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Neuroscience

Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Linked to Hormone-Sensitive Brain Disorder – Neuroscience News

Summary: A new study reveals that 34% of people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) have attempted suicide. Researchers say PMDD is an independent contributor to suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Source: University of Illinois

A new global study published in BMC Psychiatry reports that 34% of people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder have attempted suicide.

The study is the largest of its kind to examine rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among people diagnosed with the disorder by a health care provider based on daily symptom ratings, the only reliable method currently available.

Because previous studies of suicide and ideation have relied on less valid self-reported measures of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which is commonly called PMDD, the new findings offer the strongest scientific evidence to date that the disorder is likely an independent contributor to suicidal thoughts and actions.

Weve uncovered an extremely worrying rate of suicide ideation and attempts among those with PMDD, highlighting the need to take this issue seriously, said Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, assistant professor of psychiatry at theUniversity of Illinois Chicagoand lead author of the study.

These findings offer powerful evidence that the link between PMDD and suicide is independent of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or other mental health conditions that are known to increase ideation and attempts.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a cyclical, hormone-based disorder that impacts approximately 1 in 20 reproductive-age women who were assigned female at birth. The condition is often underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed or dismissed entirely by medical professionals, despite patient reports of debilitating anxiety, hopelessness and a variety of physical symptoms in the two weeks before menses.

To better understand PMDD, the researchers analyzed information from the Global Survey of Premenstrual Disorders, which included 3,153 people from over 56 countries and more than 2,000 responses.

The survey was conducted by theInternational Association for Premenstrual Disorders,Me v PMDDandVicious Cycleto help understand the scope of premenstrual disorders and the impact of PMDD.

Analysis of the information provided by the 599 respondents who reported a prior daily ratings-based diagnosis of PMDD by a health care provider (23% of respondents) revealed that 34% have attempted suicide during a PMDD episode. On average, patients waited 12 years and saw around six providers before receiving an accurate diagnosis of PMDD.

The data also showed high rates of lifetime active suicidal ideation (72%), planning (49%), intent (42%) and preparing (40%) for an attempt, and non-suicidal self-injury (51%) among patients with PMDD diagnoses.

Low-to-moderate income, history of major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder and nulliparity never giving birth were predictors of lifetime active suicidal ideation and attempts. Older age and borderline personality disorder were additional predictors of lifetime attempts.

Rates of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors also were broken down by those with only PMDD and those with PMDD who also reported having received at least one other mental health diagnosis, like depression.

Even among those who had never received another mental health diagnosis, rates were high: 67% reported active suicidal ideation, compared to 74% who also had psychological comorbidity, for example.

Eisenlohr-Moul said shed expect to see a far greater difference in rates between categories if thoughts and behaviors were only, or even mostly, due to other underlying mental health problems.

The data suggests to her that women who are neurobiologically sensitive to hormone changes, as in the case with PMDD, may be at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behavior.

One of the big challenges with PMDD is that the medical community has not just been slow to understand this condition but even to believe it exists, said Eisenlohr-Moul, who is also chair of IAPMDs clinical advisory board.

Providers and communities often dismiss patients concerns, in part because womens complaints are less likely to be taken seriously than mens but also because of persistent and even sexist stigma and misconceptions around menstruation in general.

PMDD is not a hormone imbalance. It is a neurobiological sensitivity to natural and normal changes in progesterone and estrogen levels, she said.

Our study reveals just how destructive PMDD is, said Sandi MacDonald, co-founder and executive director of the International Association for Premenstrual Disorders.

This is a galvanizing movement in womens health. PMDD is a perfect storm where #MeToo and #TimesUp, meet mental health awareness, meets suicide prevention.

While PMDD has been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders since 2013 as a major depressive disorder, there is still no recommended standard screening of suicidal ideation in patients with the condition.

Funding: The research was supported by grants from the National Instituteof Mental Health (R00MH109667, RF1MH120843, R01MH122446 and K01MH116325).The International Association for Premenstrual Disorders has received funding through a Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EA20240).

Author: Jacqueline CareySource: University of IllinoisContact: Jacqueline Carey University of IllinoisImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Prevalence of lifetime self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in a global sample of 599 patients reporting prospectively confirmed diagnosis with premenstrual dysphoric disorder by Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, et al. BMC Psychiatry

Abstract

Prevalence of lifetime self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in a global sample of 599 patients reporting prospectively confirmed diagnosis with premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Americans ages 10 to 34, with alarming recent increases in suicide rates among those assigned female at birth. A large body of evidence points to menstrual cycle influences on self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (STBs), suggesting that neurobiological hormone sensitivities, such as in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), may drive suicide risk in females.

However, existing studies of STBs in PMDD use cross-sectional self-report measures of PMDD with poor validity. As a first step to establish accurate prevalence rates of STBs in PMDD, we examined the lifetime prevalence of STBs in a large global survey of patients reporting a diagnosis of PMDD based on daily ratings.

