Sex Differences in Natural History and Health Outcomes Among Individuals With Tic Disorders.

Objectives: To analyze sex differences in outcomes in Tourette syndrome (TS) and Persistent Motor or Vocal tic disorders (PMVT) in the Tourette Association of America International Consortium for Genetics (TAAICG) dataset.

Methods: The relationship between sex and clinical measures was explored in 2,403 participants (N = 2,109 with TS; N = 294 with PMVT) from the TAAICG dataset using generalized estimating equation regression models, and adjusted for age and family relationships.

Results: Female (vs male) participants with TS (25.

Exploration of motivation to be physically active among overweight adolescents in Switzerland.

Motivation plays an important role in the field of medicine, as it significantly influences behavior change, such as becoming more physically active. This study aimed to investigate the role of motivation in engagement in a physical activity and its impact on quality of life for adolescents suffering from obesity. We assessed the time dedicated to physical activities, the type of motivation, and the relationship between those factors and their quality of life.

The Roles of Empathy and Theory of Mind in Sexual Violence Perpetration: An Integrated Social Information Processing Framework.

Empathy is an aspect of social cognition which has gained much attention to explain sexual violence perpetration, with research resulting in mixed and contradictory findings. Another aspect of social cognition, which has been linked to, and even used synonymously with, cognitive empathy is Theory of Mind (ToM). However, research is severely lacking on the role which ToM may play in sexual violence.

3D genomic features across >50 diverse cell types reveal insights into the genomic architecture of childhood obesity.

The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing worldwide, along with the associated common comorbidities of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in later life. Motivated by evidence for a strong genetic component, our prior genome-wide association study (GWAS) efforts for childhood obesity revealed 19 independent signals for the trait; however, the mechanism of action of these loci remains to be elucidated. To molecularly characterize these childhood obesity loci, we sought to determine the underlying causal variants and the corresponding effector genes within diverse cellular contexts.

The role of psychosocial factors in mediating the treatment response of epidural steroid injections for low back pain with or without lumbosacral radiculopathy: A scoping review.

Epidural steroid injections (ESIs) are often used to treat low back pain (LBP) due to lumbosacral radiculopathy as well as LBP without a clear component of radiculopathy, in some cases. While it is increasingly recognized that psychosocial factors are associated with pain outcomes, few studies have assessed the contribution of these factors to common pain interventions like ESIs. This study aimed to summarize the scope and nature of how psychosocial factors are accounted for in research on ESIs for the treatment of LBP with or without lumbosacral radiculopathy and to identify gaps and recommendations for future research.

A distributed subcortical circuit linked to instrumental information-seeking about threat.

Daily life for humans and other animals requires switching between periods of threat- and reward-oriented behavior. We investigated neural activity associated with spontaneous switching, in a naturalistic task, between foraging for rewards and seeking information about potential threats with 7T fMRI in healthy humans. Switching was driven by estimates of likelihood of threat and reward.

Disease-State Dependent Associations Between Intrinsic Brain Function and Symptoms of Fatigue, Depression, and Anxiety in Crohn's Disease.

Background: Extraintestinal symptoms (EIS) in inflammatory bowel diseases, including fatigue, depression and anxiety, are highly prevalent, but poorly understood. Alterations of brain function may contribute to EIS, but their association with disease activity is unclear. This study analyzed intrinsic neural activity (INA) of individuals with Crohn's disease (CD) in different disease states and examined the relationship between INA and EIS.

Effects of Tesamorelin on Neurocognitive Impairment in Abdominally Obese Persons with HIV.

Background: In people with HIV (PWH) who are virally suppressed (VS) on antiretroviral therapy (ART), abdominal obesity (AO) is linked to neurocognitive impairment (NCI), potentially due to visceral adiposity, inflammation, and reduced insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Tesamorelin, a growth hormone-releasing hormone, reduces AO and increases IGF-1, suggesting it might mitigate NCI in VS PWH.

Methods: This 6-month, Phase II randomized, open-label clinical trial compared Tesamorelin versus standard-of-care (SOC) for NCI in abdominally obese PWH.

Low-Intensity Online Intervention for Mental Distress Among Help-Seeking Young People in Hong Kong: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Mental health issues among young people are increasingly concerning. Conventional psychological interventions face challenges, including limited staffing, time commitment, and low completion rates.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a low-intensity online intervention on young people in Hong Kong experiencing moderate or greater mental distress.

Interventions to Reduce Mental Health Stigma in Young People: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Mental health stigma is a considerable barrier to help-seeking among young people.

Objective: To systematically review and meta-analyze randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of interventions aimed at reducing mental health stigma in young people.

Data Sources: Comprehensive searches were conducted in the CENTRAL, CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases from inception to February 27, 2024.

Employment Nondiscrimination Protection and Mental Health Among Sexual Minority Adults.

Importance: In the 2020 Bostock v Clayton County decision, the US Supreme Court extended employment nondiscrimination protection to sexual minority adults. The health impacts of this ruling and similar policies related to sexual orientation-based discrimination are not currently known.

