Virtual reality in the diagnostic and therapy for mental disorders: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Virtual reality (VR) technologies are playing an increasingly important role in the diagnostics and treatment of mental disorders. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the current evidence regarding the use of VR in the diagnostics and treatment of mental disorders. DATA SOURCE: Systematic literature searches via PubMed (last literature update: 9th of May 2022) were conducted for the following areas of psychopathology: Specific phobias, panic disorder and agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, dementia disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and addiction disorders. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: To be eligible, studies had to be published in English, to be peer-reviewed, to report original research data, to be VR-related, and to deal with one of the above-mentioned areas of psychopathology. STUDY EVALUATION: For each study included, various study characteristics (including interventions and conditions, comparators, major outcomes and study designs) were retrieved and a risk of bias score was calculated based on predefined study quality criteria. RESULTS: Across all areas of psychopathology, k = 9315 studies were inspected, of which k = 721 studies met the eligibility criteria. From these studies, 43.97% were considered assessment-related, 55.48% therapy-related, and 0.55% were mixed. The highest research activity was found for VR exposure therapy in anxiety disorders, PTSD and addiction disorders, where the most convincing evidence was found, as well as for cognitive trainings in dementia and social skill trainings in autism spectrum disorder. CONCLUSION: While VR exposure therapy will likely find its way successively into regular patient care, there are also many other promising approaches, but most are not yet mature enough for clinical application. REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO register CRD42020188436. FUNDING: The review was funded by budgets from the University of Bonn. No third party funding was involved.

Smartphone-assisted psychoeducation in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A randomized controlled trial.

Psychoeducation is generally recommended in the treatment of adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but only few studies have systematically assessed the effects of structured clinical psychoeducation. Moreover, although a considerable number of psychoeducational mobile applications exist, none have provided scientific evidence for their effectiveness or safety. Therefore, the present randomized controlled trial investigated a newly developed, free-to-use psychoeducation app for adults with ADHD as a support to a clinical psychoeducation group. 236 adults with ADHD were contacted for study participation, of whom 60 were finally randomized to a psychoeducation group supported either by our developed smartphone app (n = 30) or by traditional pen-and-paper brochures (n = 30). Psychoeducation treatments were conducted in groups of 10, with 8 weekly one-hour sessions between March 2019 and November 2020. Observer-rated ADHD symptom severity (IDA-R interview) was examined as the primary outcome parameter before and after treatment. Across both interventions, ADHD core symptoms were significantly reduced. Notably, the smartphone-assisted psychoeducation was significantly more effective in improving inattention and impulsivity and led to higher homework compliance than the brochure-assisted psychoeducation. No adverse events were reported.

Expression, purification and characterization of the transcription termination factor Rho from Azospirillum brasilense.

The Transcription Termination factor Rho is a ring-shaped, homohexameric protein that causes transcript termination by interaction with specific sites on nascent mRNAs. The process of transcription termination is essential for proper expression and regulation of bacterial genes. Although Rho has been extensively studied in the model bacteria Escherichia coli (EcRho), the properties of other Rho orthologues in other bacteria are poorly characterized. Here we present the heterologous expression and purification of untagged Rho protein from the diazotrophic environmental bacterium Azospirillum brasilense (AbRho). The AbRho protein was purified to >99% through a simple, reproducible and efficient purification protocol, a two-step chromatography procedure (affinity/gel filtration). By using analytical gel filtration and dynamic light scattering (DLS), we found that AbRho is arranged as an homohexamer as observed in the EcRho orthologue. Secondary structure and enzyme activity of AbRho was also evaluate indicating a properly folded and active protein after purification. Enzymatic assays indicate that AbRho is a RNA-dependent NTPase enzyme.

The network structure of schizotypy in the general population.

