1
|
Keskin AO, Altintas E, Yerdelen VD, Demir B, Colak MY. Effects of attachment styles, childhood traumas, and alexithymia in Turkish patients with epilepsy and functional seizures. Epilepsy Behav 2023; 148:109458. [PMID: 37844436 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109458] [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: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION In this cross-sectional study, we used self-report scales to compare childhood traumas, attachment styles, and alexithymia among patients with functional seizures (FS) to patients with epilepsy and healthy controls. We also investigated risk factors associated with FS. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 44 patients with epilepsy, 14 patients with FS, and 25 healthy controls were included. All participants were over the age of 18 and were referred to the Baskent University Adana Epilepsy and Video-EEG Center. The patients underwent neurological examinations, brain MRIs, and video-EEG evaluations. Epileptic seizures were classified based on video EEG. The control group consisted of healthy individuals without neurological or psychiatric illness and a history of epileptic seizures or syncope. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Adult Attachment Scale (AAS), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) were applied to all participants. RESULTS Patients with FS had lower educational levels, higher rates of unemployment and single-marital status. The FS group had higher depression, childhood trauma, and alexithymia scores than the other groups. Furthermore, FS patients had a higher prevalence of avoidant attachment. The alexithymia and childhood trauma scores were both correlated with depression. Through the logistic regression analysis, childhood trauma scores and alexithymia were significant risk factors for FS. CONCLUSION The use of video-EEG for diagnosing FS can reduce the risk of misdiagnosis and inappropriate antiepileptic treatment. Psychiatric comorbidities, childhood traumas, and alexithymia are prevalent in patients with FS. Therefore, implementing a multidisciplinary treatment approach that addresses the psychological, medical, and social aspects of FS can significantly improve outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ahmet Onur Keskin
- Baskent University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Turkey.
| | - Ebru Altintas
- Baskent University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Turkey.
| | | | | | - Meric Yavuz Colak
- Baskent University, Faculty of Medicine, Depatment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Turkey.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Leroy A, Tarrada A, Garcin B, Hingray C. Crisi psicogene non epilettiche (funzionali/dissociative). Neurologia 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/s1634-7072(22)47362-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
|
3
|
Yang T, Roberts C, Winton-Brown T, Lloyd M, Kwan P, O'Brien TJ, Velakoulis D, Rayner G, Malpas CB. Childhood trauma in patients with epileptic vs nonepileptic seizures. Epilepsia 2023; 64:184-195. [PMID: 36300720 PMCID: PMC10100454 DOI: 10.1111/epi.17449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Childhood trauma has been implicated as a risk factor for the etiology of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). Relatively little attention has been paid to whether profiles of specific trauma types differ between patients with epilepsy and PNES. Investigating childhood trauma profiles in these patient groups may identify psychological vulnerabilities that predispose to developing PNES, and aid early diagnoses, prevention, and treatment. METHODS Data were collected from two cohorts (nRetrospective = 203; nProspective = 209) admitted to video-electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring units in Melbourne Australia. The differences in Childhood Trauma Questionnaire domain score between patient groups were investigated using standardized effect sizes and general linear mixed-effects models (GLMMs). Receiver-operating characteristic curves were used to investigate classification accuracy. RESULTS In the retrospective cohort, patients diagnosed with PNES reported greater childhood emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and physical neglect relative to patients with epilepsy. These differences were replicated in the prospective cohort, except for physical abuse. GLMMs revealed significant main effects for group in both cohorts, but no evidence for any group by domain interactions. Reported sexual abuse showed the best screening performance of PNES, although no psychometric scores were adequate as isolated measures. SIGNIFICANCE Patients with PNES report a greater frequency of childhood trauma than patients with epilepsy. This effect appears to hold across all trauma types, with no strong evidence emerging for a particular trauma type that is more prevalent in PNES. From a practical perspective, inquiry regarding a history of sexual abuse shows the most promise as a screening measure.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tianren Yang
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Caitlin Roberts
- Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Toby Winton-Brown
- Alfred Brain, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Psychiatry, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Michael Lloyd
- Alfred Brain, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Psychiatry, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Patrick Kwan
- Alfred Brain, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Terence J O'Brien
- Alfred Brain, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Dennis Velakoulis
- Neuropsychiatry, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Genevieve Rayner
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Alfred Brain, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Medicine, Austin Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Charles B Malpas
