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Demler VF, Sterner EF, Wilson M, Zimmer C, Knolle F. The impact of spectral basis set composition on estimated levels of cingulate glutamate and its associations with different personality traits. BMC Psychiatry 2024; 24:320. [PMID: 38664663 PMCID: PMC11044602 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-024-05646-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND 1H-MRS is increasingly used in basic and clinical research to explain brain function and alterations respectively. In psychosis research it is now one of the main tools to investigate imbalances in the glutamatergic system. Interestingly, however, the findings are extremely variable even within patients of similar disease states. One reason may be the variability in analysis strategies, despite suggestions for standardization. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the extent to which the basis set configuration- which metabolites are included in the basis set used for analysis- would affect the spectral fit and estimated glutamate (Glu) concentrations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and whether any changes in levels of glutamate would be associated with psychotic-like experiences and autistic traits. METHODS To ensure comparability, we utilized five different exemplar basis sets, used in research, and two different analysis tools, r-based spant applying the ABfit method and Osprey using the LCModel. RESULTS Our findings revealed that the types of metabolites included in the basis set significantly affected the glutamate concentration. We observed that three basis sets led to more consistent results across different concentration types (i.e., absolute Glu in mol/kg, Glx (glutamate + glutamine), Glu/tCr), spectral fit and quality measurements. Interestingly, all three basis sets included phosphocreatine. Importantly, our findings also revealed that glutamate levels were differently associated with both schizotypal and autistic traits depending on basis set configuration and analysis tool, with the same three basis sets showing more consistent results. CONCLUSIONS Our study highlights that scientific results may be significantly altered depending on the choices of metabolites included in the basis set, and with that emphasizes the importance of carefully selecting the configuration of the basis set to ensure accurate and consistent results, when using MR spectroscopy. Overall, our study points out the need for standardized analysis pipelines and reporting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verena F Demler
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Elisabeth F Sterner
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Martin Wilson
- Centre for Human Brain Health and School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Claus Zimmer
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
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Demler VF, Sterner EF, Wilson M, Zimmer C, Knolle F. Association between increased anterior cingulate glutamate and psychotic-like experiences, but not autistic traits in healthy volunteers. Sci Rep 2023; 13:12792. [PMID: 37550354 PMCID: PMC10406950 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39881-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite many differences, autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorder share environmental risk factors, genetic predispositions as well as neuronal abnormalities, and show similar cognitive deficits in working memory, perspective taking, or response inhibition. These shared abnormalities are already present in subclinical traits of these disorders. The literature proposes that changes in the inhibitory GABAergic and the excitatory glutamatergic system could explain underlying neuronal commonalities and differences. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS), we investigated the associations between glutamate concentrations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the left/right putamen, and left/right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and psychotic-like experiences (Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire) and autistic traits (Autism Spectrum Quotient) in 53 healthy individuals (26 women). To investigate the contributions of glutamate concentrations in different cortical regions to symptom expression and their interactions, we used linear regression analyses. We found that only glutamate concentration in the ACC predicted psychotic-like experiences, but not autistic traits. Supporting this finding, a binomial logistic regression predicting median-split high and low risk groups for psychotic-like experiences revealed ACC glutamate levels as a significant predictor for group membership. Taken together, this study provides evidence that glutamate levels in the ACC are specifically linked to the expression of psychotic-like experiences, and may be a potential candidate in identifying early risk individuals prone to developing psychotic-like experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verena F Demler
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Straße 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - Elisabeth F Sterner
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Straße 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - Martin Wilson
- Centre for Human Brain Health and School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Claus Zimmer
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Straße 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Straße 22, 81675, Munich, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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Scheibenbogen C, Bellmann-Strobl JT, Heindrich C, Wittke K, Stein E, Franke C, Prüss H, Preßler H, Machule ML, Audebert H, Finke C, Zimmermann HG, Sawitzki B, Meisel C, Toelle M, Krueger A, Aschenbrenner AC, Schultze JL, Beyer MD, Ralser M, Mülleder M, Sander LE, Konietschke F, Paul F, Stojanov S, Bruckert L, Hedderich DM, Knolle F, Riemekasten G, Vehreschild MJGT, Cornely OA, Behrends U, Burock S. Fighting Post-COVID and ME/CFS - development of curative therapies. Front Med (Lausanne) 2023; 10:1194754. [PMID: 37396922 PMCID: PMC10309204 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1194754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The sequela of COVID-19 include a broad spectrum of symptoms that fall under the umbrella term post-COVID-19 condition or syndrome (PCS). Immune dysregulation, autoimmunity, endothelial dysfunction, viral persistence, and viral reactivation have been identified as potential mechanisms. However, there is heterogeneity in expression of biomarkers, and it is unknown yet whether these distinguish different clinical subgroups of PCS. There is an overlap of symptoms and pathomechanisms of PCS with postinfectious myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). No curative therapies are available for ME/CFS or PCS. The mechanisms identified so far provide targets for therapeutic interventions. To accelerate the development of therapies, we propose evaluating drugs targeting different mechanisms in clinical trial networks using harmonized diagnostic and outcome criteria and subgrouping patients based on a thorough clinical profiling including a comprehensive diagnostic and biomarker phenotyping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmen Scheibenbogen
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Judith Theresia Bellmann-Strobl
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Cornelia Heindrich
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kirsten Wittke
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Elisa Stein
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Christiana Franke
- Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Harald Prüss
- Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Berlin, Germany
| | - Hannah Preßler
- Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marie-Luise Machule
- Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Heinrich Audebert
- Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carsten Finke
- Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Hanna Gwendolyn Zimmermann
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Birgit Sawitzki
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Institute of Health at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Center of Immunomics, Berlin, Germany
| | - Christian Meisel
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Immunology, Labor Berlin - Charité Vivantes GmbH, Berlin, Germany
| | - Markus Toelle
- Department of Nephrology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anne Krueger
- Department of Nephrology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anna C. Aschenbrenner
- Systems Medicine, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
| | - Joachim L. Schultze
- Systems Medicine, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
- PRECISE Platform for Single Cell Genomics and Epigenomics, DZNE and University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Genomics and Immunoregulation, Life and Medical Sciences Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Marc D. Beyer
- Systems Medicine, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
- PRECISE Platform for Single Cell Genomics and Epigenomics, DZNE and University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Markus Ralser
- Institute of Biochemistry, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Mülleder
- Institute of Biochemistry, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Leif Erik Sander
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Frank Konietschke
- Institute of Biochemistry, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Friedemann Paul
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Silvia Stojanov
- Childrens’ Hospital, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Lisa Bruckert
- Clinical Trial Office, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Dennis M. Hedderich
- Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Gabriela Riemekasten
- Department of Rheumatology, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein Campus Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Maria J. G. T. Vehreschild
- Department of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Oliver A. Cornely
- Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Bonn-Cologne, Germany
- University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Translational Research, Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), Cologne, Germany
| | - Uta Behrends
- Childrens’ Hospital, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Berlin, Germany
- AGV Research Unit Gene Vectors, Helmholtz Center Munich (HMGU), Munich, Germany
| | - Susen Burock
