Exploring the association between childhood trauma and limbic system subregion volumes in healthy individuals: a neuroimaging study.

Background: Childhood trauma (CT) is a major risk factor for psychiatric disorders. Emotional and cognitive functions are often affected in many psychiatric conditions, and these functions are mediated by the limbic system. However, previous research has primarily focused on patient populations.

Alterations of subcortical structure volume in pediatric bipolar disorder patients with manic or depressive first-episode.

Background: Bipolar disorder may begin as depression or mania, which can affect the treatment and prognosis. The physiological and pathological differences among pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) patients with different onset symptoms are not clear. The aims of the present study were to investigate subcortical structural alterations in PBD patients with first-episode depressive (PBD-FED) and first-episode manic (PBD-FEM).

Changed ventral striatum structural covariance and grey matter volume in depression during a one-year follow-up.

Empirical findings suggest reduced cortico-striatal structural connectivity in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the relationship between the abnormal structural covariance and one-year outcome of first-episode drug-naive patients has not been evaluated. This longitudinal study aimed to identify specific changes of ventral striatum-related brain structural covariance and grey matter volume in forty-two first-episode patients with major depression disorder compared with thirty-seven healthy controls at the baseline and the one-year follow-up conditions.

Relationship between SLC6A2 gene polymorphisms and brain volume in Han Chinese adults who lost their sole child.

Background: Norepinephrine transporter (NET) is encoded by the SLC6A2 gene and is a potential target for studying the pathogenesis of PTSD. To the best of our knowledge, no prior investigations have examined SLC6A2 polymorphism-related neuroimaging abnormalities in PTSD patients.

Methods: In 218 Han Chinese adults who had lost their sole child, we investigated the association between the T-182 C SLC6A2 genotype and gray matter volume (GMV).

Disorganized Functional Connectivity of Anterior Insular Subnetworks in Adults with Executive Dysfunction after Trauma Exposure.

There is increasing evidence that major trauma can adversely affect the brain and cognition. In some cases, trauma may lead to deficits in executive function (EF). The anterior insula may be a causal outflow hub acting to coordinate EF-related brain networks.

Characterizing Typhoon-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Based on Multimodal Fusion of Structural, Diffusion, and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Diagnosing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using only single-modality images is controversial. We aimed to use multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combining structural, diffusion, and functional MRI to possibly provide a more comprehensive viewpoint on the decisive characteristics of PTSD patients. Typhoon-exposed individuals with (n = 26) and without PTSD (n = 32) and healthy volunteers (n = 30) were enrolled.

Persistence of post-traumatic stress disorder in Chinese Shidu parents is associated with combined gray and white matter abnormalities.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common mental health disorders among Shidu parents. Identification of gray and white matter differences between persistence of PTSD (P-PTSD) and remission of PTSD (R-PTSD) is crucial to determine their prognosis. A total of 37 Shidu parents with PTSD were followed for five years.

Altered brain degree centrality and functional connectivity in adults with executive dysfunction after trauma exposure.

Losing an only child is undoubtedly a huge blow that can adversely affect the prefrontal lobe, a highly sensitive brain region. Neuropsychological evidence emphasizes that executive function (EF) is closely related to the optimal functioning of the frontal cortex. However, the characteristics and potential mechanisms underlying changes in executive function following the huge shock of losing an only child remain insufficiently studied and understood.

Longitudinal changes in brain structure and their relationship with subclinical psychiatric symptoms in parents who lost their only child in China.

Background: Losing an only child (Shidu) is a grievous traumatic event that may affect brain structure, even if it does not lead to psychiatric disorders. However, longitudinal changes in brain structure and their relationship to subclinical psychiatric symptoms (SPS) have not been well investigated in Shidu parents without any psychiatric disorders (SDNP).

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal changes in cortical thickness and surface area in SDNP, and to explore their relationship with SPS.

The clinical application of Chinese herbal medication to depression: A narrative review.

Depression severely impairs psychosocial functioning and quality of life, which places a huge burden on patients and their families. However, the physiological mechanism of depression remains unknown. Treatment with existing antidepressant medications is effective in around 50% of patients according to various studies, but is associated with severe side effects including nausea and headaches.

Altered dynamic functional connectivity associates with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Research has been looking into neural pathophysiology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dynamic functioning connectivity (dFC) applying resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Previous studies showed that PTSD related impairments are associated with alterations distributed across different brain regions and disorganized functional connectivity, especially in Default Mode Network and the cerebellar area. In this study, we specifically looked into dFC on a whole brain level, and we focused on critical regions such as DMN and cerebellum.

RORA rs8042149 polymorphism moderates the association between PTSD symptom severity and transverse temporal gyrus thickness in Han Chinese adults who lost their only child.

Background: The G allele in retinoid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA, rs8042149) gene is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis and more severe symptoms, reported in the first genome-wide association study of PTSD and subsequent replication studies. Although recent MRI studies identified brain structural deficits in RORA rs8042149 risk G allele carriers, the neural mechanism underlying RORA-related brain structural changes in PTSD remains poorly understood.

Methods: This study included 227 Han Chinese adults who lost their only child.

Study on the changes of Structural Covariance Network in post-traumatic stress disorder.