Individuals with self-reported PMDD symptoms were invited to an online survey through online support groups for PMDD and social media posts from PMDD awareness accounts. Participants reported demographics, whether they had been diagnosed with PMDD by a healthcare provider using daily ratings, STBs using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, and history of lifetime comorbid psychiatric diagnoses.

Of 2,689 survey completers, 599 (23%) reported a diagnosis with PMDD based on two months of daily ratings and were included in analyses. We observed high rates of lifetime active suicidal ideation (72%), planning (49%), intent (42%), preparing for an attempt (40%), and attempt (34%), as well as non-suicidal self-injury (51%).

The majority (70%) of the sample reported at least one lifetime comorbid psychiatric diagnosis. Predictors of lifetime active suicidal ideation included nulliparity, low-to-moderate (vs. high) income, and history of diagnosis with major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Predictors of lifetime attempts among those reporting lifetime active ideation included older age, nulliparity, lower income, and history of diagnosis with post-traumatic stress disorder or borderline personality disorder.

These data indicate high rates of STBs among those reporting prospective diagnosis of PMDD and highlight the need for prospective research on mechanisms and prevention of STBs in PMDD. Clinical practice guidelines for PMDD should accommodate comorbidities and recommend frequent screenings for STB risk. STBs should be considered for inclusion in future iterations of the DSM PMDD diagnostic criteria.

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Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Linked to Hormone-Sensitive Brain Disorder - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Posture Assessed in Health Exam Detects Cognitive Decline – Neuroscience News

Summary: An older persons posture may give clues to hidden cognitive decline, a new study reports.

Source: Shinshu University

A mass survey of citizens aged 50 to 89 years examined whether cognitive decline could be detected by sagittal spinal balance measurement based on a radiological approach. Doctors from Shinshu University observed associations of sagittal vertical axis (SVA) anteriorization and higher age with lower cognitive function.

The sagittal vertical axis is the length of a horizontal line connecting the posterior superior sacral end plate to a vertical plumbline dropped from the centroid of the C7 vertebral body. The more the head and neck protrude in front of the pelvis when viewed from the side, (the greater the length) the more likely subjects are to show symptoms of mild cognitive decline.

In males, the SVA was associated with cognitive decline independently of age. In females, cognitive decline was more likely in cases of SVA that is equal or greater than 70mm regardless of age.

Mild cognitive impairment is cognitive complaints from the individual or associates and no dementia. Dementia, frail, and bedridden status maybe prevented by catching mild cognitive impairment at a reversible stage in communities where expensive special testing equipment or additional medical testing time is limited for the older population.

First author Hikaru Nishimura is an occupational therapist that research problems faced by the elderly from a rehabilitation perspective. Exercise training in older adults could prolong the extent of decline towards dementia or prevent it all together.

Corresponding author Doctor Shota Ikegami of Shinshu University states that poor posture is a manifestation of frail in the elderly. Hidden cognitive decline, a component of frail can be detected by posture screening.

Older adults in the town of Obuse, Nagano were examined for the mass survey and were found that in Japanese older adults, those who exhibited anteriorization of the spine was more likely to also have cognitive function decline.

Cognitive decline was reliably detected by combining age and the degree of spinal imbalance. Males with SVA100mm at any age, SVA90mm at70years, and SVA70mm at80years were likely to have cognitive decline, while females with SVA70mm at any age are likely to have cognitive decline.

The prefecture of Nagano boasts some of the highest health longevity in Japan. With this study and others, doctors hope to prevent future need for care through rehabilitation interventions for frail found during screenings.

Funding: This work was supported by a grant from the Japan Orthopaedics and Traumatology Research Foundation, Inc. [no. 339], Shinshu Public Utility Foundation for Promotion of Medical Sciences, Research Funding from the Japanese Society for Musculoskeletal Medicine, the Promotion Project of Education, Research, and Medical Care from Shinshu University Hospital, and The Nakatomi Foundation.

None of the above funding sources had any role in the design, execution, analysis, interpretation of data, or writing of the study.

Author: Hitomi ThompsonSource: Shinshu UniversityContact: Hitomi Thompson Shinshu UniversityImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Detection of cognitive decline by spinal posture assessment in health exams of the general older population by Hikaru Nishimura et al. Scientific Reports

Abstract

Detection of cognitive decline by spinal posture assessment in health exams of the general older population

The recent increase in the older adult population has led to a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment, which is often overlooked in routine health examinations. Citizens aged 5089years were targeted for this cohort survey by random sampling from the resident registry of a cooperating town in 2014. A total of 411 participants (202 male and 209 female) were enrolled.

We analyzed the distribution of cognitive function test scores as determined by Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Mini-Mental State Examination tests in each age (50s, 60s, 70s and 80s) and sex group to examine whether cognitive decline could be detected by sagittal spinal balance measurement based on a radiological approach.

Sagittal spinal balance was quantitatively measured as sagittal vertical axis (SVA). We observed significant associations for higher age and/or SVA anteriorization with lower cognitive function.