- Clinical Trial Office, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Knolle F, Arumugham SS, Barker RA, Chee MWL, Justicia A, Kamble N, Lee J, Liu S, Lenka A, Lewis SJG, Murray GK, Pal PK, Saini J, Szeto J, Yadav R, Zhou JH, Koch K. A multicentre study on grey matter morphometric biomarkers for classifying early schizophrenia and parkinson's disease psychosis. NPJ Parkinsons Dis 2023; 9:87. [PMID: 37291143 DOI: 10.1038/s41531-023-00522-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Psychotic symptoms occur in a majority of schizophrenia patients and in ~50% of all Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Altered grey matter (GM) structure within several brain areas and networks may contribute to their pathogenesis. Little is known, however, about transdiagnostic similarities when psychotic symptoms occur in different disorders, such as in schizophrenia and PD. The present study investigated a large, multicenter sample containing 722 participants: 146 patients with first episode psychosis, FEP; 106 individuals in at-risk mental state for developing psychosis, ARMS; 145 healthy controls matching FEP and ARMS, Con-Psy; 92 PD patients with psychotic symptoms, PDP; 145 PD patients without psychotic symptoms, PDN; 88 healthy controls matching PDN and PDP, Con-PD. We applied source-based morphometry in association with receiver operating curves (ROC) analyses to identify common GM structural covariance networks (SCN) and investigated their accuracy in identifying the different patient groups. We assessed group-specific homogeneity and variability across the different networks and potential associations with clinical symptoms. SCN-extracted GM values differed significantly between FEP and Con-Psy, PDP and Con-PD, PDN and Con-PD, as well as PDN and PDP, indicating significant overall grey matter reductions in PD and early schizophrenia. ROC analyses showed that SCN-based classification algorithms allow good classification (AUC ~0.80) of FEP and Con-Psy, and fair performance (AUC ~0.72) when differentiating PDP from Con-PD. Importantly, the best performance was found in partly the same networks, including the thalamus. Alterations within selected SCNs may be related to the presence of psychotic symptoms in both early schizophrenia and PD psychosis, indicating some commonality of underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, results provide evidence that GM volume within specific SCNs may serve as a biomarker for identifying FEP and PDP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Shyam S Arumugham
- Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India
| | - Roger A Barker
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michael W L Chee
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Centre for Translational MR Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Azucena Justicia
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Nitish Kamble
- Department of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India
| | - Jimmy Lee
- Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Psychosis, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore
- Neuroscience and Mental Health, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Siwei Liu
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Centre for Translational MR Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Abhishek Lenka
- Department of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India
- Department of Neurology, Medstar Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Simon J G Lewis
- ForeFront Parkinson's Disease Research Clinic, Brain and Mind Centre, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Graham K Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Pramod Kumar Pal
- Department of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India
| | - Jitender Saini
- Department of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India
| | - Jennifer Szeto
- ForeFront Parkinson's Disease Research Clinic, Brain and Mind Centre, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Ravi Yadav
- Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India
| | - Juan H Zhou
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Centre for Translational MR Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Kathrin Koch
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
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Brandl F, Knolle F, Avram M, Leucht C, Yakushev I, Priller J, Leucht S, Ziegler S, Wunderlich K, Sorg C. Negative symptoms, striatal dopamine and model-free reward decision-making in schizophrenia. Brain 2023; 146:767-777. [PMID: 35875972 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awac268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Negative symptoms, such as lack of motivation or social withdrawal, are highly prevalent and debilitating in patients with schizophrenia. Underlying mechanisms of negative symptoms are incompletely understood, thereby preventing the development of targeted treatments. We hypothesized that in patients with schizophrenia during psychotic remission, impaired influences of both model-based and model-free reward predictions on decision-making ('reward prediction influence', RPI) underlie negative symptoms. We focused on psychotic remission, because psychotic symptoms might confound reward-based decision-making. Moreover, we hypothesized that impaired model-based/model-free RPIs depend on alterations of both associative striatum dopamine synthesis and storage (DSS) and executive functioning. Both factors influence RPI in healthy subjects and are typically impaired in schizophrenia. Twenty-five patients with schizophrenia with pronounced negative symptoms during psychotic remission and 24 healthy controls were included in the study. Negative symptom severity was measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale negative subscale, model-based/model-free RPI by the two-stage decision task, associative striatum DSS by 18F-DOPA positron emission tomography and executive functioning by the symbol coding task. Model-free RPI was selectively reduced in patients and associated with negative symptom severity as well as with reduced associative striatum DSS (in patients only) and executive functions (both in patients and controls). In contrast, model-based RPI was not altered in patients. Results provide evidence for impaired model-free reward prediction influence as a mechanism for negative symptoms in schizophrenia as well as for reduced associative striatum dopamine and executive dysfunction as relevant factors. Data suggest potential treatment targets for patients with schizophrenia and pronounced negative symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Brandl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB20SZ, UK
| | - Mihai Avram
- Translational Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany
| | - Claudia Leucht
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany
| | - Igor Yakushev
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany
| | - Josef Priller
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Neuropsychiatry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and DZNE, Berlin, 10117, Germany.,UK DRI at University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK.,IoPPN, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Stefan Leucht
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Psychosis studies, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Sibylle Ziegler
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Munich, 81377, Germany
| | - Klaus Wunderlich
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Munich, 81377, Germany
| | - Christian Sorg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, 81675, Germany
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Brandl F, Knolle F, Meng C, Borgwardt S. Editorial: Specific macroscopic brain changes in psychotic disorders. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1141866. [PMID: 36814435 PMCID: PMC9940847 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1141866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Felix Brandl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany,*Correspondence: Felix Brandl ✉
| | - Franziska Knolle
- TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany,Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Chun Meng
- School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
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Knolle F, Sterner E, Moutoussis M, Adams RA, Griffin JD, Haarsma J, Taverne H, Goodyer IM, Fletcher PC, Murray GK. Action selection in early stages of psychosis: an active inference approach. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2023; 48:E78-E89. [PMID: 36810306 PMCID: PMC9949875 DOI: 10.1503/jpn.220141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND To interact successfully with their environment, humans need to build a model to make sense of noisy and ambiguous inputs. An inaccurate model, as suggested to be the case for people with psychosis, disturbs optimal action selection. Recent computational models, such as active inference, have emphasized the importance of action selection, treating it as a key part of the inferential process. Based on an active inference framework, we sought to evaluate previous knowledge and belief precision in an action-based task, given that alterations in these parameters have been linked to the development of psychotic symptoms. We further sought to determine whether task performance and modelling parameters would be suitable for classification of patients and controls. METHODS Twenty-three individuals with an at-risk mental state, 26 patients with first-episode psychosis and 31 controls completed a probabilistic task in which action choice (go/no-go) was dissociated from outcome valence (gain or loss). We evaluated group differences in performance and active inference model parameters and performed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses to assess group classification. RESULTS We found reduced overall performance in patients with psychosis. Active inference modelling revealed that patients showed increased forgetting, reduced confidence in policy selection and less optimal general choice behaviour, with poorer action-state associations. Importantly, ROC analysis showed fair-to-good classification performance for all groups, when combining modelling parameters and performance measures. LIMITATIONS The sample size is moderate. CONCLUSION Active inference modelling of this task provides further explanation for dysfunctional mechanisms underlying decision-making in psychosis and may be relevant for future research on the development of biomarkers for early identification of psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
| | - Elisabeth Sterner
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
| | - Michael Moutoussis
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
| | - Rick A Adams
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
| | - Juliet D Griffin
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
| | - Joost Haarsma
