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Pergola G, Rampino A, Sportelli L, Borcuk CJ, Passiatore R, Di Carlo P, Marakhovskaia A, Fazio L, Amoroso N, Castro MN, Domenici E, Gennarelli M, Khlghatyan J, Kikidis GC, Lella A, Magri C, Monaco A, Papalino M, Parihar M, Popolizio T, Quarto T, Romano R, Torretta S, Valsecchi P, Zunuer H, Blasi G, Dukart J, Beaulieu JM, Bertolino A. A miR-137-Related Biological Pathway of Risk for Schizophrenia Is Associated With Human Brain Emotion Processing. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2024; 9:356-366. [PMID: 38000716 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 11/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND miR-137 is a microRNA involved in brain development, regulating neurogenesis and neuronal maturation. Genome-wide association studies have implicated miR-137 in schizophrenia risk but do not explain its involvement in brain function and underlying biology. Polygenic risk for schizophrenia mediated by miR-137 targets is associated with working memory, although other evidence points to emotion processing. We characterized the functional brain correlates of miR-137 target genes associated with schizophrenia while disentangling previously reported associations of miR-137 targets with working memory and emotion processing. METHODS Using RNA sequencing data from postmortem prefrontal cortex (N = 522), we identified a coexpression gene set enriched for miR-137 targets and schizophrenia risk genes. We validated the relationship of this set to miR-137 in vitro by manipulating miR-137 expression in neuroblastoma cells. We translated this gene set into polygenic scores of coexpression prediction and associated them with functional magnetic resonance imaging activation in healthy volunteers (n1 = 214; n2 = 136; n3 = 2075; n4 = 1800) and with short-term treatment response in patients with schizophrenia (N = 427). RESULTS In 4652 human participants, we found that 1) schizophrenia risk genes were coexpressed in a biologically validated set enriched for miR-137 targets; 2) increased expression of miR-137 target risk genes was mediated by low prefrontal miR-137 expression; 3) alleles that predict greater gene set coexpression were associated with greater prefrontal activation during emotion processing in 3 independent healthy cohorts (n1, n2, n3) in interaction with age (n4); and 4) these alleles predicted less improvement in negative symptoms following antipsychotic treatment in patients with schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS The functional translation of miR-137 target gene expression linked with schizophrenia involves the neural substrates of emotion processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulio Pergola
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, Maryland; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
| | - Antonio Rampino
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
| | - Leonardo Sportelli
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Christopher James Borcuk
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Roberta Passiatore
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour, Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Pasquale Di Carlo
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | | | - Leonardo Fazio
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Libera Università Mediterranea Giuseppe Degennaro, Casamassima, Italy
| | - Nicola Amoroso
- Dipartimento di Farmacia-Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, Bari, Italy
| | - Mariana Nair Castro
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina (MNC); Grupo de Investigación en Neurociencias Aplicadas a las Alteraciones de la Conducta, Fleni-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Neurosciences Institute, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Enrico Domenici
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology, University of Trento, Trento, Italy; Fondazione The Microsoft Research University of Trento, Centre for Computational and Systems Biology, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Massimo Gennarelli
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; Genetics Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Sanitario Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy
| | - Jivan Khlghatyan
- Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico, Bari, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Gianluca Christos Kikidis
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Annalisa Lella
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Chiara Magri
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Alfonso Monaco
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, Bari, Italy; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina (MNC); Grupo de Investigación en Neurociencias Aplicadas a las Alteraciones de la Conducta, Fleni-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Neurosciences Institute, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica M. Merlin, Bari, Italy
| | - Marco Papalino
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Madhur Parihar
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Teresa Popolizio
- Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Sanitario Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
| | - Tiziana Quarto
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Department of Law, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
| | - Raffaella Romano
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Silvia Torretta
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Paolo Valsecchi
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale Spedali Civili of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Hailiqiguli Zunuer
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Blasi
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico, Bari, Italy
| | - Juergen Dukart
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour, Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany; Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | | | - Alessandro Bertolino
- Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico, Bari, Italy
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2