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Alfred Brain, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Kerr WT, Tatekawa H, Lee JK, Karimi AH, Sreenivasan SS, O'Neill J, Smith JM, Hickman LB, Savic I, Nasrullah N, Espinoza R, Narr K, Salamon N, Beimer NJ, Hadjiiski LM, Eliashiv DS, Stacey WC, Engel J, Feusner JD, Stern JM. Clinical MRI morphological analysis of functional seizures compared to seizure-naïve and psychiatric controls. Epilepsy Behav 2022; 134:108858. [PMID: 35933959 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Revised: 06/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Functional seizures (FS), also known as psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), are physical manifestations of acute or chronic psychological distress. Functional and structural neuroimaging have identified objective signs of this disorder. We evaluated whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) morphometry differed between patients with FS and clinically relevant comparison populations. METHODS Quality-screened clinical-grade MRIs were acquired from 666 patients from 2006 to 2020. Morphometric features were quantified with FreeSurfer v6. Mixed-effects linear regression compared the volume, thickness, and surface area within 201 regions-of-interest for 90 patients with FS, compared to seizure-naïve patients with depression (n = 243), anxiety (n = 68), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD, n = 41), respectively, and to other seizure-naïve controls with similar quality MRIs, accounting for the influence of multiple confounds including depression and anxiety based on chart review. These comparison populations were obtained through review of clinical records plus research studies obtained on similar scanners. RESULTS After Bonferroni-Holm correction, patients with FS compared with seizure-naïve controls exhibited thinner bilateral superior temporal cortex (left 0.053 mm, p = 0.014; right 0.071 mm, p = 0.00006), thicker left lateral occipital cortex (0.052 mm, p = 0.0035), and greater left cerebellar white-matter volume (1085 mm3, p = 0.0065). These findings were not accounted for by lower MRI quality in patients with FS. CONCLUSIONS These results reinforce prior indications of structural neuroimaging correlates of FS and, in particular, distinguish brain morphology in FS from that in depression, anxiety, and OCD. Future work may entail comparisons with other psychiatric disorders including bipolar and schizophrenia, as well as exploration of brain structural heterogeneity within FS.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wesley T Kerr
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Hiroyuki Tatekawa
- Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - John K Lee
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Amir H Karimi
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Siddhika S Sreenivasan
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Joseph O'Neill
- Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Jane & Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jena M Smith
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - L Brian Hickman
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ivanka Savic
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute and Neurology Clinic, Karolinksa University Hospital, Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nilab Nasrullah
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute and Neurology Clinic, Karolinksa University Hospital, Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Randall Espinoza
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Katherine Narr
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Noriko Salamon
- Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas J Beimer
- Department of Neurology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Lubomir M Hadjiiski
- Department of Radiology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Dawn S Eliashiv
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - William C Stacey
- Department of Neurology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jerome Engel
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jamie D Feusner
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - John M Stern
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Cobb SJ, Beebe LH. Quality of Life in Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis. Issues Ment Health Nurs 2022; 43:730-736. [PMID: 35148236 DOI: 10.1080/01612840.2022.2035026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) pose a serious threat to quality of life (QOL) in patients who battle the disorder. As psychological treatment options have progressed, improvement in QOL has become a more common desired outcome. Despite its relevance in PNES research and treatment, QOL has not been defined in the PNES population. Rodgers' Evolutionary Method of concept analysis was used to analyze 47 articles and clarify the concept of QOL in PNES. QOL in PNES is subjective, multidimensional, associated with symptoms, and dynamic in nature. This conceptualization of QOL in PNES may be useful in future PNES research and treatment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra J Cobb
- College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Lora Humphrey Beebe
