Association between childhood maltreatment and cortical folding in women with eating disorders.

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is associated with distinct clinical and biological characteristics in people with eating disorders (EDs). The measurement of local gyrification index (lGI) may help to better characterize the impact of CM on cortical structure. Thus, the present study investigated the association of CM with lGI in women with EDs. Twenty-six women with anorexia nervosa (AN) and 24 with bulimia nervosa (BN) underwent a 3T MRI scan. All participants filled in the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. All neuroimaging data were processed by FreeSurfer. LGI maps underwent a general linear model to evaluate differences between groups with or without CM. People with AN and BN were merged together. Based on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire cutoff scores, 24 participants were identified as maltreated and 26 as non-maltreated. Maltreated people with EDs showed a significantly lower lGI in the left middle temporal gyrus compared with non-maltreated people, whereas no differences emerged in the right hemisphere between groups. The present study showed that in people with EDs, CM is associated with reduced cortical folding in the left middle temporal gyrus, an area that could be involved in ED psychopathology. This finding corroborates the hypothesis of a 'maltreated ecophenotype', which argues that CM may allow to biologically, other than clinically, distinguish individuals with the same psychiatric disorder.

Emotional non-acceptance mediates the relationship between insecure attachment and specific psychopathology in women with eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Insecure attachment is considered a general risk factor for eating disorders (ED). Emotion dysregulation has been proposed as one of the possible mechanisms by which attachment insecurity may affect ED psychopathology. Aim of the present study was to investigate whether difficulties in acceptance of emotions or emotional clarity may mediate the connection between insecure attachment and ED psychopathology. METHOD: One hundred and twenty patients participated and completed the Italian version of Eating Disorder Inventory-2, Experience in Close Relationship questionnaire and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. A mediator path model was performed, in which insecure attachment dimensions were set as independent variables, ED specific psychopathology measures as dependent variables, and non-acceptance of emotion and lack of emotional clarity as mediators. RESULTS: The association between both attachment avoidance and anxiety and ED specific symptoms was mediated by emotional non-acceptance, but not by emotional clarity. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the importance to address emotion regulation in individuals with ED, focussing on improving emotional acceptance. Exploring early developmental processes which lead to non-acceptance of emotions could improve this psychological trait in people with ED.

A database of videos of physical exercise and sedentary behaviours to investigate automatic processes and perceptions related to physical exercise.

OBJECTIVE: The Videos of Physical Exercise and Sedentary Behaviours (VPESB) database is a novel database designed to experimentally investigate neural reactivity to physical exercise. The aim of this database is to provide a variety of dynamic images with a minimum of confounding factors. METHODS: A total of 196 healthy participants were recruited to evaluate 10 clips of sedentary activities and 10 clips of physical exercise. Each activity was performed by a male and female performer, resulting in a total of 40 video clips of 10 s each. RESULTS: The validation procedure confirmed the ability of these videoclips to accurately represent both sedentary and physical activity. In addition, video clips of physical activity were associated with higher effort ratings than sedentary activities (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The VPESB is a versatile, rapid and easy-to-use tool that can be used to understand emotional and behavioural approaches to physical activity and to better disentangle some clinical conditions in which physical activity plays a central role.

Switching Antipsychotic Medications in People with Schizophrenia: A 4-Year Naturalistic Study.

Although generally effective in ameliorating the core manifestations of schizophrenia, antipsychotics (APs) may lead to only suboptimal responses or may be associated with a variety of treatment-related adverse events which require additional treatment strategies. Under such clinical circumstances, switching APs represents a rational treatment option. The present study aimed to identify the variables that predict AP switch and to quantify the frequency of this phenomenon in people with schizophrenia in real-life. A secondary analysis was conducted on the data collected at baseline and at a 4-year follow-up from a large sample of community-dwelling Italian people with schizophrenia. Demographic and clinical variables as well as information about AP treatment were recorded at two time points. Over the 4-year period, 34.9% of the 571 participants switched the AP; in particular, 8.4% of participants switched from first-generation APs (FGAs) to second-generation APs or vice versa, while 8.2% of them switched to clozapine. Logistic regression models showed that combination of APs at baseline was negatively associated with AP switch, while treatment with FGAs and the presence of extrapyramidal symptoms at baseline were associated with AP class switch. Although the aim of the present study was not to assess predictors of clinical relapse in people with schizophrenia, we might speculate that switching APs represents a surrogate indicator of treatment failure in some patients and could lead into relapse, which is a costly aspect of schizophrenia management in both economic and human terms. The sooner such a negative outcome can be predicted and managed, the sooner the treatment can be optimized to avoid it.