The Effect of Aging on Face-Name Recognition: An fMRI Study. / Yaslanmanin Yüz ve Isim Tanima Üzerindeki Etkisi: Bir fMRG Çalismasi.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to detect functional changes in the brain during the memory task with aging and the association between functional changes and memory performance. METHOD: The study consisted of Young Adult Group (YAG, n=20) aged 20 to 25 and Late Adult Group (LAG, n=18) aged 60 to 70. Individuals with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores above 21 and no family history of Alzheimer's Disease were included in the study. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scanning was performed on all participants during a memory task including encoding (face and name), face and name recognition sub-tasks. RESULTS: Results indicated that LAG showed increased activity during face recognition task in left posterior cingulate cortex, left superior frontal cortex, left fusiform face area and another increased activity was found out during name recognition task in left superior frontal cortex, right prefrontal cortex, left anterior + posterior cingulate cortex. The accuracy of face recognition and name recognition memory tests were significantly lower in LAG (respectively, p=0.026; p=0.001). CONCLUSION: These results indicated that advanced age were associated with more widespread activation in brain during memory task. Thus with aging, individuals require more neuronal and cognitive resources during memory processing.

Gradual Loss of Social Group Support during Competition Activates Anterior TPJ and Insula but Deactivates Default Mode Network.

Group forming behaviors are common in many species to overcome environmental challenges. In humans, bonding, trust, group norms, and a shared past increase consolidation of social groups. Being a part of a social group increases resilience to mental stress; conversely, its loss increases vulnerability to depression. However, our knowledge on how social group support affects brain functions is limited. This study observed that default mode network (DMN) activity reduced with the loss of social group support from real-life friends in a challenging social competition. The loss of support induced anterior temporoparietal activity followed by anterior insula and the dorsal attentional network activity. Being a part of a social group and having support provides an environment for high cognitive functioning of the DMN, while the loss of group support acts as a threat signal and activates the anterior temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and insula regions of salience and attentional networks for individual survival.

The effects of sexual abuse on female adolescent brain structures.

Objective: Sexual abuse (SA) is known for its effects on brain structures in adolescents. We aimed to explore if SA has any effect on limbic and prefrontal cortex (PFC) structures. We hypothesized that children with SA would have a thinner PFC with larger amygdala and hippocampus that lead to aberrations in threat detection, orientation and response circuit; that would be highly adaptive in a dangerous environment in the short term. Method: We included 57 SA and 33 healthy control (HC) female participants. In addition to psychiatric evaluation, we acquired 3 T MR images from all participants. We compared prefrontal cortical thicknesses, hippocampus and amygdala volumes between groups. Results: The age and education levels of study groups were matched, however, IQ scores and socioeconomic status (SES) scores of the SA group were lower than the controls. Total CTQ scores of the SA group were higher than the HC. Nevertheless, the mean value of sexual abuse scores was above the cut-off scores only for the SA participants. SA participants had larger right and left hippocampus and right amygdala volumes than the controls. SA group had reduced inferior frontal gyrus cortical thickness (T=3.5, p<0.01, cluster size=694 mm2, x=51 y=-30 z=6) than HC group. None of the structural findings were correlated with total or sexual abuse CTQ scores. Conclusion: Children with SA history has structural abnormalities in threat detection, orientation and response circuit. SA victims with no psychiatric diagnosis have a high probability of psychiatric problems with a possible contribution of these aberrations. SA cases that do not have a diagnosis must not be overlooked as they may have structural changes in emotion related brain regions. Careful follow-up is needed for all of all SA cases.

The Reflection of Self-Esteem on the Brain Structure: A Voxel Based Morphometry Study in Healthy Young Adults.

Introduction: Low self-esteem is a known risk factor for mental illnesses. Neuroimaging studies have identified evidence for a functional association between default mode network (DMN) and self-esteem levels. However, it is not clear whether there is a similar association between trait self-esteem and the structures composing DMN. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the DMN associated brain structures and trait self-esteem. Methods: We obtained 3T structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of 75 healthy subjects and detected anatomical regions correlated with their Rosenberg Self-Esteem scores via voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Results: We found positive associations between self-esteem and regional grey matter volumes in the right temporoparietal junction/inferior parietal lobule (BA 39), cortical midline regions at precuneus/dorsal cingulate cortex (BA 31), rostral and dorsal anterior cingulate cortices (BA 32). Conclusion: The results of the current study support the fMRI studies suggesting self-esteem levels associated with DMN. Further neuroimaging studies should consider the functional and structural coupling of the default mode network during the execution of the functions related to self-esteem.

