
André AlemanUniversity of Groningen | RUG · NeuroImaging Center (NIC)
André Aleman
PhD
About
729
Publications
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
August 2008 - present
Publications
Publications (729)
Background/objectives:
Negative symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum disorders are related to impaired social functioning and lower quality of life, making accurate assessment important. To date, most tools for assessing negative symptoms are observational, which can be influenced by the raters' experience and opinion. Self-rating scales, like the S...
Introduction: Mild behavioral impairment (MBI), and particularly its impulse dyscontrol domain, has been linked to brain alterations suggestive of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in subjects without dementia. We aimed to analyze the association of impulse dyscontrol with the loss of integrity in white-matter brain tracts in a group of cognitively normal o...
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with cognitive control deficits that often persist after remission, affecting daily life functioning and increasing relapse risk. Residual symptoms such as negative affect and low motivation may impede cognitive control and thereby hamper goal directed behavior, and as such functioning in daily life. Th...
Social hierarchy is a typical feature of social organization. The ability to quickly recognize social hierarchy information is crucial for adapting to social contexts. Here, we adopted fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) with electroencephalography (EEG) to assess the neural responses to social hierarchy during social competition and cooperatio...
Background
Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), considered as the prodromal stage of Alzheimer’s disease, is characterized by isolated memory impairment and cerebral gray matter volume (GMV) alterations. Previous structural MRI studies in aMCI have been mainly based on univariate statistics using voxel-based morphometry.
Objective
We investi...
Positive and negative schizotypy reflect distinct patterns of subclinical traits in the general population associated with neurodevelopmental and schizophrenia-spectrum pathologies. Yet, a comprehensive characterization of the unique and shared neuroanatomical signatures of these schizotypy dimensions is lacking. Leveraging 3D brain MRI data from 2...
Background
Preliminary evidence suggests antidepressant effects of transcranial pulsed electromagnetic fields (tPEMF). However, the precise mechanism of action in the brain is still unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of tPEMF on brain activation in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) by studying two proce...
Emotion and executive control are often conceptualized as two distinct modes of human brain functioning. Little, however, is known about how the dynamic organization of large-scale functional brain networks that support flexible emotion processing and executive control, especially their interactions. The amygdala and prefrontal systems have long be...
Machine learning (ML) techniques have gained popularity in the neuroimaging field due to their potential for classifying neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the diagnostic predictive power of the existing algorithms has been limited by small sample sizes, lack of representativeness, data leakage, and/or overfitting. Here, we overcome these limitat...
Background
Cognitive and daily functioning are conceptually critical in distinguishing Mild Cognitive Impairments (MCI) from dementia (Petersen, 2004), but findings on the association between the two have not always been consistent (e.g., Putcha & Tremont, 2016; Teng et al., 2010). We aimed to investigate whether cognitive functions could predict d...
Background
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a prodromal stage of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (Langa & Levine, 2014). It has been suggested that a late event‐related potential (ERP) called the late positive potential (LPP) is related to cognitive functioning including sustained attention and reaction time in people with MCI (Waninger e...
Background
Schizotypy represents an index of psychosis-proneness in the general population, often associated with childhood trauma exposure. Both schizotypy and childhood trauma are linked to structural brain alterations, and it is possible that trauma exposure moderates the extent of brain morphological differences associated with schizotypy.
Met...
Mood fluctuations, central to human experience, are profoundly influenced by reward prediction error (RPE). Although depression and anxiety are traditionally understood to exhibit contrasting mood fluctuations, their interrelated nature has made it challenging to pinpoint their specific roles in RPE-induced mood variations. In this study, we employ...
Background:
The recurrent nature of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) asks for a better understanding of mechanisms underlying relapse. Previously, self-referential processing abnormalities have been linked to vulnerability for relapse. We investigated whether abnormalities in self-referential cognitions and functioning of associated brain-networks...
Humans are able to adapt to the fast-changing world by estimating statistical regularities of the environment. Although fear can profoundly impact adaptive behaviors, the computational and neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain elusive. Here, we conducted a behavioral experiment (n = 21) and a functional magnetic resonance imaging expe...
Fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by chronic pain, is frequently accompanied by emotional disturbances. Here we aimed to study brain activation and functional connectivity (FC) during processing of emotional stimuli in fibromyalgia. Thirty female patients with fibromyalgia and 31 female healthy controls (HC) were included. Psychometric tests...
Backgrounds
Decision-making deficits have been reported as trans-diagnostic characteristics of vulnerability to suicidal behaviors, independent of co-existing psychiatric disorders. Individuals with suicidal behaviors often regret their decision to attempt suicide and may have impairments in future-oriented processing. However, it is not clear how...
Background
It has been theorized that hallucinations, a common symptom of schizophrenia, are caused by failures in reality monitoring. The paracingulate sulcus (PCS) has been implicated as a brain structure supporting reality monitoring with the absence or shorter length of PCS associated with an occurrence of hallucinations in schizophrenia. The a...
Glutamatergic dysfunction is implicated in schizophrenia pathoaetiology, but this may vary in extent between patients. It is unclear whether inter-individual variability in glutamate is greater in schizophrenia than the general population. We conducted meta-analyses to assess (1) variability of glutamate measures in patients relative to controls (l...
Glutamatergic dysfunction is implicated in schizophrenia pathoaetiology, but this may vary in extent between patients. It is unclear whether inter-individual variability in glutamate is greater in schizophrenia than the general population. We conducted meta-analyses to assess (1) variability of glutamate measures in patients relative to controls (l...
Background:
Non-invasive forms of brain stimulation, including transcranial magnetic stimulation and direct current stimulation, are increasingly being considered by clinicians as a somatic treatment option for psychiatric disorders.
Aim:
Review article on the history, efficacy transcranial brain stimulation in psychiatric disorders and the role...
Background
Individuals with a psychotic disorder are at an increased risk of victimization, but evidenced-based interventions are lacking.
Aims
A body-oriented resilience therapy (‘BEATVIC’) aimed at preventing victimization was developed and its effectiveness was assessed in a multicenter randomized controlled trial.
Methods
105 people with a ps...
Memory problems that are characteristic of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) are often accompanied by difficulties in attention and executive functions (EF). Studies have consistently reported atrophy of the hippocampus and its association with memory decline in aMCI. However, it is less clear whether differences in grey matter volume (GMV)...
Objective: The cognitive characterization of Alzheimer’s disease risk states, such as amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD), is fundamental for timely diagnosis and interventions. The Face Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) is sensitive to early Alzheimer’s disease brain changes, and an extended version...
Objectives
Life experiences that are complex, sustained, and intense, such as active participation in music and speaking multiple languages, have been suggested to contribute to maintaining or improving cognitive performance and mental health. The current study focuses on whether lifetime musical and multilingual experiences differentially relate t...
Schizotypy represents an index of psychosis-proneness in the general population often associated with childhood trauma exposure. Both schizotypy and childhood trauma are linked to structural brain alterations, and it is possible that trauma exposure moderates the extent of brain morphological differences associated with schizotypy. We addressed thi...
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in understanding the role apathy plays in mediating the relationship between cognitive impairment and functional outcome. In general, most studies measure cognition with traditional cognitive tests that give explicit instructions and guide the participants toward generating a response. However,...
Deteriorated functioning is a part of the clinical-high risk (CHR) criteria for psychosis. Diminished social, educational and occupational functioning in the phase of late adolescence and early adulthood are associated with long-term social, economic and health consequences, which stresses the importance of early intervention to stimulate functioni...
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain, as well as numerous symptoms related to central sensitization such as: fatigue, cognitive disturbances, constipation/diarrhea and sensory hypersensitivity. Furthermore, depression and anxiety are prevalent comorbidities, accompanied by emotion processing and regulation difficulti...
Glutamatergic dysfunction is implicated in the pathoaetiology of schizophrenia, but this may vary in extent between patients. It is unclear whether inter-individual variability in glutamate is greater in schizophrenia than the general population. We conducted meta-analyses to assess (1) variability of glutamate measures in patients relative to cont...
