Cortical activation patterns in generalized anxiety and major depressive disorders measured by multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are highly prevalent mental disorders in psychiatry, but their overlapping symptoms often complicate precise diagnoses. This study aims to explore differential brain activation patterns in healthy controls (HC), MDD, and GAD groups through functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the verbal fluency task (VFT) to enhance the accuracy of clinical diagnoses.

Methods: This study recruited 30 patients with MDD, 45 patients with GAD, and 34 demographically matched HCs.

Transcriptional substrates of cortical thickness alterations in anhedonia of major depressive disorder.

Background: Anhedonia is a core symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD), which has been shown to be associated with abnormalities in cortical morphology. However, the correlation between cortical thickness (CT) changes with anhedonia in MDD and gene expression remains unclear.

Methods: We investigated the link between brain-wide gene expression and CT correlates of anhedonia in individuals with MDD, using 7 Tesla neuroimaging and a publicly available transcriptomic dataset.

Effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for treating generalized anxiety disorder and the moderating influence of abuse during childhood: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has emerged as a promising intervention for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). This study evaluated MBCT's effectiveness for GAD and examined whether childhood maltreatment moderates its impact.

Methods: Individuals with GAD were randomized to receive one of two 8-week interventions, either MBCT in-person or psychoeducation on-line (n = 27 per group).

TCR catch bonds nonlinearly control CD8 cooperation to shape T cell specificity.

Naturally evolved T-cell receptors (TCRs) exhibit remarkably high specificity in discriminating non-self antigens from self-antigens under dynamic biomechanical modulation. In contrast, engineered high-affinity TCRs often lose this specificity, leading to cross-reactivity with self-antigens and off-target toxicity. The underlying mechanism for this difference remains unclear.

Dynamical intracranial EEG functional network controllability localizes the seizure onset zone and predicts the epilepsy surgical outcome.

Objective: Seizure onset zone (SOZ) localization and SOZ resection outcome prediction are critical for the surgical treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy but have mainly relied on manual inspection of intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) monitoring data, which can be both inaccurate and time-consuming. Therefore, automating SOZ localization and surgical outcome prediction by using appropriate iEEG neural features and machine learning models has become an emerging topic. However, current channel-wise local features, graph-theoretic network features, and system-theoretic network features cannot fully capture the spatial, temporal, and neural dynamical aspects of epilepsy, hindering accurate SOZ localization and surgical outcome prediction.

Anoctamin-1 is a core component of a mechanosensory anion channel complex in C. elegans.

Mechanotransduction channels are widely expressed in both vertebrates and invertebrates, mediating various physiological processes such as touch, hearing and blood-pressure sensing. While previously known mechanotransduction channels in metazoans are primarily cation-selective, we identified Anoctamin-1 (ANOH-1), the C. elegans homolog of mammalian calcium-activated chloride channel ANO1/TMEM16A, as an essential component of a mechanosensory channel complex that contributes to the nose touch mechanosensation in C.

Reduced frontotemporal connectivity during a verbal fluency task in patients with anxiety, sleep, and major depressive disorders.

Background: It has been well established that psychiatric disorders are often accompanied by cognitive dysfunction. Previous studies have investigated the verbal fluency task (VFT) for detecting executive function impairment in different psychiatric disorders, but the sensitivity and specificity of this task in different psychiatric disorders have not been explored. Furthermore, clarifying the mechanisms underlying variations in executive function impairments across multiple psychiatric disorders will enhance our comprehension of brain activity alternations among these disorders.

Neural correlates of emotional processing in trauma-related narratives.

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition caused by the dysregulation or overgeneralization of memories related to traumatic events. Investigating the interplay between explicit narrative and implicit emotional memory contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying PTSD.

Methods: This case-control study focused on two groups: unmedicated patients with PTSD and a trauma-exposed control (TEC) group who did not develop PTSD.

Oligodendrocytes drive neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease via the prosaposin-GPR37-IL-6 axis.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease and is difficult to treat due to its elusive mechanisms. Recent studies have identified a striking association between oligodendrocytes and PD progression, yet how oligodendrocytes regulate the pathogenesis of PD is still unknown. Here, we show that G-protein-coupled receptor 37 (GPR37) is upregulated in oligodendrocytes of the substantia nigra and that prosaposin (PSAP) secretion is increased in parkinsonian mice.

Towards scalable memristive hardware for spiking neural networks.

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) represent a promising frontier in artificial intelligence (AI), offering event-driven, energy-efficient computation that mimics rich neural dynamics in the brain. However, running large-scale SNNs on mainstream computing hardware faces significant challenges to efficiently emulate these dynamical processes using synchronized and logical chips. Memristor based systems have recently demonstrated great potential for AI acceleration, sparking speculations and explorations of using these emerging devices for SNN tasks.

Individualized prediction of multi-domain intelligence quotient in bipolar disorder patients using resting-state functional connectivity.

Background: Although accumulating studies have explored the neural underpinnings of intelligence quotient (IQ) in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), these studies utilized a classification/comparison scheme that emphasized differences between BD and healthy controls at a group level. The present study aimed to infer BD patients' IQ scores at the individual level using a prediction model.

