Category Archives: Neuroscience

Neuroscience

The Sensations Experienced in Reading Poetry – Neuroscience News

Summary: Using neuroscience concepts, researchers evaluate the emotional sensation and analytical representations that occur as we read poetry.

Source: Tallinn University

In addition to searching for the meaning of poems, they can also often be described through the emotions that the reader feels while reading them.

Kristiine Kikas, a doctoral student at the School of Humanities of Tallinn University, studied which other sensations arise whilst reading poetry and how they affect the understanding of poems.

The aim of the doctoral thesis was to study the palpability of language, i.e. sensory saturation, which has not found sufficient analysis and application so far.

In my research, I see reading as an impersonal process, meaning the sensations that arise do not seem to belong to either the reader or the poetry, but to both at the same time, Kikas describes the perspective of her thesis.

In general, the language of poetry is studied metaphorically, in order to try to understand what a word means either directly or figuratively. A different perspective called affective perspective usually studies the effects of pre-linguistic impulses or impulses not related to the meaning of the word on the reader.

However, Kikas viewed language as a simultaneous proposition and flow of consciousness, i.e. a discussion moving from one statement to another as well as connections that seem to occur intuitively while reading.

She sought to identify ways to approach verbal language, that is considered to trigger analytical thinking in particular, in a way that would help open up sensory saturation and put their observation in poetic analysis at the forefront along with other modes of studying poetry.

To achieve her goals, Kikas applied Gilles Deleuzes method of radical empiricism and compared several other approaches with it: semiotics, biology, anthropology, modern psychoanalysis and cognitive sciences.

Kikas describes reading in her doctoral thesis as a constant presence in verbal language, which is sometimes more and sometimes less pronounced. This type of presence can be felt like colour, posture or birdsong.

Following the neuroscientific origins of metaphors, I used the human organisms tendency to perceive language at the sensory-motor level in my close reading to help replay it using body memory. This trait allows us to physically experience the words we read, explains Kikas.

According to her, the sensations stored in the body evoked by words can be considered the oneness of the reader and the words, or the readers becoming the words. Kikas emphasises that this can only happen if the multiplicity of sensations and meanings that arise during reading are recognized.

Although the study showed that the saturation associated with verbal language cannot be linked to a broader literary discourse without representational and analytical thinking, the conclusion is that noticing and acknowledging them is important in both experiencing and interpreting the poem, summarises Kikas her doctoral thesis.

As her research was only the first attempt in examining sensations in poetry, Kikas hopes to provide material for further discussion.

Above all, she encourages readers in their attempts to understand poetry to notice and trust even the slightest sensations and impulses triggered while reading, as these are the beginning of even the most abstract meaning.

Author: Kristiine KikasSource: Tallinn UniversityContact: Kristiine Kikas Tallinn UniversityImage: The image is in the public domain

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The Sensations Experienced in Reading Poetry - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Age 40 Is When Busy Americans Get the Least Sleep – Neuroscience News

Summary: Sleep efficiency dips for most around age 40, increasing again at around age 50. Researchers say that for most aged 60 and older, sleep duration increases.

Source: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

A graph of how long Americans sleep forms a U-shaped pattern across our lives, with age 40 being the low point and hours of sleep starting to creep back up about age 50,Medical College of Georgiainvestigators report.

Our sleep efficiency, which basically means how much of the time we devote to sleeping that we actually sleep, tends to decrease across our lifetime, but investigators were surprised to find efficiency stabilized from ages 30 to 60, saysDr. Xiaoling Wang, genetic epidemiologist at MCGsGeorgia Prevention Instituteand corresponding author of the study in the journalScientific Reports.

True sleep time is tough to measure in a large database of individuals who provide a representative sample of the country, particularly since most assessments are self-reports of sleep, says first author,Dr. Shaoyong Su, also a genetic epidemiologist at the Georgia Prevention Institute and the studys first author.

The main innovations in the study include its representative sampling technique, broadly inclusive age and the use of accelerometers to measure movement and get a more objective idea of how much participants slept.

For this study, investigators used what is considered a representative sample of 200 million Americans: 11,279 participants age 6 and older from theNational Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, which focuses on different populations or health topics. Data on these participants was collected from 2011-14 but released in late 2020, and this is the first time that 24-hour accelerometer data was available in a nationally representative sample.

Participants wore accelerometers on their nondominant wrist 24-hours a day for seven consecutive days. While the device does not directly measure sleep time, the premise is that measuring movement gives you some indication of whether you are asleep or not, says coauthorDr. Vaughn McCall, chair of the MCGDepartment of Psychiatry and Health Behaviorand an expert in the trifecta of insomnia, depression and suicide.

We confirmed previous findings based on subjective measurement, Su says. People think children and adolescents sleep later and we found this. And, during middle age people sleep less and our findings support that objectively. Additionally, sleep duration is increased for those age 60 and older, he says.

In this more objective assessment of sleep parameters based on movement, investigators found again that generally nighttime sleep decreases as our age increases, although they saw the U shape emerge as sleep duration dropped significantly from about age 10 into the 50s and get a little longer after that. Studies of a large population of Japanese and French residents have shown a similar pattern.

The increased sleep time later in life may reflect the reality that most Americans still retire in their 60s and simply dont need to get up as early. Health problems and not feeling well may be another reason older American sleep longer, the investigators write, and more study is needed to look at those potential associations.

Sleep efficiency basically the time you actually sleep versus the time you have dedicated to sleep, with 85% considered good also tends to decrease with age, although the investigators found it stabilized from ages 30 to 60, indicating that adults maintain sleep efficiency for a long period, but may get the least sleep in their busy middle age.