Schizotypal personality traits show similarity with schizophrenia at various levels of analysis. It is generally agreed that schizotypal personality is multidimensional; however, it is still debated whether impulsive nonconformity should be incorporated into theories and measurement of schizotypy. In addition, relatively little is known about the network structure of the four-dimensional model of schizotypal personality. To estimate the network structure of schizotypy, we used data from participants recruited from the community (N = 11,807) who completed the short version of the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences, a widespread self-report instrument that assesses the positive, negative, disorganised and impulsive domains of schizotypy. We performed community detection, then examined differences between communities in terms of centralities and compared the strength of edges within and between communities. We found communities that almost perfectly corresponded to the a priori-defined subscales (93% overlap, normalised mutual information = 0.74). Items in the disorganisation community had higher closeness centrality relative to items in the other communities (Cliff's Δs ranged from 0.55 to 0.83) and weights of edges within the disorganisation community were stronger as compared to the negative schizotypy and impulsive nonconformity communities (Cliff's Δs = 0.33). Our findings imply that the inclusion of impulsive nonconformity items does not dilute the classical three-factor structure of positive, negative and disorganised schizotypy. The high closeness centrality of disorganisation concurs with theories positing that cognitive slippage and associative loosening are core features of the schizophrenic phenotype.

Schizotypy, neuroticism, and saccadic eye movements: New data and meta-analysis.

Deficits on saccade tasks, particularly antisaccade performance, have been reliably reported in schizophrenia. However, less evidence is available on saccade performance in relation to schizotypy, a personality constellation harboring risk for schizophrenia. Here, we report a large empirical study of the associations of schizotypy and neuroticism with antisaccade and prosaccade performance (Study I). Additionally, we carried out meta-analyses of the association between schizotypy and antisaccade error rate (Study II). In Study I, N = 526 healthy individuals from the general population aged 18-54 years completed prosaccade and antisaccade tasks as well as the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Schizotypy was significantly associated with increased antisaccade error rate, with the disorganized dimension emerging as strongest predictor (ß = .118, p = .007). Neuroticism emerged as a significant predictor for prosaccade gain (ß = .103, p = .023) and antisaccade latency (ß = .101, p = .025). In Study II, random-effects meta-analyses were performed on the published data and those from Study I. Meta-analyses revealed significant associations (all p ≤ .003) of antisaccade error rate with positive (g = 0.37), negative (g = 0.26), disorganized (g = 0.36) and overall schizotypy (g = 0.37). Overall, the present work replicates the association between antisaccade direction errors and schizotypy. Significant findings from meta-analyses provide further evidence of the antisaccade error rate as a putative schizophrenia spectrum marker.

The Protein-Protein Interaction Network Reveals a Novel Role of the Signal Transduction Protein PII in the Control of c-di-GMP Homeostasis in Azospirillum brasilense.

The PII family comprises a group of widely distributed signal transduction proteins ubiquitous in prokaryotes and in the chloroplasts of plants. PII proteins sense the levels of key metabolites ATP, ADP, and 2-oxoglutarate, which affect the PII protein structure and thereby the ability of PII to interact with a range of target proteins. Here, we performed multiple ligand fishing assays with the PII protein orthologue GlnZ from the plant growth-promoting nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum brasilense to identify 37 proteins that are likely to be part of the PII protein-protein interaction network. Among the PII targets identified were enzymes related to nitrogen and fatty acid metabolism, signaling, coenzyme synthesis, RNA catabolism, and transcription. Direct binary PII-target complex was confirmed for 15 protein complexes using pulldown assays with recombinant proteins. Untargeted metabolome analysis showed that PII is required for proper homeostasis of important metabolites. Two enzymes involved in c-di-GMP metabolism were among the identified PII targets. A PII-deficient strain showed reduced c-di-GMP levels and altered aerotaxis and flocculation behavior. These data support that PII acts as a major metabolic hub controlling important enzymes and the homeostasis of key metabolites such as c-di-GMP in response to the prevailing nutritional status.IMPORTANCE The PII proteins sense and integrate important metabolic signals which reflect the cellular nutrition and energy status. Such extraordinary ability was capitalized by nature in such a way that the various PII proteins regulate different facets of metabolism by controlling the activity of a range of target proteins by protein-protein interactions. Here, we determined the PII protein interaction network in the plant growth-promoting nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum brasilense The interactome data along with metabolome analysis suggest that PII functions as a master metabolic regulator hub. We provide evidence that PII proteins act to regulate c-di-GMP levels in vivo and cell motility and adherence behaviors.

Functional connectivity during smooth pursuit eye movements.

Smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) hold the image of a slowly moving stimulus on the fovea. The neural system underlying SPEM primarily includes visual, parietal, and frontal areas. In the present study, we investigated how these areas are functionally coupled and how these couplings are influenced by target motion frequency. To this end, healthy participants (n = 57) were instructed to follow a sinusoidal target stimulus moving horizontally at two different frequencies (0.2 Hz, 0.4 Hz). Eye movements and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activity were recorded simultaneously. Functional connectivity of the key areas of the SPEM network was investigated with a psychophysiological interaction (PPI) approach. How activity in five eye movement-related seed regions (lateral geniculate nucleus, V1, V5, posterior parietal cortex, frontal eye fields) relates to activity in other parts of the brain during SPEM was analyzed. The behavioral results showed clear deterioration of SPEM performance at higher target frequency. BOLD activity during SPEM versus fixation occurred in a geniculo-occipito-parieto-frontal network, replicating previous findings. PPI analysis yielded widespread, partially overlapping networks. In particular, frontal eye fields and posterior parietal cortex showed task-dependent connectivity to large parts of the entire cortex, whereas other seed regions demonstrated more regionally focused connectivity. Higher target frequency was associated with stronger activations in visual areas but had no effect on functional connectivity. In summary, the results confirm and extend previous knowledge regarding the neural mechanisms underlying SPEM and provide a valuable basis for further investigations such as in patients with SPEM impairments and known alterations in brain connectivity.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study provides a comprehensive investigation of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional connectivity during smooth pursuit eye movements. Results from a large sample of healthy participants suggest that key oculomotor regions interact closely with each other but also with regions not primarily associated with eye movements. Understanding functional connectivity during smooth pursuit is important, given its potential role as an endophenotype of psychoses.

NAD+ biosynthesis in bacteria is controlled by global carbon/nitrogen levels via PII signaling.

NAD+ is a central metabolite participating in core metabolic redox reactions. The prokaryotic NAD synthetase enzyme NadE catalyzes the last step of NAD+ biosynthesis, converting nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide (NaAD) to NAD+ Some members of the NadE family use l-glutamine as a nitrogen donor and are named NadEGln Previous gene neighborhood analysis has indicated that the bacterial nadE gene is frequently clustered with the gene encoding the regulatory signal transduction protein PII, suggesting a functional relationship between these proteins in response to the nutritional status and the carbon/nitrogen ratio of the bacterial cell. Here, using affinity chromatography, bioinformatics analyses, NAD synthetase activity, and biolayer interferometry assays, we show that PII and NadEGln physically interact in vitro, that this complex relieves NadEGln negative feedback inhibition by NAD+ This mechanism is conserved in distantly related bacteria. Of note, the PII protein allosteric effector and cellular nitrogen level indicator 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) inhibited the formation of the PII-NadEGln complex within a physiological range. These results indicate an interplay between the levels of ATP, ADP, 2-OG, PII-sensed glutamine, and NAD+, representing a metabolic hub that may balance the levels of core nitrogen and carbon metabolites. Our findings support the notion that PII proteins act as a dissociable regulatory subunit of NadEGln, thereby enabling the control of NAD+ biosynthesis according to the nutritional status of the bacterial cell.

In silico prediction and expression profile analysis of small non-coding RNAs in Herbaspirillum seropedicae SmR1.

BACKGROUND: Herbaspirillum seropedicae is a diazotrophic bacterium from the ß-proteobacteria class that colonizes endophytically important gramineous species, promotes their growth through phytohormone-dependent stimulation and can express nif genes and fix nitrogen inside plant tissues. Due to these properties this bacterium has great potential as a commercial inoculant for agriculture. The H. seropedicae SmR1 genome is completely sequenced and annotated but despite the availability of diverse structural and functional analysis of this genome, studies involving small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) has not yet been done. We have conducted computational prediction and RNA-seq analysis to select and confirm the expression of sRNA genes in the H. seropedicae SmR1 genome, in the presence of two nitrogen independent sources and in presence of naringenin, a flavonoid secreted by some plants. RESULTS: This approach resulted in a set of 117 sRNAs distributed in riboswitch, cis-encoded and trans-encoded categories and among them 20 have Rfam homologs. The housekeeping sRNAs tmRNA, ssrS and 4.5S were found and we observed that a large number of sRNAs are more expressed in the nitrate condition rather than the control condition and in the presence of naringenin. Some sRNAs expression were confirmed in vitro and this work contributes to better understand the post transcriptional regulation in this bacterium. CONCLUSIONS: H. seropedicae SmR1 express sRNAs in the presence of two nitrogen sources and/or in the presence of naringenin. The functions of most of these sRNAs remains unknown but their existence in this bacterium confirms the evidence that sRNAs are involved in many different cellular activities to adapt to nutritional and environmental changes.