In males, spinal balance anteriorization was associated with cognitive decline independently of age, with combinations of age and SVA also making valid cognitive decline determinations; male cases of SVA100mm at any age, SVA90mm at70years, and SVA70mm at80years were all more likely to have cognitive decline than cases below those values. For females, cognitive decline was more likely in cases of SVA70mm, regardless of age.

Thus, spinal balance anteriorization can be regarded as an easily visible indicator of latent cognitive decline in community-dwelling older people.

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Posture Assessed in Health Exam Detects Cognitive Decline - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Considerations for Neuroscience Trials with Direct Administration to the CNS, Upcoming Webinar Hosted by Xtalks – Benzinga

In this free webinar, learn about the history of direct central nervous system (CNS) administration leading to modern day applications. Attendees will learn about the unique challenges from the investigative site perspective with strategies to mitigate them. The featured speakers will also share key operational and regulatory considerations for neuroscience trials with direct CNS administration.

TORONTO (PRWEB) June 14, 2022

In this free webinar, learn about the history of direct central nervous system (CNS) administration leading to modern day applications. Attendees will learn about the unique challenges from the investigative site perspective with strategies to mitigate them. The featured speakers will also share key operational and regulatory considerations for neuroscience trials with direct CNS administration.

The blood-brain barrier limits central nervous system (CNS) exposure of systemically administered investigational products. Direct local administration to the CNS is not new. However, there continues to be debate around routes of delivery, safety profiles and distribution characteristics. The utilization and accrued knowledge of direct CNS administration techniques is increasing, and these approaches are important for CNS targets. The modern-day application of intraparenchymal, intracerebroventricular and intrathecal delivery in neuroscience trials comes with many clinical, operational and regulatory challenges.

To overcome these challenges and mitigate risks, it is essential to understand common site and operational considerations associated with these methods of drug delivery. Challenges include study set-up, site and investigator-specific training requirements, vendor selection, recruitment considerations and a unique regulatory environment.

Join this webinar to learn about the history of direct CNS administration and how it has led to modern day applications. The featured speakers will discuss unique challenges from the investigative site perspective with strategies to mitigate them. The speakers will also share key operational and regulatory considerations for neuroscience trials with direct CNS administration.

Join neuroscience experts from Medpace, James Vornov, MD, PhD, Vice President, Medical Department; Filipe Rodrigues, MD/MSc, Medical Director; and Kelsey Carter, Clinical Trial Manager, for the live webinar on Thursday, June 30, 2022, at 11am EDT (4pm BST/UK).

For more information, or to register for this event, visit Considerations for Neuroscience Trials with Direct Administration to the CNS.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.comFor information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/

For the original version on PRWeb visit: https://www.prweb.com/releases/considerations_for_neuroscience_trials_with_direct_administration_to_the_cns_upcoming_webinar_hosted_by_xtalks/prweb18735536.htm

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Considerations for Neuroscience Trials with Direct Administration to the CNS, Upcoming Webinar Hosted by Xtalks - Benzinga

Neuroscience

Well, I See It Differently! Why People Don’t View the World the Same Way Others Do – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers have identified an area of the brain that appears to play a role in native realism and how we construct our own versions of reality.

Source: UCLA

Why are we so sure that the way we see people, situations and politics is accurate, and the way other people see them is foolishly wrong?

The answer, according to new research by UCLA psychology professor Matthew Lieberman, lies in a region of the brain he calls the gestalt cortex,which helps people make sense of information that is ambiguous or incomplete and dismiss alternative interpretations.

The research, based on an analysis of more than 400 previous studies,is publishedin the journalPsychological Review.

People often mistake their own understanding of people and events as objective truth, rather than as merely their own interpretation. That phenomenon, called naive realism,leads people to believe that they should have the final word on the world around them.

We tend tohave irrational confidence in our own experiences of the world, and to see others asmisinformed, lazy, unreasonable or biasedwhen they fail to see the world the way we do,Lieberman said.

The evidence from neural data is clearthat the gestalt cortex is central to how we construct our version of reality.

Naive realism may be the single most underappreciated source of conflict and distrust across individuals and groups, he said.

When others see the world differently than we do, it can serve as an existential threat to our own contact with reality and often leads to anger and suspicion about the others, Lieberman said. If we know how a person is seeing the world, their subsequent reactions are much more predictable.

While the question of how people make sense of the world has been an enduring topic in social psychology, the underlying brain mechanisms have never been fully explained, Lieberman said.

Mental acts that are coherent, effortless and based on our experiences tend to occur in the gestalt cortex. For example, a person might see someone else smiling and without giving it any apparent thought, perceive that the other person is happy.

Because those inferences are immediate and effortless,they typically feel more like seeing reality even though happiness is an internal psychological state than they do like thinking, Lieberman said.

Webelieve we have merely witnessed things as they are, which makes it more difficult to appreciate, or even consider,other perspectives, he said.

The mind accentuates its best answer and discards the rival solutions. The mind may initially process the world like a democracy where every alternative interpretation gets a vote, but it quickly ends up like an authoritarian regime where one interpretation rules with an iron fist and dissent is crushed. In selecting one interpretation, the gestalt cortex literally inhibits others.