Traditionally people think sleep efficiency goes straight down with age, but we did find there is a stable period, from ages 30 to 60 years old, that you have quite stable sleep efficiency, Wang says.

They found females generally sleep longer than males across their lives but tend to go to sleep later, particularly as they get older, and get interrupted more, particularly in taking care of children, but still net about four minutes more sleep than males.

The investigators were surprised to find that males and females were equally sleep efficient since females are more likely to report worse sleep quality and more sleep disturbances. While more study is needed to understand sex differences in sleep, sex differences should already be considered in studies and treatment of sleep health, the investigators write.

Females sleep onset time tended to be about five minutes later than males, but before age 20 males went to bed later.

Young American adults about age 20 had the latest CTSO, or clock time for sleep onset, which is considered the time participants actually went to sleep, and high school students had the biggest weekday/weekend differences between the time they went to sleep and awakened. Those weekday/weeknight differentials only happened in school- and work-age individuals with children ages 14-17 showing the biggest differences.

For school-age children the CTSO was 9:30 pm, which was not surprising, but that time got later though high school and hit the peak around age 21 when the average time was closer to 11:30 pm, McCall says, adding he thought it would actually be even later. The investigators note that 25% of children ages 6 to 13 had a CTSO close to 11 pm.

While there may be societal reasons, like social demands and use of electronic media right before bedtime, these patterns also may reflect biological changes that occur during adolescence, they write. But the collective impact may be fatigue, behavioral problems and less academic success, they write.

As they move into their 20s, a lot of people transition to work life and the CTSO begins to reverse, he says. You hit the years where you are raising children and you are working and then what happens around the time of retirement? Your whole schedule begins to change, McCall notes, and the CTSO gets later again.

Black Americans tended to have some of the most troublesome sleep parameters, generally going to sleep later, sleeping less hours and less efficiently, than other races including Mexican Americans, the investigators found.

In the apparent first report of its kind, Mexican Americans had the earliest sleep onset and longest sleep time but were not necessarily efficient sleepers. The findings point to the need for more research on racial disparities in sleep that take into account social and cultural factors as well as biological and genetic factors, the investigators say.

A recent editorial in the Sleep Research Society journalSleep Advanceson cardiovascular health disparities, reports that sleep disorders and insufficient sleep are emerging as contributing factors to disparities in cardiovascular outcomes in Black patients.

For example, obstructive sleep apnea, which affects about 26% of adults age 30-70 and tends to be more severe in Blacks, has been linked to an increased risk of hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure and other maladies.

The investigators, including first author MCG pulmonologist Dr. William J. Healy, hypothesize that innovative approaches to addressing disparities in sleep care delivery will reduce both sleep health disparities and potentially cardiovascular health disparities.

One thing we cannot overestimate is the impact of sleep, notes Wang. Without sufficient sleep, you overuse your body, she says, and your ability to adjust to less sleep decreases with age.

While insufficient sleep itself is a risk factor for a myriad of health problems from obesity to diabetes to cardiovascular disease, it may also be an indicator of disease, says McCall who says how we sleep is like a canary in a coal mine and that sleep complaints may be an indication of mental or physical health problems.

I think what these sleep parameters mean in terms of peoples health is that if you are a physician or other provider and patients comes in with some kind of complaint about their sleep, you need to interpret what they tell you in light of their stage in life and what their likely sleep patterns are going to be, McCall says.

For example, with a 22-year-old complaining of insomnia, some of his first questions would be what time do you go to bed and how long did it take to fall asleep.

I dont look at our findings necessarily as a benchmark of perfect health, McCall says. I look at this as a benchmark of what is happening in America.

Our more natural instincts across our lifetime likely are to go to sleep when it gets dark and wake up with the light, but life and obligations interfere with following the more natural 24-hour cycle of our internal circadian clocks, the investigators say.

Babies sleep patterns tend to follow these more natural circadian rhythms, Su notes. The frontier days, before television, the internet and mobile phones, likely had more of us sleeping like babies, McCall says.

Is it in the biology of a 20-year-old to always go to bed late or is it due to the fact that they have friends that they are engaged with and they have parties and college keg night? I think there is a lot of societal influence here, McCall says. Life gets in the way.

The Georgia Prevention Institute, which has a longstanding focus on cardiovascular disease prevention, also has been using NHANES to look at how circadian misalignment, that can result from sleeping poorly, plays a role in human disease.

TheNational Sleep Foundationsays healthy adults need seven to nine hours of sleep, those over 65 need seven to eight hours and babies, young children and teens need more sleep than healthy adults to enable growth and development. Newborns, who rarely sleep through the night, need 14 to 17 hours including naps.

Xanyan Xu, a graduate student in genomic medicine at AU studying with Wang is a coauthor of the study. Co-author Dr. Xinyue Li, a biostatistician in the School of Data Science at City University of Hong Kong, used an algorithm she developed to better assess actual sleep time using information provided by the accelerometer.

Funding: The researchers are supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.

Author: Toni BakerSource: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta UniversityContact: Toni Baker Medical College of Georgia at Augusta UniversityImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Epidemiology of accelerometer-based sleep parameters in US school-aged children and adults: NHANES 20112014 by Xiaoling Wang et al. Scientific Reports

Abstract

Epidemiology of accelerometer-based sleep parameters in US school-aged children and adults: NHANES 20112014

We aimed to provide objectively measured sleep parameters across lifespan by sex and race in a national representative sample of US population.

The study included 11,279 participants 6years and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 20112014, who had at least 3days of valid sleep parameters calculated from 7-day 24-h accelerometer recording.