- College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Li J, Zhang G, Wang J, Liu D, Wan C, Fang J, Wu D, Zhou Y, Tian T, Zhu W. Experience-dependent associations between distinct subtypes of childhood trauma and brain function and architecture. Quant Imaging Med Surg 2022; 12:1172-1185. [PMID: 35111614 DOI: 10.21037/qims-21-435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Background Childhood trauma can alter brain-development trajectories and lead to a greater risk of psychopathology developing in adulthood. For this reason, understanding experience-dependent brain abnormalities associated with different trauma subtypes is crucial for identifying developmental processes disrupted by unfavorable early environments and for proposing early intervention measures to reduce trauma's negative effects. Methods This study used multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to explore the neural correlates of distinct subtypes of childhood trauma. We recruited a large community sample of young adults (mean age, 24.1, SD 1.9 years) who completed a Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, were given behavioral scores, and underwent multimodal MRI. To quantify brain changes, we used functional connectivity density (FCD) mapping based on whole brain analysis, regions of interest (ROI) analysis, and morphological measurements. Experience-dependent brain abnormalities were identified by multivariable linear regression. Results We found that diverse brain regions in the FCD mapping were significantly related to 4 trauma subtypes and belonged to different cognitive components used for various behaviors. Experience-related influences on functional circuits and brain morphology were observed in extensive regions, including the sensorimotor, cingulum, accumbens, insula, and frontal-parietal areas, as well as in regions within the default mode network. Conclusions Identifying specific regions or systems may be a valid strategy for understanding the pathogenesis and development process of psychiatric disorders in people with different traumatic experiences and may facilitate better-targeted intervention strategies for maltreated children.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jia Li
- Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Guiling Zhang
- Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jian Wang
- Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Dong Liu
- Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Changhua Wan
- Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jicheng Fang
- Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Di Wu
- Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yiran Zhou
- Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Tian Tian
- Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Wenzhen Zhu
- Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Jones LL, Rickards H. History of abuse and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: A systematic review. Seizure 2021; 92:200-204. [PMID: 34555802 DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2021.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures resemble epileptic seizures but lack the physiological basis of epileptic seizures. We conducted a systematic review to explore whether childhood abuse is a risk factor for subsequent development of PNES. We reviewed only papers with an epilepsy control group, which employed strict criteria for diagnosis of epilepsy and well-validated tools for assessing abuse history. Odds ratios (ORs) for the different categories of childhood abuse and for childhood abuse as a whole were calculated where not previously available, and pooled ORs were calculated where suitable. In papers where OR could not be calculated data are presented as p values. Most Odds Ratios fell between 1.8 and 5.2 with relatively narrow confidence intervals. In 14 out of 18 calculations, 95% confidence intervals did not cross 1. This suggests that the chance of reporting abuse is higher in people with PNES than those with epilepsy and may be a causative factor in developing PNES. Several limitations of the data and directions for future study are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura Lloyd Jones
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
| | - Hugh Rickards
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Kerr WT, Lee JK, Karimi AH, Tatekawa H, Hickman LB, Connerney M, Sreenivasan SS, Dubey I, Allas CH, Smith JM, Savic I, Silverman DHS, Hadjiiski LM, Beimer NJ, Stacey WC, Cohen MS, Engel J, Feusner JD, Salamon N, Stern JM. A minority of patients with functional seizures have abnormalities on neuroimaging. J Neurol Sci 2021; 427:117548. [PMID: 34216975 DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2021.117548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 06/12/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Functional seizures often are managed incorrectly as a diagnosis of exclusion. However, a significant minority of patients with functional seizures may have abnormalities on neuroimaging that typically are associated with epilepsy, leading to diagnostic confusion. We evaluated the rate of epilepsy-associated findings on MRI, FDG-PET, and CT in patients with functional seizures. METHODS We studied radiologists' reports from neuroimages at our comprehensive epilepsy center from a consecutive series of patients diagnosed with functional seizures without comorbid epilepsy from 2006 to 2019. We summarized the MRI, FDG-PET, and CT results as follows: within normal limits, incidental findings, unrelated findings, non-specific abnormalities, post-operative study, epilepsy risk factors (ERF), borderline epilepsy-associated findings (EAF), and definitive EAF. RESULTS Of the 256 MRIs, 23% demonstrated ERF (5%), borderline EAF (8%), or definitive EAF (10%). The most common EAF was hippocampal sclerosis, with the majority of borderline EAF comprising hippocampal atrophy without T2 hyperintensity or vice versa. Of the 87 FDG-PETs, 26% demonstrated borderline EAF (17%) or definitive EAF (8%). Epilepsy-associated findings primarily included focal hypometabolism, especially of the temporal lobes, with borderline findings including subtle or questionable hypometabolism. Of the 51 CTs, only 2% had definitive EAF. SIGNIFICANCE This large case series provides further evidence that, while uncommon, EAF are seen in patients with functional seizures. A significant portion of these abnormal findings are borderline. The moderately high rate of these abnormalities may represent framing bias from the indication of the study being "seizures," the relative subtlety of EAF, or effects of antiseizure medications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wesley T Kerr
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - John K Lee