Defining the impact of exoribonucleases in the shift between exponential and stationary phases.

The transition between exponential and stationary phase is a natural phenomenon for all bacteria and requires a massive readjustment of the bacterial transcriptome. Exoribonucleases are key enzymes in the transition between the two growth phases. PNPase, RNase R and RNase II are the major degradative exoribonucleases in Escherichia coli. We analysed the whole transcriptome of exponential and stationary phases from the WT and mutants lacking these exoribonucleases (Δpnp, Δrnr, Δrnb, and ΔrnbΔrnr). When comparing the cells from exponential phase with the cells from stationary phase more than 1000 transcripts were differentially expressed, but only 491 core transcripts were common to all strains. There were some differences in the number and transcripts affected depending on the strain, suggesting that exoribonucleases influence the transition between these two growth phases differently. Interestingly, we found that the double mutant RNase II/RNase R is similar to the RNase R single mutant in exponential phase while in stationary phase it seems to be closer to the RNase II single mutant. This is the first global transcriptomic work comparing the roles of exoribonucleases in the transition between exponential and stationary phase.

MAW point mutation impairs H. Seropedicae RecA ATP hydrolysis and DNA repair without inducing large conformational changes in its structure.

RecA is a multifunctional protein that plays a central role in DNA repair in bacteria. The structural Make ATP Work motif (MAW) is proposed to control the ATPase activity of RecA. In the present work, we report the biochemical activity and structural effects of the L53Q mutation at the MAW motif of the RecA protein from H. seropedicae (HsRecA L53Q). In vitro studies showed that HsRecA L53Q can bind ADP, ATP, and ssDNA, as does wild-type RecA. However, the ATPase and DNA-strand exchange activities were completely lost. In vivo studies showed that the expression of HsRecA L53Q in E. coli recA1 does not change its phenotype when cells were challenged with MMS and UV. Molecular dynamics simulations showed the L53Q point mutation did not cause large conformational changes in the HsRecA structure. However, there is a difference on dynamical cross-correlation movements of the residues involved in contacts within the ATP binding site and regions that hold the DNA binding sites. Additionally, a new hydrogen bond, formed between Q53 and T49, was hypothesized to allow an independent motion of the MAW motif from the hydrophobic core, what could explain the observed loss of activity of HsRecA L53Q.

Effects of nicotine on smooth pursuit eye movements in healthy non-smokers.

RATIONALE: The non-selective nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonist nicotine has been argued to improve attention via enhanced filtering of irrelevant stimuli. Here, we tested this hypothesis in the context of smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEMs), an oculomotor function previously shown to improve with nicotine in some but not all studies. OBJECTIVES: In order to test whether nicotine improves performance particularly when the inhibition of distracting stimuli is required, SPEM was elicited in conditions with or without peripheral distractors. Additionally, different target frequencies were employed in order to parametrically vary general processing demands on the SPEM system. METHODS: Healthy adult non-smokers (N = 18 females, N = 13 males) completed a horizontal sinusoidal SPEM task at different target frequencies (0.2 Hz, 0.4 Hz, 0.6 Hz) in the presence or absence of peripheral distractors in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design using a 2 mg nicotine gum. RESULTS: Nicotine increased peak pursuit gain relative to placebo (p < .001), but an interaction with distractor condition (p = .001) indicated that this effect was most pronounced in the presence of distractors. Catch-up saccade frequency was reduced by nicotine (p = .01), particularly at higher target frequencies (two-way interaction, p = .04). However, a three-way interaction (p = .006) indicated that the reduction with nicotine was strongest at the highest target frequency (0.6 Hz) only without distractors, whereas in the presence of distractors, it was strongest at 0.4-Hz target frequency. There were no effects of nicotine on subjective state measures. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these findings support a role of both distractor inhibition and general processing load in the effects of nicotine on smooth pursuit.

Combining trait and state model systems of psychosis: The effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive functions in schizotypal individuals.