Sleep duration showed a U-shaped association with age and reached the minimum at age 40 and started to increase again around age 50. The clock time for sleep onset (CTSO) delayed with age and reached the maximum at about age 20. CTSO then advanced until age 50, leveled off until age 70, then advanced again after age 70.

Sleep efficiency showed an overall decreasing trend across the lifespan but stabilized from age 30 to about age 60. US young adults in age 20s are the ones who slept at the latest around midnight, while the middle aged US residents between 40 and 50years old slept the least.

Females generally present longer sleep duration than males, while more likely to have later sleep onset, particularly at older ages. Non-Hispanic Blacks showed worse sleep characteristics, i.e. sleep later, sleep shorter, and sleep less efficiently, compared to other racial groups.

In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights on the characteristics of sleep habits of residents of the United States by using objectively measurements of sleep parameters and will help guide personalized advice on sleep hygiene.

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Age 40 Is When Busy Americans Get the Least Sleep - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

The Salk Institute promotes three faculty members in the field of neuroscience – Salk Institute

June 10, 2022 June 10, 2022

LA JOLLAThree Salk Institute faculty members have been promoted based on their outstanding scientific contributions. They are leaders who have made original, innovative and notable contributions to neuroscience. Assistant Professors Kenta Asahina and Eiman Azim were promoted to associate professor, and Associate Research Professor Margarita Behrens was promoted to research professor.

These are well-deserved promotions for an extremely talented group of scientists, says Salk President Rusty Gage. Kenta, Eiman and Marga are all innovative leaders in the field of neuroscience and bring a high level of passion and insight to the Salk community. We are elated to support their continued work at Salk.

Credit: Salk Institute

Kenta Asahina, holder of the Helen McLoraine Developmental Chair in Neurobiology, conducts research on the genetic and neural basis of social interactions as part of the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory. To study the basis of animal social behavior, Asahina uses the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism for understanding the genes and brain cells that cause behavioral responses, such as aggression, escape and courtship. His discoveries include a molecule released from brain cells associated with aggressive behavior in Drosophila. This same molecule was linked to aspects of aggressive behavior in mammalian models, which suggests it may serve as a therapeutic target for alleviating some behavioral symptoms associated with mental and psychiatric disorders.

Eiman Azim, who holds the William Scandling Development Chair, conducts research in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, where he studies how the nervous system guides movement. Understanding how movements are learned, planned, executed and corrected can teach us more about the ways our brains coordinate complex motions such as reaching, grasping and object manipulation. By dissecting the movement pathways one element at a time, Azim aims to pinpoint neural circuits and piece together the underpinnings of skilled motions. Dexterous movements of the arms and hands are critical functions often affected by neurodegenerative disease and injury, and Azims work seeks to lay the groundwork for better treatments and recovery of function.

Margarita Behrens is a member of the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, where she studies brain development and disruption. From birth to adulthood our brains activate or inhibit cells in response to our environments. However, this context-dependent regulatory mechanism may go awry in some individuals as they develop. Behrens focuses on the interplay between our environments and cellular processes to determine why some people develop brain disorders while others do not. She also investigates brain circuit formation and disruption within the regions responsible for planning, reasoning and decision-making. By charting how cells control gene activity and changes that occur during cell maturation, Behrens work could lead to a better understanding of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and autism.

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The Salk Institute promotes three faculty members in the field of neuroscience - Salk Institute

Neuroscience

Role of Lifestyle Factors in Alzheimer’s Risk and Disparities – Neuroscience News

Summary: Adopting a healthy lifestyle or adopting minor lifestyle changes helps reduce the risks of developing Alzheimers disease, especially for those from a lower socioeconomic background.

Source: American Society for Nutrition

As rates of Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia continue to rise in the U.S., new evidence suggests that lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and sleep play an important role in reducing the risk of developing dementia.

Researchers say two new studies offer particular insights into the factors that may contribute to the disproportionate burden of dementia in non-White and low-income U.S. populations.

Our findings support the beneficial role ofhealthy lifestylesin the prevention of Alzheimers disease and related dementias among senior Americans, including those with socioeconomic disadvantages and a high risk of dementia, said Danxia Yu, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Epidemiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the studys lead author.

We should recognize that it is challenging for people facing systemic and structural disadvantages to maintain healthy lifestyles or make lifestyle changes. It is critical to establish public health strategies to make lifestyle modifications achievable for all, especially disadvantaged populations.

Yu and her team will present the findings from two studies online at Nutrition 2022 Live Online, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held June 14-16.

The research was published online June 13, 2022, inNeurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The research is from the Southern Community Cohort Study, a long-term research study launched in 2001 to investigate the root causes of various diseases and health disparities.

Around 85,000 participants were recruited from community health centers in the southeastern U.S. and two-thirds of participants are Black, giving the study among the highest representation of African-Americans of any large U.S. research cohort. Researchers used Medicare claims data to track Alzheimers diagnoses among participants over age 65.

For the first study, researchers drew data from 17,209 older study participants, 1,694 of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimers or related dementias during a median follow-up of 4 years. They assessed five lifestyle factorssmoking, alcohol use, leisure-time physical activity, sleep hours and diet qualityboth individually and in combination.

The results showed that healthy choices (no smoking, high leisure-time exercise, low-to-moderate alcohol consumption, adequate sleep and a high-quality diet) were individually associated with an 11-25% reduced risk of Alzheimers disease and related dementias.

When combined, a composite score of those five lifestyle factors was associated with a 36% reduced risk in the highest versus lowest quartile. These associations were independent of participants age, sex, race, education, income and underlying chronic diseases.