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Amir H Karimi
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Hiroyuki Tatekawa
- Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - L Brian Hickman
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Michael Connerney
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Ishita Dubey
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Corinne H Allas
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jena M Smith
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ivanka Savic
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute and Neurology Clinic, Karolinksa University Hospital, Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Daniel H S Silverman
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lubomir M Hadjiiski
- Department of Radiology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Nicholas J Beimer
- Department of Neurology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - William C Stacey
- Department of Neurology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Mark S Cohen
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Departments of Bioengineering, Psychology and Biomedical Physics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jerome Engel
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jamie D Feusner
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute and Neurology Clinic, Karolinksa University Hospital, Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Noriko Salamon
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - John M Stern
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Psychiatric symptoms are the strongest predictors of quality of life in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy or psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. Epilepsy Behav 2021; 117:107861. [PMID: 33690065 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2020] [Revised: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the effect of psychiatric comorbidity and neurocognitive deficits on the quality of life in a cohort of patients admitted for Video-EEG Monitoring (VEM) for investigation into a presumed seizure disorder. METHODS Patients were recruited from an inpatient VEM unit between January 2009 and December 2016. All patients had formal neuropsychiatric assessment. All patients completed questionnaires assessing psychiatric symptomatology (SCL-90-R), Anxiety and Depression (HADS), quality of life (QOLIE-89), and cognition (NUCOG). RESULTS A total of 451 patients were enrolled. Upon discharge, 204 patients were diagnosed to have epilepsy, 118 psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), and 29 both epilepsy and PNES, while the diagnosis was uncertain diagnosis in 100. Diagnosis (p = .002), HADS Depression score (p < .001), SCL-90-R positive symptoms total (p < .001), and NUCOG total score (p < .001) were found to be significant predictors of QOLIE-89 total scores, together explaining 65.4% of variance in quality of life. Seizure frequency was not a significant predictor of quality of life (p = .082). Patients with PNES had significantly worse quality of life, and scored higher on measures of psychiatricsymptomatology, compared to patients with epilepsy alone. The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity was significantly higher in patients with PNES (70.3%) or both PNES and epilepsy (62.1%) compared to patients with epilepsy alone (41.2%) (p < .001). SIGNIFICANCE Psychiatric symptomatology, depression, and cognition were stronger determinants of quality of life than seizure frequency in this study population of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy and PNES. Patients with PNES with or without comorbid epilepsy had similar neuropsychiatric profiles.
Collapse
|
10
|
Sojka P, Paredes-Echeverri S, Perez DL. Are Functional (Psychogenic Nonepileptic) Seizures the Sole Expression of Psychological Processes? Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2021; 55:329-351. [PMID: 33768494 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2021_225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Abstract
Functional [psychogenic nonepileptic/dissociative] seizures (FND-seiz) and related functional neurological disorder subtypes were of immense interest to early founders of modern-day neurology and psychiatry. Unfortunately, the divide that occurred between the both specialties throughout the mid-twentieth century placed FND-seiz at the borderland between the two disciplines. In the process, a false Cartesian dualism emerged that labeled psychiatric conditions as impairments of the mind and neurological conditions as disturbances in structural neuroanatomy. Excitingly, modern-day neuropsychiatric perspectives now consider neurologic and psychiatric conditions as disorders of both brain and mind. In this article, we aim to integrate neurologic and psychiatric perspectives in the conceptual framing of FND-seiz. In doing so, we explore emerging relationships between symptoms, neuropsychological constructs, brain networks, and neuroendocrine/autonomic biomarkers of disease. Evidence suggests that the neuropsychological constructs of emotion processing, attention, interoception, and self-agency are important in the pathophysiology of FND-seiz. Furthermore, FND-seiz is a multi-network brain disorder, with evidence supporting roles for disturbances within and across the salience, limbic, attentional, multimodal integration, and sensorimotor networks. Risk factors, including the magnitude of previously experienced adverse life events, relate to individual differences in network architecture and neuroendocrine profiles. The time has come to use an integrated neuropsychiatric approach that embraces the closely intertwined relationship between physical health and mental health to conceptualize FND-seiz and related functional neurological disorder subtypes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Petr Sojka
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Sara Paredes-Echeverri