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
| | - Hilde Taverne
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
| | - Ian M Goodyer
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
| | - Paul C Fletcher
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
| | - Graham K Murray
- From the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Knolle, Sterner); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Knolle, Griffin, Taverne, Goodyer, Fletcher, Murray); the Max Planck-UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK (Moutoussis, Adams); the Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK (Adams); the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK (Haarsma); the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (Taverne); Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK (Goodyer, Fletcher); Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK (Murray)
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Mihatsch L, von der Linde M, Knolle F, Luchting B, Dimitriadis K, Heyn J. Survey of German medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: attitudes toward volunteering versus compulsory service and associated factors. J Med Ethics 2022; 48:630-636. [PMID: 34021060 PMCID: PMC8142677 DOI: 10.1136/medethics-2020-107202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Due to the spread of COVID-19, a key challenge was to reduce potential staff shortages in the healthcare sector. Besides recruiting retired healthcare workers, medical students were considered to support this task. Commitment of medical students in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated using an online survey, with particular focus on their burdens and anxieties. This survey was distributed to students within a 2-week period in April and May 2020. Ultimately, 1241 participants were included in the analysis. During the pandemic, 67.9% (65.3% to 70.5%) of the participants reported that they had volunteered. Furthermore, 88.9% (86.9% to 90.5%) stated that they were against compulsory recruitment in this context. Students who volunteered (committed students) had a significantly lower anxiety index than non-committed students. Additionally, students were more concerned about infecting other patients and relatives than themselves. Higher levels of anxiety were related to lower levels of commitment. A mandatory assignment during the pandemic was rejected by the students and does not seem to be necessary due to the large number of volunteers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenz Mihatsch
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of diagnostic and interventional Neuroradiology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Benjamin Luchting
- Department of Pain Medicine, Landsberg am Lech Clinic, Landsberg am Lech, Germany
| | | | - Jens Heyn
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
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9
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Daimer S, Mihatsch LL, Neufeld SAS, Murray GK, Knolle F. Investigating the relationship of COVID-19 related stress and media consumption with schizotypy, depression, and anxiety in cross-sectional surveys repeated throughout the pandemic in Germany and the UK. eLife 2022; 11:75893. [PMID: 35781372 PMCID: PMC9252577 DOI: 10.7554/elife.75893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Studies report a strong impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related stressors on the mental well-being of the general population. In this paper, we investigated whether COVID-19 related concerns and social adversity affected schizotypal traits, anxiety, and depression using structural equational modelling. In mediation analyses, we furthermore explored whether these associations were mediated by healthy (sleep and physical exercise) or unhealthy behaviours (drug and alcohol consumption, excessive media use). Methods: We assessed schizotypy, depression, and anxiety as well as healthy and unhealthy behaviours and a wide range of sociodemographic scores using online surveys from residents of Germany and the United Kingdom over 1 year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four independent samples were collected (April/May 2020: N=781, September/October 2020: N=498, January/February 2021: N=544, May 2021: N=486). The degree of schizotypy was measured using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), anxiety, and depression symptoms were surveyed with the Symptom Checklist (SCL-27), and healthy and unhealthy behaviours were assessed with the Coronavirus Health Impact Survey (CRISIS). Structural equation models were used to consider the influence of COVID-19 related concerns and social adversity on depressive and anxiety-related symptoms and schizotypal traits in relation to certain healthy (sleep and exercise) and unhealthy behaviours (alcohol and drug consumption, excessive media use). Results: The results revealed that COVID-19 related life concerns were significantly associated with schizotypy in the September/October 2020 and May 2021 surveys, with anxiety in the September/October 2020, January/February 2021, and May 2021 surveys, and with depressive symptoms in all surveys. Social adversity significantly affected the expression of schizotypal traits and depressive and anxiety symptoms in all four surveys. Importantly, we found that excessive media consumption (>4 hr per day) fully mediated the relationship between COVID-19 related life concerns and schizotypal traits in the January/February 2021 survey. Furthermore, several of the surveys showed that excessive media consumption was associated with increased depressive and anxiety-related symptoms in people burdened by COVID-19 related life. Conclusions: The ongoing uncertainties of the pandemic and the restrictions on social life have a strong impact on mental well-being and especially the expression of schizotypal traits. The negative impact is further boosted by excessive media consumption, which is especially critical for people with high schizotypal traits. Funding: FK received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 (Grant number 754,462). SN received funding from the Cundill Centre for Child and Youth Depression at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada and the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund from the University of Cambridge. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and the measures different governments took to contain it, harmed many people’s mental well-being. The restrictions, combined with pandemic-related uncertainty, caused many individuals to experience increased stress, depression, and anxiety. Many people turned to unhealthy behaviours to cope, including consuming more alcohol or drugs, using media excessively, developing poor sleeping habits, or reducing the amount of exercise they did. Stress, drugs, poor sleep, and uncertainty can increase an individual’s risk of developing psychotic symptoms, including delusions, hallucinations, or difficulty thinking clearly. These symptoms may be temporary or part of a more lasting condition, like schizophrenia. The risk of developing these symptoms increases in people with ‘schizotypal traits’, such as a lack of close relationships, paranoia, or unusual or implausible beliefs. These individuals may be especially vulnerable to the harmful mental health effects of the pandemic. Daimer et al. demonstrated that people who were more worried about their life stability or financial situation during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic had worse mental well-being than those who felt secure. In the experiments, volunteers completed a series of online mental health questionnaires at four different time points during the pandemic. People who reported feeling lonely, having negative thoughts, or experiencing fewer positive social interactions had more symptoms of mental illness. People who experienced more life disruptions also reported more anxiety or depression symptoms and more schizotypal traits. Daily consumption of at least four hours of digital media exacerbated negative mental health symptoms, and people with more pandemic-related life concerns also spent more time on digital media Daimer et al. suggest that increased media consumption among people with pandemic-related hardships may have increased mental health symptoms and schizotypal traits in these individuals. The survey results suggest that maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including meaningful relationships, is essential to staying mentally healthy during extreme situations like a global pandemic. Protective interventions – such as strengthening social support networks, providing mental health education, or increasing mental healthcare provisions – are essential to prevent poor mental health outcomes during future crises.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Daimer
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Lorenz L Mihatsch
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.,Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Sharon A S Neufeld
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Graham K Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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10
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Kesby JP, Murray GK, Knolle F. Neural Circuitry of Salience and Reward Processing in Psychosis. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci 2021; 3:33-46. [PMID: 36712572 PMCID: PMC9874126 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The processing of salient and rewarding stimuli is integral to engaging our attention, stimulating anticipation for future events, and driving goal-directed behaviors. Widespread impairments in these processes are observed in psychosis, which may be associated with worse functional outcomes or mechanistically linked to the development of symptoms. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of behavioral and functional neuroimaging in salience, prediction error, and reward. Although each is a specific process, they are situated in multiple feedback and feedforward systems integral to decision making and cognition more generally. We argue that the origin of salience and reward processing dysfunctions may be centered in the subcortex during the earliest stages of psychosis, with cortical abnormalities being initially more spared but becoming more prominent in established psychotic illness/schizophrenia. The neural circuits underpinning salience and reward processing may provide targets for delaying or preventing progressive behavioral and neurobiological decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P. Kesby
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia,QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia,Address correspondence to James Kesby, Ph.D.
| | - Graham K. Murray
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany,Franziska Knolle, Ph.D.
