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Sylvester C, Luby J. Gender Differences in the Neurobiology of Childhood Anxiety: The Need for a Developmental Perspective. Am J Psychiatry 2024; 181:262-264. [PMID: 38557143 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20240124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Chad Sylvester
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University, St. Louis
| | - Joan Luby
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University, St. Louis
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Aggarwal N, Tromp DP, Blackford JU, Pine DS, Roseboom PH, Williams LE, Kalin NH. Sex-Specific Distributed White Matter Microarchitectural Alterations in Preadolescent Youths With Anxiety Disorders: A Mega-Analytic Study. Am J Psychiatry 2024; 181:299-309. [PMID: 38476042 PMCID: PMC11129321 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20221048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders in youths and emerge during childhood. This is also a period of rapid white matter (WM) development, which is critical for efficient neuronal communication. Previous work in preadolescent children with anxiety disorders demonstrated anxiety disorder-related reductions in WM microstructural integrity (fractional anisotropy [FA]) in the uncinate fasciculus (UF), the major WM tract facilitating prefrontal cortical-limbic structural connectivity. Importantly, this association was found only in boys with anxiety disorders. To confirm this finding and more comprehensively understand WM changes in childhood anxiety, this mega-analytic study characterizes WM alterations related to anxiety disorders and sex in the largest sample of preadolescent children to date. METHODS Diffusion tensor imaging data from published studies of preadolescent children with anxiety disorders and healthy volunteers (ages 8-12) (N=198) were combined with a new data set (N=97) for a total sample of 165 children with anxiety disorders and 132 healthy volunteers. Children with anxiety disorders met DSM-5 criteria for current generalized, separation, and/or social anxiety disorder. Analyses of tractography and voxel-wise data assessed between-group differences (anxiety disorder vs. healthy volunteer), effects of sex, and their interaction. RESULTS Tract-based and voxel-wise analyses confirmed a significant reduction in UF FA in boys but not girls with anxiety disorders. Results also demonstrated other significant widespread anxiety disorder-related WM alterations specifically in boys, including in multiple commissural, association, projection, and brainstem regions. CONCLUSIONS In addition to confirming male-specific anxiety disorder-related reductions in UF FA, the results demonstrate that anxiety disorders in boys and not girls are associated with broadly distributed WM alterations across the brain. These findings support further studies focused on understanding the extent to which WM alterations in boys with anxiety disorders are involved in pathophysiological processes that mediate anxiety disorders. The findings also suggest the possibility that WM microarchitecture could serve as a novel treatment target for childhood anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nakul Aggarwal
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53719, United States
| | - Do P.M. Tromp
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53719, United States
| | - Jennifer U. Blackford
- Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States
| | - Daniel S. Pine
- Section on Developmental and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States
| | - Patrick H. Roseboom
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53719, United States
| | - Lisa E. Williams
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53719, United States
| | - Ned H. Kalin
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53719, United States
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Schilliger Z, Alemán-Gómez Y, Magnus Smith M, Celen Z, Meuleman B, Binz PA, Steullet P, Do KQ, Conus P, Merglen A, Piguet C, Dwir D, Klauser P. Sex-specific interactions between stress axis and redox balance are associated with internalizing symptoms and brain white matter microstructure in adolescents. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:30. [PMID: 38233401 PMCID: PMC10794182 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02728-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Adolescence is marked by the maturation of systems involved in emotional regulation and by an increased risk for internalizing disorders (anxiety/depression), especially in females. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis function and redox homeostasis (balance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidants) have both been associated with internalizing disorders and may represent critical factors for the development of brain networks of emotional regulation. However, sex-specific interactions between these factors and internalizing symptoms and their link with brain maturation remain unexplored. We investigated in a cohort of adolescents aged 13-15 from the general population (n = 69) whether sex-differences in internalizing symptoms were associated with the glutathione (GSH)-redox cycle homeostasis and HPA-axis function and if these parameters were associated with brain white matter microstructure development. Female adolescents displayed higher levels of internalizing symptoms, GSH-peroxidase (GPx) activity and cortisol/11-deoxycortisol ratio than males. There was a strong correlation between GPx and GSH-reductase (Gred) activities in females only. The cortisol/11-deoxycortisol ratio, related to the HPA-axis activity, was associated with internalizing symptoms in both sexes, whereas GPx activity was associated with internalizing symptoms in females specifically. The cortisol/11-deoxycortisol ratio mediated sex-differences in internalizing symptoms and the association between anxiety and GPx activity in females specifically. In females, GPx activity was positively associated with generalized fractional anisotropy in widespread white matter brain regions. We found that higher levels of internalizing symptoms in female adolescents than in males relate to sex-differences in HPA-axis function. In females, our results suggest an important interplay between HPA-axis function and GSH-homeostasis, a parameter strongly associated with brain white matter microstructure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoé Schilliger
- Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Service of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Yasser Alemán-Gómez
- Connectomics Lab, Department of Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Mariana Magnus Smith
- Division of General Pediatrics, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Zeynep Celen
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Ben Meuleman
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Pierre-Alain Binz
- Service of Clinical Chemistry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Pascal Steullet
- Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Kim Q Do
- Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Philippe Conus
- Service of General Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Arnaud Merglen
- Division of General Pediatrics, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Camille Piguet
- Division of General Pediatrics, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Daniella Dwir
- Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Paul Klauser
- Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Service of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Aggarwal N, Oler JA, Tromp DPM, Roseboom PH, Riedel MK, Elam VR, Brotman MA, Kalin NH. A preliminary study of the effects of an antimuscarinic agent on anxious behaviors and white matter microarchitecture in nonhuman primates. Neuropsychopharmacology 2024; 49:405-413. [PMID: 37516801 PMCID: PMC10724160 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01686-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2022] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
Myelination subserves efficient neuronal communication, and alterations in white matter (WM) microstructure have been implicated in numerous psychiatric disorders, including pathological anxiety. Recent work in rodents suggests that muscarinic antagonists may enhance myelination with behavioral benefits; however, the neural and behavioral effects of muscarinic antagonists have yet to be explored in non-human primates (NHP). Here, as a potentially translatable therapeutic strategy for human pathological anxiety, we present data from a first-in-primate study exploring the effects of the muscarinic receptor antagonist solifenacin on anxious behaviors and WM microstructure. 12 preadolescent rhesus macaques (6 vehicle control, 6 experimental; 8F, 4M) were included in a pre-test/post-test between-group study design. The experimental group received solifenacin succinate for ~60 days. Subjects underwent pre- and post-assessments of: 1) anxious temperament (AT)-related behaviors in the potentially threatening no-eye-contact (NEC) paradigm (30-min); and 2) WM and regional brain metabolism imaging metrics, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), quantitative relaxometry (QR), and FDG-PET. In relation to anxiety-related behaviors expressed during the NEC, significant Group (vehicle control vs. solifenacin) by Session (pre vs. post) interactions were found for freezing, cooing, and locomotion. Compared to vehicle controls, solifenacin-treated subjects exhibited effects consistent with reduced anxiety, specifically decreased freezing duration, increased locomotion duration, and increased cooing frequency. Furthermore, the Group-by-Session-by-Sex interaction indicated that these effects occurred predominantly in the males. Exploratory whole-brain voxelwise analyses of post-minus-pre differences in DTI, QR, and FDG-PET metrics revealed some solifenacin-related changes in WM microstructure and brain metabolism. These findings in NHPs support the further investigation of the utility of antimuscarinic agents in targeting WM microstructure as a means to treat pathological anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nakul Aggarwal
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53719, USA.
| | - Jonathan A Oler
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53719, USA
| | - Do P M Tromp
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53719, USA
| | - Patrick H Roseboom
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53719, USA
| | - Marissa K Riedel
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53719, USA
| | - Victoria R Elam
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53719, USA
| | - Melissa A Brotman
- Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Ned H Kalin
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53719, USA
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Diaz Heijtz R, Keane L, Koren O. Early-life sensitive periods for antibiotic-induced shifts in neuro-immune developmental trajectories and vulnerability to brain disorders. Brain Behav Immun 2023; 114:78-79. [PMID: 37574176 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Lily Keane
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Omry Koren
- Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed 1311502, Israel
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Chen Q, Xu Y, Christiaen E, Wu GR, De Witte S, Vanhove C, Saunders J, Peremans K, Baeken C. Structural connectome alterations in anxious dogs: a DTI-based study. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9946. [PMID: 37337053 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37121-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Anxiety and fear are dysfunctional behaviors commonly observed in domesticated dogs. Although dogs and humans share psychopathological similarities, little is known about how dysfunctional fear behaviors are represented in brain networks in dogs diagnosed with anxiety disorders. A combination of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and graph theory was used to investigate the underlying structural connections of dysfunctional anxiety in anxious dogs and compared with healthy dogs with normal behavior. The degree of anxiety was assessed using the Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), a widely used, validated questionnaire for abnormal behaviors in dogs. Anxious dogs showed significantly decreased clustering coefficient ([Formula: see text]), decreased global efficiency ([Formula: see text]), and increased small-worldness (σ) when compared with healthy dogs. The nodal parameters that differed between the anxious dogs and healthy dogs were mainly located in the posterior part of the brain, including the occipital lobe, posterior cingulate gyrus, hippocampus, mesencephalon, and cerebellum. Furthermore, the nodal degree ([Formula: see text]) of the left cerebellum was significantly negatively correlated with "excitability" in the C-BARQ of anxious dogs. These findings could contribute to the understanding of a disrupted brain structural connectome underlying the pathological mechanisms of anxiety-related disorders in dogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qinyuan Chen
- Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Department of Head and Skin, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Yangfeng Xu
- Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Department of Head and Skin, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Morphology, Imaging, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
| | - Emma Christiaen
- Medical Image and Signal Processing (MEDISIP), Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Guo-Rong Wu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Sara De Witte
- Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Department of Head and Skin, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Neurology and Bru-BRAIN, University Hospital (UZ Brussel), Brussels, Belgium
- Neuroprotection & Neuromodulation Research Group (NEUR), Center for Neurosciences (C4N), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Christian Vanhove
- Medical Image and Signal Processing (MEDISIP), Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Jimmy Saunders
- Department of Morphology, Imaging, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
| | - Kathelijne Peremans
- Department of Morphology, Imaging, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
| | - Chris Baeken
- Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Department of Head and Skin, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital (UZ Brussel), Brussels, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
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Petrican R, Fornito A. Adolescent neurodevelopment and psychopathology: The interplay between adversity exposure and genetic risk for accelerated brain ageing. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101229. [PMID: 36947895 PMCID: PMC10041470 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
In adulthood, stress exposure and genetic risk heighten psychological vulnerability by accelerating neurobiological senescence. To investigate whether molecular and brain network maturation processes play a similar role in adolescence, we analysed genetic, as well as longitudinal task neuroimaging (inhibitory control, incentive processing) and early life adversity (i.e., material deprivation, violence) data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study (N = 980, age range: 9-13 years). Genetic risk was estimated separately for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD), two pathologies linked to stress exposure and allegedly sharing a causal connection (MDD-to-AD). Adversity and genetic risk for MDD/AD jointly predicted functional network segregation patterns suggestive of accelerated (GABA-linked) visual/attentional, but delayed (dopamine [D2]/glutamate [GLU5R]-linked) somatomotor/association system development. A positive relationship between brain maturation and psychopathology emerged only among the less vulnerable adolescents, thereby implying that normatively maladaptive neurodevelopmental alterations could foster adjustment among the more exposed and genetically more stress susceptible youths. Transcriptomic analyses suggested that sensitivity to stress may underpin the joint neurodevelopmental effect of adversity and genetic risk for MDD/AD, in line with the proposed role of negative emotionality as a precursor to AD, likely to account for the alleged causal impact of MDD on dementia onset.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raluca Petrican
- Institute of Population Health, Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZA, United Kingdom.
| | - Alex Fornito
- The Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, and Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Glenn DE, Merenstein JL, Bennett IJ, Michalska KJ. Anxiety symptoms and puberty interactively predict lower cingulum microstructure in preadolescent Latina girls. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20755. [PMID: 36456602 PMCID: PMC9713745 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24803-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Preadolescence is a period of increased vulnerability for anxiety, especially among Latina girls. Reduced microstructure (fractional anisotropy; FA) of white matter tracts between limbic and prefrontal regions may underlie regulatory impairments in anxiety. However, developmental research on the association between anxiety and white matter microstructure is mixed, possibly due to interactive influences with puberty. In a sample of 39 Latina girls (8-13 years), we tested whether pubertal stage moderated the association between parent- and child-reported anxiety symptoms and FA in the cingulum and uncinate fasciculus. Parent- but not child-reported anxiety symptoms predicted lower cingulum FA, and this effect was moderated by pubertal stage, such that this association was only significant for prepubertal girls. Neither anxiety nor pubertal stage predicted uncinate fasciculus FA. These findings suggest that anxiety is associated with disruptions in girls' cingulum white matter microstructure and that this relationship undergoes maturational changes during puberty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana E. Glenn
- grid.266097.c0000 0001 2222 1582Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
| | - Jenna L. Merenstein
- grid.266097.c0000 0001 2222 1582Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA ,grid.26009.3d0000 0004 1936 7961Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC USA
| | - Ilana J. Bennett
- grid.266097.c0000 0001 2222 1582Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
| | - Kalina J. Michalska
- grid.266097.c0000 0001 2222 1582Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
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