Model systems of psychosis play an important role in pathophysiology and drug development research. Schizotypal individuals display similar cognitive impairments as schizophrenia patients in several domains. Therefore, schizotypy may be interpreted as a trait model system of psychosis. In addition, experimentally controlled sleep deprivation is a putative state psychosis model that evokes subclinical psychosis-like states. We aimed to further validate these model systems by examining them in relation to central cognitive biomarkers of schizophrenia. Most of all, we were interested in investigating, for the first time, effects of their combination on cognitive function. Healthy subjects with high (N = 17) or low (N = 19) levels of schizotypy performed a cognitive task battery after one night of normal sleep and after 24 h of sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation impaired performance in the go/nogo and n-back tasks relative to the normal sleep control condition. No differences between groups or interactions of group with sleep condition were found. The role of sleep deprivation as a model of psychosis is thus supported to some extent by impairments in inhibitory control. However, classical measures of cognition may be less able to detect deficits in schizotypy, in line with evidence of more basic information processing dysfunctions in schizotypy.

Association of Schizotypy With Dimensions of Cognitive Control: A Meta-Analysis.

Schizotypy is defined as a time-stable multidimensional personality trait consisting of positive, negative, and disorganized facets. Schizotypy is considered as a model system of psychosis, as there is considerable overlap between the 2 constructs. High schizotypy is associated with subtle but fairly widespread cognitive alterations, which include poorer performance in tasks measuring cognitive control. Similar but more pronounced impairments in cognitive control have been described extensively in psychosis. We here sought to provide a quantitative estimation of the effect size of impairments in schizotypy in the updating, shifting, and inhibition dimensions of cognitive control. We included studies of healthy adults from both general population and college samples, which used either categorical or correlative designs. Negative schizotypy was associated with significantly poorer performance on shifting (g = 0.32) and updating (g = 0.11). Positive schizotypy was associated with significantly poorer performance on shifting (g = 0.18). There were no significant associations between schizotypy and inhibition. The divergence in results for positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy emphasizes the importance of examining relationships between cognition and the facets of schizotypy rather than using the overall score. Our findings also underline the importance of more detailed research to further understand and define this complex personality construct, which will also be of importance when applying schizotypy as a model system for psychosis.

PHB Biosynthesis Counteracts Redox Stress in Herbaspirillum seropedicae.

The ability of bacteria to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates such as poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) enables provision of a carbon storage molecule that can be mobilized under demanding physiological conditions. However, the precise function of PHB in cellular metabolism has not been clearly defined. In order to determine the impact of PHB production on global physiology, we have characterized the properties of a ΔphaC1 mutant strain of the diazotrophic bacterium Herbaspirillum seropedicae. The absence of PHB in the mutant strain not only perturbs redox balance and increases oxidative stress, but also influences the activity of the redox-sensing Fnr transcription regulators, resulting in significant changes in expression of the cytochrome c-branch of the electron transport chain. The synthesis of PHB is itself dependent on the Fnr1 and Fnr3 proteins resulting in a cyclic dependency that couples synthesis of PHB with redox regulation. Transcriptional profiling of the ΔphaC1 mutant reveals that the loss of PHB synthesis affects the expression of many genes, including approximately 30% of the Fnr regulon.

Comparative Genomics of Sibling Species of Fonsecaea Associated with Human Chromoblastomycosis.

Fonsecaea and Cladophialophora are genera of black yeast-like fungi harboring agents of a mutilating implantation disease in humans, along with strictly environmental species. The current hypothesis suggests that those species reside in somewhat adverse microhabitats, and pathogenic siblings share virulence factors enabling survival in mammal tissue after coincidental inoculation driven by pathogenic adaptation. A comparative genomic analysis of environmental and pathogenic siblings of Fonsecaea and Cladophialophora was undertaken, including de novo assembly of F. erecta from plant material. The genome size of Fonsecaea species varied between 33.39 and 35.23 Mb, and the core genomes of those species comprises almost 70% of the genes. Expansions of protein domains such as glyoxalases and peptidases suggested ability for pathogenicity in clinical agents, while the use of nitrogen and degradation of phenolic compounds was enriched in environmental species. The similarity of carbohydrate-active vs. protein-degrading enzymes associated with the occurrence of virulence factors suggested a general tolerance to extreme conditions, which might explain the opportunistic tendency of Fonsecaea sibling species. Virulence was tested in the Galleria mellonella model and immunological assays were performed in order to support this hypothesis. Larvae infected by environmental F. erecta had a lower survival. Fungal macrophage murine co-culture showed that F. erecta induced high levels of TNF-α contributing to macrophage activation that could increase the ability to control intracellular fungal growth although hyphal death were not observed, suggesting a higher level of extremotolerance of environmental species.