Personality change after 'flow diverter implantation' for intracranial aneurysm in a patient with stroke: A case report.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to present a patient with psychiatric symptoms that occur after flow diverter stent placement in a posterior communicating artery (PComA) aneurysm in a patient. DESIGN: A case study. METHOD: We performed cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance angiography, computed tomography angiography, neuropsychological tests, Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP), and a 25-item version of the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS-25). The patient's recent MRI was compared with previous MRIs. Neuropsychological testing consisted of a clinical interview, clinical assessment of frontal lobe syndrome, and tests evaluating the prefrontal cortex functions (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-128 card version and Iowa Gambling Test). RESULTS: Our results showed that the patient's personality change and psychiatric symptoms occurred after the stent placement. Symptoms were still present at evaluation two and a half years after stent placement. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates personality changes and psychiatric symptoms that might occur as complications following the placement of a flow diverter for incidentally detected aneurysm.

Emotional context effect on recognition of varying facial emotion expression intensities in depression.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has indicated that Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) patients have deficits in the process of facial emotion recognition. In most of these studies, isolated emotional faces were used, and the effect of the surrounding context of the face was neglected. We aimed to investigate how context emotion (sad or happy) affects facial emotion recognition and whether this effect is different in depressive individuals compared to the control group. METHODS: Happy, sad, neutral facial expressions with congruent and incongruent visual contexts were presented to 51 MDD patients and 42 matched healthy controls. Emotional facial expressions are presented as morphs gradually expressing happiness or sadness with 40% and 80% intensity levels. Mean reaction time, mean accuracy rate, and mean emotion intensity rating score was calculated for each condition. RESULTS: The performances on facial emotion intensity rating and accuracy rate were similar between MDD patients and controls. MDD patients were slower to recognize all facial emotions and to recognize facial emotions with emotionally incongruent backgrounds compared to congruent ones. LIMITATIONS: Antidepressant therapy of patients might have affected our results. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional contextual features have an important role in facial emotion recognition but this effect is independent of depression. Longer reaction time in depression may be related to some cognitive impairments.

A longitudinal study of lateral ventricle volumes in deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia.

Although it is generally accepted that negative symptoms of schizophrenia are associated with larger lateral ventricles, this general assumption could not be validated in patients with primary negative symptoms. To elucidate this issue, we conducted a five-year longitudinal study, including deficit (n = 13) and non-deficit (n = 26) schizophrenia patients with healthy controls (n = 18). Analysis with linear mixed effects modeling showed that both the left and the right lateral ventricles of the deficit patients enlarged more than the non-deficit patients. Our results suggest that structural alterations in deficit patients might follow a different trajectory than those in non-deficit patients.

Cortisol response patterns in depressed women and their healthy daughters at risk: Comparison with healthy women and their daughters.

A dysfunctional hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis is widely accepted as a significant pathophysiological aspect of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Despite studies suggesting that a dysfunctional HPA axis might be present before the clinical syndrome becomes apparent, the functioning of the HPA axis in high-risk populations has not been well defined. The aim of the present study was to investigate the HPA axis functioning of mothers suffering from MDD and their healthy daughters compared to age- and sex-matched healthy controls. This design allowed a comparison of HPA axis functional differences among daughter and mother groups. HPA axis function was evaluated with a modified dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone (Dex/CRH) test, which was performed after obtaining the diurnal adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol values at 8:00, 16:00, and 23:00 h. We found that MDD mothers and their daughters had low morning cortisol and the MDD mothers additionally had low-morning ACTH compared with controls. Dexamethasone suppressed both cortisol and ACTH in all groups and subsequent HPA axis stimulation by CRH-evoked a lower cortisol response but a higher ACTH response among subjects with MDD mothers. Although high-risk daughters had comparable cortisol levels after CRH infusion, the AUC for ACTH was greater than those of controls. These patterns of results suggest that multiple level HPA dysfunctions are present in both MDD patients and their high-risk carrying daughters. However, insufficient cortisol secretion was only present in MDD mothers, while the daughters could compensate cortisol levels during CRH challenge.