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11
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Daimer S, Mihatsch L, Ronan L, Murray GK, Knolle F. Subjective Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Schizotypy and General Mental Health in Germany and the United Kingdom, for Independent Samples in May and in October 2020. Front Psychol 2021; 12:667848. [PMID: 34393901 PMCID: PMC8355554 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.667848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies reported a strong impact on mental health during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in March-June, 2020. In this study, we assessed the impact of the pandemic on mental health in general and on schizotypal traits in two independent general population samples of the United Kingdom (May sample N: 239, October sample N: 126; participation at both timepoints: 21) and in two independent general population samples of Germany (May sample N: 543, October sample N: 401; participation at both timepoints: 100) using online surveys. Whereas general psychological symptoms (global symptom index, GSI) and percentage of responders above clinical cut-off for further psychological investigation were higher in the May sample compared to the October sample, schizotypy scores (Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire) were higher in the October sample. We investigated potential associations, using general linear regression models (GLM). For schizotypy scores, we found that loneliness, use of drugs, and financial burden were more strongly corrected with schizotypy in the October compared to the May sample. We identified similar associations for GSI, as for schizotypy scores, in the May and October samples. We furthermore found that living in the United Kingdom was related to higher schizotypal scores or GSI. However, individual estimates of the GLM are highly comparable between the two countries. In conclusion, this study shows that while the general psychological impact is lower in the October than the May sample, potentially showing a normative response to an exceptional situation; schizotypy scores are higher at the second timepoint, which may be due to a stronger impact of estimates of loneliness, drug use, and financial burden. The ongoing, exceptional circumstances within this pandemic might increase the risk for developing psychosis in some individuals. The development of general psychological symptoms and schizotypy scores over time requires further attention and investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Daimer
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Lorenz Mihatsch
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Lisa Ronan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Graham K Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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12
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Knolle F, Ronan L, Murray GK. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: a comparison between Germany and the UK. BMC Psychol 2021; 9:60. [PMID: 33892807 PMCID: PMC8064888 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-021-00565-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has led to dramatic social and economic changes in daily life. First studies report an impact on mental health of the general population showing increased levels of anxiety, stress and depression. In this study, we compared the impact of the pandemic on two culturally and economically similar European countries: the UK and Germany. METHODS Participants (UK = 241, German = 541) completed an online-survey assessing COVID-19 exposure, impact on financial situation and work, substance and media consumption, mental health using the Symptom-Check-List-27 (SCL-27) and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. RESULTS We found distinct differences between the two countries. UK responders reported a stronger direct impact on health, financial situation and families. UK responders had higher clinical scores on the SCL-27, and higher prevalence. Interestingly, German responders were less hopeful for an end of the pandemic and more concerned about their life-stability. CONCLUSION As 25% of both German and UK responders reported a subjective worsening of the general psychological symptoms and 20-50% of German and UK responders reached the clinical cut-off for depressive and dysthymic symptoms as well as anxieties, it specifically shows the need for tailored intervention systems to support large proportions of the general public.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- grid.6936.a0000000123222966Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany ,grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Lisa Ronan
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Graham K. Murray
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK ,grid.450563.10000 0004 0412 9303Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK ,grid.5335.00000000121885934Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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13
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Haarsma J, Knolle F, Griffin JD, Taverne H, Mada M, Goodyer IM, The Nspn Consortium, Fletcher PC, Murray GK. Influence of prior beliefs on perception in early psychosis: Effects of illness stage and hierarchical level of belief. J Abnorm Psychol 2021; 129:581-598. [PMID: 32757602 PMCID: PMC7409392 DOI: 10.1037/abn0000494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Alterations in the balance between prior expectations and sensory evidence may account for faulty perceptions and inferences leading to psychosis. However, uncertainties remain about the nature of altered prior expectations and the degree to which they vary with the emergence of psychosis. We explored how expectations arising at two different levels—cognitive and perceptual—influenced processing of sensory information and whether relative influences of higher- and lower-level priors differed across people with prodromal symptoms and those with psychotic illness. In two complementary auditory perception experiments, 91 participants (30 with first-episode psychosis, 29 at clinical risk for psychosis, and 32 controls) were required to decipher a phoneme within ambiguous auditory input. Expectations were generated in two ways: an accompanying visual input of lip movements observed during auditory presentation or through written presentation of a phoneme provided prior to auditory presentation. We determined how these different types of information shaped auditory perceptual experience, how this was altered across the prodromal and established phases of psychosis, and how this relates to cingulate glutamate levels assessed by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The psychosis group relied more on high-level cognitive priors compared to both healthy controls and those at clinical risk for psychosis and relied more on low-level perceptual priors than the clinical risk group. The risk group was marginally less reliant on low-level perceptual priors than controls. The results are consistent with previous theory that influences of prior expectations in perceptions in psychosis differ according to level of prior and illness phase. What we perceive and believe in any given moment will allow us to form expectations about what we will experience in the next. In psychosis, it is believed that the influence of these so-called perceptual and cognitive “prior” expectations on perception are altered, thereby giving rise to the symptoms seen in psychosis. However, research thus far has found mixed evidence, some suggesting an increase in the influence of priors and some finding a decrease. Here we test the hypothesis that perceptual and cognitive priors are differentially affected in individuals at risk for psychosis and individuals with a first episode of psychosis, thereby partially explaining the mixed findings in the literature. We indeed found evidence in favor of this hypothesis, finding weaker perceptual priors in individuals at risk but stronger cognitive priors in individuals with first-episode psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Marius Mada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
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14
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Sorby-Adams AJ, Schneider WT, Goncalves RP, Knolle F, Morton AJ. Measuring executive function in sheep (Ovis aries) using visual stimuli in a semi-automated operant system. J Neurosci Methods 2020; 351:109009. [PMID: 33340554 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.109009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive impairment is a distinguishing feature of many neurodegenerative diseases. The intra-dimensional (ID) extra-dimensional (ED) attentional set shift task is part of a clinical battery of tests used to evaluate executive function in Huntington's and Alzheimer's disease patients. The IDED task, however, has not translated well to pre-clinical rodent models of neurological disease. NEW METHOD The ability to perform executive tasks coupled with a long lifespan makes sheep (Ovis aries) an ideal species for modelling cognitive decline in progressive neurodegenerative conditions. We describe the methodology for testing the performance of sheep in the IDED task using a semi-automated system in which visual stimuli are presented as coloured letters on computer screens. RESULTS During each stage of IDED testing, all sheep (n = 12) learned successfully to discriminate between different colours and letters. Sheep were quick to learn the rules of acquisition at each stage. They required significantly more trials to reach criterion (p < 0.05) and made more errors (p < 0.05) following stimulus reversal, with the exception of the ED shift (p > 0.05). COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S) Previous research shows that sheep can perform IDED set shifting in a walk-through maze using solid objects with two changeable dimensions (colour and shape) as the stimuli. Presenting the stimuli on computer screens provides better validity, greater task flexibility and higher throughput than the walk-through maze. CONCLUSION All sheep completed each stage of the task, with a range of abilities expected in an outbred population. The IDED task described is ideally suited as a quantifiable and clinically translatable measure of executive function in sheep.