Previous research by Lieberman has shown that when people disagree face to face for example on a political issue activity in their gestalt cortices is less similar than it is for people who agree with one another.

(That conclusion was supported bya2018 studyin the journal Nature Communications. UCLA psychologist Carolyn Parkinson and others found that similar neural patterns in the gestalt cortex were strong predictors of who was friends with whom.)

Gestalt was a German school of perceptual psychology whose motto was, The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The approach focused on how the human mind integrates elements of the world into meaningful groupings.

The gestalt cortex is located behind the ear, and it is situated between the parts of the brain responsible for processing vision, sound and touch; those parts are connected by a structure called the temporoparietal junction, which is part of the gestalt cortex.

In the new study, Lieberman proposes that the temporoparietal junction is central to conscious experience and that it helps organize and integrate psychological features of situations that people see so they can make sense of them effortlessly.

The gestalt cortex isnt the only area of the brain that enables people to quickly process and interpret what they see, he said, but it is an especially important one.

Using neurosurgical recordings to understand the social brain

In a separate study,published in April in the journalNature Communications, Lieberman and colleagues addressed how, given our complex social worlds, we are able to socialize with relative ease.

Using the first mass-scale neurosurgical recordings of the social brain, Lieberman, UCLA psychology graduate student Kevin Tan and colleagues at Stanford University showed that humans have a specialized neural pathway for social thinking.

Lieberman, author of thebestselling bookSocial: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect,said humans are social by nature and have an exceptional capacity for assessing the mental states of others. That ability requires the brain to process a large number of inferences from a vast array of idiosyncratic cues. So why does that process often feel so effortless compared to simple tasks like basic arithmetic?

Clear answers have been elusive for those who study social neuroscience. One culprit could be scientists reliance on functional magnetic resonance imaging, which is effective at scanning where brain activity occurs, but less effective at capturing the timing of that activity.

Researchers employed a technique called electrocorticography to record brain activity at millisecond and millimeter scales using thousands of neurosurgical electrodes. They found that a neurocognitive pathway that extends from the back to the front of the brain is especially active in areas closer to the front when people think about the mental states of others.

Their findings suggest that the temporoparietal junction may create a fast, effortless understanding of other peoples mental states, and that another region, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, may be more involved in thinking things through more slowly and carefully.

Author: Stuart WolpertSource: UCLAContact: Stuart Wolpert UCLAImage: The image is credited to Matthew Lieberman/UCLA Psychology

Original Research: The study is available in preprint via PsyArXiv Preprint

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Well, I See It Differently! Why People Don't View the World the Same Way Others Do - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Recurring Brain Tumors Shaped by Genetic Evolution and Microenvironment – Neuroscience News

Summary: Infiltrating gliomas are shaped by their genetic evolution and microenvironment, researchers report. The findings may help in the development of therapies to treat glioma brain tumors.

Source: University of Colorado

Researchers have discovered that infiltrating gliomas, a common brain and spinal cord tumor, are shaped by their genetic evolution and microenvironment, a finding that could lead to more targeted treatments.

We have identified epigenetic alterations at a recurrence that are not only prognostic in some cases, but may lead to different treatment options for the various subtypes that can improve long-term survival, said study co-author D. Ryan Ormond, MD, PhD, aUniversity of Colorado Cancer Centermember and associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

Thestudywas published May 31 in the journalCell.

The researchers looked at how gliomas interact with the brain, change over time, develop treatment resistance and become more invasive.

They identified three distinct phenotypes or observable traits at glioma recurrence neuronal, mesenchymal and proliferative. Each of them converge with cellular, genetic and histological features that reveal themselves at recurrence. Some of these are associated with less favorable outcomes.

In this study, scientists used participant samples from the Glioma Longitudinal Analysis Consortium or GLASS cohort, a consortium created to identify the drivers of treatment resistance in glioma.

They analyzed RNA and/or DNA sequencing data from pairs of tumors from 304 adult patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild type and IDH-mutant gliomas.

The tumors recurred in specific ways depending on the IDH mutation status. The changes they underwent during recurrence depended on how they interacted with the microenvironments they inhabited.

Researchers found that many IDH-wild type tumors were more invasive at recurrence. Their neoplastic cells showed increased neuronal signaling programs, suggesting a possible role for neuronal interactions in sparking the tumors progression.

They also discovered that hypermutation, often induced by treatment with drugs like temozolomide, along with deletion of the CDKN2A gene, which makes tumor-suppressing proteins, was associated with a proliferation of tumor cells at recurrence in both glioma subtypes.

In both IDH-wild type and IDH-mutant tumors, the hypermutation was associated with increased numbers of stem-like neoplastic cells. The growth of these cells reduced overall patient survival rates.

Collectively, these results indicate that genetic evolution at recurrence can alter neoplastic glioma cells toward a more proliferative phenotype that associates with poor prognosis, the study said.

Ormond said that therapy resistance remains a serious obstacle for patients with glioma and to improve quality of life and survival it needs to be overcome. These findings, he said, will enable physicians to better target the cancer with new therapies and treatments.

