Journal: Journal of Psychiatric Research

Abbreviation

J Psychiatr Res

Publisher

Elsevier

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ISSN

0022-3956
1879-1379

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Publications 1 - 10 of 16
  • Insights into psychosis risk: Unveiling impaired reinforcement learning through a behavioral and functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based optical neuroimaging study
    Item type: Journal Article
    Klaassen, Arndt-Lukas; Michel, Chantal; Stüble, Miriam; et al. (2025)
    Journal of Psychiatric Research
    Background Reward processing is crucial for learning, motivation and decision-making, and can be disturbed in the development of psychosis. Previous research has linked cognitive impairment and abnormalities in brain function to the clinical high risk state of psychosis (CHR-P). However, the extent to which processes of cognitive flexibility in response to reward feedback are impaired in CHR-P compared to healthy control (HC) individuals is largely unknown. Methods To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a probabilistic reward task in 59 people with CHR-P (age: 18.89 ± 0.66 years, 54% female) from the Bern Early Recognition and Intervention Center, and 24 HC (age: 19.37 ± 1.20 years, 50% female). In addition, we recorded the prefrontal neurovascular response of the subjects using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging during task performance. Results Behavioral results of the probabilistic reward task showed that CHR-P subjects had a significantly lower propensity for reward feedback compared to HC subjects, especially in the later course of the task (p = 0.018, Cohen's d = 0.58). When comparing the fNIRS measurements, we found a significantly lower task-induced increase in total hemoglobin concentration ([tHb]) in CHR-P subjects compared to HC subjects (p = 0.049). Conclusions Our findings indicate impaired reward feedback processing in CHR-P subjects, suggesting reduced sensitivity to reward. This is reflected in decreased task-induced response in cerebrovascular [tHb], indicating lower task-relevant prefrontal activities compared to HC subjects. These findings suggest that impaired processing of reward feedback may contribute to reward learning deficits and inflexible cognition in CHR-P subjects.
  • Neurodevelopmental effects of omega-3 fatty acids and its combination with Methylphenidate in iPSC models of ADHD
    Item type: Journal Article
    Walter, Natalie M.; Yde Ohki, Cristine M.; Ruhstaller, Sina; et al. (2025)
    Journal of Psychiatric Research
    Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been linked to altered neurodevelopmental processes, including proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSC). We aimed to investigate the role of Wnt signaling, a pathway critical for brain development, in ADHD and to determine if modulation of this pathway using ω-3/6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may provide a beneficial treatment approach. Given the symptom heterogeneity in ADHD and the limited response to conventional therapies for some patients, we examined the effects of ω-3/6 PUFA treatment combined with Methylphenidate (MPH) on neurodevelopmental mechanisms using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived NSCs, comparing controls to ADHD patients. Our results show that ω-3/6 PUFAs differentially regulate Wnt activity in NSCs depending on the patient's condition and the composition of the treatments. These findings highlight the potential of ω-3 PUFA treatment as personalized support for neurodevelopmental processes in ADHD. They also emphasize the importance of investigating ADHD subgroups, including those unresponsive to stimulant treatments, as they may exhibit distinct phenotypes.
  • Feeling at home in a virtually amputated body; neural and phenomenological effects of illusory embodiment in body integrity dysphoria
    Item type: Journal Article
    Saetta, Gianluca; Peter, Yannik; Ruddy, Kathy; et al. (2025)
    Journal of Psychiatric Research
