Neuroscience in Pictures: 3. Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a complex, heritable brain disorder characterized by psychotic, negative, cognitive, mood, and motor symptoms. This pictorial review explores the multifaceted nature of schizophrenia, from its etiology to prevention strategies. We discuss the interplay of genetic and environmental risk factors, neurobiological underpinnings, and stepwise progression.

Doing good well (Karma Yoga, the path of selfless action): Psychotherapeutic lessons from the East.

The tripartite classification of mental faculties into cognition, affect, and conation (motivation and action) continues to be the edifice on which the mind and the methods to address mental afflictions are studied. Eastern spiritual traditions offer insights into mental health as it pertains to each of these domains. Following up on our previous paper on the cognition path to psychotherapy (Knowing oneself, or Jnana Yoga), we herein focus on the path of selfless action (Karma Yoga).

Neuroscience in pictures: 2. Sleep, wakefulness, and mental state biology.

Sleep is a vital restorative process that has occupied our curiosity for millennia. Despite our longstanding research efforts, the biology of sleep and its connection to mental states remains enigmatic. Unsurprisingly, sleep and wakefulness, the fundamental processes between which our mental states oscillate, are inseparable from our physical and mental health.

Know thyself (Jnana Yoga): Psychotherapeutic insights from the east.

Humans have asked themselves the question "who am I" from ancient times. Vedic, upanishadic and buddhist philosophers have pointed out over millennia the illusive nature of the individual self, and posit either a no-self, or a universal Self. Vedantic scholars also posit the illusory nature of the universe (Maya) and suggest that the only reality is the knower (Brahman), a view resonating with modern concepts in quantum theory.

Neuroscience in pictures:1. History of psychiatric neuroscience.

Our understanding of the brain basis of mental illness has evolved over three and half millennia. Early insights into the role of the brain in relation to the mind faded during the middle ages as mental illness became the province of religion, spirituality, and philosophy. Psychiatry became a medical discipline again as medical and scientific thinking evolved during the 17th century.

Characterization of childhood trauma, hippocampal mediation and Cannabis use in a large dataset of psychosis and non-psychosis individuals.

Background: Cannabis use (CA) and childhood trauma (CT) independently increase the risk of earlier psychosis onset; but their interaction in relation to psychosis risk and association with endocannabinoid-receptor rich brain regions, i.e. the hippocampus (HP), remains unclear.

Investigating sleep spindle density and schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.

Sleep abnormalities are an early feature of schizophrenia (SZ) characterized by reductions in sleep spindles that are associated with deficits in brain connectivity and cognitive function. This study investigated sleep spindle density (SSD) differences between SZ, first episode psychosis (FEP), and family high-risk (FHR) populations and matched healthy controls (HC) by investigating recent studies via a meta-analysis. We collected experimental, demographic, and methodological metrics from eligible studies across multiple online databases.

Intermittent theta burst stimulation of cerebellar vermis enhances fronto-cerebellar resting state functional connectivity in schizophrenia with predominant negative symptoms: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Negative symptoms of schizophrenia are substantially disabling and treatment resistant. Novel treatments like repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) need to be examined for the same using the experimental medicine approach that incorporates tests of mechanism of action in addition to clinical efficacy in trials.

Methods: Study was a double-blind, parallel, randomized, sham-controlled trial recruiting schizophrenia with at least a moderate severity of negative symptoms.

Theory of Mind impairments in early course schizophrenia: An fMRI study.

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to perceive others' mental states. Lower ToM has often been associated with poorer functional outcomes in schizophrenia, making it an important treatment target. However, little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms associated with ToM impairments in early course schizophrenia.

White matter microstructure across brain-based biotypes for psychosis - findings from the bipolar-schizophrenia network for intermediate phenotypes.

The B-SNIP consortium identified three brain-based Biotypes across the psychosis spectrum, independent of clinical phenomenology. To externally validate the Biotype model, we used free-water fractional volume (FW) and free-water corrected fractional anisotropy (FA) to compare white matter differences across Biotypes and clinical diagnoses. Diffusion tensor imaging data from 167 individuals were included: 41 healthy controls, 55 schizophrenia probands, 47 schizoaffective disorder probands, and 24 probands with psychotic bipolar disorder.