For the second study, researchers drew data from 14,500 older study participants, of whom 1,402 developed Alzheimers or related dementias. In this group, they analyzed intakes of four major classes of dietary polyphenolsflavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes and lignansand their subclasses, using a validated food frequency questionnaire and polyphenol databases.

Polyphenols are a large class of compounds commonly found in tea, red wine, chocolate, berries and other foods and have been associated with a variety of health benefits.

In this study, researchers found a significant difference in intake of polyphenols amongracial groups, with White participants consuming a median of about twice the amount of total polyphenols as Black participants daily.

Overall there was no significant association between total dietary polyphenol intake and incidence of Alzheimers disease and related dementias in either race; however, certain flavonoids were associated with areduced riskamong Black participants but not White participants.

The findings showed Black participants in the top quartile for tea consumption had a 28% lower incidence of Alzheimers than Black participants in the lowest quartile for tea consumption.

While both studies are observational and did not assess the mechanisms behind the associations, researchers said that healthy lifestyles, including healthy eating, may help protect brain health by improving glucose and lipid metabolism and reducing inflammation and psychological stress.

Yu said more research is needed to further elucidate the relationship betweenlifestyle factorsand Alzheimers disease among diverse populations.

Black Americans and people withlow socioeconomic statusare disproportionately affected by the disease but have been largely underrepresented in epidemiologic studies, Yu said.

Identifying modifiable factors for the prevention of Alzheimers disease and related dementias among low-income people of different races and ethnicities is a critical public health issue.

Author: Press OfficeSource: American Society for NutritionContact: Press Office American Society for NutritionImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Closed access.Association of Healthy Lifestyles with Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias in Low-Income Black and White Americans by Jae Jeong Yang et al. Neurology

Closed access.Association of Diabetes and Hypertension With Brain Structural Integrity and Cognition in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study Cohort by Yi Guan et al. Neurology

Abstract

Association of Healthy Lifestyles with Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias in Low-Income Black and White Americans

Objective:While the importance of healthy lifestyles for preventing Alzheimers disease and related dementias (ADRD) has been recognized, epidemiologic evidence remains limited for non-White or low-income individuals who bear disproportionate burdens of ADRD.

This population-based cohort study aims to investigate associations of lifestyle factors, individually and together, with the risk of ADRD among socioeconomically disadvantaged Americans.

Methods:In the Southern Community Cohort Study, comprising two-thirds self-reported Black and primarily low-income Americans, we identified incident ADRD using claims data among participants enrolled in Medicare for at least 12 consecutive months after age 65.

Five lifestyle factorstobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), sleep hours, and diet quality were each scored 0 (unhealthy), 1 (intermediate), or 2 (healthy) based on health guidelines.

A composite lifestyle score was created by summing all scores. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs, 95% CIs) for incident ADRD, treating death as a competing risk.

Results:We identified 1,694 patients with newly diagnosed ADRD among 17,209 participants during a median follow-up of 4.0 years in claims data; the mean age at ADRD diagnosis was 74.0 years.

Healthy lifestyles were individually associated with 11%-25% reduced risk of ADRD: multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) was 0.87 (0.76-0.99) for never vs. current smoking, 0.81 (0.72-0.92) for low-to-moderate vs. no alcohol consumption, 0.89 (0.77-1.03) for 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous LTPA each week vs. none, 0.75 (0.64-0.87) for 7-9 hours vs. >9 hours of sleep, and 0.85 (0.75-0.96) for the highest vs. lowest tertiles of Healthy Eating Index.

The composite lifestyle score showed a dose-response association with up to 36% reduced risk of ADRD: multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) across quartiles were 1 (ref), 0.88 (0.77-0.99), 0.79 (0.70-0.90), and 0.64 (0.55-0.74);p-trend<0.001. The beneficial associations were observed regardless of participants sociodemographics (e.g., race, education, and income) and health conditions (e.g., history of cardiometabolic diseases and depression).

Conclusion:Our findings support significant benefits of healthy lifestyles for ADRD prevention among socioeconomically disadvantaged Americans, suggesting that promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing barriers to lifestyle changes are crucial to tackling the growing burden and disparities posed by ADRD.

Abstract

Association of Diabetes and Hypertension With Brain Structural Integrity and Cognition in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study Cohort

Background and ObjectivesThe Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (BPRHS) is a longitudinal study following self-identified Puerto Rican older adults living in the Greater Boston area. Studies have shown higher prevalence of hypertension (HTN) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) within this ethnic group compared to age-matched non-Hispanic White adults.

In this study, we investigated the associations of HTN and T2D comorbidity on brain structural integrity and cognitive capacity in community-dwelling Puerto Rican adults and compared these measures with older adult participants (non-Hispanic White and Hispanic) from the Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and National Alzheimers Coordinating Center (NACC) databases.

MethodsBPRHS participants who underwent brain MRI and cognitive testing were divided into 4 groups based on their HTN and T2D status: HTN/T2D, HTN+/T2D, HTN/T2D+, and HTN+/T2D+.

We assessed microstructural integrity of white matter (WM) pathways using diffusion MRI, brain macrostructural integrity using hippocampal volumes, and brain age using T1-weighted MRI and cognitive test scores. BPRHS results were then compared with results from non-Hispanic White and Hispanic participants from the ADNI and NACC databases.

ResultsThe prevalence of HTN was almost 2 times (66.7% vs 38.7%) and of T2D was 5 times (31.8% vs 6.6.%) higher in BPRHS than in ADNI non-Hispanic White participants. Diffusion MRI showed clear deterioration patterns in major WM tracts in the HTN+/T2D+ group and, to a lesser extent, in the HTN+/T2D group compared to the HTN/T2D group. HTN+/T2D+ participants also had the smallest hippocampal volume and larger brain aging deviations.

