Yanbin Jia’s research while affiliated with First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University and other places

Prolonged social isolation is known to cause alterations in conscious experience, such as hallucination, and cognitive problems. Surprisingly, although COVID-19 quarantine policies involved long periods of physical confinement and isolation, little is known as to whether this was associated with alterations in consciousness and cognition. We conducted a comprehensive survey of 300 Chinese participants who were subjected to very strict COVID-19 quarantine while answering the survey. Forty percent of the participants indicated having more cognitive problems and psychotic-like symptoms during quarantine compared to before. These problems varied systematically with quarantine conditions: Fewer face-to-face interactions were associated with increased psychotic symptoms, cognitive problems, and anxiety. Smaller quarantine spaces were associated with increased psychotic symptoms and anxiety. Longer quarantine duration when quarantined outside of home was associated with increased anxiety and decreased positive outcomes. These findings provide novel insights into the impact of quarantine on consciousness, cognition, and the resilience factors that may counteract such disturbances. More broadly, the findings indicate that changes in consciousness and cognition, previously well-documented in other contexts following extended social isolation, also apply to the enforced quarantine during the pandemic.

Background The pattern of abnormal resting‐state brain function has been documented in schizophrenia (SCZ). However, as of yet, it remains unclear whether this pattern is of genetic predisposition or related to the illness itself. Methods A systematical meta‐analysis was performed to identify resting‐state functional differences in probands and their high‐risk first‐degree relatives of schizophrenia (FDRs‐SCZ) using Seed‐based d Mapping software. Subsequently, spatial associations between postmortem gene expression and neurotransmitters distribution data and neural activity alterations were conducted to uncover neural mechanisms underlaying FDRs‐SCZ and SCZ from a multidimensional perspective. Results A total of 13 studies comprising 503 FDRs‐SCZ and 605 healthy controls (HCs) and 129 studies comprising 6506 patients with SCZ and 6982 HCs were included. Compared to HCs, FDRs‐SCZ displayed increased spontaneous functional activity in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/mPFC); patients with SCZ showed decreased spontaneous functional activity in the bilateral ACC/mPFC, bilateral postcentral gyrus, and right middle temporal gyrus as well as increased spontaneous functional activity in the bilateral striatum. The altered functional activity in FDRs‐SCZ and SCZ shared similar spatial associations with genes enriched in potassium ion transmembrane transport, channel activity, and complex. The FDRs‐SCZ and SCZ‐related brain functional patterns were additionally associated with dopaminergic, serotonergic, and cholinergic neurotransmitter distribution. Conclusions SCZ‐related resting‐state functional, neuroimaging transcriptomes, and neurotransmitters abnormalities may exist in high‐risk unaffected FDRs‐SCZ, rather than just in overt SCZ. The study extended the evidence that altered brain function, along with their spatial correlations to genetics and neurotransmitter systems, may associate with genetic vulnerability for SCZ.

Objective: Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is effective in treating major depressive disorder (MDD) with childhood trauma, and virtual reality (VR) can further extend its application form. However, the utilization of VR-EMDR in treating MDD with childhood trauma is still in its infancy, and whether it can improve depressive symptoms and traumatic experience remains unknown. Method: Seventy-two MDD patients were randomly allocated to the intervention group and the wait-list control group on a 1:1 basis. The intervention group received 12-session VR-EMDR, while another group received no intervention. We used Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (PHQ-9) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale–24 Version (24-HDRS) to assess the patient’s subjective and objective depressive symptoms, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Check List–Civilian (PCL-C) to assess the patient’s traumatic experience, the Massachusetts General Hospital Cognitive and Physical Functioning Questionnaire, and the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery to assess the patient’s subjective and objective cognitive performance. Results: After VR-EMDR, the linear mixed model revealed significantly lower scores in PHQ-9, 24-HDRS total and factor score (including anxiety/somatization, weight, and block), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Check List–Civilian, and Massachusetts General Hospital Cognitive and Physical Functioning Questionnaire and significantly higher scores in information processing speed, attention/alertness, and working memory in the intervention group (p < .05). Improvements can be maintained in the 3-month follow-up, except for 24-HDRS anxiety/somatization factor score, which showed significantly higher scores in the 3-month follow-up compared with postintervention (p < .05). Conclusions: VR-EMDR is effective in improving depressive symptoms, traumatic experience, and cognitive performance in MDD with childhood trauma. Part of the effects can be maintained 3 months after the intervention.