Objective: To estimate changes in mental health following the Bostock decision among sexual minority adults in states that gained employment nondiscrimination protection (intervention states) compared with those in states with protections already in place (control states).

HIV Prevention in Syringe Service Programs Since the Start of COVID-19: Where Do We Go From Here?

Purpose: This narrative review addresses post-2020, specific, complex challenges for use of and adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention among out-of-treatment people who use drugs (PWUD) at syringe services programs (SSPs).

Recent Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated changes to the provision of healthcare have significantly impacted HIV prevention, especially for PWUD. Through a synthesis of literature and clinical experience, we (1) characterize the operational changes imposed by the pandemic on SSPs that shaped the current HIV prevention landscape; (2) describe three levels of current challenges for PWUD, including consumer attitudes, non-medical and medical provider attitudes, and structural and scalability barriers; (3) characterize current models for PrEP in SSPs; and (4) offer practical recommendations for HIV prevention in harm reduction programs.

Physiological fingerprinting of audiovisual warnings in assisted driving conditions: an investigation of fMRI and peripheral physiological indicators.

Physiological responses derived from audiovisual perception during assisted driving are associated with the regulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), especially in emergencies. However, the interaction of event-related brain activity and the ANS regulating peripheral physiological indicators (i.e.

Predicting ALS informant distress from cognitive and behavioural change in people with ALS.

Background: The cognitive and behavioural changes that occur in around 50% of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may significantly affect people around them, contributing to heightened burden, anxiety, and depression. Despite existing evidence linking behavioural impairment to caregiver distress, the role of cognitive impairment remains less clear, with mixed findings on its impact.

Methods: This study assessed the influence of cognitive and behavioural impairments in people with ALS on the distress of their nominated informants.

Time-restricted feeding reduces cardiovascular disease risk in obese mice.

Disrupted feeding and fasting cycles as well as chronic high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity are associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors. We designed studies that determined whether two weeks of time-restricted feeding (TRF) intervention in mice fed a chronic HFD would reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors. Mice were fed a normal diet (ND; 10% fat) ad libitum or HFD (45% fat) for 18 weeks ad libitum to establish diet-induced obesity.

Sociodemographic Variables Associated with Self-reported Access to Mental Healthcare Among Brazilian Immigrant Women in the U.S.

Brazilians are a rapidly growing immigrant population in the United States (U.S.), yet little is known about their mental health and access to mental healthcare.

Clinical Pharmacokinetics of Psilocin After Psilocybin Administration: A Systematic Review and Post-Hoc Analysis.

Background And Objective: Psilocybin is currently being extensively studied as a potential therapeutic agent for multiple psychiatric disorders. Here, a systematic literature review of all published pharmacokinetic data on the pharmacologically active metabolite of psilocybin, psilocin, is presented.

Methods: The review includes clinical studies that reported pharmacokinetic data and/or parameters after psilocybin administration in humans.

BDNF levels in serum and CSF are associated with clinicoradiological characteristics of aggressive disease in MS patients.

Background: BDNF has increasingly gained attention as a key molecule controlling remyelination with a prominent role in neuroplasticity and neuroprotection. Still, it remains unclear how BDNF relates to clinicoradiological characteristics particularly at the early stage of the disease where precise prognosis for the further MS course is crucial.

Methods: BDNF, NfL and GFAP concentrations in serum and CSF were assessed in 106 treatment naïve patients with MS (pwMS) as well as 73 patients with other inflammatory/non-inflammatory neurological or somatoform disorders using a single molecule array HD-1 analyser.

CoGames: Development of an adaptive smartphone-based and gamified monitoring tool for cognitive function in Multiple Sclerosis.

Aim: As part of the development of a smartphone-based app for monitoring MS disease activity and progression (dreaMS, NCT05009160), we developed six gamified tests with multiple difficulty levels as a monitoring tool for cognition. This study quantified the relative difficulty between levels and investigated their reliability, ability to depict practice effects, and user acceptance.

Methods: Healthy volunteers played each game, covering five cognitive domains, twice per day for 11 consecutive days.

Cerebral vasculitis related to neurosarcoidosis: a case series and systematic literature review.

Cerebral vasculitis is a rare but severe manifestation of neurosarcoidosis (NS) that has received little attention. The aim of the present study was to characterize clinical and diagnostic features as well as potential treatment strategies of cerebral vasculitis related to NS. We assessed 29 patients with cerebral vasculitis related to NS (15 female, mean age at time of diagnosis 45 years, SD = 11.

The phenomenon of sensory processing: historical overview, theoretical models, and neurophysiological underpinnings.

The article provides a review of the sensory processing (SP) phenomenon, its origins, theoretical models, and neurophysiological foundations. Initiated by A. Jean Ayres' research on sensory integration in the 1960s and 70s, this field has evolved, leading to the development of concepts such as Winnie Dunn's four quadrant model and Miller's ecological model of sensory modulation.