Posterior Fossa Sub-Arachnoid Cysts Observed in Patients with Bipolar Disorder: a Retrospective Cohort Study.

Posterior fossa arachnoid cysts (PFACs) are rare congenital abnormalities observed in 0.3 to 1.7% of the population and are traditionally thought to be benign. While conducting a neuroimaging study investigating cerebellar structure in bipolar disorder, we observed a higher incidence of PFACs in bipolar patients (5 of 75; 6.6%) compared to the neuronormative control group (1 of 54; 1.8%). In this report, we detail the cases of the five patients with bipolar disorder who presented with PFACs. Additionally, we compare neuropsychiatric measures and cerebellar volumes of these patients to neuronormative controls and bipolar controls (those with bipolar disorder without neuroanatomical abnormalities). Our findings suggest that patients with bipolar disorder who also present with PFACs may have a milder symptom constellation relative to patients with bipolar disorder and no neuroanatomical abnormalities. Furthermore, our observations align with prior literature suggesting an association between PFACs and psychiatric symptoms that warrants further study. While acknowledging sample size limitations, our primary aim in the present work is to highlight a connection between PFACs and BD-associated symptoms and encourage further study of cerebellar abnormalities in psychiatry.

Intrauterine drug exposure as a risk factor for cerebral palsy.

AIM: To determine whether infants with intrauterine drug exposure (IUDE) are similarly at risk for cerebral palsy (CP) as other high-risk populations, whether CP classification differs based on IUDE status, and describe the association of CP with specific substances among exposed infants. METHOD: This was a retrospective analysis of infants in a high-risk follow-up program (n=5578) between January 2014 and February 2018 with a history of IUDE or who received a CP diagnosis. CP rates were compared using two-sample z-tests. CP classification was assessed using Fisher's exact, Cochran-Armitage, and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. Models for CP risk were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Among all infants with IUDE (n=1086), 53.8% were male with a mean (SD) birth gestational age of 36.8 (3.6) weeks. Among unexposed infants with CP (n=259), 54.4% were male with a mean (SD) birth gestational age of 29.9 (5.7) weeks. Opioids were the most common exposure (93.7%) of all infants with IUDE. The CP rate in the IUDE (5.2%) and unexposed (5.7%) high-risk populations were not significantly different (p=0.168), nor were there differences in CP typology, topography, or severity between exposed (n=57) and unexposed (n=259) infants (all p>0.05). In patients with IUDE and after controlling for established CP risk factors, the observed odds of CP varied among substances. INTERPRETATION: We suggest that IUDE should be considered a 'newborn-detectable risk' in the guidelines for the early detection of CP.

Randomized controlled trial protocol to improve multisensory neural processing, language and motor outcomes in preterm infants.

BACKGROUND: Premature infants are at risk for abnormal sensory development due to brain immaturity at birth and atypical early sensory experiences in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This altered sensory development can have downstream effects on other more complex developmental processes. There are currently no interventions that address rehabilitation of sensory function in the neonatal period. METHODS: This study is a randomized controlled trial of preterm infants enrolled at 32-36 weeks postmenstrual age to either standard care or standard care plus multisensory intervention in order to study the effect of multisensory intervention as compared to standard care alone. The study population will consist of 100 preterm infants in each group (total n = 200). Both groups will receive standard care, consisting of non-contingent recorded parent's voice and skin-to-skin by parent. The multisensory group will also receive contemporaneous holding and light pressure containment for tactile stimulation, playing of the mother's voice contingent on the infant's pacifier sucking for auditory stimulation, exposure to a parent-scented cloth for olfactory stimulation, and exposure to carefully regulated therapist breathing that is mindful and responsive to the child's condition for vestibular stimulation. The primary outcome is a brain-based measure of multisensory processing, measured using time locked-EEG. Secondary outcomes include sensory adaptation, tactile processing, speech sound differentiation, motor and language function, measured at one and two years corrected gestational age. DISCUSSION: This is the first randomized controlled trial of a multisensory intervention using brain-based measurements in order to explain the causal effects of the multisensory intervention on neural processing changes to mediate neurodevelopmental outcomes in former preterm infants. In addition to contributing a critical link in our understanding of these processes, the protocolized multisensory intervention in this study is therapist administered, parent supported and leverages simple technology. Thus, this multisensory intervention has the potential to be widely implemented in various NICU settings, with the opportunity to potentially improve neurodevelopment of premature infants. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NIH Clinical Trials ( clinicaltrials.gov ): NCT03232931 . Registered July 2017.

A limited cerebellar contribution to suprasecond timing across differing task demands.

The involvement of the cerebellum in suprasecond interval timing (i.e., timing in the seconds to minutes range) is controversial. A limited amount of evidence from humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents has shown that the lateral cerebellum, including the lateral cerebellar nucleus (LCN), may be necessary for successful suprasecond timing performance. However, many existing studies have pitfalls, such as limited timing outcome measures and confounded task demands. In addition, many existing studies relied on well-trained subjects. This approach may be a drawback, as the cerebellum is hypothesized to carry out ongoing error correction to limit timing variability. By using only experienced subjects, past timing studies may have missed a critical window of cerebellar involvement. In the experiments described here, we pharmacologically inactivated the rat LCN across three different peak interval timing tasks. We structured our tasks to address past confounds, collect timing variability measures, and characterize performance during target duration acquisition. Across these various tasks, we did not find strong support for cerebellar involvement in suprasecond interval timing. Our findings support the existing distinction of the cerebellum as a subsecond interval timing brain region. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).