Trends toward lower executive function and global cognitive scores were observed in HTN+/T2D+ relative to HTN/T2D individuals. MRI measures and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores from the HTN+/T2D+ BPRHS group resembled those of ADNI White participants with progressive mild cognitive impairment (MCI), while the BPRHS HTN/T2D participants resembled participants with stable MCI.

The BPRHS was not significantly different from the ADNI + NACC Hispanic cohort on imaging or MMSE measures.

DiscussionThe effects of T2D and HTN comorbidity led to greater brain structural disruptions than HTN alone. The high prevalence of HTN and T2D in the Puerto Rican population may be a key factor contributing to health disparities in cognitive impairment in this group compared to non-Hispanic White adults in the same age range.

Trial Registration InformationClinicalTrials.gov identifier:NCT01231958.

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Role of Lifestyle Factors in Alzheimer's Risk and Disparities - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Linked to Hormone-Sensitive Brain Disorder – Neuroscience News

Summary: A new study reveals that 34% of people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) have attempted suicide. Researchers say PMDD is an independent contributor to suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Source: University of Illinois

A new global study published in BMC Psychiatry reports that 34% of people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder have attempted suicide.

The study is the largest of its kind to examine rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among people diagnosed with the disorder by a health care provider based on daily symptom ratings, the only reliable method currently available.

Because previous studies of suicide and ideation have relied on less valid self-reported measures of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which is commonly called PMDD, the new findings offer the strongest scientific evidence to date that the disorder is likely an independent contributor to suicidal thoughts and actions.

Weve uncovered an extremely worrying rate of suicide ideation and attempts among those with PMDD, highlighting the need to take this issue seriously, said Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, assistant professor of psychiatry at theUniversity of Illinois Chicagoand lead author of the study.

These findings offer powerful evidence that the link between PMDD and suicide is independent of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or other mental health conditions that are known to increase ideation and attempts.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a cyclical, hormone-based disorder that impacts approximately 1 in 20 reproductive-age women who were assigned female at birth. The condition is often underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed or dismissed entirely by medical professionals, despite patient reports of debilitating anxiety, hopelessness and a variety of physical symptoms in the two weeks before menses.

To better understand PMDD, the researchers analyzed information from the Global Survey of Premenstrual Disorders, which included 3,153 people from over 56 countries and more than 2,000 responses.

The survey was conducted by theInternational Association for Premenstrual Disorders,Me v PMDDandVicious Cycleto help understand the scope of premenstrual disorders and the impact of PMDD.

Analysis of the information provided by the 599 respondents who reported a prior daily ratings-based diagnosis of PMDD by a health care provider (23% of respondents) revealed that 34% have attempted suicide during a PMDD episode. On average, patients waited 12 years and saw around six providers before receiving an accurate diagnosis of PMDD.

The data also showed high rates of lifetime active suicidal ideation (72%), planning (49%), intent (42%) and preparing (40%) for an attempt, and non-suicidal self-injury (51%) among patients with PMDD diagnoses.

Low-to-moderate income, history of major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder and nulliparity never giving birth were predictors of lifetime active suicidal ideation and attempts. Older age and borderline personality disorder were additional predictors of lifetime attempts.

Rates of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors also were broken down by those with only PMDD and those with PMDD who also reported having received at least one other mental health diagnosis, like depression.

Even among those who had never received another mental health diagnosis, rates were high: 67% reported active suicidal ideation, compared to 74% who also had psychological comorbidity, for example.

Eisenlohr-Moul said shed expect to see a far greater difference in rates between categories if thoughts and behaviors were only, or even mostly, due to other underlying mental health problems.

The data suggests to her that women who are neurobiologically sensitive to hormone changes, as in the case with PMDD, may be at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behavior.

One of the big challenges with PMDD is that the medical community has not just been slow to understand this condition but even to believe it exists, said Eisenlohr-Moul, who is also chair of IAPMDs clinical advisory board.

Providers and communities often dismiss patients concerns, in part because womens complaints are less likely to be taken seriously than mens but also because of persistent and even sexist stigma and misconceptions around menstruation in general.

PMDD is not a hormone imbalance. It is a neurobiological sensitivity to natural and normal changes in progesterone and estrogen levels, she said.

Our study reveals just how destructive PMDD is, said Sandi MacDonald, co-founder and executive director of the International Association for Premenstrual Disorders.

This is a galvanizing movement in womens health. PMDD is a perfect storm where #MeToo and #TimesUp, meet mental health awareness, meets suicide prevention.

While PMDD has been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders since 2013 as a major depressive disorder, there is still no recommended standard screening of suicidal ideation in patients with the condition.

Funding: The research was supported by grants from the National Instituteof Mental Health (R00MH109667, RF1MH120843, R01MH122446 and K01MH116325).The International Association for Premenstrual Disorders has received funding through a Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EA20240).

Author: Jacqueline CareySource: University of IllinoisContact: Jacqueline Carey University of IllinoisImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Prevalence of lifetime self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in a global sample of 599 patients reporting prospectively confirmed diagnosis with premenstrual dysphoric disorder by Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, et al. BMC Psychiatry

Abstract

Prevalence of lifetime self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in a global sample of 599 patients reporting prospectively confirmed diagnosis with premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Americans ages 10 to 34, with alarming recent increases in suicide rates among those assigned female at birth. A large body of evidence points to menstrual cycle influences on self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (STBs), suggesting that neurobiological hormone sensitivities, such as in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), may drive suicide risk in females.