- Functional Neurological Disorder Research Program, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Divisions, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David L Perez
- Functional Neurological Disorder Research Program, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry Divisions, Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Bompaire F, Barthelemy S, Monin J, Quirins M, Marion L, Smith C, Boulogne S, Auxemery Y. PNES Epidemiology: What is known, what is new? EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF TRAUMA & DISSOCIATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejtd.2019.100136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
12
|
Beghi M, Zhang L, Beghi E, Giussani G, Erba G, Longinetti E, D'Onofrio BM, Bianchi E, Fang F, Tomson T, Chang Z. History of violence/maltreatment and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. Seizure 2020; 81:8-12. [PMID: 32683268 DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2020.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/12/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To study the association of earlier violence/maltreatment with the occurrence of PNES in a nationwide population sample. METHODS This is a nested case-control study performed using Swedish nationwide registers. Cases were all individuals born in Sweden between 1941 and 2009 with incident PNES between 2001 and 2013 while resident in Sweden according to the Swedish Patient Register. For each case, 10 controls, alive and PNES-free at time of PNES diagnosis of the matched case, were randomly selected from the Swedish Total Population Register, matched on age and sex. To test the specificity of the association, we conducted two similar analyses for epilepsy and dissociative disorder with motor symptoms or deficit, as comparators to PNES. Registers were examined in search of all coded diagnoses of child maltreatment or violence episodes before the index date among the cases and controls. RESULTS 885 patients received a first diagnosis of PNES. 7.6 % of cases had a history of violence/maltreatment, compared to 1.1 % of controls, giving a crude OR of 7.9 (95 % CI: 3.7-11.0). The ORs decreased but remained significant after adjustment for socio-economic factors (OR = 6.3, 95 % CI: 4.4-9.0) and psychiatric comorbidities (OR = 5.2, 95 % CI: 3.5-7.9). The association was also evident for epilepsy and dissociative disorder, although of lower magnitude. CONCLUSION Patients with PNES have a history of violence/maltreatment more frequently than the rest of the population. This association can be influenced by socio-economic factors and the presence of concurrent psychiatric disturbances.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Le Zhang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ettore Beghi
- Department of Neuroscience, Istituto Di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milano, Italy.
| | - Giorgia Giussani
- Department of Neuroscience, Istituto Di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milano, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Erba
- Department of Neurology, SEC, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Elisa Longinetti
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Brian M D'Onofrio
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States
| | - Elisa Bianchi
- Department of Neuroscience, Istituto Di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milano, Italy
| | - Fang Fang
- Unit of Integrative Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Torbjorn Tomson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience Karolinska Institutet, and Department of Neurology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Zheng Chang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Giussani G, Erba G, Bianchi E, Beghi E. Self-Report questionnaires for the diagnosis of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in clinical practice. A comprehensive review of the available instruments. Seizure 2020; 79:30-43. [DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2020.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
|
14
|
Kozlowska K, Chung J, Cruickshank B, McLean L, Scher S, Dale RC, Mohammad SS, Singh-Grewal D, Prabhuswamy MY, Patrick E. Blood CRP levels are elevated in children and adolescents with functional neurological symptom disorder. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2019; 28:491-504. [PMID: 30143887 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-018-1212-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2018] [Accepted: 08/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
There is accumulating evidence that patients with functional neurological symptom disorder (FND) show activation of multiple components of the stress system-the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, and brain regions involved in arousal- and emotion-processing. This study aims to examine whether the immune-inflammatory component of the stress system is also activated. C-reactive protein (CRP) blood titre levels were measured in 79 children and adolescents with FND. CRP values ≥ 2 mg/L suggest low-grade inflammation. CRP values > 10 mg/L suggest a disease process. Sixty-six percent of subjects (n = 52) had CRP titres ≥ 2 mg/L. The upward shift in the distribution of CRP levels suggested low-grade inflammation (median CRP concentration was 4.60 mg/L, with 75th and 90th percentiles of 6.1 and 10.3 mg/L, respectively). Elevated CRP titres were not explained by sex, pubertal status, BMI, or medical factors. Confounder analyses suggested that history of maltreatment (χ2 = 2.802, df = 1, p = 0.094, φ = 0.190; β = 2.823, p = 0.04) and a diagnosis of anxiety (χ2 = 2.731, df = 1, p = 0.098, φ = 0.187; β = 4.520, p = 0.061) contributed to elevated CRP levels. Future research will need to identify the origins and locations of immune cell activation and the pathways and systems contributing to their activation and modulation. Because functional activity in neurons and glial cells-the brain's innate effector immune cells-is tightly coupled, our finding of elevated CRP titres suggests activation of the immune-inflammatory component of the brain's stress system. A more direct examination of inflammation-related molecules in the brain will help clarify the role of immune-inflammatory processes in FND.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kasia Kozlowska