    In Body Integrity Dysphoria (BID) a profound incongruity between the physical body and the desired, i.e., amputated body, often leads to a desire for limb amputation. Virtual reality (VR) and multisensory stimulation paradigms provide powerful tools to create the experience of being embodied in an amputated body. Here we investigate the impact of such an experience on neural and subjective responses in 18 individuals with BID and 18 controls. We used both task-based and resting-state MRI before and after participants played an immersive virtual game in an amputated body corresponding to their desired bodily shape and mimicking their movements. The task-based fMRI assessed neural activity when viewing images of the body in the desired versus the undesired state. Individuals with BID reported higher sense of ownership and control over the virtual body. Task-based fMRI showed increased pre-VR activity in the right superior parietal lobule (rSPL), right angular gyrus, and right supplementary motor area in the BID group, normalizing after VR exposure. Resting-state fMRI showed reduced connectivity in the rSPL, visuo-occipital areas, fronto-parietal, and fronto-striatal mirror and limb system networks, also normalizing post-VR. Additionally, there was a normalization in the pattern of increased connectivity of cortico-striatal tracts connecting the rSPL and the pars orbitalis of the right inferior frontal gyrus with the nucleus accumbens. Our findings suggest that virtual embodiment effectively modulates BID-related neural networks, offering a safe, cost-effective intervention for BID and highlights VR's potential in exploring the complex interaction between body and self, with potential implications for similar psychiatric conditions.
  • Attachment and borderline personality disorder as the dance unfolds: A quantitative analysis of a novel paradigm
    Item type: Journal Article
    Mancinelli, Federico; Nolte, Tobias; Griem, Julia; et al. (2024)
    Journal of Psychiatric Research
    Current research on personality disorders strives to identify key behavioural and cognitive facets of patient functioning, to unravel the underlying root causes and maintenance mechanisms. This process often involves the application of social paradigms — however, these often only include momentary affective depictions rather than unfolding interactions. This constitutes a limitation in our capacity to probe core symptoms, and leaves potential findings uncovered which could help those who are in close relationships with affected individuals. Here, we deployed a novel task in which subjects interact with four unknown virtual partners in a turn-taking paradigm akin to a dance, and report on their experience with each. The virtual partners embody four combinations of low/ high expressivity of positive/negative mood. Higher scores on our symptomatic measures of attachment anxiety, avoidance, and borderline personality disorder (BPD) were all linked to a general negative appraisal of all the interpersonal experiences. Moreover, the negative appraisal of the partner who displayed a high negative/low positive mood was tied with attachment anxiety and BPD symptoms. The extent to which subjects felt responsible for causing partners’ distress was most strongly linked to attachment anxiety. Finally, we provide a fully-fledged exploration of move-by-move action latencies and click distances from partners. This analysis underscored slower movement initiation from anxiously attached individuals throughout all virtual interactions. In summary, we describe a novel paradigm for second-person neuroscience, which allowed both the replication of established results and the capture of new behavioural signatures associated with attachment anxiety, and discuss its limitations.
  • Influence of bodily states on cognition: A web-based study in individuals with body integrity dysphoria
    Item type: Journal Article
    Ho, Jasmine T.; Saetta, Gianluca; Lenggenhager, Bigna (2023)
    Journal of Psychiatric Research
    There is a constant reciprocal flow of information between the malleable sensorimotor states of the body and cognitive functions, and some embodied cognition approaches argue that many cognitive-affective mechanisms depend on the physical characteristics of the body. To examine such influences of bodily state, the current study compared patients with body integrity dysphoria (BID) with an amputation desire of the lower limb to a healthy control group on an Implicit Association Test for self-identity and self-esteem, and a pain evaluation task. Patients with BID completed the tasks once while emulating their desired bodily state and once while simulating their undesired bodily state, while healthy controls were split into two groups: one control group completed the experiment once while either sitting on one leg and once while sitting in a normal position, whereas the other control group completed both experiments while sitting in a normal position. Results demonstrate that patients with BID implicitly identify more strongly with an amputated body, whereas healthy controls demonstrate stronger identification with a complete body, independent of bodily state. Furthermore, implicit self-esteem did not differ between the groups and was also not modulated by bodily state manipulation in any of the groups. Pain evaluation ratings were not influenced by bodily state manipulation, perspective, or consistency. Pain forced choice response times, however, revealed that individuals with BID were faster to judge whether the stimulus depicted was painful when simulating their desired bodily state. These results provide insightful information to how both the subjective sense of body, as well as more transient alterations of objective sensorimotor states of the physical body may exert selective pressure on certain cognitive tasks.