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Affiliation(s)
- A J Sorby-Adams
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - W T Schneider
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - R P Goncalves
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - F Knolle
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Neurology, Klinikum recht der Isar, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - A J Morton
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
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15
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Avram M, Brandl F, Knolle F, Cabello J, Leucht C, Scherr M, Mustafa M, Koutsouleris N, Leucht S, Ziegler S, Sorg C. Aberrant striatal dopamine links topographically with cortico-thalamic dysconnectivity in schizophrenia. Brain 2020; 143:3495-3505. [PMID: 33155047 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awaa296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Aberrant dopamine function in the dorsal striatum and aberrant intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) between distinct cortical networks and thalamic nuclei are among the most consistent large-scale brain imaging findings in schizophrenia. A pathophysiological link between these two alterations is suggested by theoretical models based on striatal dopamine's topographic modulation of cortico-thalamic connectivity within cortico-basal-ganglia-thalamic circuits. We hypothesized that aberrant striatal dopamine links topographically with aberrant cortico-thalamic iFC, i.e. aberrant associative striatum dopamine is associated with aberrant iFC between the salience network and thalamus, and aberrant sensorimotor striatum dopamine with aberrant iFC between the auditory-sensorimotor network and thalamus. Nineteen patients with schizophrenia during remission of psychotic symptoms and 19 age- and sex-comparable control subjects underwent simultaneous fluorodihydroxyphenyl-l-alanine PET (18F-DOPA-PET) and resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). The influx constant kicer based on 18F-DOPA-PET was used to measure striatal dopamine synthesis capacity; correlation coefficients between rs-fMRI time series of cortical networks and thalamic regions of interest were used to measure iFC. In the salience network-centred system, patients had reduced associative striatum dopamine synthesis capacity, which correlated positively with decreased salience network-mediodorsal-thalamus iFC. This correlation was present in both patients and healthy controls. In the auditory-sensorimotor network-centred system, patients had reduced sensorimotor striatum dopamine synthesis capacity, which correlated positively with increased auditory-sensorimotor network-ventrolateral-thalamus iFC. This correlation was present in patients only. Results demonstrate that reduced striatal dopamine synthesis capacity links topographically with cortico-thalamic intrinsic dysconnectivity in schizophrenia. Data suggest that aberrant striatal dopamine and cortico-thalamic dysconnectivity are pathophysiologically related within dopamine-modulated cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic circuits in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihai Avram
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Nuclear Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany
| | - Felix Brandl
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jorge Cabello
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany
| | - Claudia Leucht
- Department of Psychiatry, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany
| | - Martin Scherr
- Department of Psychiatry, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany
| | - Mona Mustafa
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany
| | - Nikolaos Koutsouleris
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, 81377, Germany.,Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AB, UK
| | - Stefan Leucht
- Department of Psychiatry, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Psychosis studies, King's College London, UK
| | - Sibylle Ziegler
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, 81377, Germany
| | - Christian Sorg
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 81675, Germany
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Srivastava A, Chahar V, Sharma V, Acharya R, Ajith N, Swain KK, Knolle F, Maekawa M, Schnug E, Srivastava T. Quantification of multielements for mobilization study in water and sediments of Satluj River and Harike Wetland using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10967-020-07276-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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17
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Montagnese M, Knolle F, Haarsma J, Griffin JD, Richards A, Vertes PE, Kiddle B, Fletcher PC, Jones PB, Owen MJ, Fonagy P, Bullmore ET, Dolan RJ, Moutoussis M, Goodyer IM, Murray GK. Reinforcement learning as an intermediate phenotype in psychosis? Deficits sensitive to illness stage but not associated with polygenic risk of schizophrenia in the general population. Schizophr Res 2020; 222:389-396. [PMID: 32389614 PMCID: PMC7594641 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.04.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2019] [Revised: 01/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is a complex disorder in which the causal relations between risk genes and observed clinical symptoms are not well understood and the explanatory gap is too wide to be clarified without considering an intermediary level. Thus, we aimed to test the hypothesis of a pathway from molecular polygenic influence to clinical presentation occurring via deficits in reinforcement learning. METHODS We administered a reinforcement learning task (Go/NoGo) that measures reinforcement learning and the effect of Pavlovian bias on decision making. We modelled the behavioural data with a hierarchical Bayesian approach (hBayesDM) to decompose task performance into its underlying learning mechanisms. Study 1 included controls (n = 29, F|M = 0.81), At Risk Mental State for psychosis (ARMS, n = 23, F|M = 0.35) and FEP (First-episode psychosis, n = 26, F|M = 0.18). Study 2 included healthy adolescents (n = 735, F|M = 1.06), 390 of whom had their polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia (PRSs) calculated. RESULTS Patients with FEP showed significant impairments in overriding Pavlovian conflict, a lower learning rate and a lower sensitivity to both reward and punishment. Less widespread deficits were observed in ARMS. PRSs did not significantly predict performance on the task in the general population, which only partially correlated with measures of psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS Reinforcement learning deficits are observed in first episode psychosis and, to some extent, in those at clinical risk for psychosis, and were not predicted by molecular genetic risk for schizophrenia in healthy individuals. The study does not support the role of reinforcement learning as an intermediate phenotype in psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Joost Haarsma
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Juliet D Griffin
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Alex Richards
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, UK
| | - Petra E Vertes
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Beatrix Kiddle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Paul C Fletcher
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Wellcome Trust MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge, Biomedical Campus, United Kingdom; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough National Health Service Foundation Trust, Cambridge,United Kingdom
| | - Peter B Jones
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough National Health Service Foundation Trust, Cambridge,United Kingdom
| | - Michael J Owen
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, UK
| | - Peter Fonagy
- Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Edward T Bullmore
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough National Health Service Foundation Trust, Cambridge,United Kingdom
| | - Raymond J Dolan
- Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, United Kingdom; Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Moutoussis
- Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, United Kingdom; Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Ian M Goodyer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough National Health Service Foundation Trust, Cambridge,United Kingdom
| | - Graham K Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough National Health Service Foundation Trust, Cambridge,United Kingdom.
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18
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Knolle F, Garofalo S, Viviani R, Justicia A, Ermakova AO, Blank H, Williams GB, Arrondo G, Ramachandra P, Tudor-Sfetea C, Bunzeck N, Duezel E, Robbins TW, Barker RA, Murray GK. Altered subcortical emotional salience processing differentiates Parkinson's patients with and without psychotic symptoms. Neuroimage Clin 2020; 27:102277. [PMID: 32540629 PMCID: PMC7298672 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Revised: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 05/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Emotional salience processing differentiates PD patients with and without psychosis. Enhanced striatal, hippocampal and midbrain responses in PD patients with psychosis. Indication for ‘jumping to conclusions’ bias in the same PD patients with psychosis. Aberrant top-down and salience processing associated with PD psychosis. Similar deficits as proposed in ‘aberrant salience hypothesis’ of schizophrenia.