- Department Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia. .,Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute of Medical Research, Westmead, NSW, Australia. .,Discipline of Psychiatry and Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney Medical School, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - Jason Chung
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia.,Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney Medical School, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Bronya Cruickshank
- Department Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia
| | - Loyola McLean
- Westmead Psychotherapy Program for Complex Traumatic Disorders, Western Sydney Local Health District, Building 112, Cumberland Hospital Campus, Parramatta BC, Locked Bag 7118, Parramatta, NSW, 2124, Australia.,Brain and Mind Centre, and Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Sydney Medical School, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Stephen Scher
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA.,Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Sydney Medical School, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Russell C Dale
- Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney Medical School, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Movement Disorder and Clinical Neuroimmunology Group, Institute for Neuroscience and Muscle Research, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia
| | - Shekeeb S Mohammad
- Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney Medical School, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia
| | - Davinder Singh-Grewal
- Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney Medical School, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Department of Rheumatology, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia.,Discipline of Child and Maternal Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Mukesh Yajaman Prabhuswamy
- Department Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia.,Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
| | - Ellis Patrick
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney, F07 - Carslaw Building, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.,Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Myers L, Trobliger R, Bortnik K, Zeng R, Saal E, Lancman M. Psychological trauma, somatization, dissociation, and psychiatric comorbidities in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures compared with those in patients with intractable partial epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav 2019; 92:108-113. [PMID: 30654229 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.12.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Revised: 12/25/2018] [Accepted: 12/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare patients with intractable epilepsy with patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) on the presence of psychological traumas, clinical factors, and psychological measures of somatization and dissociation. BACKGROUND Several studies have reported a high prevalence of psychological trauma in patients with PNES, while less have examined the prevalence of psychological trauma in patients with epilepsy and compared both groups. Reports have been somewhat divergent with some describing significantly higher prevalence in physical abuse, others, in emotional abuse/neglect, and others, in sexual abuse in patients with PNES compared with those in patients with epilepsy. METHODS This is a retrospective study of 96 patients (61 women, 35 men) with intractable epilepsy (2009 to 2017) and 161 patients (107 women, 54 men) with PNES (2008 to 2018). Demographic and clinical (psychological trauma, depression, anxiety, seizure frequency, and number of antiepileptic drugs) data were collected. The Trauma Symptom Inventory II and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2RF were administered. RESULTS Patients with PNES differed significantly from those with intractable epilepsy on sexual trauma (χ2 (5df, N = 257) =9.787, p < .002) and "other" trauma (χ2 (5df, N = 257) = 17.9076, p < .000). On psychological measures, there was a significant difference on Somatization scores in patients with PNES (M = 59.63, SD = 11.47) and patients with intractable epilepsy (M = 53.98, SD = 11.31); t(173) = 2.8396, p = .0051, but no difference was noted on a measure of Dissociation. Subsequent principal components analysis revealed that the first 3 principal components (sexual, physical, and other trauma) explained 74.19% of the variability, and that one principal component (dissociation, somatization, demoralization) explained 61.57% of the variability. However, after adjusting for the effects of covariates, only the presence of trauma discriminated between epilepsy and PNES. CONCLUSIONS Patients with PNES diagnoses differed from those with epilepsy on a Somatization scale but not on Dissociation or Intrusive Experiences and exhibited significantly higher rates of sexual and "other" trauma compared with those with intractable epilepsy. However, subsequent analyses revealed that a history of psychological trauma was the only condition found to discriminate between patients with PNES and those with epilepsy. These findings suggest that during initial workup and diagnosis, when patients report a history of psychological trauma (sexual or otherwise) a psychogenic nonepileptic etiology should be strongly considered in the differential diagnosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lorna Myers
- Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group, United States of America.