However, existing studies of STBs in PMDD use cross-sectional self-report measures of PMDD with poor validity. As a first step to establish accurate prevalence rates of STBs in PMDD, we examined the lifetime prevalence of STBs in a large global survey of patients reporting a diagnosis of PMDD based on daily ratings.

Individuals with self-reported PMDD symptoms were invited to an online survey through online support groups for PMDD and social media posts from PMDD awareness accounts. Participants reported demographics, whether they had been diagnosed with PMDD by a healthcare provider using daily ratings, STBs using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, and history of lifetime comorbid psychiatric diagnoses.

Of 2,689 survey completers, 599 (23%) reported a diagnosis with PMDD based on two months of daily ratings and were included in analyses. We observed high rates of lifetime active suicidal ideation (72%), planning (49%), intent (42%), preparing for an attempt (40%), and attempt (34%), as well as non-suicidal self-injury (51%).

The majority (70%) of the sample reported at least one lifetime comorbid psychiatric diagnosis. Predictors of lifetime active suicidal ideation included nulliparity, low-to-moderate (vs. high) income, and history of diagnosis with major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Predictors of lifetime attempts among those reporting lifetime active ideation included older age, nulliparity, lower income, and history of diagnosis with post-traumatic stress disorder or borderline personality disorder.

These data indicate high rates of STBs among those reporting prospective diagnosis of PMDD and highlight the need for prospective research on mechanisms and prevention of STBs in PMDD. Clinical practice guidelines for PMDD should accommodate comorbidities and recommend frequent screenings for STB risk. STBs should be considered for inclusion in future iterations of the DSM PMDD diagnostic criteria.

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Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Linked to Hormone-Sensitive Brain Disorder - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Posture Assessed in Health Exam Detects Cognitive Decline – Neuroscience News

Summary: An older persons posture may give clues to hidden cognitive decline, a new study reports.

Source: Shinshu University

A mass survey of citizens aged 50 to 89 years examined whether cognitive decline could be detected by sagittal spinal balance measurement based on a radiological approach. Doctors from Shinshu University observed associations of sagittal vertical axis (SVA) anteriorization and higher age with lower cognitive function.

The sagittal vertical axis is the length of a horizontal line connecting the posterior superior sacral end plate to a vertical plumbline dropped from the centroid of the C7 vertebral body. The more the head and neck protrude in front of the pelvis when viewed from the side, (the greater the length) the more likely subjects are to show symptoms of mild cognitive decline.

In males, the SVA was associated with cognitive decline independently of age. In females, cognitive decline was more likely in cases of SVA that is equal or greater than 70mm regardless of age.

Mild cognitive impairment is cognitive complaints from the individual or associates and no dementia. Dementia, frail, and bedridden status maybe prevented by catching mild cognitive impairment at a reversible stage in communities where expensive special testing equipment or additional medical testing time is limited for the older population.

First author Hikaru Nishimura is an occupational therapist that research problems faced by the elderly from a rehabilitation perspective. Exercise training in older adults could prolong the extent of decline towards dementia or prevent it all together.

Corresponding author Doctor Shota Ikegami of Shinshu University states that poor posture is a manifestation of frail in the elderly. Hidden cognitive decline, a component of frail can be detected by posture screening.

Older adults in the town of Obuse, Nagano were examined for the mass survey and were found that in Japanese older adults, those who exhibited anteriorization of the spine was more likely to also have cognitive function decline.

Cognitive decline was reliably detected by combining age and the degree of spinal imbalance. Males with SVA100mm at any age, SVA90mm at70years, and SVA70mm at80years were likely to have cognitive decline, while females with SVA70mm at any age are likely to have cognitive decline.

The prefecture of Nagano boasts some of the highest health longevity in Japan. With this study and others, doctors hope to prevent future need for care through rehabilitation interventions for frail found during screenings.

Funding: This work was supported by a grant from the Japan Orthopaedics and Traumatology Research Foundation, Inc. [no. 339], Shinshu Public Utility Foundation for Promotion of Medical Sciences, Research Funding from the Japanese Society for Musculoskeletal Medicine, the Promotion Project of Education, Research, and Medical Care from Shinshu University Hospital, and The Nakatomi Foundation.

None of the above funding sources had any role in the design, execution, analysis, interpretation of data, or writing of the study.

Author: Hitomi ThompsonSource: Shinshu UniversityContact: Hitomi Thompson Shinshu UniversityImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Detection of cognitive decline by spinal posture assessment in health exams of the general older population by Hikaru Nishimura et al. Scientific Reports

Abstract

Detection of cognitive decline by spinal posture assessment in health exams of the general older population

The recent increase in the older adult population has led to a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment, which is often overlooked in routine health examinations. Citizens aged 5089years were targeted for this cohort survey by random sampling from the resident registry of a cooperating town in 2014. A total of 411 participants (202 male and 209 female) were enrolled.

We analyzed the distribution of cognitive function test scores as determined by Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Mini-Mental State Examination tests in each age (50s, 60s, 70s and 80s) and sex group to examine whether cognitive decline could be detected by sagittal spinal balance measurement based on a radiological approach.

Sagittal spinal balance was quantitatively measured as sagittal vertical axis (SVA). We observed significant associations for higher age and/or SVA anteriorization with lower cognitive function.

In males, spinal balance anteriorization was associated with cognitive decline independently of age, with combinations of age and SVA also making valid cognitive decline determinations; male cases of SVA100mm at any age, SVA90mm at70years, and SVA70mm at80years were all more likely to have cognitive decline than cases below those values. For females, cognitive decline was more likely in cases of SVA70mm, regardless of age.