Author: David KellySource: University of ColoradoContact: David Kelly University of ColoradoImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Closed access.Glioma progression is shaped by genetic evolution and microenvironment interactions by Ryan Ormond et al. Cell

Abstract

Glioma progression is shaped by genetic evolution and microenvironment interactions

The factors driving therapy resistance in diffuse glioma remain poorly understood. To identify treatment-associated cellular and genetic changes, we analyzed RNA and/or DNA sequencing data from the temporally separated tumor pairs of 304 adult patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-wild-type and IDH-mutant glioma.

Tumors recurred in distinct manners that were dependent on IDH mutation status and attributable to changes in histological feature composition, somatic alterations, and microenvironment interactions.

Hypermutation and acquiredCDKN2Adeletions were associated with an increase in proliferating neoplastic cells at recurrence in both glioma subtypes, reflecting active tumor growth.

IDH-wild-type tumors were more invasive at recurrence, and their neoplastic cells exhibited increased expression of neuronal signaling programs that reflected a possible role for neuronal interactions in promoting glioma progression.

Mesenchymal transition was associated with the presence of a myeloid cell state defined by specific ligand-receptor interactions with neoplastic cells.

Collectively, these recurrence-associated phenotypes represent potential targets to alter disease progression.

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Recurring Brain Tumors Shaped by Genetic Evolution and Microenvironment - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Bad Dreams Could Be Early Warning of Parkinson’s Disease – Neuroscience News

Summary: Older adults who frequently experience bad dreams or nightmares are twice as likely to be diagnosed with Parkinsons disease, a new study reports.

Source: University of Birmingham

Older adults who start to experience bad dreams or nightmares could be exhibiting the earliest signs of Parkinsons disease, say researchers at the University of Birmingham.

A new study, published ineClinicalMedicine, showed that in a cohort of older men, individuals experiencing frequent bad dreams were twice as likely to be later diagnosed with Parkinsons as those who did not.

Previous studies have shown that people with Parkinsons disease experience nightmares and bad dreams more frequently than adults in the general population, but using nightmares as a risk indicator for Parkinsons has not previously been considered.

Lead author, Dr Abidemi Otaiku, of the Universitys Centre for Human Brain Health, said: Although it can be really beneficial to diagnose Parkinsons disease early, there are very few risk indicators and many of these require expensive hospital tests or are very common and non-specific, such as diabetes.

While we need to carry out further research in this area, identifying the significance of bad dreams and nightmares could indicate that individuals who experience changes to their dreams in older age without any obvious trigger should seek medical advice.

The team used data from a large cohort study from the USA, which contained data over a period of 12 years from 3818 older men living independently. At the beginning of the study, the men completed a range of questionnaires, one of which included a question about sleep quality.

Participants reporting bad dreams at least once per week were then followed up at the end of the study to see whether they were more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinsons disease.

During the follow-up period, 91 cases of Parkinsons were diagnosed. The researchers found that participants experiencing frequent bad dreams were twice as likely to develop the disease compared to those who did not.

Most of the diagnoses happened in the first five years of the study. Participants with frequent bad dreams during this period were more than three times as likely to go on to develop Parkinsons.

The results suggest that older adults who will one day be diagnosed with Parkinsons are likely to begin experiencing bad drams and nightmares a few years before developing the characteristic features of Parkinsons, including tremors, stiffness and slowness of movement.

The study also shows that our dreams can reveal important information about our brain structure and function and may prove to be an important target for neuroscience research.

The researchers plan to use electroencephalography (EEG) to look at the biological reasons for dream changes. They will also look at replicating the findings in larger and more diverse cohorts and explore possible links between dreams and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers.

Author: Beck LockwoodSource: University of BirminghamContact: Beck Lockwood University of BirminghamImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Distressing dreams and risk of Parkinsons disease: A population-based cohort study by Abidemi Otaiku et al. EClinicalMedicine

Abstract

Distressing dreams and risk of Parkinsons disease: A population-based cohort study

Parkinsons disease (PD) is associated with alterations to the phenomenology of dreaming including an increased frequency of distressing dreams. Whether distressing dreams may precede the development of PD is unknown. This study investigated the association between frequent distressing dreams and the risk of incident PD.

3818 men aged 67 years or older from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS), a population-based cohort from the USA, who were free from PD at baseline (December 2003 April 2011) and completed item 5h of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index which probes the frequency of distressing dreams in the past month, were included in this analysis. Incident PD was based on doctor diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) for incident PD according to distressing dream frequency, with adjustment for potential confounders.

During a mean follow-up of 73 years, 91 (24%) cases of incident PD were identified. Participants with frequent distressing dreams at baseline had a 2-fold risk for incident PD (OR, 201; 95% CI, 11-36,P=0.02). When stratified by follow-up time, frequent distressing dreams were associated with a greater than 3-fold risk for incident PD during the first 5 years after baseline (OR, 338; 95% CI, 13-87;P=001), however no effect was found during the subsequent 7 years (OR, 155; 95% CI, 07-33;P=026).

