Oscillatory-Quality of sleep spindles links brain state with sleep regulation and function.

Here, we characterized the dynamics of sleep spindles, focusing on their damping, which we estimated using a metric called oscillatory-Quality (o-Quality), derived by fitting an autoregressive model to electrophysiological signals, recorded from the cortex in mice. The o-Quality of sleep spindles correlates weakly with their amplitude, shows marked laminar differences and regional topography across cortical regions, reflects the level of synchrony within and between cortical networks, is strongly modulated by sleep-wake history, reflects the degree of sensory disconnection, and correlates with the strength of coupling between spindles and slow waves. As most spindle events are highly localized and not detectable with conventional low-density recording approaches, o-Quality thus emerges as a valuable metric that allows us to infer the spread and dynamics of spindle activity across the brain and directly links their spatiotemporal dynamics with local and global regulation of brain states, sleep regulation, and function.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms and lifelong mental activities in cerebral amyloid angiopathy - a cross-sectional study.

Background: While several studies in cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) focus on cognitive function, data on neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and lifelong mental activities in these patients are scarce. Since NPS are associated with functional impairment, faster cognitive decline and faster progression to death, replication studies in more diverse settings and samples are warranted.

Methods: We prospectively recruited n = 69 CAA patients and n = 18 cognitively normal controls (NC).

Forget me not: The effect of doxycycline on human declarative memory.

Investigations into neuroprotective drugs are in high demand for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease, but also psychiatric disorders, such as depression, trauma, and substance use. One potential drug class being investigated are tetracyclines impacting on a variety of neuroprotective mechanisms. At the same time, tetracyclines like doxycycline have been suggested to affect human fear and spatial memory as well as reducing declarative memory retention.

Maternal immune activation exerts long-term effects on activity and sleep in male offspring mice.

Exposure to infectious or non-infectious immune activation during early development is a serious risk factor for long-term behavioural dysfunctions. Mouse models of maternal immune activation (MIA) have increasingly been used to address neuronal and behavioural dysfunctions in response to prenatal infections. One commonly employed MIA model involves administering poly(I:C) (polyriboinosinic-polyribocytdilic acid), a synthetic analogue of double-stranded RNA, during gestation, which robustly induces an acute viral-like inflammatory response.

The effect of cognitive reserve on the cognitive connectome in healthy ageing.

During ageing, different cognitive functions decline at different rates. Additionally, cognitive reserve may influence inter-individual variability in age-related cognitive decline. These complex relationships can be studied by constructing a so-called cognitive connectome and characterising it with advanced graph-theoretical network analyses.

Perspective: Clinical care of pedophilic individuals in Zurich, Switzerland.

Individuals with pedophilia are considered to have an elevated risk for child sexual abuse (CSA). Nevertheless, it is assumed that pedophilic sexual impulses can be controlled from acting out. To prevent CSA an outpatient treatment facility for people with pedophilia was founded in Zurich, Switzerland in 2021.

Knowledge of, and attitude towards, the treatment of hepatitis C in people who inject drugs.

Background: Direct acting antivirals (DAAs) as a curative treatment of hepatitis C have been available for several years and have replaced interferon-containing therapies. However, treatment rates of people who inject drugs (PWID) are declining in Germany, putting the elimination of hepatitis C by 2030 at risk. This study aimed at elucidating the knowledge of, and attitude towards, hepatitis C treatment in a clinical sample of PWID.

Childhood maltreatment is linked to larger preferred interpersonal distances towards friends and strangers across the globe.

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is thought to be associated with altered responses to social stimuli and interpersonal signals. However, limited evidence exists that CM is linked to larger comfortable interpersonal distance (CID) - the physical distance humans prefer towards others during social interactions. However, no previous study has investigated this association in a comprehensive sample, yielding sufficient statistical power.

Long-term effects of cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine on cognitive decline, cardiovascular events, and mortality in dementia with Lewy bodies: An up to 10-year follow-up study.

Introduction: We aimed to assess the impact of cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) and memantine on cognition, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and mortality in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).

Methods: A total of 1,095 incident DLB patients from the Swedish Registry on cognitive/dementia disorders were included. Using an inverse probability of treatment weighting, the effect of initiating ChEI or memantine within 90 days of DLB diagnosis and nonuse was evaluated on cognitive trajectories and risks of MACE and death.