Objective Current research does not provide a clear explanation for why some patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) develop psychotic symptoms. The ‘aberrant salience hypothesis’ of psychosis has been influential and proposes that dopaminergic dysregulation leads to inappropriate attribution of salience to irrelevant/non-informative stimuli, facilitating the formation of hallucinations and delusions. The aim of this study is to investigate whether non-motivational salience is altered in PD patients and possibly linked to the development of psychotic symptoms. Methods We investigated salience processing in 14 PD patients with psychotic symptoms, 23 PD patients without psychotic symptoms and 19 healthy controls. All patients were on dopaminergic medication for their PD. We examined emotional salience using a visual oddball fMRI paradigm that has been used to investigate early stages of schizophrenia spectrum psychosis, controlling for resting cerebral blood flow as assessed with arterial spin labelling fMRI. Results We found significant differences between patient groups in brain responses to emotional salience. PD patients with psychotic symptoms had enhanced brain responses in the striatum, dopaminergic midbrain, hippocampus and amygdala compared to patients without psychotic symptoms. PD patients with psychotic symptoms showed significant correlations between the levels of dopaminergic drugs they were taking and BOLD signalling, as well as psychotic symptom scores. Conclusion Our study suggests that enhanced signalling in the striatum, dopaminergic midbrain, the hippocampus and amygdala is associated with the development of psychotic symptoms in PD, in line with that proposed in the ‘aberrant salience hypothesis’ of psychosis in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Knolle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Neuroradiology, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany.
| | - S Garofalo
- University of Bologna, Department of Psychology, Bologna, Italy
| | - R Viviani
- Institute of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria; Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Clinic III, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - A Justicia
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain
| | - A O Ermakova
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London, UK
| | - H Blank
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - G B Williams
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience and WT-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - G Arrondo
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - P Ramachandra
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - C Tudor-Sfetea
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - N Bunzeck
- Institute of Psychology I, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - E Duezel
- Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Magdeburg, Germany; German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
| | - T W Robbins
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - R A Barker
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience and WT-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - G K Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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19
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Knolle F, Schwartze M, Schröger E, Kotz SA. Auditory Predictions and Prediction Errors in Response to Self-Initiated Vowels. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:1146. [PMID: 31708737 PMCID: PMC6823252 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been suggested that speech production is accomplished by an internal forward model, reducing processing activity directed to self-produced speech in the auditory cortex. The current study uses an established N1-suppression paradigm comparing self- and externally initiated natural speech sounds to answer two questions: (1) Are forward predictions generated to process complex speech sounds, such as vowels, initiated via a button press? (2) Are prediction errors regarding self-initiated deviant vowels reflected in the corresponding ERP components? Results confirm an N1-suppression in response to self-initiated speech sounds. Furthermore, our results suggest that predictions leading to the N1-suppression effect are specific, as self-initiated deviant vowels do not elicit an N1-suppression effect. Rather, self-initiated deviant vowels elicit an enhanced N2b and P3a compared to externally generated deviants, externally generated standard, or self-initiated standards, again confirming prediction specificity. Results show that prediction errors are salient in self-initiated auditory speech sounds, which may lead to more efficient error correction in speech production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Department of Neuroradiology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Michael Schwartze
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Erich Schröger
- Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sonja A Kotz
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.,Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
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20
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Ermakova AO, Gileadi N, Knolle F, Justicia A, Anderson R, Fletcher PC, Moutoussis M, Murray GK. Cost Evaluation During Decision-Making in Patients at Early Stages of Psychosis. Comput Psychiatr 2019; 3:18-39. [PMID: 30931393 PMCID: PMC6436576 DOI: 10.1162/cpsy_a_00020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2018] [Accepted: 08/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Jumping to conclusions during probabilistic reasoning is a cognitive bias reliably observed in psychosis and linked to delusion formation. Although the reasons for this cognitive bias are unknown, one suggestion is that psychosis patients may view sampling information as more costly. However, previous computational modeling has provided evidence that patients with chronic schizophrenia jump to conclusions because of noisy decision-making. We developed a novel version of the classical beads task, systematically manipulating the cost of information gathering in four blocks. For 31 individuals with early symptoms of psychosis and 31 healthy volunteers, we examined the numbers of "draws to decision" when information sampling had no, a fixed, or an escalating cost. Computational modeling involved estimating a cost of information sampling parameter and a cognitive noise parameter. Overall, patients sampled less information than controls. However, group differences in numbers of draws became less prominent at higher cost trials, where less information was sampled. The attenuation of group difference was not due to floor effects, as in the most costly block, participants sampled more information than an ideal Bayesian agent. Computational modeling showed that, in the condition with no objective cost to information sampling, patients attributed higher costs to information sampling than controls did, Mann-Whitney U = 289, p = 0.007, with marginal evidence of differences in noise parameter estimates, t(60) = 1.86, p = 0.07. In patients, individual differences in severity of psychotic symptoms were statistically significantly associated with higher cost of information sampling, ρ = 0.6, p = 0.001, but not with more cognitive noise, ρ = 0.27, p = 0.14; in controls, cognitive noise predicted aspects of schizotypy (preoccupation and distress associated with delusion-like ideation on the Peters Delusion Inventory). Using a psychological manipulation and computational modeling, we provide evidence that early-psychosis patients jump to conclusions because of attributing higher costs to sampling information, not because of being primarily noisy decision makers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna O. Ermakova
- Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Services Development, East London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Nimrod Gileadi
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Azucena Justicia
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rachel Anderson
- School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Paul C. Fletcher
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michael Moutoussis
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging and Max Planck Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing, University College London, London, UK
| | - Graham K. Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
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Abstract
Response inhibition is a behavioural skill that is important for flexible behaviour and appropriate decision making. It requires the suppression of a prepotent, but inappropriate action, in order to achieve a more advantageous outcome. Response inhibition has been tested in many animal species using the cylinder task. This task requires the self-driven inhibition of an impulse to obtain a visible food reward via a detour, rather than a direct but blocked route. We have shown previously using the stop-signal task that sheep can successfully interrupt an already-started response, if a reward is going to be restricted. However, it is not known if sheep can show self-driven response inhibition in a task that provides a reward independent of performance. Here we tested two groups of sheep on the cylinder task (11 Lleyn sheep: aged 8 months; 8 Welsh mountain sheep aged ~8 years old). Sheep were trained using an opaque cylinder and all sheep successfully learned the task. When response inhibition was tested using the transparent cylinder, all sheep performed significantly better than chance, but the older sheep showed a reduced number of correct responses compared to the young sheep (72.5±5.0% and 86.4±4.3% respectively). The results show that sheep have a mechanism for self-regulating their actions in order to retrieve food faster.
