Neurocognitive markers of late-onset ADHD: a 6-year longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: There is an increased interest in 'late-onset' attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), referring to the onset of clinically significant ADHD symptoms after the age of 12 years. This study aimed to examine whether unaffected siblings with late-onset ADHD could be differentiated from stable unaffected siblings by their neurocognitive functioning in childhood. METHODS: We report findings from a 6-year prospective, longitudinal study of the Dutch part of the International Multicenter ADHD Genetics (IMAGE) study, including individuals with childhood-onset (persistent) ADHD (n = 193), their siblings with late-onset ADHD (n = 34), their stable unaffected siblings (n = 111) and healthy controls (n = 186). At study entry (mean age: 11.3) and follow-up (mean age: 17.01), participants were assessed for ADHD by structured psychiatric interviews and multi-informant questionnaires. Several neurocognitive functions were assessed at baseline and after 6 years, including time reproduction, timing variability (reaction time variability and time production variability), reaction time speed, motor control and working memory; intelligence was taken as a measure of overall neurocognitive functioning. RESULTS: Siblings with late-onset ADHD were similar to individuals with childhood-onset ADHD in showing longer reaction times and/or higher error rates on all neurocognitive measures at baseline and follow-up, when compared to healthy controls. They differed from stable unaffected siblings (who were similar to healthy controls) by greater reaction time variability and timing production variability at baseline. No significant group by time interaction was found for any of the tasks. CONCLUSIONS: For unaffected siblings of individuals with ADHD, reaction time variability and timing production variability may serve as neurocognitive marker for late-onset ADHD.

Neurocognitive markers of suicidal ideation in patients with anxiety and mood disorders.

Objective: This study aims at identifying associations between cognitive function and suicidal ideation in the sample of patients with anxiety and mood disorders (AMD).Methods: In sum, 186 (age = 39 ± 12.3 years; 142 [76.3%] females) patients with AMD were enrolled in the study. Assessment included evaluation of socio-demographic information, medication use, anxiety and depression symptoms. Cognitive tests included measures of psychomotor performance and incidental learning using the Digit Symbol Test. Trail Making Tests respectively measured perceptual speed, task-switching and executive control. Additionally, 21 patients completed tests from the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery measuring set shifting (Interdimensional/extradimensional set-shift), executive planning (Stockings of Cambridge), and decision making (Cambridge Gamble Task [CGT]).Results: Almost half (45.0%, n = 86) of the study sample patients had experienced suicidal ideations. In multivariable regression analysis, suicidal ideation was associated with a greater overall proportion of bet and risk taking on the CGT task (ß = 0.726, p = .010 and ß = 0.634, p = .019), when controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, medication use, anxiety and depression symptoms.Conclusions: Outpatients with AMD and suicidal ideation could be distinguished by the presence of cognitive deficits in the executive function domain, particularly in impulse-control and risk taking.

The impact of acute violent videogame exposure on neurocognitive markers of empathic concern.

Research examining the purported association between violent gaming and aggression remains controversial due to concerns related to methodology, unclear neurocognitive mechanisms, and the failure to adequately consider the role of individual differences in susceptibility. To help address these concerns, we used fMRI and an emotional empathy task to examine whether acute and cumulative violent gaming exposure were associated with abnormalities in emotional empathy as a function of trait-empathy. Emotional empathy was targeted given its involvement in regulating not only aggression, but also other important social functions such as compassion and prosocial behaviour. We hypothesized that violent gaming exposure increases the risk of aberrant social behaviour by altering the aversive value of distress cues. Contrary to expectations, neither behavioural ratings nor empathy-related brain activity varied as a function of violent gaming exposure. Notably, however, activation patterns in somatosensory and motor cortices reflected an interaction between violent gaming exposure and trait empathy. Thus, our results are inconsistent with a straightforward relationship between violent gaming exposure and reduced empathy. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of considering both individual differences in susceptibility and other aspects of cognition related to social functioning to best inform public concern regarding safe gaming practices.

Electrophysiological alterations during action semantic processing in Parkinson's disease.

Assessments of action semantics consistently reveal markers of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, neurophysiological signatures of the domain remain under-examined in this population, especially under conditions that allow patients to process stimuli without stringent time constraints. Here we assessed event-related potentials and time-frequency modulations in healthy individuals (HPs) and PD patients during a delayed-response semantic judgment task involving related and unrelated action-picture pairs. Both groups had shorter response times for related than for unrelated trials, but they exhibited discrepant electrophysiological patterns. HPs presented significantly greater N400 amplitudes as well as theta enhancement and mu desynchronization for unrelated relative to related trials. Conversely, N400 and theta modulations were abolished in the patients, who further exhibited a contralateralized cluster in the mu range. None of these patterns were associated with the participants' cognitive status. Our results suggest that PD involves multidimensional neurophysiological disruptions during action-concept processing, even under task conditions that elicit canonical behavioral effects. New constraints thus emerge for translational neurocognitive models of the disease.

Association of 100% Fruit Juice Consumption with Cognitive Measures, Anxiety, and Depression in US Adults.

