Preliminary findings of a randomized controlled trial investigating the efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a analysis on the role of co-occurring personality disorders.

Introduction: Despite the high hopes for the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the treatment of depression, between 30% and 60.5% of patients do not respond to stimulation. The factors contributing to non-response, especially those related to personality, remain insufficiently investigated.

Evaluation of Intra- and Inter-Network Connectivity within Major Brain Networks in Drug-Resistant Depression Using rs-fMRI.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a significant challenge in modern medicine due to its unclear underlying causes. Brain network dysfunction is believed to play a key role in its pathophysiology. Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI), a neuroimaging technique, enables the in vivo assessment of functional connectivity (FC) between brain regions, offering insights into these network dysfunctions.

Exploring the associations between momentary cortisol levels and psychotic-like experiences in young adults: Results from a temporal network analysis of daily-life data.

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been implicated in the development of psychosis and subthreshold psychotic symptoms commonly referred to as psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). The exact mechanisms linking the HPA axis responses with the emergence of PLEs remain unknown. The present study aimed to explore real-life associations between stress, negative affect, salivary cortisol levels (a proxy of the HPA axis activity) as well as PLEs together with their underlying cognitive biases (i.

Does social isolation predict the emergence of psychotic-like experiences? Results from the experience sampling method study.

Background: Several studies have shown that social isolation and loneliness are associated with the occurrence of psychotic experiences. However, dynamics of these phenomena in people with subclinical experiences, commonly referred to as psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), remains largely unknown. Therefore, in this study we performed a temporal network analysis to model dynamic predictions between social isolation, loneliness, negative affect, social stress, and PLEs.

Environmental pollution and extreme weather conditions: insights into the effect on mental health.

Environmental pollution exposures, including air, soil, water, light, and noise pollution, are critical issues that may implicate adverse mental health outcomes. Extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and droughts, may also cause long-term severe concerns. However, the knowledge about possible psychiatric disorders associated with these exposures is currently not well disseminated.

Coping styles do not interact with the association between childhood trauma history and the immune-inflammatory phenotype of schizophrenia: Findings from a cross-sectional study.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a well-known risk factor of schizophrenia. Moreover, individuals with schizophrenia are likely to use maladaptive stress coping strategies. Although it has been reported that a history of ACEs might be associated with a pro-inflammatory phenotype in patients with schizophrenia, the interacting effect of coping styles on this association has not been tested so far.

Associations of gut microbiota alterations with clinical, metabolic, and immune-inflammatory characteristics of chronic schizophrenia.

The present study had the following aims: 1) to compare gut microbiota composition in patients with schizophrenia and controls and 2) to investigate the association of differentially abundant bacterial taxa with markers of inflammation, intestinal permeability, lipid metabolism, and glucose homeostasis as well as clinical manifestation. A total of 115 patients with schizophrenia during remission of positive and disorganization symptoms, and 119 controls were enrolled. Altogether, 32 peripheral blood markers were assessed.

Assessment of interrelationships between cognitive performance, symptomatic manifestation and social functioning in the acute and clinical stability phase of schizophrenia: insights from a network analysis.

Background: It has been shown that various aspects of clinical manifestation of schizophrenia are strongly related to social functioning. However, it remains unknown as to whether similar factors predict social functioning at various stages of psychosis. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the effects of interconnections between various domains of psychopathology and neurocognition on social functioning in people during acute phase of psychosis and those during remission of positive and disorganization symptoms using a network analysis.

Understanding pathways from narcissistic grandiosity to psychotic-like experiences: Insights from the network analysis.

It has been shown that narcissistic grandiosity and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) may share the common psychological mechanisms, including impairments of metacognition, social cognition, cognitive biases, emotion regulation through fantasizing and dissociation. However, it remains unknown as to whether these mechanisms are associated with the occurrence of PLEs in people with narcissistic grandiosity. Therefore, in the present study, we approached a network analysis in order to investigate pathways from narcissistic grandiosity to PLEs taking into consideration the mediating effect of common psychological mechanisms.

Surgical treatment methods in the course of psychiatric disorders: Deep brain stimulation-Novel insights and indications.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a relatively dated treatment procedure that emerged in the late 1980s. Nonetheless, numerous studies are being carried out to examine its influence on the human brain and develop new treatment indications. This systematic review aims to summarize the current state of knowledge referring to DBS, investigate novel insights into its indications, and discuss the technical aspects and rationale behind DBS application.

Gut microbiota alterations in schizophrenia might be related to stress exposure: Findings from the machine learning analysis.

Specific mechanisms underlying gut microbiota alterations in schizophrenia remain unknown. We aimed to compare gut microbiota between patients with schizophrenia and controls, taking into consideration exposure stress across lifespan, dietary habits, metabolic parameters and clinical manifestation. A total of 142 participants, including 89 patients with schizophrenia and 52 controls, were recruited.

The Self-Evaluation of Negative Symptoms in Differentiating Deficit Schizophrenia: The Comparison of Sensitivity and Specificity with Other Tools.

Introduction: Psychometric properties of the Self-evaluation of Negative Symptoms (SNS) in subjects with the deficit subtype of schizophrenia (SCZ-D) have not been investigated so far. This study had the following aims: (1) to assess psychometric properties of SNS in subjects with SCZ-D and (2) to explore the usefulness of SNS, in comparison with other clinical characteristics, in screening for SCZ-D.

