Behav Brain Funct
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Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disease characterized by a high heritability and a complex genetic architecture. Recent reports based on exome sequencing analyses have highlighted a significant increase of potentially deleterious de novo mutations in different genes in individuals with schizophrenia. ⋯ This supports the notion that de novo mutations in these four genes are extremely rare in schizophrenia and further highlights the high degree of genetic heterogeneity of this disease.
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Although recent studies have clearly demonstrated functional and structural abnormalities in adolescents with internet gaming addiction (IGA), less is known about how IGA affects perfusion in the human brain. We used pseudocontinuous arterial spin-labeling (ASL) perfusion functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the effects of IGA on resting brain functions by comparing resting cerebral blood flow in adolescents with IGA and normal subjects. ⋯ In this study, we used ASL perfusion fMRI and noninvasively quantified resting CBF to demonstrate that IGA alters the CBF distribution in the adolescent brain. The results support the hypothesis that IGA is a behavioral addiction that may share similar neurobiological abnormalities with other addictive disorders.
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Recent data support the beneficial role of gesturing during mental practice. The present study examined whether coupling motor imagery (MI) with some movement sequences (dynamic imagery condition) impacted motor performance to a greater extent than performing MI while remaining motionless. ⋯ These data support the hypothesis that performing dynamic imagery might contribute to enhance MI quality and efficacy, and sketch potentially fruitful new directions for MI practice.
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In animal models, the impact of social and environmental manipulations on chronic pain have been investigated in short term studies where enrichment was implemented prior to or concurrently with the injury. The focus of this study was to evaluate the impact of environmental enrichment or impoverishment in mice three months after induction of chronic neuropathic pain. ⋯ These results suggest that environmental factors could play an important role in the rehabilitation of chronic pain patients well after the establishment of chronic pain. Enrichment is a potentially inexpensive, safe and easily implemented non-pharmacological intervention for the treatment of chronic pain.
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Studies suggest that older adults at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease may show olfactory processing deficits before other signs of dementia appear. ⋯ Olfactory ERPs demonstrate functional decline in individuals at risk for Alzheimer's disease at much earlier ages than previously observed, suggesting the potential for pre-clinical detection of AD at very early stages.