1
|
Liang X, Avram MM, Gibbs-Dean T, Chesney E, Oliver D, Wang S, Obreshkova S, Spencer T, Englund A, Diederen K. Exploring the relationship between frequent cannabis use, belief updating under uncertainty and psychotic-like symptoms. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1309868. [PMID: 39114739 PMCID: PMC11304345 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1309868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Cannabis users present an important group for investigating putative mechanisms underlying psychosis, as cannabis-use is associated with an increased risk of psychosis. Recent work suggests that alterations in belief-updating under uncertainty underlie psychosis. We therefore compared belief updating under uncertainty between cannabis and non-cannabis users. Methods 49 regular cannabis users and 52 controls completed the Space Game, via an online platform used for behavioral testing. In the task, participants were asked to predict the location of the stimulus based on previous information, under different uncertainty conditions. Mixed effects models were used to identify significant predictors of mean score, confidence, performance error and learning rate. Results Both groups showed decreased confidence in high noise conditions, and increased belief updating in more volatile conditions, suggesting that they could infer the degree and sources of uncertainty. There were no significant effects of group on any of the performance indices. However, within the cannabis group, frequent users showed worse performance than less frequent users. Conclusion Belief updating under uncertainty is not affected by cannabis use status but could be impaired in those who use cannabis more frequently. This finding could show a similarity between frequent cannabis use and psychosis risk, as predictors for abnormal belief-updating.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xinyi Liang
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Maria-Mihaela Avram
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Toni Gibbs-Dean
- School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Edward Chesney
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Dominic Oliver
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychiatry, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Simiao Wang
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Stiliyana Obreshkova
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tom Spencer
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Amir Englund
- Department of Psychiatry, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Addictions Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kelly Diederen
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Sloan AF, Kittleson AR, Torregrossa LJ, Feola B, Rossi-Goldthorpe R, Corlett PR, Sheffield JM. Belief Updating, Childhood Maltreatment, and Paranoia in Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders. Schizophr Bull 2024:sbae057. [PMID: 38701234 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbae057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS Exposure to childhood maltreatment-a risk factor for psychosis is associated with paranoia-may impact one's beliefs about the world and how beliefs are updated. We hypothesized that increased exposure to childhood maltreatment is related to volatility-related belief updating, specifically higher expectations of volatility, and that these relationships are strongest for threat-related maltreatment. Additionally, we tested whether belief updating mediates the relationship between maltreatment and paranoia. STUDY DESIGN Belief updating was measured in 75 patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and 76 nonpsychiatric controls using a 3-option probabilistic reversal learning (3PRL) task. A Hierarchical Gaussian Filter (HGF) was used to estimate computational parameters of belief updating, including prior expectations of volatility (μ03). The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was used to assess cumulative maltreatment, threat, and deprivation exposure. Paranoia was measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the revised Green et al. Paranoid Thoughts Scale (R-GPTS). RESULTS Greater exposure to childhood maltreatment is associated with higher prior expectations of volatility in the whole sample and in individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. This was specific to threat-related maltreatment, rather than deprivation, in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Paranoia was associated with both exposure to childhood maltreatment and volatility priors, but we did not observe a significant indirect effect of volatility priors on the relationship between maltreatment and paranoia. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders who were exposed to threatening experiences during childhood expect their environment to be more volatile, potentially facilitating aberrant belief updating and conferring risk for paranoia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ali F Sloan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Andrew R Kittleson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Lénie J Torregrossa
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Brandee Feola
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | | | - Philip R Corlett
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Julia M Sheffield
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Zhou T, Ho YY, Lee RX, Fath AB, He K, Scott J, Bajwa N, Hartley ND, Wilde J, Gao X, Li C, Hong E, Nassar MR, Wimmer RD, Singh T, Halassa MM, Feng G. Enhancement of mediodorsal thalamus rescues aberrant belief dynamics in a mouse model with schizophrenia-associated mutation. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.08.574745. [PMID: 38260581 PMCID: PMC10802391 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.08.574745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Optimizing behavioral strategy requires belief updating based on new evidence, a process that engages higher cognition. In schizophrenia, aberrant belief dynamics may lead to psychosis, but the mechanisms underlying this process are unknown, in part, due to lack of appropriate animal models and behavior readouts. Here, we address this challenge by taking two synergistic approaches. First, we generate a mouse model bearing patient-derived point mutation in Grin2a (Grin2aY700X+/-), a gene that confers high-risk for schizophrenia and recently identified by large-scale exome sequencing. Second, we develop a computationally trackable foraging task, in which mice form and update belief-driven strategies in a dynamic environment. We found that Grin2aY700X+/- mice perform less optimally than their wild-type (WT) littermates, showing unstable behavioral states and a slower belief update rate. Using functional ultrasound imaging, we identified the mediodorsal (MD) thalamus as hypofunctional in Grin2aY700X+/- mice, and in vivo task recordings showed that MD neurons encoded dynamic values and behavioral states in WT mice. Optogenetic inhibition of MD neurons in WT mice phenocopied Grin2aY700X+/- mice, and enhancing MD activity rescued task deficits in Grin2aY700X+/- mice. Together, our study identifies the MD thalamus as a key node for schizophrenia-relevant cognitive dysfunction, and a potential target for future therapeutics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Zhou
- Yang Tan Collection and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Yi-Yun Ho
- Yang Tan Collection and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Ray X Lee
- Yang Tan Collection and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Amanda B Fath
- Yang Tan Collection and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Kathleen He
- Yang Tan Collection and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Jonathan Scott
- Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine
| | - Navdeep Bajwa
- Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine
| | - Nolan D Hartley
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
| | - Jonathan Wilde
- Yang Tan Collection and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Xian Gao
- Yang Tan Collection and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Cui Li
- Yang Tan Collection and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Evan Hong
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | | | - Ralf D Wimmer
- Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine
| | - Tarjinder Singh
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
| | | | - Guoping Feng
- Yang Tan Collection and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
| |
Collapse
|