Altered directed functional connectivity of the right amygdala in depression: high-density EEG study.

The cortico-striatal-pallidal-thalamic and limbic circuits are suggested to play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of depression. Stimulation of deep brain targets might improve symptoms in treatment-resistant depression. However, a better understanding of connectivity properties of deep brain structures potentially implicated in deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment is needed.

EEG Resting-State Large-Scale Brain Network Dynamics Are Related to Depressive Symptoms.

The few previous studies on resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) microstates in depressive patients suggest altered temporal characteristics of microstates compared to those of healthy subjects. We tested whether resting-state microstate temporal characteristics could capture large-scale brain network dynamic activity relevant to depressive symptomatology. To evaluate a possible relationship between the resting-state large-scale brain network dynamics and depressive symptoms, we performed EEG microstate analysis in 19 patients with moderate to severe depression in bipolar affective disorder, depressive episode, and recurrent depressive disorder and in 19 healthy controls.

Impulsivity in patients with borderline personality disorder: a comprehensive profile compared with healthy people and patients with ADHD.

Background: Impulsivity is a core symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Impulsivity is a heterogeneous concept, and a comprehensive evaluation of impulsivity dimensions is lacking in the literature. Moreover, it is unclear whether BPD patients manifest impaired cognitive functioning that might be associated with impulsivity in another patient group, such as ADHD, a frequent comorbidity of BPD.

Dimensions of Impulsivity in Healthy People, Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder, and Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Impulsivity, observed in patients with various psychiatric disorders, is a heterogeneous construct with different behavioral manifestations. Through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), this study tests hypotheses about relationships between dimensions of impulsivity measured using personality questionnaires and behavioral tests. : The study included 200 healthy people, 40 patients with borderline personality disorder, and 26 patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who underwent a comprehensive impulsivity test battery including the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, a Go-NoGo task, a stop-signal task, and a delay discounting task.

Relevance of CYP2D6 variability in first-episode schizophrenia patients treated with risperidone.

Objective: The objective of this prospective, naturalistic study, conducted in first-episode psychosis patients from a Central-European population, was to assess the utility of Cytochrome P-450 2D6 (CYP2D6) genotype testing under normal clinical setting.

Methods: A total of 35 patients diagnosed for the first time with schizophrenia or acute schizophrenia-like psychotic disorder and treated with risperidone were enrolled in the study. These patients underwent sequentiation of the CYP2D6 gene and evaluations of symptoms and severity of adverse effects using the PANSS and UKU scales, respectively.

Identification of common variants associated with human hippocampal and intracranial volumes.

Identifying genetic variants influencing human brain structures may reveal new biological mechanisms underlying cognition and neuropsychiatric illness. The volume of the hippocampus is a biomarker of incipient Alzheimer's disease and is reduced in schizophrenia, major depression and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Whereas many brain imaging phenotypes are highly heritable, identifying and replicating genetic influences has been difficult, as small effects and the high costs of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have led to underpowered studies.