Numerous brain disorders demonstrate structural brain abnormalities, which are thought to arise from molecular perturbations or connectome miswiring. The unique and shared contributions of these molecular and connectomic vulnerabilities to brain disorders remain unknown, and has yet to be studied in a single multi-disorder framework. Using MRI morp...
Background
Apathy is a quantitative reduction in motivation and goal-directed behaviors, not only observed in neuropsychiatric disorders, but also present in healthy populations. Although brain abnormalities associated with apathy in clinical disorders have been studied, the organization of brain networks in healthy individuals has yet to be identi...
Humans are able to adapt to the fast-changing world by estimating statistical regularities of the environment. Although fear can profoundly impact adaptive behaviors, the neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain elusive. Here, we conducted a behavioral experiment (n = 21) and a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment (n = 37) wi...
Machine learning (ML) techniques have gained popularity in the neuroimaging field due to their potential for classifying neuropsychiatric disorders based on brain patterns. However, the diagnostic predictive power of the existing algorithms has been limited by small sample sizes, lack of representativeness, data leakage, and/or overfitting. Here, w...
Brain structural abnormalities and low educational attainment are consistently associated with major depressive disorder (MDD), yet there has been little research investigating the complex interaction of these factors. Brain structural alterations may represent a vulnerability or differential susceptibility marker, and in the context of low educati...
Background:
Impaired emotion processing constitutes a key dimension of schizophrenia and a possible endophenotype of this illness. Empirical studies consistently report poorer emotion recognition performance in patients with schizophrenia as well as in individuals at enhanced risk of schizophrenia (“at risk”). fMRI studies also report consistent pa...
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) provides clinical benefits for several neurological and psychiatric conditions. By overcoming the limitations and risks of conventional DBS, transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS) has the potential to offer non-invasive stimulation of deep brain regions. However, research that investigates the efficacy of...
Background
Impaired emotion processing constitutes a key dimension of schizophrenia and a possible endophenotype of this illness. Empirical studies consistently report poorer emotion recognition performance in patients with schizophrenia as well as in individuals at enhanced risk of schizophrenia (“at risk”). fMRI studies also report consistent pat...
A fundamental aspect of human mental life is the seamless ability for integration of emotion and cognition. Despite progress regarding the spatial architecture of Emotion-Cognition Integration (ECI), the time course of ECI processes remains unclear. To examine the temporal organization of brain oscillations underpinning ECI, we simultaneously manip...
Abnormal function and connectivity of the fronto-parietal network (FPN) have been documented in patients with schizophrenia, but studies are correlational. We applied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and observed causal connectivity to the inferior parietal lobe (IPL). We hypothesize...
The recurrent nature of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) necessitates a better understanding of mechanisms facilitating relapse. MDD has often been associated with abnormal emotion regulation, underpinned by aberrant interactions between the prefrontal cortex and subcortical areas. We assessed whether neural regulation abnormalities remain after rem...
Alexithymia is characterized by impairments in emotion processing, frequently linked to facial expressions of emotion. The eye-region conveys information necessary for emotion processing. It has been demonstrated that alexithymia is associated with reduced attention to the eyes, but little is known regarding the cognitive and electrophysiological m...
Numerous brain disorders demonstrate structural brain abnormalities, which are thought to arise from molecular perturbations or connectome miswiring. The unique and shared contributions of these molecular and connectomic vulnerabilities to brain disorders remain unknown, and has yet to be studied in a single multi-disorder framework. Using MRI morp...
Numerous brain disorders demonstrate structural brain abnormalities, which are thought to arise from molecular perturbations or connectome miswiring. The unique and shared contributions of these molecular and connectomic vulnerabilities to brain disorders remain unknown, and has yet to be studied in a single multi-disorder framework. Using MRI morp...
Introduction
The memory impairment that is characteristic of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is often accompanied by difficulties in executive functioning, including planning. Though planning deficits in aMCI are well documented, their neural correlates are largely unknown, and have not yet been investigated with functional magnetic reson...