Association of white matter microstructure and extracellular free-water with cognitive performance in the early course of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia (SZ) is proposed as a disorder of dysconnectivity underlying cognitive impairments and clinical manifestations. Although previous studies have shown extracellular changes in white matter of first-episode SZ, little is known about the transition period towards chronicity and its association with cognition. Free-water (FW) imaging was applied to 79 early course SZ participants and 29 controls to detect white matter axonal and extracellular differences during this phase of illness.

Do neurobiological differences exist between paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenia? Findings from the bipolar schizophrenia network on intermediate phenotypes study.

Subtypes of schizophrenia, constructed using clinical phenomenology to resolve illness heterogeneity, have faced criticism due to overlapping symptomatology and longitudinal instability; they were therefore dropped from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual-5. Cognitive and imaging findings comparing paranoid (P-SZ) and non-paranoid (disorganized, residual and undifferentiated; NP-SZ) schizophrenia have been limited due to small sample sizes. We assessed P-SZ and NP-SZ using symptomatology, cognition and brain structure and predicted that there would be few neurobiological differences.

Pandemics and psychiatry: Repositioning research in context of COVID-19.

The current Covid-19 pandemic is posing an unprecedented threat to global well-being and its mental health consequences are just becoming understood. While the crisis has led to a temporary halt in a lot of ongoing or planned psychiatric research, this pandemic is a natural experiment that can help the field to repurpose research to better understand the causes, presentations and outcome trajectories as well as treatments in psychiatry. Inter-disciplinary collaborations between researchers are needed to rapidly develop and share the emerging new knowledge of the mental health implications of Covid-19, This will help mount an effective response to the current as well as future pandemics.

Establishing a standard emotion processing battery for treatment evaluation in adults with autism spectrum disorder: Evidence supporting the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotion Intelligence Test (MSCEIT).

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia are neurodevelopmental disorders which show markedly similar deficits in emotion processing, yet treatment evaluation in ASD and treatment comparisons across ASD and schizophrenia are constrained by a lack of empirical work validating a standard emotion processing battery across ASD and schizophrenia. Encouragingly, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotion Intelligence Test, version 2.0 (MSCEIT (Mayer et al.

Auditory steady-state EEG response across the schizo-bipolar spectrum.

Unlabelled: Deviant auditory steady-state responses (aSSRs) in the gamma range (30-90 Hz) may be translational biomarkers for schizophrenia (SZ). This study tests whether aSSR deviations are (i) specific to SZ across the psychosis dimension, (ii) specific to particular frequency bands, and (iii) present in bipolar I disorder without psychosis (BDNP).

Methods: Beta (20-), low- (40-), and high-gamma (80-Hz) aSSRs were measured with EEG and compared across 113 SZ, 105 schizoaffective disorder (SAD), 99 bipolar disorder with psychosis (BDP), 68 BDNP, and 137 healthy comparison subjects (HC).

Social cognition in early course of schizophrenia: Exploratory factor analysis.

Social cognition is a central contributor to social functioning in schizophrenia. A better understanding of the underlying structure of social cognition in the early course schizophrenia could help us identify more precise targets for intervention in this population. In the present study, we performed an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on 90 patients within the early course of schizophrenia using 11 validated subtests assessing various domains of social cognitive skills.

Neural correlates of cognitive deficits across developmental phases of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is associated with cognitive deficits across all stages of the illness (i.e., high risk, first episode, early and chronic phases).

Serum anticholinergicity is associated with reduced prefrontal brain function in early course schizophrenia.

Increased anticholinergic activity resulting from pharmacotherapies used to treat schizophrenia is associated with poorer cognition. However the neural mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. In this study of 39 early course schizophrenia outpatients, we demonstrate that increased serum anticholinergic activity is associated with reduced activation across the prefrontal cortex, including the dorsolateral, anterior, and medial prefrontal cortices, during two tasks of cognitive control.