Methods: We applied a cross-validated Connectome-based Predictive Modeling (CPM) framework using resting-state fMRI functional connectivity (FCs) to predict BD patients' IQ scores, including verbal IQ (VIQ), performance IQ (PIQ), and full-scale IQ (FSIQ).

Bio-plausible reconfigurable spiking neuron for neuromorphic computing.

Biological neurons use diverse temporal expressions of spikes to achieve efficient communication and modulation of neural activities. Nonetheless, existing neuromorphic computing systems mainly use simplified neuron models with limited spiking behaviors due to high cost of emulating these biological spike patterns. Here, we propose a compact reconfigurable neuron design using the intrinsic dynamics of a NbO-based spiking unit and excellent tunability in an electrochemical memory (ECRAM) to emulate the fast-slow dynamics in a bio-plausible neuron.

Comparison of water exchange measurements between filter-exchange imaging and diffusion time-dependent kurtosis imaging in the human brain.

Purpose: Filter-exchange imaging (FEXI) and diffusion time (t)-dependent kurtosis imaging (DKI(t)) are two diffusion-based methods that have been proposed for in vivo measurements of water exchange rates. Few studies have directly compared these methods. We aimed to investigate whether FEXI and DKI(t) yield comparable water exchange measurements in the human brain in vivo.

Selective activation of mesoscale functional circuits via multichannel infrared stimulation of cortical columns in ultra-high-field 7T MRI.

To restore vision in the blind, advances in visual cortical prosthetics (VCPs) have offered high-channel-count electrical interfaces. Here, we design a 100-fiber optical bundle interface apposed to known feature-specific (color, shape, motion, and depth) functional columns that populate the visual cortex in humans, primates, and cats. Based on a non-viral optical stimulation method (INS, infrared neural stimulation; 1,875 nm), it can deliver dynamic patterns of stimulation, is non-penetrating and non-damaging to tissue, and is movable and removable.

Relationship between functional structures and horizontal connections in macaque inferior temporal cortex.

Horizontal connections in anterior inferior temporal cortex (ITC) are thought to play an important role in object recognition by integrating information across spatially separated functional columns, but their functional organization remains unclear. Using a combination of optical imaging, electrophysiological recording, and anatomical tracing, we investigated the relationship between stimulus-response maps and patterns of horizontal axon terminals in the macaque ITC. In contrast to the "like-to-like" connectivity observed in the early visual cortex, we found that horizontal axons in ITC do not preferentially connect sites with similar object selectivity.

Hippocampal transcriptome analysis in ClockΔ19 mice identifies pathways associated with glial cell differentiation and myelination.

Background: ClockΔ19 mice demonstrate behavioral characteristics and neurobiological changes that closely resemble those observed in bipolar disorder (BD). Notably, abnormalities in the hippocampus have been observed in patients with BD, yet direct molecular investigation of human hippocampal tissue remains challenging due to its limited accessibility.

Methods: To model BD, ClockΔ19 mice were employed.

MK-801 attenuates one-trial tolerance in the elevated plus maze via the thalamic nucleus reuniens.

Anxiety, a future-oriented negative emotional state, is characterized by heightened arousal and vigilance. The elevated plus maze (EPM) test is a widely used assay of anxiety-related behaviors in rodents and shows a phenomenon where animals with prior test experience tend to avoid open arms in retest sessions. While this one-trial tolerance (OTT) phenomenon limits the reuse of the EPM test, the potential mechanisms remain unsolved.

Atypical subcortical involvement in emotional face processing in major depressive disorder with and without comorbid social anxiety.

Previous research on major depressive disorder (MDD) has largely focused on cognitive biases and abnormalities in cortico-limbic circuitry during emotional face processing. However, it remains unclear whether these abnormalities start at early perceptual stages via subcortical pathways and how comorbid social anxiety influences this process. Here, we investigated subcortical mechanisms in emotional face processing using a psychophysical method that measures monocular advantage (i.

Clinical efficacy and safety of vortioxetine as an adjuvant drug for patients with bipolar depression.

Objectives: Whether vortioxetine has a utility as an adjuvant drug in the treatment of bipolar depression remains controversial. This study aimed to validate the efficacy and safety of vortioxetine in bipolar depression.

Methods: Patients with bipolar Ⅱ depression were enrolled in this prospective, two-center, randomized, 12-week pilot trial.

Esketamine alleviates LPS-induced depression-like behavior by activating Nrf2-mediated anti-inflammatory response in adolescent mice.

Background: The mechanisms underlying esketamine's therapeutic effects remain elusive. The study aimed to explore the impact of single esketamine treatment on LPS-induced adolescent depressive-like behaviors and the role of Nrf2 regulated neuroinflammatory response in esketamine-produced rapid antidepressant efficacy.

Methods: Adolescent male C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to three groups: control, LPS, and LPS + esketamine (15 mg/kg, i.

Peripheral Single-Cell Immune Characteristics Contribute to the Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia With Lewy Bodies.

Objective: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are common neurodegenerative diseases with distinct but overlapping pathogenic mechanisms. The clinical similarities between these diseases often result in high misdiagnosis rates, leading to serious consequences. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are easy to collect and can accurately reflect the immune characteristics of both DLB and AD.