Background
People with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) often experience difficulties in cognitive domains other than memory, including executive functioning. Though these deficits are well documented, their neural correlates remain unknown. The aim of this study was to: (1) identify differences in brain activity and connectivity during pl...
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder, characterized by high relapse risk. With every new episode, risk for relapse increases. This makes preventing relapse an important clinical target in limiting the personal and societal burden of MDD. Preventive Cognitive Therapy (PCT) is a protocolized psychological therapy which...
Transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS) is a novel non-invasive brain stimulation technique for electrical stimulation of neurons at depth. Deep brain regions are generally small in size, making precise targeting a necessity. The variability of electric fields across individual subjects resulting from the same tTIS montages is unknown...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with an increased risk of brain atrophy, aging-related diseases, and mortality. We examined potential advanced brain aging in adult MDD patients, and whether this process is associated with clinical characteristics in a large multicenter international dataset. We performed a mega-analysis by pooling bra...
Emerging evidence suggests that obesity impacts brain physiology at multiple levels. Here we aimed to clarify the relationship between obesity and brain structure using structural MRI (n = 6420) and genetic data (n = 3907) from the ENIGMA Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) working group. Obesity (BMI > 30) was significantly associated with cortical an...
Alexithymia has been characterized as an impaired ability of emotion processing and regulation. The definition of alexithymia does not include a social component. However, there is some evidence that social cognition may be compromised in individuals with alexithymia. Hence, emotional impairments associated with alexithymia may extend to socially r...
Humans adapt their learning strategies to changing environments by estimating the volatility of the reinforcement conditions. Here, we examine how volatility affects learning and the underlying functional brain organizations using a probabilistic reward reversal learning task. We found that the order of conditions was critically important; particip...
Background: Noninvasive neurostimulation with transcranial Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (tPEMF) may be a promising method for treatment resistant depression (TRD). Studies shown substantial improvement of depressive symptoms in patients with TRD, but there is no information on long-term antidepressant effects. The aim of this study was to investig...
Hallucinatory experiences can occur in both clinical and nonclinical groups. However, in previous studies of the general population, investigations of the cognitive mechanisms underlying hallucinatory experiences have yielded inconsistent results. We ran a large-scale preregistered multisite study, in which general-population participants ( N = 1,3...
Objective
Cognitive alterations putatively contribute to the risk for suicide in individuals with psychosis. Yet, a comprehensive assessment of social- and general-cognitive abilities in a large sample is lacking.
Methods
Seven-hundred-fifteen individuals diagnosed with a psychotic disorder performed tasks of facial emotion recognition, Theory of...
Neuroanatomical abnormalities have been reported along a continuum from at-risk stages, including high schizotypy, to early and chronic psychosis. However, a comprehensive neuroanatomical mapping of schizotypy remains to be established. The authors conducted the first large-scale meta-analyses of cortical and subcortical morphometric patterns of sc...
Importance:
Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) studies indicate that altered brain glutamatergic function may be associated with the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and the response to antipsychotic treatment. However, the association of altered glutamatergic function with clinical and demographic factors is unclear.
Objective:
To...
Hallucinations and illusions are two instances of perceptual experiences illustrating how perception might diverge from external sensory stimulations and be generated or altered based on internal brain states. The occurrence of these phenomena is not constrained to patient populations. Similar experiences can be elicited in healthy subjects by mean...
A wide homology between human and macaque striatum is often assumed as in both the striatum is involved in cognition, emotion and executive functions. However, differences in functional and structural organization between human and macaque striatum may reveal evolutionary divergence and shed light on human vulnerability to neuropsychiatric diseases...
Introduction : With aging comes a reduction of cognitive flexibility, which has been related to the development of late-life depression and progression of general cognitive decline. Several factors have been linked to attenuating such decline in cognitive flexibility, such as education, physical exercise and stimulating leisure activities. Speaking...
Neuroimaging and genetics studies have advanced our understanding of the neurobiology of sleep and its disorders. However, individual studies usually have limitations to identifying consistent and reproducible effects, including modest sample sizes, heterogeneous clinical characteristics and varied methodologies. These issues call for a large‐scale...