Neuromodulation and mindfulness as therapeutic treatment in detoxified patients with alcohol use disorder.

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) poses a significant global health challenge. Traditional management strategies often face high relapse rates, leading to a need for innovative approaches. Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) has emerged as a promising intervention to enhance cognitive control, reduce cue-related craving and improve interoceptive processing.

Increasing psychological flexibility is associated with positive therapy outcomes following a transdiagnostic ACT treatment.

Objectives: Increasing psychological flexibility is considered an important mechanism of change in psychotherapy across diagnoses. In particular, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) primarily aims at increasing psychological flexibility in order to live a more fulfilling and meaningful life. The purpose of this study is to examine 1) how psychological flexibility changes during an ACT-based treatment in a transdiagnostic day hospital and 2) how this change is related to changes in symptomatology, quality of life, and general level of functioning.

The ReCoDe addiction research consortium: Losing and regaining control over drug intake-Findings and future perspectives.

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are seen as a continuum ranging from goal-directed and hedonic drug use to loss of control over drug intake with aversive consequences for mental and physical health and social functioning. The main goals of our interdisciplinary German collaborative research centre on Losing and Regaining Control over Drug Intake (ReCoDe) are (i) to study triggers (drug cues, stressors, drug priming) and modifying factors (age, gender, physical activity, cognitive functions, childhood adversity, social factors, such as loneliness and social contact/interaction) that longitudinally modulate the trajectories of losing and regaining control over drug consumption under real-life conditions. (ii) To study underlying behavioural, cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of disease trajectories and drug-related behaviours and (iii) to provide non-invasive mechanism-based interventions.

Few negative effects of psychotherapy in a psychiatric day hospital: a follow-up survey to a multiprofessional treatment with acceptance and commitment therapy.

While there are many studies on psychotherapy and its efficacy - in terms of desired outcomes - there is comparatively little evidence on the possible negative effects of psychotherapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible negative effects of a multi-professional psychiatric day hospital treatment for patients with mental health disorders based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), including possible confounding factors. Fifty-one patients with a range of psychiatric diagnoses were assessed three months after an ACT-based psychiatric day hospital treatment.

Modifying Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer by approach avoidance training in healthy subjects: a proof of concept study.

The modulation of instrumental action by conditioned Pavlovian cues is hypothesized to play a role in the emergence and maintenance of maladaptive behavior. The Pavlovian to Instrumental transfer task (PIT) is designed to examine the magnitude of the influence of cues on behavior and we aim to manipulate the motivational value of Pavlovian cues to reduce their effect on instrumental responding. To this end, we utilized a joystick-based modification of approach and avoidance propensities that has shown success in clinical populations.

Effects of a brief mindfulness meditation practice on Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer in alcohol use disorder - a pilot study.

Introduction: Pavlovian conditioned contextual cues have been suggested to modulate instrumental action and might explain maladaptive behavior such as relapse in participants suffering from alcohol use disorder (AUD). Pavlovian-to-Instrumental transfer (PIT) experimentally assesses the magnitude of this context-dependent effect and studies have shown a larger PIT effect in AUD populations. Taken this into account, a reduction of the influence of cues on behavior seems warranted and one approach that could alter such cue reactivity is mindfulness.

Effects of mindfulness meditation and Acceptance and commitment therapy in patients with obstructive sleep apnea with residual excessive sleepiness: A randomized controlled pilot study.

Objective: Assessing the effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on symptoms of OSA, especially on the primary outcome, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS).

Methods: Parallel randomized controlled trial. 16 OSA patients with residual EDS (rEDS) were randomized and assigned to either a standardized 8-week MBSR program or a time-matched program on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Investigating the neural correlates of affective mentalizing and their association with general intelligence in patients with schizophrenia.

Background And Hypothesis: Mentalizing impairment in schizophrenia has been linked to altered neural responses. This study aimed to replicate previous findings of altered activation of the mentalizing network in schizophrenia and investigate its possible association with impaired domain-general cognition.

Study Design: We analyzed imaging data from two large multi-centric German studies including 64 patients, 64 matched controls and a separate cohort of 300 healthy subjects, as well as an independent Australian study including 46 patients and 61 controls.

Acceptance and commitment therapy in a psychiatric day hospital-A longitudinal naturalistic effectiveness trial.

Objectives: Despite the transdiagnostic approach and the good cross-professional applicability, only few studies have examined the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in a naturalistic clinic setting. This study aims to help closing this gap by investigating the effects of ACT in a psychiatric day hospital during COVID pandemic. It was investigated whether psychopathological symptomology decreased, and quality of life and general functioning improved with the treatment.

The Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: Recent Developments and New Perspectives.

Substance-related disorders are complex psychiatric disorders that are characterized by continued consumption in spite of harmful consequences. Addiction affects various brain networks critically involved in learning, reward, and motivation, as well as inhibitory control. Currently applied therapeutic approaches aim at modification of behavior that ultimately leads to decrease of consumption or abstinence in individuals with substance use disorders.