In this prospective cohort, frequent distressing dreams were associated with an increased risk for incident PD. The association was only significant within the 5 years prior to diagnosis, which suggests that frequent distressing dreams may be a prodromal symptom of PD.

The study received no external funding.

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Bad Dreams Could Be Early Warning of Parkinson's Disease - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Does Grief Depend on How the Loved One Died? – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers found no difference in the intensity of grief or the levels of distress between those who lost loved ones to medically assisted death or natural death in palliative care.

Source: University of Montreal

Is the grief experience different for individuals who have lost a loved one by medical assistance in dying (MAiD) compared to natural death with palliative care (NDPC)?

Philippe Laperle examines this sensitive issue in a recent article published in theJournal of Death and Dying, based on his Ph.D. research under the supervision of Marie Achille of the University of Montreals Department of Psychology and Deborah Ummel of the Universit de Sherbrookes Department of Psychoeducation.

Previous research suggests thatgrieffollowing the medically assisteddeathof a loved is no more challenging or complex than grief in other dying contexts, including sudden natural death or suicide. Some studies have even concluded that it may be easier.

Comparing two groups of bereaved individuals

To date, however, no one has compared bereavement following the loss of a loved one by MAiD and by NDPC, considered the gold standard in in end-of-life care and death preparation.

Laperle recruited 60 subjects who had been bereaved for at least six months. Twenty-five of them had lost a loved one by MAiD and 35 by NDPC. In the majority of cases (48), the cause of death was cancer.

The 51 women and 9 men first completed two questionnaires assessing different aspects of grief, symptoms of distress and the presence of prolonged grief disorder requiring professional psychological support. This quantitative component was followed by in-depth interviews with 8 members of each group.

No overall differences, but a diversity of experiences

Contrary to his initial hypothesis that grief would be easier after MAiD than after natural death, Laperle did not observe any significant differences in intensity or distress between the two groups.

The low scores for distress symptoms indicate that these two contexts tend to make grief easier in certain respects, said Laperle, although some bereaved individuals still reported a more difficult grief experience characterized by depression and guilt.

The interviews showed that the experiences of the bereaved were diverse and, sometimes, mixed in both groups. And that the traces, or imprints, left on the bereaved individual by their loved ones final moments and the separation brought by death could be painful, comforting or both at the same time.

When preparation for death and acceptance of its coming unfold at a similar pace in the dying person and their loved one, the two arrive at the same point mentally and emotionally at the time of death, which makes the subsequent grieving process easier, explained Laperle.

But if one of them accepts the impending death while the other remains in denial, this leaves imprints that are more difficult to overcome.

But regardless of whether the loved one passed away by MAiD or naturally under palliative sedation, in which case the person gradually slips into unconsciousness and death, some bereaved individuals felt the process was rushed.

In general, those who were in synchrony with their loved one experienced the death more serenely and felt it came at the right time.

Differences were also found n the subjects memories of the loved one. In the case of MAiD, some of the bereaved remembered the departed as a hero who embodied values of freedom, control, courage and/or immortality.

In the case of NDPC, the departed was more likely to be remembered as the embodiment of a beauty that never fades completely although it withers. Others felt left behind by their hero, which created a even greater void after their passing.

Its important to remember that every grieving process is different and that not everyone will be left with the same imprints, said Laperle.

In general, imprints fluctuate over time, arising momentarily to then dissipate and even transform. Other factors also impact grief, including the persons relationship with the deceased and degree of involvement during the illness. These factors can increase or decrease the effects of the imprints left by MAiD or NDPC.

Author: Press OfficeSource: University of MontrealContact: Press Office University of MontrealImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.To Lose a Loved One by Medical Assistance in Dying or by Natural Death with Palliative Care: A Mixed Methods Comparison of Grief Experiences by Philippe Laperle et al. OMEGAJournal of Death and Dying

Abstract

To Lose a Loved One by Medical Assistance in Dying or by Natural Death with Palliative Care: A Mixed Methods Comparison of Grief Experiences

The integration of assisted dying into end-of-life care is raising reflections on bereavement.

Patients and families may be faced with a choice between this option and natural death assisted by palliative care; a choice that may affect grief. Therefore, this study describes and compares grief experiences of individuals who have lost a loved one by medical assistance in dying or natural death with palliative care.

A mixed design was used. Sixty bereaved individuals completed two grief questionnaires. The qualitative component consisted of 16 individual semi-structured interviews.

We found no statistically significant differences between medically assisted and natural deaths, and scores did not suggest grief complications.

Qualitative results are nuanced: positive and negative imprints may influence grief in both contexts. Hastened and natural deaths are death circumstances that seem to generally help ease mourning.

However, they can still, in interaction with other risk factors, produce difficult experiences for some family caregivers.