| | | | - Kirsty Bortnik
- Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group, United States of America
| | - Ruifan Zeng
- Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group, United States of America
| | - Ethan Saal
- Brandeis University, United States of America
| | | |
Collapse
|
16
|
Labudda K, Frauenheim M, Illies D, Miller I, Schrecke M, Vietmeier N, Brandt C, Bien CG. Psychiatric disorders and trauma history in patients with pure PNES and patients with PNES and coexisting epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav 2018; 88:41-48. [PMID: 30241052 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.08.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2018] [Revised: 08/14/2018] [Accepted: 08/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Several studies found high prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders in patients with pure psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). Traumatic experiences were also reported to be elevated in patients with PNES and were discussed as a crucial risk factor for the development of PNES. Much less is known about psychiatric comorbidities and specifically, about trauma history in patients with PNES and coexisting epilepsy. Here, we aimed at directly comparing psychiatric disorders and traumatic life experiences in patients with pure PNES and in patients with PNES and coexisting epilepsy. We assessed the presence of current axes I and II disorders in 109 patients with either pure PNES (n = 67) or with PNES + epilepsy (n = 42) by using structured clinical interviews. We also compared the trauma histories by using the posttraumatic diagnostic scale (PDS) as an interview and the extent of physical, sexual, and emotional childhood maltreatment measured with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Patients of both groups had very high rates of psychiatric disorders: 79.1% of the patients with pure PNES and 76.2% of the patients with PNES + epilepsy had at least one psychiatric disorder. The frequencies of psychiatric disorders did not differ between groups. However, there was a trend towards higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients with PNES (32.9%) compared with patients with PNES + epilepsy (16.7%). In both groups, the proportion of patients who recalled traumatic events in the PDS was high (72.6% in the patients with pure PNES, 64.3% in the patients with PNES + epilepsy) and did not differ significantly between groups. The age at first traumatization, the types of trauma events experienced, the number of patients with single traumatization, and those with repeated traumatic experiences also did not differ between groups. We found high frequencies of childhood maltreatment in both groups. Our findings show that patients with PNES and patients with PNES and coexisting epilepsy could neither be differentiated by the amount of psychiatric additional disorders nor by the nature and extent of trauma and maltreatment experiences. Our results suggest that patients with PNES + epilepsy rather resemble patients with pure PNES than patients with epilepsy in respect to psychopathological characteristics and adverse life experiences. Trauma and maltreatment history are therefore assumed to be predisposing factors to PNES in both patients with pure PNES and patients with PNES and coexisting epilepsy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten Labudda
- Bielefeld University, Department of Psychology, Bielefeld, Germany.
| | | | - Dominik Illies
- Bielefeld University, Department of Psychology, Bielefeld, Germany; Epilepsy Center Bethel, Krankenhaus Mara, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Inga Miller
- Epilepsy Center Bethel, Krankenhaus Mara, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Mario Schrecke
- Epilepsy Center Bethel, Krankenhaus Mara, Bielefeld, Germany
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
17
|
Williams B, Jalilianhasanpour R, Matin N, Fricchione GL, Sepulcre J, Keshavan MS, LaFrance WC, Dickerson BC, Perez DL. Individual differences in corticolimbic structural profiles linked to insecure attachment and coping styles in motor functional neurological disorders. J Psychiatr Res 2018; 102:230-237. [PMID: 29702433 PMCID: PMC6005758 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2018] [Revised: 03/16/2018] [Accepted: 04/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Insecure attachment and maladaptive coping are important predisposing vulnerabilities for Functional Neurological Disorders (FND)/Conversion Disorder, yet no prior structural neuroimaging studies have investigated biomarkers associated with these risk factors in FND populations. This magnetic resonance imaging study examined cortical thickness and subcortical volumes associated with self-reported attachment and coping styles in patients with FND. We hypothesized that insecure attachment and maladaptive coping would relate to limbic-paralimbic structural alterations. METHODS FreeSurfer cortical thickness and subcortical volumetric analyses were performed in 26 patients with motor FND (21 women; 5 men) and 27 healthy controls (22 women; 5 men). For between-group comparisons, patients with FND were stratified by Relationship Scales Questionnaire, Ways of Coping Scale-Revised, and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale scores. Within-group analyses were also performed in patients with FND. All analyses were performed in the complete cohort and separately in women only to evaluate for gender-specific effects. Cortical thickness analyses were whole-brain corrected at the cluster-wise level; subcortical analyses were Bonferroni corrected. RESULTS In women with FND, dismissing attachment correlated with reduced left parahippocampal cortical thickness. Confrontive coping was associated with reduced right hippocampal volume, while accepting responsibility positively correlated with right precentral gyrus cortical thickness. These findings held adjusting for anti-depressant use. All FND-related findings were within the normal range when compared to healthy women. CONCLUSION These observations connect individual-differences in limbic-paralimbic and premotor structures to attachment and coping styles in FND. The relationship between parahippocampal thickness and dismissing attachment may indicate aberrant social-emotional and contextual appraisal in women with FND.