Effective connectivity during face processing in major depression - distinguishing markers of pathology, risk, and resilience.

Background: Aberrant brain connectivity during emotional processing, especially within the fronto-limbic pathway, is one of the hallmarks of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the methodological heterogeneity of previous studies made it difficult to determine the functional and etiological implications of specific alterations in brain connectivity. We previously reported alterations in psychophysiological interaction measures during emotional face processing, distinguishing depressive pathology from at-risk/resilient and healthy states.

Ventral Striatal-Hippocampus Coupling During Reward Processing as a Stratification Biomarker for Psychotic Disorders.

Background: Altered ventral striatal (vST) activation to reward expectancy is a well-established intermediate phenotype for psychiatric disorders, specifically schizophrenia (SZ). Preclinical research suggests that striatal alterations are related to a reduced inhibition by the hippocampal formation, but its role in human transdiagnostic reward-network dysfunctions is not well understood.

Methods: We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging during reward processing in 728 individuals including healthy control subjects (n = 396), patients (SZ: n = 46; bipolar disorder: n = 45; major depressive disorder: n = 60), and unaffected first-degree relatives (SZ: n = 46; bipolar disorder: n = 50; major depressive disorder: n = 85).

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).

Students in the Sex Industry: Motivations, Feelings, Risks, and Judgments.

Student sex work is a current phenomenon all over the world, increasingly reported by the media in recent years. However, student sex work remains under-researched in Germany and is lacking direct first-hand reports from the people involved. Further, sex work remains stigmatized, and therefore, students practicing it could be at risk of social isolation and emotional or physical danger.

Neural correlates of cue-induced changes in decision-making distinguish subjects with gambling disorder from healthy controls.

In addiction, there are few human studies on the neural basis of cue-induced changes in value-based decision making (Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer, PIT). It is especially unclear whether neural alterations related to PIT are due to the physiological effects of substance abuse or rather related to learning processes and/or other etiological factors related to addiction. We have thus investigated whether neural activation patterns during a PIT task help to distinguish subjects with gambling disorder (GD), a nonsubstance-based addiction, from healthy controls (HCs).

Addiction Research Consortium: Losing and regaining control over drug intake (ReCoDe)-From trajectories to mechanisms and interventions.

One of the major risk factors for global death and disability is alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use. While there is increasing knowledge with respect to individual factors promoting the initiation and maintenance of substance use disorders (SUDs), disease trajectories involved in losing and regaining control over drug intake (ReCoDe) are still not well described. Our newly formed German Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) on ReCoDe has an interdisciplinary approach funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with a 12-year perspective.

Cortical Surfaces Mediate the Relationship Between Polygenic Scores for Intelligence and General Intelligence.

Recent large-scale, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified hundreds of genetic loci associated with general intelligence. The cumulative influence of these loci on brain structure is unknown. We examined if cortical morphology mediates the relationship between GWAS-derived polygenic scores for intelligence (PSi) and g-factor.

Cue-induced effects on decision-making distinguish subjects with gambling disorder from healthy controls.

While an increased impact of cues on decision-making has been associated with substance dependence, it is yet unclear whether this is also a phenotype of non-substance-related addictive disorders, such as gambling disorder (GD). To better understand the basic mechanisms of impaired decision-making in addiction, we investigated whether cue-induced changes in decision-making could distinguish GD from healthy control (HC) subjects. We expected that cue-induced changes in gamble acceptance and specifically in loss aversion would distinguish GD from HC subjects.

Dissociating neural learning signals in human sign- and goal-trackers.

Individuals differ in how they learn from experience. In Pavlovian conditioning models, where cues predict reinforcer delivery at a different goal location, some animals-called sign-trackers-come to approach the cue, whereas others, called goal-trackers, approach the goal. In sign-trackers, model-free phasic dopaminergic reward-prediction errors underlie learning, which renders stimuli 'wanted'.

[Harm Reduction and Preventive Measures in Berlin's Party Scene].

Objective: Substance use patterns and sociodemographic variables of Berlin's party scene were investigated to derive preventive measures and harm reduction services, which meet the needs of the consumers.

Methods: A questionnaire was used online and in the field among Berlin partygoers (N = 877) and structured interviews (N = 20) were conducted with professionals working in this area, including social workers, emergency medical service, police and club owners and users.

Results: A risky consumption pattern was found in 67 % of participants, who also stated need for counseling and a wish for reduction of their substance use.

Amygdala functional connectivity in major depression - disentangling markers of pathology, risk and resilience.

Background: Limbic-cortical imbalance is an established model for the neurobiology of major depressive disorder (MDD), but imaging genetics studies have been contradicting regarding potential risk and resilience mechanisms. Here, we re-assessed previously reported limbic-cortical alterations between MDD relatives and controls in combination with a newly acquired sample of MDD patients and controls, to disentangle pathology, risk, and resilience.

Methods: We analyzed functional magnetic resonance imaging data and negative affectivity (NA) of MDD patients (n = 48), unaffected first-degree relatives of MDD patients (n = 49) and controls (n = 109) who performed a faces matching task.