Cognitive decline, anxiety, and depression are significant contributors to human ill health and decreased quality of life. Intake of fruits including 100% juice is associated with beneficial effects on several health outcomes. The current study explored the potential associations between consumption of 100% fruit juice and neurocognitive markers in adults. Twenty-four-hour dietary recall data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1988-1994, 1999-2018 for adults 20+ years (N = 62,606) were used to assess 100% fruit juice intake, and NHANES questionnaire data were used for the assessment of neurocognition. Association of usual intake of 100% fruit juice with neurocognitive outcomes were assessed by regression analysis after adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, dietary, and health-related covariates. About 21% of adults were fruit juice consumers and the intake was a little over 2 oz per day. Consumers of 100% fruit juice had 16.3% fewer days per month of feeling anxious compared to non-consumers. There were no significant associations of 100% fruit juice usual intake with other neurocognitive measures. A large number of potential confounding variables have been identified to be associated with one or more neurocognitive measures suggesting that these may be important parameters to include in future studies.

Neuro-Immune Aspects of Schizophrenia with Severe Negative Symptoms: New Diagnostic Markers of Disease Phenotype.

The aim of the study was to analyze the immune-inflammatory profile of patients with paranoid schizophrenia and relate it to the severity of negative symptoms and the MRI data in order to identify biomarkers of schizophrenia severity, search for new approaches to therapy, and control its effectiveness. Materials and Methods: The main group included 51 patients with paranoid schizophrenia, the control group - 30 healthy subjects. Patients underwent MRI scans and immunological studies, which included an assessment of natural and adaptive immunity, the systemic level of key pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and other markers of inflammation. Results: Disorders of immunity and immunoinflammatory profile in patients with paranoid schizophrenia with severe negative symptoms were revealed for the first time: in the presence of severe negative symptoms (>15 points according to the NSA-4 scale), the levels of humoral immunity factors, cytokines IL-10 and IL-12p40 and neurotrophin NGF were increased as well as the markers of systemic inflammation. Morphometric changes in the brain, typical for patients with schizophrenia, and also specific for patients with severe negative symptoms, were determined. The data analysis revealed correlations between the immune changes with structural changes in some of the brain areas, including the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Associations were found between the levels of anti-inflammatory IL-10, IL-12p40 cytokines and morphometric parameters of the brain, specific only for schizophrenic patients with severe negative symptoms. Conclusion: The interdisciplinary approach, combining brain morphometry with in-depth immunological and clinical studies, made it possible to determine neurobiological, immune, and neurocognitive markers of paranoid schizophrenia with severe negative symptoms. The results are important for further deciphering the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and its subtypes, as well as for the search for new approaches to the treatment of severe forms of the disease.

Hair cortisol concentration and neurocognitive functions in preschool children at risk of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Sex differences have been shown in the relation between hair cortisol concentration (HCC) and ADHD symptoms. As an extension of these findings, we analyze whether a child's sex modulates the associations between HCC and ADHD-related neurocognitive functions. METHODS: A community-based sample of 122 children was tested at age 4-5 (T1) and 8 (T2) years. At T1 and T2, ADHD symptoms were assessed with clinical parent interviews and parent and teacher questionnaires. Neurocognitive functions (i.e. T1: inhibitory control, working memory (WM), T2: verbal and performance intelligence (IQ-p)) were assessed using (neuro-)psychological tests. At T1, HCC was analyzed in the most proximal 3 cm scalp hair segment using luminescence immunoassay. RESULTS: Exclusively in boys, low HCC correlated with low WM and IQ-p. The sex-by-HCC interaction effect on WM was significant. In boys, HCC completely explained the links of ADHD inattention symptoms with WM and IQ-p, respectively. CONCLUSION: Results suggest a specific neurocognitive/endocrine profile in preschool boys at risk of developing ADHD, comprising hypocortisolism combined with memory and attention deficits.

Reward-Related Dysfunctions in Children Developing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Roles of Oppositional and Callous-Unemotional Symptoms.

Objectives: Neurocognitive functions might indicate specific pathways in developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We focus on reward-related dysfunctions and analyze whether reward-related inhibitory control (RRIC), approach motivation, and autonomic reactivity to reward-related stimuli are linked to developing ADHD, while accounting for comorbid symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Methods: A sample of 198 preschool children (115 boys; age: m = 58, s = 6 months) was re-assessed at age 8 years (m = 101.4, s = 3.6 months). ADHD diagnosis was made by clinical interviews. We measured ODD symptoms and CU traits using a multi-informant approach, RRIC (Snack-Delay task, Gift-Bag task) and approach tendency using neuropsychological tasks, and autonomic reactivity via indices of electrodermal activity (EDA). Results: Low RRIC and low autonomic reactivity were uniquely associated with ADHD, while longitudinal and cross-sectional links between approach motivation and ADHD were completely explained by comorbid ODD and CU symptoms. Conclusion: High approach motivation indicated developing ADHD with ODD and CU problems, while low RRIC and low reward-related autonomic reactivity were linked to developing pure ADHD. The results are in line with models on neurocognitive subtypes in externalizing disorders.