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Does Grief Depend on How the Loved One Died? - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

A map of mystery: How researchers discovered unique brain organization in bats – The Aggie – The Aggie

New research by Dr. Andrew Halley and the Krubitzer Lab at UC Davis details how bat brains are highly specialized for echolocation and flight

By MARGO ROSENBAUM science@theaggie.org

People often wonder how the mammals we see swinging through trees, swimming in the ocean or flying over our heads relate to us. We ponder how millions of years of evolution resulted in so many mammals of varying intelligence and abilities.

If only we could look right into their brains.

Dr. Andrew Halley, a postdoctoral researcher in the Krubitzer Lab at UC Davis, did just that. With the help of fellow researchers at UC Davis, Simon Fraser University and UC Berkeley, Halley performed brain surgeries on anesthetized bats to better understand the motor cortex the region of the brain controlling voluntary movement across the body.

Publishing the results on May 25 in the journal Current Biology, Halley and the other researchers discovered that bats brains are highly specialized for two unique aspects of their biology: echolocation and self-propelled flight.

To make this discovery, Halley, the lead author of the paper, and his colleagues mapped the brain regions controlling movements in these fruit bats, focusing on areas dedicated to echolocation and flight.

Bats represent a quarter of all living mammalian species, but until only recently, much of their brains and evolution remained a mystery. Halley and his fellow researchers sought to change that.

Before this study, a bat species full motor cortex had never been mapped. This achievement now allows researchers to understand the part of the brain involved in the planning, control and execution of voluntary movements.

Paths to studying evolution

Fascinated by evolutionary questions, Halley studies evolutionary neurobiology and comparative neuroscience. Originally from Philadelphia, he majored in psychology and worked in a genetics laboratory as an undergraduate at Pennsylvania State University. Halley said he grew up more interested in the humanities but always held a fascination for psychology.

Biology piqued his interest when he started taking biology classes in college, especially after learning about evolutionary theory. With the questions he started asking, he realized he needed to learn more about neuroscience to answer them and wanted to study brain evolution.

Halley completed his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley in 2016, after studying biological anthropology and working on a project tangentially related to neuroscience, in which he studied differences in embryonic development across species.

This fascination for evolution and neuroscience brought him to the Krubitzer Lab at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience as a postdoctoral researcher.

The Krubitzer Lab was sort of a natural fit; [Dr. Krubitzer] is one of the preeminent brain evolution researchers thats around, Halley said.

Dr. Mackenzie Englund, a former graduate student in the lab and co-author of the paper, shares Halleys appreciation for evolution and sensory systems, which he said are this medium through which we interact with the world. Englund came to UC Davis for his Ph.D. to research similar questions.

Evolution was always just one of those things that made me feel really close to the world, Englund said.

Straying from the study of traditional model organisms

Led by Dr. Leah Krubitzer, the lab largely focuses on studying the evolution of the neocortex, which is the part of the brain that most people think of when they think of a brain, according to Halley. The lab is interested in multiple aspects of the neocortex: its function, interconnectivity within the structure and how it links to other parts of the brain.

By studying a range of mammals, the labs researchers seek to understand how evolution results in varied brain organization across species. Halley said the lab takes a comparative approach and studies animals that stray from traditional model organisms, such as mice and zebrafish.

The lab strives to understand whether parts of the brain have evolved to correspond to uniqueness in the bodies of mammals like opossums, platypi, primates, tree shrews and most recently with the help of Halley bats.

You can learn a lot of things just by looking at extreme adaptations that you find in the natural world, Halley said. Comparative research on the one hand is just inherently interesting because were interested in understanding how evolution works, and specifically how brain evolution works.

According to Halley, its important to study animals other than just model organisms, since studying only these animals tells researchers little about evolutions role in altering brains across many different species.

Theres a handful of biological models that are generally used to do sort of bread and butter neuroscience, and theyre also really widely used for translational research for trying to develop medicines, Halley said. There are limits to the degree to which a laboratory mouse is a good model for a human.

Brain surgery on bats

Halleys recent work is part of a larger project in the Krubitzer Lab to illustrate how regions of species brains are organized according to differences in their bodies and behaviors.

This study focused on understanding the motor cortex in bats: its variation, what it represents and whether flight and echolocation have resulted in unique morphologies, such as the extra elongated fingers of bats, with membranes connecting the digits, forelimbs and hind limbs to form their giant wings.

It varies from individual to individual motor cortex is so much more variable than other sensory areas because the cortex may be built by things that we do, our behaviors, Englund said.

All mammals have a motor cortex, so understanding this important part of the brain in bats could hint at understanding brain function and evolution in humans.

Whats really important is figuring out the common themes of the motor cortex across all species, and what things can vary, Englund said.

Using bats from a breeding colony at UC Berkeley, Halley, Englund and the other researchers performed brain surgery to study their questions.

After anesthetizing the bat under study, Halley and the scientists opened up the bats skull, exposed the neocortex and used electrodes to stimulate different areas of the motor cortex. By applying small bits of current, they sought to determine which muscle and limb movements were created by stimulating various parts of the motor cortex.

Applying small bits of current to different parts of the brain was essentially an artificial way of mimicking what happened in a naturally-behaving bat, Halley said

Halley and Englund worked together and took turns in the experiments, which often resulted in work days lasting from 12 to 15 hours. Because every animals life is so precious, they wanted to get the most data they could out of each experiment, Englund said.