The topological properties of functional brain networks in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been thoroughly examined, whereas the topology of structural covariance networks has been researched much less. Based on graph theoretical approaches, we investigated the topological architecture of structural covariance networks among PTSD, trauma-exposed controls (TEC), and healthy controls (HC) by constructing covariance networks driven by inter-regional correlations of cortical thickness. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) scans and clinical scales were performed on 27 PTSD, 33 TEC, and 29 HC subjects.

[A study on longitudinal changes in white matter microstructure of parents who have lost their only child based on diffusion tensor imaging and its relationship with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder].

To investigate the longitudinal changes of white matter microstructural based on diffusion tensor imaging in parents who lost their only child without psychiatric disorders and its relationship with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Parents who had who lost their only child and without psychiatric disorders in Jiangsu Province, from September 2016 to March 2017, were retrospectively collected (TENP group, 32). MRI scans were performed at baseline and at the end of 5-year follow-up, and the Clinician Administered PTSD Scales (CAPS) were used for assessing the severity of symptoms.

The Psychopathology of Worthlessness in Depression.

Background: Despite common dissatisfaction with the syndromic heterogeneity of major depression, investigations into its symptom structure are scarce. Self-worthlessness/inadequacy is a distinctive and consistent symptom of major depression across cultures.

Aims: We investigated whether self-worthlessness is associated with self-blaming attribution-related symptoms or is instead an expression of reduced positive feelings overall, as would be implied by reduced positive affect accounts of depression.

Sex-different interrelationships of rs945270, cerebral gray matter volumes, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a region-wide study across brain.

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) reported that the allele C of rs945270 of the kinectin 1 gene (KTN1) most significantly increased the gray matter volume (GMV) of the putamen and modestly regulated the risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). On the other hand, ADHD is known to be associated with a reduction in subcortical and cortical GMVs. Here, we examined the interrelationships of the GMVs, rs945270 alleles, and ADHD symptom scores in the same cohort of children.

Anhedonia reduction correlates with increased ventral caudate connectivity with superior frontal gyrus in depression.

This study was to investigate the relationship between the ventral caudate connectivity and anhedonia. Nineteen depressed patients and 16 healthy controls participated in two identical functional magnetic resonance imaging scans during a 1-year period to determine the resting-state functional connectivity changes using a seed-based approach. Patients showed increased left ventral caudate functional connectivity with superior frontal gyrus over time and the increased connectivity was associated with anhedonia improvement.

Comparison of the clinical efficacy of penicillin and ceftriaxone sodium in the treatment of neurosyphilis with psychiatric symptoms.

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of penicillin and ceftriaxone sodium in the treatment of neurosyphilis with psychiatric symptoms.

Methods: 50 neurosyphilis with mental symptoms patients were randomly divided into penicillin group (4 million units, Q4h) and ceftriaxone sodium group (1 g, Q12h). The total treatment time was 14 and 15 days respectively.

Domestic Violence in Single- and Multi-child families in China: a ten-year comparison in the same communities.

Chinese one-child policy has been practiced for more than 30 years. With the policy that one couple can have two children being fully implemented from Jan 1, 2016 in China, the families with two or more children are increasing, and the family size, family structure and family relationship has been largely changed. Little is known about the difference in domestic violence (DV) among single- and multi-child families in China.

Altered spatiotemporal consistency in pediatric bipolar disorder patients with and without psychotic symptoms.

Objective: Psychotic symptoms are quite common in patients with pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) and may affect the symptom severity and prognosis of PBD. However, the potential mechanisms are less well elucidated until now. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the brain functional differences between PBD patients with and without psychotic symptoms.

Effective intervention in domestic violence in Chinese communities: an eight-year prospective study.

Background: Domestic violence is increasing in China. To explore the effective intervention, we intervened three large independent Chinese communities with different approaches over an eight-year period from 2005 to 2012, with a fourth independent community as a peer control.

Methods: The intervention approaches included the psychological intervention with traditional Chinese culture characteristics, the social governance and the poverty relief.

The integrity of the white matter in first-episode schizophrenia patients with auditory verbal hallucinations: An atlas-based DTI analysis.

Auditory verbal hallucination (AVH) is one of the most remarkable symptoms of schizophrenia, with great impact on patients' lives and unclear pathogenesis. Neuroimaging studies have indicated that the development of AVHs is associated with white matter alteration, however, there are still inconsistencies in specific findings across previous investigations. The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the microstructural integrity of white matter (WM) in first-episode schizophrenia patients who experience auditory hallucinations.

Brain structural alterations in pediatric bipolar disorder patients with and without psychotic symptoms.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) with psychotic symptoms is a specific phenotype that presents greater risk of relapse and worse outcomes than nonpsychotic BD, however, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown and are less revealed in youth. Thus, the aims of the present study were to investigate brain structural alterations in pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) patients with and without psychotic symptoms, and specifically to evaluate the impact of psychotic features on gray matter volume (GMV) in PBD patients.

Method: A total of 73 individuals were recruited into three groups, n = 28, psychotic PBD, P-PBD; n = 26, nonpsychotic PBD, NP-PBD; and n = 19, healthy controls, HC.