. It is unknown whether hallucinations across the psychosis continuum exhibit similar alterations in functional connectivity, suggesting a common neural mechanism, or whether different mechanisms link to hallucinations across phenotypes. We acquired resting-state functional MRI scans of 483 participants, including 40 non-clinical individuals with hallucinations, 99 schizophrenia patients with hallucinations, 74 bipolar-I disorder patients with hallucinations, 42 bipolar-I disorder patients without hallucinations, and 228 healthy controls.

The Role of Stress and Mineralocorticoid Receptor Haplotypes in the Development of Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety During Adolescence.

Adolescence is a critical developmental period characterized by heightened levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Experiencing chronic or environmental stress, for example, as a result of traumatic events or insensitive parenting, increases the risk for depression and anxiety. However, not all adolescents develop depressive or anxiety symptoms following environmental stressors, due to differences in stress resilience.

Fractal biomarker of activity in patients with bipolar disorder.

Background: The output of many healthy physiological systems displays fractal fluctuations with self-similar temporal structures. Altered fractal patterns are associated with pathological conditions. There is evidence that patients with bipolar disorder have altered daily behaviors.

Circulating Serum MicroRNAs as Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that can develop upon exposure to a traumatic event. While most people are able to recover promptly, others are at increased risk of developing PTSD. However, the exact underlying biological mechanisms of differential susceptibility are unknown.

Whole blood transcriptome analysis in bipolar disorder reveals strong lithium effect.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a highly heritable mood disorder with complex genetic architecture and poorly understood etiology. Previous transcriptomic BD studies have had inconsistent findings due to issues such as small sample sizes and difficulty in adequately accounting for confounders like medication use.

Methods: We performed a differential expression analysis in a well-characterized BD case-control sample (Nsubjects = 480) by RNA sequencing of whole blood.

Correction: MicroRNA regulation of persistent stress-enhanced memory.

A correction to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Author Correction: GWAS of lifetime cannabis use reveals new risk loci, genetic overlap with psychiatric traits, and a causal effect of schizophrenia liability.

Several occurrences of the word 'schizophrenia' have been re-worded as 'liability to schizophrenia' or 'schizophrenia risk', including in the title, which should have been "GWAS of lifetime cannabis use reveals new risk loci, genetic overlap with psychiatric traits, and a causal effect of schizophrenia liability," as well as in Supplementary Figures 1-10 and Supplementary Tables 7-10, to more accurately reflect the findings of the work.

MicroRNA regulation of persistent stress-enhanced memory.

Disruption of persistent, stress-associated memories is relevant for treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related syndromes, which develop in a subset of individuals following a traumatic event. We previously developed a stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL) paradigm in inbred mice that produces PTSD-like characteristics in a subset of mice, including persistently enhanced memory and heightened cFos in the basolateral amygdala complex (BLC) with retrieval of the remote (30-day-old) stress memory. Here, the contribution of BLC microRNAs (miRNAs) to stress-enhanced memory was investigated because of the molecular complexity they achieve through their ability to regulate multiple targets simultaneously.

The association between schizophrenia and the immune system: Review of the evidence from unbiased 'omic-studies'.

A role for immune processes in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia has been suggested by genetic and epidemiological studies, as well as cross-sectional studies on blood and brain samples. However, results are heterogeneous, which is likely caused by low samples sizes, insufficient control of confounders that influence immune processes, and potentially publication bias. Large hypothesis-free 'omic' studies partially circumvent these problems and could provide further evidence for a role of immune pathways in schizophrenia.

Epigenetic variability in the human oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene: A possible pathway from early life experiences to psychopathologies.

The human oxytocin (OXT) system is implicated in the regulation of complex social behaviors, as well as in psychopathologies characterized by social deficits. Emerging evidence suggests that variation in epigenetic regulation of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) provides the oxytocin system with flexibility in response to environmental events, especially those occurring during early childhood. Changes in DNA methylation patterns of OXTR associated with these events may reflect biological alterations of social sensitivity.

The characteristics of psychotic features in bipolar disorder.

Background: In a large and comprehensively assessed sample of patients with bipolar disorder type I (BDI), we investigated the prevalence of psychotic features and their relationship with life course, demographic, clinical, and cognitive characteristics. We hypothesized that groups of psychotic symptoms (Schneiderian, mood incongruent, thought disorder, delusions, and hallucinations) have distinct relations to risk factors.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 1342 BDI patients, comprehensive demographical and clinical characteristics were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I) interview.

GWAS of lifetime cannabis use reveals new risk loci, genetic overlap with psychiatric traits, and a causal influence of schizophrenia.

Cannabis use is a heritable trait that has been associated with adverse mental health outcomes. In the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) for lifetime cannabis use to date (N = 184,765), we identified eight genome-wide significant independent single nucleotide polymorphisms in six regions. All measured genetic variants combined explained 11% of the variance.