Background The clinical characteristics of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescents show notable gender-related differences, but the cause of these differences is still not understood. The current research concentrates on the changes in neurometabolism and neuroendocrine function, aiming to identify differences in endocrine function and brain metabolism between male and female adolescents with MDD. Methods A total of 121 teenagers diagnosed with MDD (43 males and 78 females) were enlisted as participants. Measurement was conducted on levels of endocrine hormones, which included free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), total tri-iodothyronine (TT3), free thyroxin (FT4), total thyroxin (TT4), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), cortisol, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Obtained through ¹H-MRS, the N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and choline containing compounds (Cho) to creatine (Cr) ratios were acquired for the prefrontal whiter matter (PWM), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), basal ganglia (BG), thalamus, and cerebellum. Result After adjusting for multiple comparisons, female adolescents with MDD showed lower ACTH levels compared to their male counterparts. An increased lateralization index (LI) was observed in female patients for both the thalamic Cho/Cr ratio and the basal ganglia NAA/Cr ratio. Additionally, an intriguing finding was that in male adolescent patients, TT4 levels were significantly correlated with the Cho/Cr ratio in the left cerebellum. However, no such correlation between hormones and brain metabolism was found in females. Conclusions Gender differences in endocrine and neurometabolic abnormalities may contribute to the gender-specific pathophysiology of MDD in adolescent patients. Metabolic abnormalities and lateralization changes are observed in different brain regions for male and female MDD patients.

The relationships of the gut microbiota-inflammation-brain axis in depressive bipolar disorder (BD) remains under-elaborated. Sixty-five unmedicated depressive patients with BD II and 58 controls (HCs) were prospectively enrolled. Resting-state functional MRI data of static and dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was measured, and abnormal ALFF masks were subsequently set as regions of interest to calculate whole-brain static functional connectivity (sFC) and dynamic functional connectivity (dFC). Fecal samples were collected to assess gut diversity and enterotypes using 16S amplicon sequencing. Blood samples were also collected, serum was assayed for levels of cytokines (interleukin [IL]-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α). Patients with BD II exhibited decreased static ALFF values in the left cerebellum Crus II, and decreased cerebellar sFC and dFC to the right inferior parietal lobule and right superior frontal gyrus, respectively. Moreover, higher pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines levels, and increased proinflammatory bacteria and glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid metabolism related bacteria were identified in BD II. The interaction of Parabacteroides levels × IL-8 levels was an independent contributor to static ALFF in the left cerebellar Crus II. The findings bridged a gap in the underlying pathophysiological mechanism of the gut microbiota-inflammation-brain axis in BD II depression.

Background Suicidal behavior including suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SA) is a common clinical feature of adolescent patients with major depressive disorders (MDD). We hypothesized that differences in functional connectivity density (FCD) exist between adolescent patients with SA and SI, and aimed to investigate the different suicidal behaviors in adolescents patients with MDD17. Methods 37 MDD adolescents with SA, 34 MDD adolescents with SI, 20 MDD adolescents without SA and SI (non-suicidal group), and 20 adolescents healthy controls (HC) were enrolled in this study. All participants were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to evaluated the FCD. Between-group differences of all variables were analyzed. The relationships between FCD values and clinical scale scores were also analyzed. Results The FCD of the left inferior occipital gyrus in the SI group was higher than those in the other groups. The FCD in the SA group was higher than that in the control group. The FCD of the right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus in the SI group was lower than that in the other three groups. The FCD values of the left precentral gyrus in the SI group were higher than those in the other three groups. The left inferior occipital gyrus FCD positively correlated with the suicide factor score of Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), and the right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus negatively correlated with the HAMD suicide factor score but not with the HAMD total score. Conclusion Changes in FCD in adolescent patients with depression and SI can reflect changes in functional connections in the brain.