Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
-
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Aug 2020
Regional hyperperfusion in cognitively normal APOE ε4 allele carriers in mid-life: analysis of ASL pilot data from the PREVENT-Dementia cohort.
Regional cerebral hypoperfusion is characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous studies report conflicting findings in cognitively normal individuals at high risk of AD. Understanding early preclinical perfusion alterations may improve understanding of AD pathogenesis and lead to new biomarkers and treatment targets. ⋯ Regional cerebral hyperperfusion in individuals at increased risk of AD in mid-life may be a very early marker of functional brain change related to AD. Increased perfusion may reflect a functional 'compensation' mechanism, offsetting the effects of early neural damage or may itself be risk factor for accelerating spread of degenerative pathology.
-
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Aug 2020
Effects of TPH2 gene variation and childhood trauma on the clinical and circuit-level phenotype of functional movement disorders.
Functional movement disorders (FMDs), part of the wide spectrum of functional neurological disorders (conversion disorders), are common and often associated with a poor prognosis. Nevertheless, little is known about their neurobiological underpinnings, particularly with regard to the contribution of genetic factors. Because FMD and stress-related disorders share a common core of biobehavioural manifestations, we investigated whether variants in stress-related genes also contributed, directly and interactively with childhood trauma, to the clinical and circuit-level phenotypes of FMD. ⋯ This is, to our knowledge, the first study showing that the TPH2 genotype may modulate FMD both directly and interactively with childhood trauma. Because both this polymorphism and early-life stress alter serotonin levels, our findings support a potential molecular mechanism modulating FMD phenotype.