Labeled Azospirillum brasilense wild type and excretion-ammonium strains in association with barley roots.

Soil bacteria colonization in plants is a complex process, which involves interaction between many bacterial characters and plant responses. In this work, we labeled Azospirillum brasilense FP2 (wild type) and HM053 (excretion-ammonium) strains by insertion of the reporter gene gusA-kanamycin into the dinitrogenase reductase coding gene, nifH, and evaluated bacteria colonization in barley (Hordeum vulgare). In addition, we determined inoculation effect based on growth promotion parameters. We report an uncommon endophytic behavior of A. brasilense Sp7 derivative inside the root hair cells of barley and highlight the promising use of A. brasilense HM053 as plant growth-promoting bacterium.

Combining two model systems of psychosis: The effects of schizotypy and sleep deprivation on oculomotor control and psychotomimetic states.

Model systems of psychosis, such as schizotypy or sleep deprivation, are valuable in informing our understanding of the etiology of the disorder and aiding the development of new treatments. Schizophrenia patients, high schizotypes, and sleep-deprived subjects are known to share deficits in oculomotor biomarkers. Here, we aimed to further validate the schizotypy and sleep deprivation models and investigated, for the first time, their interactive effects on smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM), prosaccades, antisaccades, predictive saccades, and measures of psychotomimetic states, anxiety, depression, and stress. To do so, n = 19 controls and n = 17 high positive schizotypes were examined after both a normal sleep night and 24 h of sleep deprivation. Schizotypes displayed higher SPEM global position error, catch-up saccade amplitude, and increased psychotomimetic states. Sleep deprivation impaired SPEM, prosaccade, antisaccade, and predictive saccade performance and increased levels of psychotomimetic experiences. Additionally, sleep deprivation reduced SPEM gain in schizotypes but not controls. We conclude that oculomotor impairments are observed in relation to schizotypy and following sleep deprivation, supporting their utility as biomarkers in model systems of psychosis. The combination of these models with oculomotor biomarkers may be particularly fruitful in assisting the development of new antipsychotic or pro-cognitive drugs.

General and emotion-specific neural effects of ketamine during emotional memory formation.

Animal studies suggest that N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) dependent signalling in limbic and prefrontal regions is critically involved in both cognitive and emotional functions. In humans, ketamine-induced transient, and disorder associated chronic NMDAR hypofunction (i.e. in schizophrenia) has been associated with deficient performance in the domains of memory and higher-order emotional functioning, as well as altered neural activity in the underlying limbic-prefrontal circuits. To model the effects of NMDAR hypofunction on the integration of emotion and cognition the present pharmacological fMRI study applied the NMDAR antagonist ketamine (target plasma level=100ng/ml) to 21 healthy volunteers in a within-subject placebo-controlled crossover design during encoding of neutral, positive and negative pictures. Our results show that irrespective of emotion, ketamine suppressed parahippocampal and medial prefrontal activity. In contrast, ketamine selectively increased amygdala and orbitofrontal activity during successful encoding of negative stimuli. On the network level ketamine generally increased medial prefrontal-parahippocampal coupling while specifically decreasing amygdala-orbitofrontal interplay during encoding of negative stimuli. On the behavioural level, ketamine produced generally decreased memory performance and abolished the emotional enhancement of memory after a wash-out period of 5 days. The present findings suggest that ketamine produces general as well as valence-specific effects during emotional memory formation. The pattern partly overlaps with alterations previously observed in patients with schizophrenia.

Genome Sequence of Type Strain Fonsecaea multimorphosa CBS 980.96T, a Causal Agent of Feline Cerebral Phaeohyphomycosis.

A draft genome sequence of type strain Fonsecaea multimorphosa CBS 980.96T was obtained. This species was first isolated from a cat with cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in Queensland, Australia.