Thus, spinal balance anteriorization can be regarded as an easily visible indicator of latent cognitive decline in community-dwelling older people.

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Posture Assessed in Health Exam Detects Cognitive Decline - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Considerations for Neuroscience Trials with Direct Administration to the CNS, Upcoming Webinar Hosted by Xtalks – Benzinga

In this free webinar, learn about the history of direct central nervous system (CNS) administration leading to modern day applications. Attendees will learn about the unique challenges from the investigative site perspective with strategies to mitigate them. The featured speakers will also share key operational and regulatory considerations for neuroscience trials with direct CNS administration.

TORONTO (PRWEB) June 14, 2022

In this free webinar, learn about the history of direct central nervous system (CNS) administration leading to modern day applications. Attendees will learn about the unique challenges from the investigative site perspective with strategies to mitigate them. The featured speakers will also share key operational and regulatory considerations for neuroscience trials with direct CNS administration.

The blood-brain barrier limits central nervous system (CNS) exposure of systemically administered investigational products. Direct local administration to the CNS is not new. However, there continues to be debate around routes of delivery, safety profiles and distribution characteristics. The utilization and accrued knowledge of direct CNS administration techniques is increasing, and these approaches are important for CNS targets. The modern-day application of intraparenchymal, intracerebroventricular and intrathecal delivery in neuroscience trials comes with many clinical, operational and regulatory challenges.

To overcome these challenges and mitigate risks, it is essential to understand common site and operational considerations associated with these methods of drug delivery. Challenges include study set-up, site and investigator-specific training requirements, vendor selection, recruitment considerations and a unique regulatory environment.

Join this webinar to learn about the history of direct CNS administration and how it has led to modern day applications. The featured speakers will discuss unique challenges from the investigative site perspective with strategies to mitigate them. The speakers will also share key operational and regulatory considerations for neuroscience trials with direct CNS administration.

Join neuroscience experts from Medpace, James Vornov, MD, PhD, Vice President, Medical Department; Filipe Rodrigues, MD/MSc, Medical Director; and Kelsey Carter, Clinical Trial Manager, for the live webinar on Thursday, June 30, 2022, at 11am EDT (4pm BST/UK).

For more information, or to register for this event, visit Considerations for Neuroscience Trials with Direct Administration to the CNS.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.comFor information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/

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Considerations for Neuroscience Trials with Direct Administration to the CNS, Upcoming Webinar Hosted by Xtalks - Benzinga

Neuroscience

Well, I See It Differently! Why People Don’t View the World the Same Way Others Do – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers have identified an area of the brain that appears to play a role in native realism and how we construct our own versions of reality.

Source: UCLA

Why are we so sure that the way we see people, situations and politics is accurate, and the way other people see them is foolishly wrong?

The answer, according to new research by UCLA psychology professor Matthew Lieberman, lies in a region of the brain he calls the gestalt cortex,which helps people make sense of information that is ambiguous or incomplete and dismiss alternative interpretations.

The research, based on an analysis of more than 400 previous studies,is publishedin the journalPsychological Review.

People often mistake their own understanding of people and events as objective truth, rather than as merely their own interpretation. That phenomenon, called naive realism,leads people to believe that they should have the final word on the world around them.

We tend tohave irrational confidence in our own experiences of the world, and to see others asmisinformed, lazy, unreasonable or biasedwhen they fail to see the world the way we do,Lieberman said.

The evidence from neural data is clearthat the gestalt cortex is central to how we construct our version of reality.

Naive realism may be the single most underappreciated source of conflict and distrust across individuals and groups, he said.

When others see the world differently than we do, it can serve as an existential threat to our own contact with reality and often leads to anger and suspicion about the others, Lieberman said. If we know how a person is seeing the world, their subsequent reactions are much more predictable.

While the question of how people make sense of the world has been an enduring topic in social psychology, the underlying brain mechanisms have never been fully explained, Lieberman said.

Mental acts that are coherent, effortless and based on our experiences tend to occur in the gestalt cortex. For example, a person might see someone else smiling and without giving it any apparent thought, perceive that the other person is happy.

Because those inferences are immediate and effortless,they typically feel more like seeing reality even though happiness is an internal psychological state than they do like thinking, Lieberman said.

Webelieve we have merely witnessed things as they are, which makes it more difficult to appreciate, or even consider,other perspectives, he said.

The mind accentuates its best answer and discards the rival solutions. The mind may initially process the world like a democracy where every alternative interpretation gets a vote, but it quickly ends up like an authoritarian regime where one interpretation rules with an iron fist and dissent is crushed. In selecting one interpretation, the gestalt cortex literally inhibits others.

Previous research by Lieberman has shown that when people disagree face to face for example on a political issue activity in their gestalt cortices is less similar than it is for people who agree with one another.

(That conclusion was supported bya2018 studyin the journal Nature Communications. UCLA psychologist Carolyn Parkinson and others found that similar neural patterns in the gestalt cortex were strong predictors of who was friends with whom.)

Gestalt was a German school of perceptual psychology whose motto was, The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The approach focused on how the human mind integrates elements of the world into meaningful groupings.

The gestalt cortex is located behind the ear, and it is situated between the parts of the brain responsible for processing vision, sound and touch; those parts are connected by a structure called the temporoparietal junction, which is part of the gestalt cortex.

In the new study, Lieberman proposes that the temporoparietal junction is central to conscious experience and that it helps organize and integrate psychological features of situations that people see so they can make sense of them effortlessly.