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Murray GK, Knolle F, Ersche KD, Craig KJ, Abbott S, Shabbir SS, Fineberg NA, Suckling J, Sahakian BJ, Bullmore ET, Robbins TW. Dopaminergic drug treatment remediates exaggerated cingulate prediction error responses in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2019; 236:2325-2336. [PMID: 31201476 PMCID: PMC6695357 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-019-05292-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 05/30/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been found to show exaggerated error responses and prediction error learning signals in a variety of EEG and fMRI tasks, with data converging on the anterior cingulate cortex as a key locus of dysfunction. Considerable evidence has linked prediction error processing to dopaminergic function. OBJECTIVE In this study, we investigate potential dopaminergic dysfunction during reward processing in the context of OCD. METHODS We studied OCD patients (n = 18) and controls (n = 18) whilst they learned probabilistic associations between abstract stimuli and monetary rewards in the fMRI scanner involving administration (on separate visits) of a dopamine receptor agonist, pramipexole 0.5 mg; a dopamine receptor antagonist, amisulpride 400 mg; and placebo. We fitted a Q-learning computational model to fMRI prediction error responses; group differences were examined in anterior cingulate and nucleus accumbens regions of interest. RESULTS There were no significant group, drug, or interaction effects in the number of correct choices; computational modeling suggested a marginally significant difference in learning rates between groups (p = 0.089, partial ƞ2 = 0.1). In the imaging results, there was a significant interaction of group by drug (p = 0.013, partial ƞ2 = 0.13). OCD patients showed abnormally strong cingulate signaling of prediction errors during omission of an expected reward, with unexpected reduction by both pramipexole and amisulpride (p = 0.014, partial ƞ2 = 0.26, 1-β error probability = 0.94). Exaggerated cingulate prediction error signaling to omitted reward in placebo was related to trait subjective difficulty in self-regulating behavior in OCD. CONCLUSIONS Our data support cingulate dysfunction during reward processing in OCD, and bidirectional remediation by dopaminergic modulation, suggesting that exaggerated cingulate error signals in OCD may be of dopaminergic origin. The results help to illuminate the mechanisms through which dopamine receptor antagonists achieve therapeutic benefit in OCD. Further research is needed to disentangle the different functions of dopamine receptor agonists and antagonists during bidirectional modulation of cingulate activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Graham K. Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH UK ,Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK ,Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, CB21 5EF UK
| | - Franziska Knolle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, UK. .,Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN, UK.
| | - Karen D. Ersche
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH UK ,Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK
| | - Kevin J. Craig
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH UK ,Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK
| | - Sanja Abbott
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK ,Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK ,European Bioinformatics Institute, Cambridge, CB10 1SD UK
| | - Shaila S. Shabbir
- GlaxoSmithKline, Immuno-Inflammation Therapeutic Area Unit, Stevenage, UK
| | - Naomi A. Fineberg
- Department of Psychiatry, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, UK
| | - John Suckling
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH UK ,Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK
| | - Barbara J. Sahakian
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH UK ,Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK
| | - Edward T. Bullmore
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH UK ,Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK ,Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, CB21 5EF UK
| | - Trevor W. Robbins
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK ,Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN UK
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23
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Knolle F, Ermakova AO, Justicia A, Fletcher PC, Bunzeck N, Düzel E, Murray GK. Brain responses to different types of salience in antipsychotic naïve first episode psychosis: An fMRI study. Transl Psychiatry 2018; 8:196. [PMID: 30242202 PMCID: PMC6154975 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-018-0250-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Revised: 06/16/2018] [Accepted: 07/24/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Abnormal salience processing has been suggested to contribute to the formation of positive psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia and related conditions. Previous research utilising reward learning or anticipation paradigms has demonstrated cortical and subcortical abnormalities in people with psychosis, specifically in the prefrontal cortex, the dopaminergic midbrain and the striatum. In these paradigms, reward prediction errors attribute motivational salience to stimuli. However, little is known about possible abnormalities across different forms of salience processing in psychosis patients, and whether any such abnormalities involve the dopaminergic midbrain. The aim of our study was, therefore, to investigate possible alterations in psychosis in neural activity in response to various forms of salience: novelty, negative emotion, targetness (task-driven salience) and rareness/deviance. We studied 14 antipsychotic naïve participants with first episode psychosis, and 37 healthy volunteers. During fMRI scanning, participants performed a visual oddball task containing these four forms of salience. Psychosis patients showed abnormally reduced signalling in the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA) for novelty, negative emotional salience and targetness; reduced striatal and occipital (lingual gyrus) signalling to novelty and negative emotional salience, reduced signalling in the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex and parahippocamal gyrus to negative emotional salience, and reduced cerebellar signalling to novelty and negative emotional salience. Our results indicate alterations of several forms of salience processing in patients with psychosis in the midbrain SN/VTA, with additional subcortical and cortical regions also showing alterations in salience signalling, the exact pattern of alterations depending on the form of salience in question.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Anna O Ermakova
- Unit for Social & Community Psychiatry, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Services Development, East London NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Azucena Justicia
- Unit for Social & Community Psychiatry, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Services Development, East London NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute)., Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Paul C Fletcher
- Unit for Social & Community Psychiatry, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Services Development, East London NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Nico Bunzeck
- Institute of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Emrah Düzel
- Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Magdeburg, Germany
- German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Graham K Murray
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Unit for Social & Community Psychiatry, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Services Development, East London NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
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Knolle F, Goncalves RP, Morton AJ. Sheep recognize familiar and unfamiliar human faces from two-dimensional images. R Soc Open Sci 2017; 4:171228. [PMID: 29291109 PMCID: PMC5717684 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 10/04/2017] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
One of the most important human social skills is the ability to recognize faces. Humans recognize familiar faces easily, and can learn to identify unfamiliar faces from repeatedly presented images. Sheep are social animals that can recognize other sheep as well as familiar humans. Little is known, however, about their holistic face-processing abilities. In this study, we trained eight sheep (Ovis aries) to recognize the faces of four celebrities from photographic portraits displayed on computer screens. After training, the sheep chose the 'learned-familiar' faces rather than the unfamiliar faces significantly above chance. We then tested whether the sheep could recognize the four celebrity faces if they were presented in different perspectives. This ability has previously been shown only in humans. Sheep successfully recognized the four celebrity faces from tilted images. Interestingly, there was a drop in performance with the tilted images (from 79.22 ± 7.5% to 66.5 ± 4.1%) of a magnitude similar to that seen when humans perform this task. Finally, we asked whether sheep could recognize a very familiar handler from photographs. Sheep identified the handler in 71.8 ± 2.3% of the trials without pretraining. Together these data show that sheep have advanced face-recognition abilities, comparable with those of humans and non-human primates.