Wed be switching off in the experiment room, giving each other breaks so we could go slam some coffee and maybe a granola bar, Englund said.

In the end, their novel findings were worth the grueling days.

The researchers notably discovered that in Egyptian fruit bats, large regions of the motor cortex are devoted to their tongue, which makes sounds for echolocation, and to the muscles propelling their limbs for flight.

Mapping a motor cortex

After the experiments, the researchers could create a map of the spatially-segregated areas of the brain that regulate body movements. The map is topographic compared to the body, meaning certain parts of the body are larger or smaller depending on the species. Larger areas on the map mean that part of the body is overrepresented in the brain, Halley said.

The central findings of our study were that different parts of the brain are enlarged in different species based on their behaviors or their body types, Halley said.

Areas of emphasis in the motor cortex can likely be explained by their unique biology and adaptations. Egyptian fruit bats have unusual methods of echolocation instead of using their larynx like most bats, these animals use their tongue. In the study, over 40% of the stimulated sensory and motor cortex controlled tongue movements. Additionally, the vast majority of the motor cortex was responsible for coordinated shoulder and hindlimb movements, explaining a possible reason for the special morphology of bat wings.

Despite all the work of Halley, Englund and others at the Krubitzer Lab, more study is necessary to understand the full scope of the motor cortex and other parts of the brain in bats.

These animals are becoming more common as model species of study, but still, many of their neurobiology basics remain poorly understood. Creating and maintaining colonies is complex, and their unique body morphology makes it more difficult to use them in neuroscience research, Halley said.

Future evolutionary neurology research could involve more study of bats based on Halleys findings: Mapping the motor cortex is just step one.

Written by Margo Rosenbaum science@theaggie.org

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Neuroscience

People With a High Omega-3 DHA Level in Their Blood Are at 49% Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s – Neuroscience News

Summary: People with higher levels of omega-3 DHA in their blood are 49% less likely to develop dementia than those with lower levels. Researchers say adding additional omega-3 DHA to the diet, especially in those with the Alzheimers associated Apoe4 gene, could slow the development and progress of dementia.

Source: Wright On Marketing & Communications

New research published today inNutrientsshows that people with a higher blood DHA level are 49% less likely to develop Alzheimers disease vs. those with lower levels, according to theFatty Acid Research Institute(FARI).

The study, led by Aleix Sala-Vila, PhD, suggested that providing extra dietary omega-3 DHA, especially for those carrying the ApoE4 gene (which approximately doubles an individuals susceptibility to develop AD) might slow the development of the disease.

Such a cost-effective, low-risk dietary intervention like this could potentially save billions in health care costs.

In this prospective observational study conducted within theFramingham Offspring Cohort including 1490 dementia-free participants aged 65 years old researchers examined the association of red blood cell (RBC) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with incident Alzheimers Disease (AD), while also testing for an interaction with APOE-4 carriership.

Risk for incident AD in the highest RBC DHA quintile (Q5, >6.1%) was 49% lower compared with the lowest quintile (Q1, <3.8%). An increase in RBC DHA from Q1 to Q5 was predicted to provide an estimated 4.7 additional years of life free of AD.

Further, the researchers noted that an increased intake of DHA might lower risk for developing AD, particularly in higher-risk individuals such as those carrying theAPOE-4 allele, suggestingthat they may benefit more from higher DHA levels than non-carriers.

The public health impact of preventing AD with something as simple as a dietary intervention like DHA is also significant.

The researchers noted that Given that estimated health-care payments in 2021 for all patients with AD or other dementias amount to $355 billion in the US (not including caregiving by family members and other unpaid caregivers), any cost-effective strategy for delaying the onset of AD is of utmost public health interest, and that Delaying AD by 5 years leads to 2.7 additional years of life, and 4.8 additional AD-free years for an individual who would have acquired AD and is worth over $500,000.

So how does this paper stack up to others in this area? Our study is in line with that ofTan et al.who reported cross-sectional associations with RBC DHA on cognitive performance and brain volume measurements (with higher DHA being associated with beneficial outcomes) in the same cohort as studied here, said William S. Harris, PhD, President of FARI, and senior author on this recent study.

Most interestingly, 15 years ago similar findings were reported bySchaefer et al.in the parents of the individuals who were the focus of this present investigation (i.e., the Original Framingham Heart Study cohort).

Schaefer et al. reported that participants in the top quartile of plasma phosphatidylcholine DHA experienced a significant, 47% reduction in the risk of developing all-cause dementia compared with those with lower levels, Dr. Harris continued.

Similar findings a generation apart in a similar genetic pool provide considerable confirmation of this DHA-dementia relationship.

Author: Becky WrightSource: Wright on Marketing & CommunicationsContact: Becky Wright Wright On Marketing & CommunicationsImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: The findings will appear in Nutrients

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People With a High Omega-3 DHA Level in Their Blood Are at 49% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's - Neuroscience News