The gestalt cortex isnt the only area of the brain that enables people to quickly process and interpret what they see, he said, but it is an especially important one.

Using neurosurgical recordings to understand the social brain

In a separate study,published in April in the journalNature Communications, Lieberman and colleagues addressed how, given our complex social worlds, we are able to socialize with relative ease.

Using the first mass-scale neurosurgical recordings of the social brain, Lieberman, UCLA psychology graduate student Kevin Tan and colleagues at Stanford University showed that humans have a specialized neural pathway for social thinking.

Lieberman, author of thebestselling bookSocial: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect,said humans are social by nature and have an exceptional capacity for assessing the mental states of others. That ability requires the brain to process a large number of inferences from a vast array of idiosyncratic cues. So why does that process often feel so effortless compared to simple tasks like basic arithmetic?

Clear answers have been elusive for those who study social neuroscience. One culprit could be scientists reliance on functional magnetic resonance imaging, which is effective at scanning where brain activity occurs, but less effective at capturing the timing of that activity.

Researchers employed a technique called electrocorticography to record brain activity at millisecond and millimeter scales using thousands of neurosurgical electrodes. They found that a neurocognitive pathway that extends from the back to the front of the brain is especially active in areas closer to the front when people think about the mental states of others.

Their findings suggest that the temporoparietal junction may create a fast, effortless understanding of other peoples mental states, and that another region, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, may be more involved in thinking things through more slowly and carefully.

Author: Stuart WolpertSource: UCLAContact: Stuart Wolpert UCLAImage: The image is credited to Matthew Lieberman/UCLA Psychology

Original Research: The study is available in preprint via PsyArXiv Preprint

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Well, I See It Differently! Why People Don't View the World the Same Way Others Do - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Recurring Brain Tumors Shaped by Genetic Evolution and Microenvironment – Neuroscience News

Summary: Infiltrating gliomas are shaped by their genetic evolution and microenvironment, researchers report. The findings may help in the development of therapies to treat glioma brain tumors.

Source: University of Colorado

Researchers have discovered that infiltrating gliomas, a common brain and spinal cord tumor, are shaped by their genetic evolution and microenvironment, a finding that could lead to more targeted treatments.

We have identified epigenetic alterations at a recurrence that are not only prognostic in some cases, but may lead to different treatment options for the various subtypes that can improve long-term survival, said study co-author D. Ryan Ormond, MD, PhD, aUniversity of Colorado Cancer Centermember and associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

Thestudywas published May 31 in the journalCell.

The researchers looked at how gliomas interact with the brain, change over time, develop treatment resistance and become more invasive.

They identified three distinct phenotypes or observable traits at glioma recurrence neuronal, mesenchymal and proliferative. Each of them converge with cellular, genetic and histological features that reveal themselves at recurrence. Some of these are associated with less favorable outcomes.

In this study, scientists used participant samples from the Glioma Longitudinal Analysis Consortium or GLASS cohort, a consortium created to identify the drivers of treatment resistance in glioma.

They analyzed RNA and/or DNA sequencing data from pairs of tumors from 304 adult patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild type and IDH-mutant gliomas.

The tumors recurred in specific ways depending on the IDH mutation status. The changes they underwent during recurrence depended on how they interacted with the microenvironments they inhabited.

Researchers found that many IDH-wild type tumors were more invasive at recurrence. Their neoplastic cells showed increased neuronal signaling programs, suggesting a possible role for neuronal interactions in sparking the tumors progression.

They also discovered that hypermutation, often induced by treatment with drugs like temozolomide, along with deletion of the CDKN2A gene, which makes tumor-suppressing proteins, was associated with a proliferation of tumor cells at recurrence in both glioma subtypes.

In both IDH-wild type and IDH-mutant tumors, the hypermutation was associated with increased numbers of stem-like neoplastic cells. The growth of these cells reduced overall patient survival rates.

Collectively, these results indicate that genetic evolution at recurrence can alter neoplastic glioma cells toward a more proliferative phenotype that associates with poor prognosis, the study said.

Ormond said that therapy resistance remains a serious obstacle for patients with glioma and to improve quality of life and survival it needs to be overcome. These findings, he said, will enable physicians to better target the cancer with new therapies and treatments.

Author: David KellySource: University of ColoradoContact: David Kelly University of ColoradoImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Closed access.Glioma progression is shaped by genetic evolution and microenvironment interactions by Ryan Ormond et al. Cell

Abstract

Glioma progression is shaped by genetic evolution and microenvironment interactions

The factors driving therapy resistance in diffuse glioma remain poorly understood. To identify treatment-associated cellular and genetic changes, we analyzed RNA and/or DNA sequencing data from the temporally separated tumor pairs of 304 adult patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-wild-type and IDH-mutant glioma.

Tumors recurred in distinct manners that were dependent on IDH mutation status and attributable to changes in histological feature composition, somatic alterations, and microenvironment interactions.

Hypermutation and acquiredCDKN2Adeletions were associated with an increase in proliferating neoplastic cells at recurrence in both glioma subtypes, reflecting active tumor growth.

IDH-wild-type tumors were more invasive at recurrence, and their neoplastic cells exhibited increased expression of neuronal signaling programs that reflected a possible role for neuronal interactions in promoting glioma progression.

Mesenchymal transition was associated with the presence of a myeloid cell state defined by specific ligand-receptor interactions with neoplastic cells.

Collectively, these recurrence-associated phenotypes represent potential targets to alter disease progression.

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Recurring Brain Tumors Shaped by Genetic Evolution and Microenvironment - Neuroscience News