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25
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Knolle F, Vallotton CD, Ayoub CC. Maltreated Children Use More Grammatical Negations. J Child Fam Stud 2017; 27:453-464. [PMID: 29456440 PMCID: PMC5801388 DOI: 10.1007/s10826-017-0905-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Many studies reveal a strong impact of childhood maltreatment on language development, mainly resulting in shorter utterances, less rich vocabulary, or a delay in grammatical complexity. However, different theories suggest the possibility for resilience-a positive adaptation to an otherwise adverse environment-in children who experienced childhood maltreatment. Here, we investigated different measures for language development in spontaneous speech, examining whether childhood maltreatment leads to a language deficit only or whether it can also result in differences in language use due to a possible adaptation to a toxic environment. We compared spontaneous speech during therapeutic peer-play sessions of 32 maltreated and 32 non-maltreated children from the same preschool and equivalent in gender, age (2 to 5 years), home neighborhood, ethnicity, and family income. Maltreatment status was reported by formal child protection reports, and corroborated by independent social service reports. We investigated general language sophistication (i.e., vocabulary, talkativeness, mean length of utterance), as well as grammatical development (i.e., use of plurals, tense, grammatical negations). We found that maltreated and non-maltreated children showed similar sophistication across all linguistic measures, except for the use of grammatical negations. Maltreated children used twice as many grammatical negations as non-maltreated children. The use of this highly complex grammatical structure shows an advanced linguistic skill, which shows that childhood maltreatment does not necessarily lead to a language deficit. The result might indicate the development of a negativity bias in the structure of spontaneous language due to an adaptation to their experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Claire D. Vallotton
- Human Development & Family Studies, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA
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Srivastava A, Chahar V, Sharma V, Sun Y, Bol R, Knolle F, Schnug E, Hoyler F, Naskar N, Lahiri S, Patnaik R. Study of uranium toxicity using low-background gamma-ray spectrometry. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10967-017-5466-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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27
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Knolle F, McBride SD, Stewart JE, Goncalves RP, Morton AJ. A stop-signal task for sheep: introduction and validation of a direct measure for the stop-signal reaction time. Anim Cogn 2017; 20:615-626. [PMID: 28389761 PMCID: PMC5486475 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1085-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2016] [Revised: 01/11/2017] [Accepted: 03/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) patients show reduced flexibility in inhibiting an already-started response. This can be quantified by the stop-signal task. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a sheep version of the stop-signal task that would be suitable for monitoring the progression of cognitive decline in a transgenic sheep model of HD. Using a semi-automated operant system, sheep were trained to perform in a two-choice discrimination task. In 22% of the trials, a stop-signal was presented. Upon the stop-signal presentation, the sheep had to inhibit their already-started response. The stopping behaviour was captured using an accelerometer mounted on the back of the sheep. This set-up provided a direct read-out of the individual stop-signal reaction time (SSRT). We also estimated the SSRT using the conventional approach of subtracting the stop-signal delay (i.e., time after which the stop-signal is presented) from the ranked reaction time during a trial without a stop-signal. We found that all sheep could inhibit an already-started response in 91% of the stop-trials. The directly measured SSRT (0.974 ± 0.04 s) was not significantly different from the estimated SSRT (0.938 ± 0.04 s). The sheep version of the stop-signal task adds to the repertoire of tests suitable for investigating both cognitive dysfunction and efficacy of therapeutic agents in sheep models of neurodegenerative disease such as HD, as well as neurological conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
| | - Sebastian D McBride
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Penglais, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 4SD, UK
| | - James E Stewart
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
| | - Rita P Goncalves
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
| | - A Jennifer Morton
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK.
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28
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Knolle F, Schröger E, Kotz SA. Cerebellar contribution to the prediction of self-initiated sounds. Cortex 2012; 49:2449-61. [PMID: 23318086 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2012] [Revised: 11/01/2012] [Accepted: 12/11/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In everyday life we frequently make the fundamental distinction between sensory input resulting from our own actions and sensory input that is externally-produced. It has been speculated that making this distinction involves the use of an internal forward-model, which enables the brain to adjust its response to self-produced sensory input. In the auditory domain, this idea has been supported by event-related potential and evoked-magnetic field studies revealing that self-initiated sounds elicit a suppressed N100/M100 brain response compared to externally-produced sounds. Moreover, a recent study reveals that patients with cerebellar lesions do not show a significant N100-suppression effect. This result supports the theory that the cerebellum is essential for generating internal forward predictions. However, all except one study compared self-initiated and externally-produced auditory stimuli in separate conditions. Such a setup prevents an unambiguous interpretation of the N100-suppression effect when distinguishing self- and externally-produced sensory stimuli: the N100-suppression can also be explained by differences in the allocation of attention in different conditions. In the current electroencephalography (EEG)-study we investigated the N100-suppression effect in an altered design comparing (i) self-initiated sounds to externally-produced sounds that occurred intermixed with these self-initiated sounds (i.e., both sound types occurred in the same condition) or (ii) self-initiated sounds to externally-produced sounds that occurred in separate conditions. Results reveal that the cerebellum generates selective predictions in response to self-initiated sounds independent of condition type: cerebellar patients, in contrast to healthy controls, do not display an N100-suppression effect in response to self-initiated sounds when intermixed with externally-produced sounds. Furthermore, the effect is not influenced by the temporal proximity of externally-produced sounds to self-produced sounds. Controls and patients showed a P200-reduction in response to self-initiated sounds. This suggests the existence of an additional and probably more conscious mechanism for identifying self-generated sounds that does not functionally depend on the cerebellum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- Research Group "Subcortical Contributions to Comprehension", Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
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Knolle F, Schröger E, Kotz SA. Prediction errors in self- and externally-generated deviants. Biol Psychol 2012; 92:410-6. [PMID: 23246535 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.11.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2012] [Revised: 11/22/2012] [Accepted: 11/22/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Sounds generated by one's own action elicit attenuated brain responses compared to brain responses to identical sounds that are externally-generated. The present study tested whether the suppression effect indexed by the N1- and P2-components of the event-related potential (ERP) is larger when self-generated sounds are correctly predicted than when they are not. Furthermore, sounds violating a prediction lead to a particular prediction error signal (i.e., N2b, P3a). Thus, we tested whether these error signals increase for self-generated sounds (i.e., enhanced N2b, P3a). We compared ERPs elicited by self- and externally-generated sounds that were of frequent standard and of infrequent deviant pitch. The results confirmed an N1- and P2-suppression effect elicited by self-generated standard sounds. The N1-suppression was smaller in response to self-initiated deviant sounds, indicating the specificity of predictions for self-generated sounds. In addition, an enhancement of N2b and P3a for self-generated deviants revealed the saliency of prediction error signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- Research Group Subcortical Contributions to Comprehension, Dept of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute of Human Cognition and Brain Science, Leipzig, Germany.
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Abstract
Forward predictions are crucial in motor action (e.g., catching a ball, or being tickled) but may also apply to sensory or cognitive processes (e.g., listening to distorted speech or to a foreign accent). According to the "internal forward model," the cerebellum generates predictions about somatosensory consequences of movements. These predictions simulate motor processes and prepare respective cortical areas for anticipated sensory input. Currently, there is very little evidence that a cerebellar forward model also applies to other sensory domains. In the current study, we address this question by examining the role of the cerebellum when auditory stimuli are anticipated as a consequence of a motor act. We applied an N100 suppression paradigm and compared the ERP in response to self-initiated with the ERP response to externally produced sounds. We hypothesized that sensory consequences of self-initiated sounds are precisely predicted and should lead to an N100 suppression compared with externally produced sounds. Moreover, if the cerebellum is involved in the generation of a motor-to-auditory forward model, patients with focal cerebellar lesions should not display an N100 suppression effect. Compared with healthy controls, patients showed a largely attenuated N100 suppression effect. The current results suggest that the cerebellum forms not only motor-to-somatosensory predictions but also motor-to-auditory predictions. This extends the cerebellar forward model to other sensory domains such as audition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Knolle
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
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