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Jameei H, Rakesh D, Zalesky A, Cairns MJ, Reay WR, Wray NR, Di Biase MA. Linking Polygenic Risk of Schizophrenia to Variation in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Brain Measures: A Comprehensive Systematic Review. Schizophr Bull 2024; 50:32-46. [PMID: 37354489 PMCID: PMC10754175 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbad087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS Schizophrenia is highly heritable, with a polygenic effect of many genes conferring risk. Evidence on whether cumulative risk also predicts alterations in brain morphology and function is inconsistent. This systematic review examined evidence for schizophrenia polygenic risk score (sczPRS) associations with commonly used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures. We expected consistent evidence to emerge for significant sczPRS associations with variation in structure and function, specifically in frontal, temporal, and insula cortices that are commonly implicated in schizophrenia pathophysiology. STUDY DESIGN In accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO for peer-reviewed studies published between January 2013 and March 2022. Studies were screened against predetermined criteria and National Institutes of Health (NIH) quality assessment tools. STUDY RESULTS In total, 57 studies of T1-weighted structural, diffusion, and functional MRI were included (age range = 9-80 years, Nrange = 64-76 644). We observed moderate, albeit preliminary, evidence for higher sczPRS predicting global reductions in cortical thickness and widespread variation in functional connectivity, and to a lesser extent, region-specific reductions in frontal and temporal volume and thickness. Conversely, sczPRS does not predict whole-brain surface area or gray/white matter volume. Limited evidence emerged for sczPRS associations with diffusion tensor measures of white matter microstructure in a large community sample and smaller cohorts of children and young adults. These findings were broadly consistent across community and clinical populations. CONCLUSIONS Our review supports the hypothesis that schizophrenia is a disorder of disrupted within and between-region brain connectivity, and points to specific whole-brain and regional MRI metrics that may provide useful intermediate phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadis Jameei
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Carlton South, VIC, Australia
| | - Divyangana Rakesh
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Carlton South, VIC, Australia
| | - Andrew Zalesky
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Carlton South, VIC, Australia
- Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Murray J Cairns
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
- Precision Medicine Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - William R Reay
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
- Precision Medicine Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Naomi R Wray
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Maria A Di Biase
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Carlton South, VIC, Australia
- Department of Anatomy and Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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3
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Selvaggi P, Fazio L, Toro VD, Mucci A, Rocca P, Martinotti G, Cascino G, Siracusano A, Zeppegno P, Pergola G, Bertolino A, Blasi G, Galderisi S. Effect of anticholinergic burden on brain activity during Working Memory and real-world functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2023; 260:76-84. [PMID: 37633126 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2023.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/28/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive impairment has been associated with poor real-world functioning in patients with Schizophrenia. Previous studies have shown that pharmacological treatment with anticholinergic properties may contribute to cognitive impairment in Schizophrenia. We investigated the effect of the anticholinergic burden (ACB) on brain activity, cognition, and real-world functioning in Schizophrenia. We hypothesized that greater ACB would be associated with altered brain activity along with poorer cognitive performance and lower real-world functioning. A sample of 100 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder was recruited in the naturalistic multicenter study of the Italian Network for Research on Psychoses (NIRP) across 7 centres. For each participant, ACB was evaluated using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden scale. The association of ACB with brain function was assessed using BOLD fMRI during the N-Back Working Memory (WM) task in a nested cohort (N = 31). Real-world functioning was assessed using the Specific Level of Functioning (SLOF) scale. Patients with high ACB scores (≥3) showed lower brain activity in the WM frontoparietal network (TFCE corrected alpha <0.05) and poorer cognitive performance (p = 0.05) than patients with low ACB scores (<3). Both effects were unaffected by demographic characteristics, clinical severity, and antipsychotic dosage. Moreover, patients with high ACB showed poorer real-world functioning than patients with lower ACB (p = 0.03). Our results suggest that ACB in Schizophrenia is associated with impaired WM and abnormal underlying brain function along with reduced real-world functioning. Clinical practice should consider the potential adverse cognitive effects of ACB in the treatment decision-making process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierluigi Selvaggi
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy; Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Leonardo Fazio
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy; Department of Medicine and Surgery, LUM University, Casamassima, Bari, Italy
| | - Veronica Debora Toro
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Armida Mucci
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy
| | - Paola Rocca
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Giovanni Martinotti
- Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, G. D'Annunzio University, Chieti, Italy
| | - Giammarco Cascino
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry "Scuola Medica Salernitana", Section of Neuroscience, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy
| | - Alberto Siracusano
- Department of Systems Medicine, Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology Unit, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Patrizia Zeppegno
- Department of Translational Medicine, Psychiatric Unit, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy
| | - Giulio Pergola
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Alessandro Bertolino
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Blasi
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.