  • Affective dysregulation and dissociative experience in female patients with borderline personality disorder
    Item type: Journal Article
    Ebner-Priemer, Ulrich W.; Badeck, Sandra; Beckmann, Cornelia; et al. (2005)
    Journal of Psychiatric Research
  • Media use and emotional distress under COVID-19 lockdown in a clinical sample referred for internalizing disorders: A Swiss adolescents' perspective
    Item type: Journal Article
    Werling, Anna Maria; Walitza, Susanne; Gerstenberg, Miriam; et al. (2022)
    Journal of Psychiatric Research
    The COVID-19 outbreak has profoundly affected adolescents' life. Adolescents with pre-existing psychiatric disorders have been at particular risk of increased mental health problems and problematic media use. 178 patients, aged 12–18 years, referred before the COVID-19 outbreak to child and adolescent psychiatry, participated in an anonymous online survey on the impact of the lockdown on media use and mental well-being. The survey was conducted approximately one month after the first easing of restrictions following a six-week lockdown in Switzerland. Based on self-report, half of the patients had been diagnosed with internalizing disorders (ID; depression or anxiety disorder) and the other half with other disorders (non-ID, e.g. ADHD, autistic spectrum disorder). Patients with ID reported higher emotional distress during the lockdown, and a larger number of patients with ID indicated a deterioration of pre-existing symptoms compared to non-ID patients. Although more patients with ID than with non-ID indicated spending a large amount of time on social media, social media time per day in hours was not significantly higher in ID. Patients with ID indicated a higher impact of media use on well-being and mood in everyday life during the lockdown. Social media time was higher in worsened than in improved non-ID patients, while the opposite was found in ID patients, indicating a possible protective effect of media use at least for some ID patients. The results confirm positive as well as negative associations between mental health, emotional well-being and media use for adolescents with ID during the lockdown.
  • Altered neuroaxonal integrity in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder assessed with neurofilament light chain in serum
    Item type: Journal Article
    Bavato, Francesco; Cathomas, Flurin; Klaus, Federica; et al. (2021)
    Journal of Psychiatric Research
    Background Schizophrenia (SZ) and major depressive disorders (MDD) have been frequently linked to anatomical brain alterations. However, the relationship between brain pathology, inflammation and clinical symptoms in these disorders is still unclear. Thus, by applying novel blood markers of neuroaxonal integrity such as neurofilament light chain (NfL), we can now address main issues in psychiatric research and potentially offer innovative diagnostic tools toward better clinical characterizations and monitoring in both SZ and MDD. Methods NfL levels were measured in serum of 44 patients with SZ and in 41 patients with MDD applying single molecule array technology and compared to a healthy norm population. Main inflammatory markers (C- reactive protein, interleukins IL-6 and IL-10) were measured to define patients with inflammatory phenotype. The Digit Symbol Substitution Task (DSST) and the Letter-Number-Sequencing Task were performed to estimate cognitive function in both groups. Results NfL levels in MDD group (but not in SZ group) were significantly higher than reference values of healthy norm population. A higher than expected proportion of patients with NfL levels above age-specific cut-off values was observed in both SZ and MDD groups. No correlation was observed between NfL and inflammatory markers. A negative correlation between DSST and NfL-values was observed in patients with MDD. Conclusions Both SZ and MDD showed elevated serum levels of NfL, which were independent from inflammatory markers but associated with cognitive performance.
  • Structural brain abnormalities in the frontostriatal system and cerebellum in pedophilia
    Item type: Journal Article
    Schiffer, Boris; Peschel, Thomas; Paul, Thomas; et al. (2007)
    Journal of Psychiatric Research
Publications 1 - 10 of 16