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Williams
- Department of Neurology, Functional Neurology Research Group, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Rozita Jalilianhasanpour
- Department of Neurology, Functional Neurology Research Group, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nassim Matin
- Department of Neurology, Functional Neurology Research Group, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gregory L. Fricchione
- Department of Psychiatry, Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jorge Sepulcre
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Matcheri S. Keshavan
- Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - W. Curt LaFrance
- Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology Division, Rhode Island Hospital, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Brown University, Alpert Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Bradford C. Dickerson
- Department of Neurology, Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David L. Perez
- Department of Neurology, Functional Neurology Research Group, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatry Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Monsa R, Peer M, Arzy S. Self-reference, emotion inhibition and somatosensory disturbance: preliminary investigation of network perturbations in conversion disorder. Eur J Neurol 2018; 25:888-e62. [DOI: 10.1111/ene.13613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2017] [Accepted: 02/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- R. Monsa
- Department of Medical Neurobiology; Neuropsychiatry Lab; Hadassah Hebrew University Medical School; Jerusalem
- Department of Neurology; Hadassah Medical Center; Jerusalem Israel
| | - M. Peer
- Department of Medical Neurobiology; Neuropsychiatry Lab; Hadassah Hebrew University Medical School; Jerusalem
- Department of Neurology; Hadassah Medical Center; Jerusalem Israel
| | - S. Arzy
- Department of Medical Neurobiology; Neuropsychiatry Lab; Hadassah Hebrew University Medical School; Jerusalem
- Department of Neurology; Hadassah Medical Center; Jerusalem Israel
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Labudda K, Illies D, Herzig C, Schröder K, Bien CG, Neuner F. Current psychiatric disorders in patients with epilepsy are predicted by maltreatment experiences during childhood. Epilepsy Res 2017. [PMID: 28622538 DOI: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2017.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Childhood maltreatment has been shown to be a risk factor for the development of psychiatric disorders. Although the prevalence of psychiatric disorders is high in epilepsy patients, it is unknown if childhood maltreatment experiences are elevated compared to the normal population and if early maltreatment is a risk factor for current psychiatric comorbidities in epilepsy patients. This is the main purpose of this study. METHODS Structured interviews were used to assess current Axis I diagnoses in 120 epilepsy patients from a tertiary Epilepsy Center (34 TLE patients, 86 non-TLE patients). Childhood maltreatment in the family and peer victimization were assessed with validated questionnaires. Patients' maltreatment scores were compared with those of a representative matched control group. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the potential impact of childhood maltreatment on current psychiatric comorbidity in epilepsy patients. RESULTS Compared to a matched control group, epilepsy patients had higher emotional and sexual maltreatment scores. Patients with a current psychiatric diagnosis reported more family and peer maltreatment than patients without a psychiatric disorder. Family maltreatment scores predicted the likelihood of a current psychiatric disorder. TLE patients did not differ from non-TLE patients according to maltreatment experiences and rates of current psychiatric disorders. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that in epilepsy patients emotional and sexual childhood maltreatment is experienced more often than in the normal population and that early maltreatment is a general risk factor for psychiatric comorbidities in this group.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten Labudda
- Bielefeld University, Department of Psychology, Bielefeld, Germany; Epilepsy Center Bethel, Krankenhaus Mara, Bielefeld, Germany.
| | - Dominik Illies
- Bielefeld University, Department of Psychology, Bielefeld, Germany; Epilepsy Center Bethel, Krankenhaus Mara, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Cornelia Herzig
- Bielefeld University, Department of Psychology, Bielefeld, Germany
| | | | | | - Frank Neuner
- Bielefeld University, Department of Psychology, Bielefeld, Germany
| |
Collapse
|