| | - Silvana Galderisi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy
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4
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Papenberg G, Karalija N, Salami A, Rieckmann A, Andersson M, Axelsson J, Riklund K, Lindenberger U, Lövdén M, Nyberg L, Bäckman L. Balance between Transmitter Availability and Dopamine D2 Receptors in Prefrontal Cortex Influences Memory Functioning. Cereb Cortex 2021; 30:989-1000. [PMID: 31504282 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Revised: 06/04/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Insufficient or excessive dopaminergic tone impairs cognitive performance. We examine whether the balance between transmitter availability and dopamine (DA) D2 receptors (D2DRs) is important for successful memory performance in a large sample of adults (n = 175, 64-68 years). The Catechol-O-Methyltransferase polymorphism served as genetic proxy for endogenous prefrontal DA availability, and D2DRs in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) were measured with [11C]raclopride-PET. Individuals for whom D2DR status matched DA availability showed higher levels of episodic and working-memory performance than individuals with insufficient or excessive DA availability relative to the number of receptors. A similar pattern restricted to episodic memory was observed for D2DRs in caudate. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired during working-memory performance confirmed the importance of a balanced DA system for load-dependent brain activity in dlPFC. Our data suggest that the inverted-U-shaped function relating DA signaling to cognition is modulated by a dynamic association between DA availability and receptor status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Goran Papenberg
- Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nina Karalija
- Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.,Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Alireza Salami
- Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden.,Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.,Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Anna Rieckmann
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Micael Andersson
- Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.,Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Jan Axelsson
- Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.,Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Katrine Riklund
- Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.,Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Ulman Lindenberger
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.,Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, D-14195 Berlin, Germany and UK-WC1B 5EH London, UK
| | - Martin Lövdén
- Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Lars Nyberg
- Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.,Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.,Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Lars Bäckman
- Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden
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Cortical surface area alterations shaped by genetic load for neuroticism. Mol Psychiatry 2020; 25:3422-3431. [PMID: 30185937 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-018-0236-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Revised: 07/22/2018] [Accepted: 07/31/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Neuroticism has been shown to act as an important risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD). Genetic and neuroimaging research has independently revealed biological correlates of neurotic personality including cortical alterations in brain regions of high relevance for affective disorders. Here we investigated the influence of a polygenic score for neuroticism (PGS) on cortical brain structure in a joint discovery sample of n = 746 healthy controls (HC) and n = 268 MDD patients. Findings were validated in an independent replication sample (n = 341 HC and n = 263 MDD). Subgroup analyses stratified for case-control status and analyses of associations between neurotic phenotype and cortical measures were carried out. PGS for neuroticism was significantly associated with a decreased cortical surface area of the inferior parietal cortex, the precuneus, the rostral cingulate cortex and the inferior frontal gyrus in the discovery sample. Similar associations between PGS and surface area of the inferior parietal cortex and the precuneus were demonstrated in the replication sample. Subgroup analyses revealed negative associations in the latter regions between PGS and surface area in both HC and MDD subjects. Neurotic phenotype was negatively correlated with surface area in similar cortical regions including the inferior parietal cortex and the precuneus. No significant associations between PGS and cortical thickness were detected. The morphometric overlap of associations between both PGS and neurotic phenotype in similar cortical regions closely related to internally focused cognition points to the potential relevance of genetically shaped cortical alterations in the development of neuroticism.
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6
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Neurobiology of the major psychoses: a translational perspective on brain structure and function-the FOR2107 consortium. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2019; 269:949-962. [PMID: 30267149 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-018-0943-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 09/19/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Genetic (G) and environmental (E) factors are involved in the etiology and course of the major psychoses (MP), i.e. major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), schizoaffective disorder (SZA) and schizophrenia (SZ). The neurobiological correlates by which these predispositions exert their influence on brain structure, function and course of illness are poorly understood. In the FOR2107 consortium, animal models and humans are investigated. A human cohort of MP patients, healthy subjects at genetic and/or environmental risk, and control subjects (N = 2500) has been established. Participants are followed up after 2 years and twice underwent extensive deep phenotyping (MR imaging, clinical course, neuropsychology, personality, risk/protective factors, biomaterials: blood, stool, urine, hair, saliva). Methods for data reduction, quality assurance for longitudinal MRI data, and (deep) machine learning techniques are employed. In the parallelised animal cluster, genetic risk was introduced by a rodent model (Cacna1c deficiency) and its interactions with environmental risk and protective factors are studied. The animals are deeply phenotyped regarding cognition, emotion, and social function, paralleling the variables assessed in humans. A set of innovative experimental projects connect and integrate data from the human and animal parts, investigating the role of microRNA, neuroplasticity, immune signatures, (epi-)genetics and gene expression. Biomaterial from humans and animals are analyzed in parallel. The FOR2107 consortium will delineate pathophysiological entities with common neurobiological underpinnings ("biotypes") and pave the way for an etiologic understanding of the MP, potentially leading to their prevention, the prediction of individual disease courses, and novel therapies in the future.