Antidepressants for treating depression among older adults with dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Depression and dementia represent significant health challenges in older adults. Despite guidelines recommending antidepressants, their efficacy in depressed patients with dementia remains undetermined.

Objective: This review, in following a living systematic review approach, primarily aims to determine the effect of any-type antidepressant on the level of depressive symptoms in older adults with dementia and secondly if there is an effect of any-type antidepressants on cognitive state, quality of life, and functionality in the old-age population with dementia.

Effect of a four-week oral Phe administration on neural activation and cerebral blood flow in adults with early-treated phenylketonuria.

Background: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a rare inborn error of metabolism characterized by impaired catabolism of the amino acid phenylalanine (Phe) into tyrosine. Cross-sectional studies suggest slight alterations in cognitive performance and neural activation in adults with early-treated PKU. The influence of high Phe levels on brain function in adulthood, however, remains insufficiently studied.

Independent Supported Housing vs institutional housing rehabilitation settings for non-homeless individuals with severe mental illness - longitudinal results from an observational study.

Background: Most individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) strongly prefer independent living over living in an institution. Independent Supported Housing (ISH) provides housing rehabilitation for persons with SMI in their accommodations. However, most individuals who need housing rehabilitation live in institutional housing settings (housing rehabilitation as usual: HAU).

Chronic stress deficits in reward behaviour co-occur with low nucleus accumbens dopamine activity during reward anticipation specifically.

Whilst reward pathologies are major and common in stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders, their neurobiology and treatment are poorly understood. Imaging studies in human reward pathology indicate attenuated BOLD activity in nucleus accumbens (NAc) coincident with reward anticipation but not reinforcement; potentially, this is dopamine (DA) related. In mice, chronic social stress (CSS) leads to reduced reward learning and motivation.

A novel prognostic score (HAMP) for head and neck cancer patients with single and multiple SBRT-treated lung metastases derived from retrospective analyses of survival outcome.

Background: We report on the characterization and introduction of a novel prognostic score for patients undergoing stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for the treatment of single and multiple pulmonary metastases (PMs) derived from head and neck cancer (HNC).

Methods: In this retrospective study, we examined selected factors associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) among 59 patients with HNC treated with SBRT for a total of 118 PMs, between 2009 and 2023. Factors related to survival were included in the prognostic scoring system.

Disentangling the effects of self-control and the use of tobacco and cannabis on violence perpetration from childhood to early adulthood.

Associations among self-control, substance use (e.g., tobacco and cannabis use), and violence perpetration have been documented during the adolescent years, but the direction of these associations is not well understood.

Verbal Learning and Memory Deficits across Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Insights from an ENIGMA Mega Analysis.

Deficits in memory performance have been linked to a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. While many studies have assessed the memory impacts of individual conditions, this study considers a broader perspective by evaluating how memory recall is differentially associated with nine common neuropsychiatric conditions using data drawn from 55 international studies, aggregating 15,883 unique participants aged 15-90. The effects of dementia, mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, stroke, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder on immediate, short-, and long-delay verbal learning and memory (VLM) scores were estimated relative to matched healthy individuals.

Antidepressants and alcohol use disorder: A multicenter study on the mediating role of depression symptom changes.

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and depression are highly prevalent and tied to significant psychological, physiological, social and economic consequences. Their co-occurrence presents a complex clinical challenge, as the impact of antidepressant medication on AUD outcomes remains equivocal. In this multicenter, longitudinal study we investigated the relationship between antidepressant medication and changes in depression symptoms and alcohol use in AUD patients.

Plasma neurofilament light, glial fibrillary acid protein, and phosphorylated tau 181 as biomarkers for neuropsychiatric symptoms and related clinical disease progression.

Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are common in older people, may occur early in the development of dementia disorders, and have been associated with faster cognitive decline. Here, our objectives were to investigate whether plasma levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP), and tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (pTau181) are associated with current NPS and predict future NPS in non-demented older people. Furthermore, we tested whether the presence of NPS combined with plasma biomarkers are useful to predict Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology and cognitive decline.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis of all-cause and vascular dementia.

Introduction: Dementia is a multifactorial disease with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) pathologies making the largest contributions. Yet, most genome-wide association studies (GWAS) focus on AD.

Methods: We conducted a GWAS of all-cause dementia (ACD) and examined the genetic overlap with VaD.