Methods: Participants were 82 stable outpatients with schizophrenia, including 40 individuals with SCZ-D and 42 individuals with the non-deficit subtype (SCZ-ND).

Various neuromodulation methods including Deep Brain Stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle combined with psychopharmacotherapy of treatment-resistant depression-Case report.

Background: Treatment-resistant depression remains one of the main concerns of modern psychiatry. Novel methods such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (including deep and theta burst protocols, iTBS) and Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) can be considered as alternative treatment options.

Case Presentation: Twenty-nine-year-old Caucasian female, single, higher-educated was treated with major depressive disorder initially with standard pharmaco- and psychotherapy.

Insomnia, Daytime Sleepiness, and Quality of Life among 20,139 College Students in 60 Countries around the World-A 2016-2021 Study.

Background: Sleep disorders are a widespread phenomenon, and the number of individuals suffering from them is increasing every year, especially among young adults. Currently, the literature lacks studies that cover both countries with different levels of development and a period before the announcement of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to globally assess the prevalence of insomnia and daytime sleepiness among students and assess their quality of life.

Risk factors of deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia: Results from a cross-sectional study.

Aim: It has been observed that deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia (SCZ-D and SCZ-ND) might be characterized by different risk factors. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess as to whether previously reported risk factors of schizophrenia are specifically associated with SCZ-D and SCZ-ND.

Method: This study was based on a cohort of 118 stable outpatients with schizophrenia.

Gut microbiota alterations in stable outpatients with schizophrenia: findings from a case-control study.

Objective: The pathogenesis of schizophrenia is multidimensional and intensively studied. The gut-brain axis disturbances might play a significant role in the development of schizophrenia.

Methods: We compared the gut microbiota of 53 individuals with schizophrenia and 58 healthy controls, using the 16S rRNA sequencing method.

Neurodevelopmental aspects of adverse childhood experiences in psychosis: Relevance of the allostatic load concept.

Previous studies have shown that neurodevelopmental characteristics of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as their accumulation and minimal age at exposure, might moderate their impact on clinical expression of psychosis. However, it remains unknown as to whether specific neurodevelopmental characteristics of ACEs are associated with biological alterations observed in psychosis. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that younger minimal age at exposure as well as greater accumulation and severity of ACEs are associated with systemic biological dysregulations captured by the allostatic load (AL) index in patients with psychosis.

Assessment of Insomnia Symptoms, Quality of Life, Daytime Sleepiness, and Psychoactive Substance Use among Polish Students: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey for Years 2016-2021 before and during COVID-19 Pandemic.

Sleep disorders are a serious health problem worldwide, and insomnia is their most common manifestation. An increasing number of people have insomnia every year, young adults, especially. Due to the importance that sleep has in almost every aspect of our lives, the need to monitor disturbances in circadian rhythms has arisen.

Sleepless in Solitude-Insomnia Symptoms Severity and Psychopathological Symptoms among University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland.

Since 25 March 2020, all schools, colleges, and universities in Poland have indefinitely closed and, where possible, have activated distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering that the undergraduate years are usually characterized by a high prevalence of emotional disorders and sleep problems, it can be expected that the current situation may have a remarkable impact on the student population. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of sleep problems among Polish university students as well as the relationship of insomnia symptoms severity with psychopathological symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and behavioral factors, such as substance use, changes in the amount of sleep, and the level of physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Deficit Schizophrenia Subtype Is Associated with Low Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet: Findings from a Case-Control Study.

Accumulating evidence indicates that individuals with schizophrenia show poor dietary habits that might account for increased susceptibility to cardiovascular diseases in this population. However, it remains unknown whether this observation can be generalized over the whole population of individuals with schizophrenia. Therefore, in this study we aimed to investigate dietary habits, in terms of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) in subjects with the deficit subtype of schizophrenia (SCZ-D), those with non-deficit subtype (SCZ-ND), and healthy controls (HCs).

Confirmation Bias in the Course of Instructed Reinforcement Learning in Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders.

A large body of research attributes learning deficits in schizophrenia (SZ) to the systems involved in value representation (prefrontal cortex, PFC) and reinforcement learning (basal ganglia, BG) as well as to the compromised connectivity of these regions. In this study, we employed learning tasks hypothesized to probe the function and interaction of the PFC and BG in patients with SZ-spectrum disorders in comparison to healthy control (HC) subjects. In the Instructed Probabilistic Selection task (IPST), participants received false instruction about one of the stimuli used in the course of probabilistic learning which creates confirmation bias, whereby the instructed stimulus is overvalued in comparison to its real experienced value.

The Role of Dopaminergic Genes in Probabilistic Reinforcement Learning in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders.

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ) are characterized by impairments in probabilistic reinforcement learning (RL), which is associated with dopaminergic circuitry encompassing the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia. However, there are no studies examining dopaminergic genes with respect to probabilistic RL in SZ. Thus, the aim of our study was to examine the impact of dopaminergic genes on performance assessed by the Probabilistic Selection Task (PST) in patients with SZ in comparison to healthy control (HC) subjects.

Stigma Levels Toward Psychiatric Patients Among Medical Students-A Worldwide Online Survey Across 65 Countries.

According to epidemiological data, over 450 million people worldwide suffer from mental disorders, presenting one of the major challenges of modern medicine. In their everyday lives, patients, in addition to fighting the disease itself, often struggle with stigmatization. This phenomenon negatively affects both the diagnostic and therapeutic processes, as well as the patients' everyday functioning.