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7
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van den Heuvel MP, Scholtens LH, Kahn RS. Multiscale Neuroscience of Psychiatric Disorders. Biol Psychiatry 2019; 86:512-522. [PMID: 31320130 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Revised: 05/16/2019] [Accepted: 05/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The human brain comprises a multiscale network with multiple levels of organization. Neurons with dendritic and axonal connections form the microscale fabric of brain circuitry, and macroscale brain regions and white matter connections form the infrastructure for system-level brain communication and information integration. In this review, we discuss the emerging trend of multiscale neuroscience, the multidisciplinary field that brings together data from these different levels of nervous system organization to form a better understanding of between-scale relationships of brain structure, function, and behavior in health and disease. We provide a broad overview of this developing field and discuss recent findings of exemplary multiscale neuroscience studies that illustrate the importance of studying cross-scale interactions among the genetic, molecular, cellular, and macroscale levels of brain circuitry and connectivity and behavior. We particularly consider a central, overarching goal of these multiscale neuroscience studies of human brain connectivity: to obtain insight into how disease-related alterations at one level of organization may underlie alterations observed at other scales of brain network organization in mental disorders. We conclude by discussing the current limitations, challenges, and future directions of the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martijn P van den Heuvel
- Connectome Lab, Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Clinical Genetics, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Lianne H Scholtens
- Connectome Lab, Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - René S Kahn
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
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8
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Studying and modulating schizophrenia-associated dysfunctions of oligodendrocytes with patient-specific cell systems. NPJ SCHIZOPHRENIA 2018; 4:23. [PMID: 30451850 PMCID: PMC6242875 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-018-0066-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2018] [Accepted: 10/30/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Postmortem studies in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) have revealed deficits in myelination, abnormalities in myelin gene expression and altered numbers of oligodendrocytes in the brain. However, gaining mechanistic insight into oligodendrocyte (OL) dysfunction and its contribution to SCZ has been challenging because of technical hurdles. The advent of individual patient-derived human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), combined with the generation of in principle any neuronal and glial cell type, including OLs and oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), holds great potential for understanding the molecular basis of the aetiopathogenesis of genetically complex psychiatric diseases such as SCZ and could pave the way towards personalized medicine. The development of neuronal and glial co-culture systems now appears to enable the in vitro study of SCZ-relevant neurobiological endophenotypes, including OL dysfunction and myelination, with unprecedented construct validity. Nonetheless, the meaningful stratification of patients before the subsequent functional analyses of patient-derived cell systems still represents an important bottleneck. Here, to improve the predictive power of ex vivo disease modelling we propose using hiPSC technology to focus on representatives of patient subgroups stratified for genomic and/or phenomic features and neurobiological cell systems. Therefore, this review will outline the evidence for the involvement of OPCs/OLs in SCZ in the context of their proposed functions, including myelination and axon support, the implications for hiPSC-based cellular disease modelling and potential strategies for patient selection.
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9
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Yüksel D, Engelen J, Schuster V, Dietsche B, Konrad C, Jansen A, Dannlowski U, Kircher T, Krug A. Longitudinal brain volume changes in major depressive disorder. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2018; 125:1433-1447. [PMID: 30167933 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-018-1919-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2018] [Accepted: 08/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) exhibit gray matter volume (GMV) reductions in limbic regions. Clinical variables-such as the number of depressive episodes-seem to affect volume alterations. It is unclear whether the observed cross-sectional GMV abnormalities in MDD change over time, and whether there is a longitudinal relationship between GMV changes and the course of disorder. We investigated T1 structural MRI images of 54 healthy control (HC) and 37 MDD patients in a 3-Tesla-MRI with a follow-up interval of 3 years. The Cat12 toolbox was used to analyze longitudinal data (p < 0.05, FWE-corrected, whole-brain analysis; flexible factorial design). Interaction effects indicated increasing GMV in MDD in the bilateral amygdala, and decreasing GMV in the right thalamus between T1 and T2. Further analyses comparing patients with a mild course of disorder (MCD; 0-1 depressive episode during the follow-up) to patients with a severe course of disorder (SCD; > 1 depressive episode during the follow-up) revealed increasing amygdalar volume in MCD. Our study confirms structural alterations in limbic regions in MDD patients and an association between these impairments and the course of disorder. Thus, we assume that the reported volumetric alterations in the left amygdala (i.e. volumetric normalization) are reversible and apparently driven by the clinical phenotype. Hence, these results support the assumption that the severity and progression of disease influences amygdalar GMV changes in MDD or vice versa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dilara Yüksel
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany.
| | - Jennifer Engelen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
| | - Verena Schuster
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
| | - Bruno Dietsche
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
| | - Carsten Konrad
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
- Agaplesion Diakonieklinikum Rotenburg, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, Elise-Averdieck-Straße 17, 27356, Rotenburg (Wümme), Germany
| | - Andreas Jansen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
| | - Udo Dannlowski
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Tilo Kircher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
| | - Axel Krug
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
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