| 1. |
- Hilbert, Kevin, et al.
(author)
-
Cortical and Subcortical Brain Alterations in Specific Phobia and Its Animal and Blood-Injection-Injury Subtypes: A Mega-Analysis From the ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group.
- 2024
-
In: The American Journal of Psychiatry. - 1535-7228.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Specific phobia is a common anxiety disorder, but the literature on associated brain structure alterations exhibits substantial gaps. The ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group examined brain structure differences between individuals with specific phobias and healthy control subjects as well as between the animal and blood-injection-injury (BII) subtypes of specific phobia. Additionally, the authors investigated associations of brain structure with symptom severity and age (youths vs. adults).Data sets from 31 original studies were combined to create a final sample with 1,452 participants with phobia and 2,991 healthy participants (62.7% female; ages 5-90). Imaging processing and quality control were performed using established ENIGMA protocols. Subcortical volumes as well as cortical surface area and thickness were examined in a preregistered analysis.Compared with the healthy control group, the phobia group showed mostly smaller subcortical volumes, mixed surface differences, and larger cortical thickness across a substantial number of regions. The phobia subgroups also showed differences, including, as hypothesized, larger medial orbitofrontal cortex thickness in BII phobia (N=182) compared with animal phobia (N=739). All findings were driven by adult participants; no significant results were observed in children and adolescents.Brain alterations associated with specific phobia exceeded those of other anxiety disorders in comparable analyses in extent and effect size and were not limited to reductions in brain structure. Moreover, phenomenological differences between phobia subgroups were reflected in diverging neural underpinnings, including brain areas related to fear processing and higher cognitive processes. The findings implicate brain structure alterations in specific phobia, although subcortical alterations in particular may also relate to broader internalizing psychopathology.
|
|
| 2. |
- Ivica, Nedjeljka, et al.
(author)
-
Differential effects of skilled reaching training on the temporal and spatial organization of somatosensory input to cortical and striatal motor circuits
- 2022
-
In: Journal of Neurophysiology. - : American Physiological Society. - 0022-3077 .- 1522-1598. ; 127:1, s. 225-238
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It has been hypothesized that to perform sensorimotor transformations efficiently, somatosensory information being fed back to a particular motor circuit is organized in accordance with the mechanical loading patterns of the skin that result from the motor activity generated by that circuit. Rearrangements of sensory information to different motor circuits could in this respect constitute a key component of sensorimotor learning. We here explored whether the organization of tactile input from the plantar forepaw of the rat to cortical and striatal circuits is affected by a period of extensive sensorimotor training in a skilled reaching and grasping task. Our data show that the representation of tactile stimuli in terms of both temporal and spatial response patterns changes as a consequence of the training and that spatial changes particularly involve the primary motor cortex. Based on the observed reorganization, we propose that reshaping of the spatiotemporal representation of the tactile afference to motor circuits is an integral component of the learning process that underlies skill acquisition in reaching and grasping.
|
|
| 3. |
- Kursiša, Anta, et al.
(author)
-
Sprachenexpedition rund um die Ostsee : Unterrichtsmaterialien zur Mehrsprachigkeit mit Deutsch
- 2022
-
Reports (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- Das Material ist im Rahmen des Goethe-Institut-Projektes „Sprachenexpedition rund um die Ostsee“ entstanden und bereits von Lehrkräften in baltischen und nordischen Ländern eingesetzt worden. Die Lernenden beschäftigen sich in sechs Themeneinheiten mit ihrer eigenen inneren und äußeren Mehrsprachigkeit, mit der ihrer Umgebung und ihres Landes, mit Sprachenvergleich und den Grundlagen des Verstehens fremder Sprachen. Dabei laden alle Themen auch zum Vergleich und Austausch ein: Kooperieren Sie mit Lehrkräften in anderen Schulen bzw. Ländern, um die Ergebnisse der Arbeit mit dem Material miteinander auszutauschen – als Grundlage für weiteres Lernen.Das Lehrmaterial stützt sich auf die Prinzipien der Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik: Die Lernenden vergleichen, entdecken das Bekannte in neuen Sprachen und denken über Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen den unterschiedlichen Sprachen nach. Das gesamte Lehrmaterial besteht aus den Arbeitsblättern, die Sie ausdrucken und den Lernenden aushändigen können, und aus den Lehrerhandreichungen zu jedem Arbeitsblatt, in denen Sie mehr über die theoretischen Hintergründe erfahren und Empfehlungen zur Durchführung der Unterrichtseinheit erhalten. In einer siebten Einheit finden Sie Vorschläge für Online-Begegnungen zwischen beteiligten Klassen, damit die Schülerinnen und Schüler ihre Arbeitsergebnisse selber präsentieren und so ins Gespräch miteinander kommen können.
|
|
| 4. |
- Poli, Sven, et al.
(author)
-
Penumbral Rescue by normobaric O?=?O administration in patients with ischemic stroke and target mismatch proFile (PROOF): Study protocol of a phase IIb trial
- 2024
-
In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STROKE. - 1747-4930 .- 1747-4949. ; 19:1, s. 120-126
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rationale: Oxygen is essential for cellular energy metabolism. Neurons are particularly vulnerable to hypoxia. Increasing oxygen supply shortly after stroke onset could preserve the ischemic penumbra until revascularization occurs.Aims: PROOF investigates the use of normobaric oxygen (NBO) therapy within 6 h of symptom onset/notice for brain-protective bridging until endovascular revascularization of acute intracranial anterior-circulation occlusion.Methods and design: Randomized (1:1), standard treatment-controlled, open-label, blinded endpoint, multicenter adaptive phase IIb trial.Study outcomes: Primary outcome is ischemic core growth (mL) from baseline to 24 h (intention-to-treat analysis). Secondary efficacy outcomes include change in NIHSS from baseline to 24 h, mRS at 90 days, cognitive and emotional function, and quality of life. Safety outcomes include mortality, intracranial hemorrhage, and respiratory failure. Exploratory analyses of imaging and blood biomarkers will be conducted.Sample size: Using an adaptive design with interim analysis at 80 patients per arm, up to 456 participants (228 per arm) would be needed for 80% power (one-sided alpha 0.05) to detect a mean reduction of ischemic core growth by 6.68 mL, assuming 21.4 mL standard deviation.Discussion: By enrolling endovascular thrombectomy candidates in an early time window, the trial replicates insights from preclinical studies in which NBO showed beneficial effects, namely early initiation of near 100% inspired oxygen during short temporary ischemia. Primary outcome assessment at 24 h on follow-up imaging reduces variability due to withdrawal of care and early clinical confounders such as delayed extubation and aspiration pneumonia.
|
|
| 5. |
- Schiele, Miriam A., et al.
(author)
-
Therapygenetic effects of 5-HTTLPR on cognitive-behavioral therapy in anxiety disorders : A meta-analysis
- 2021
-
In: European Neuropsychopharmacology. - : Elsevier. - 0924-977X .- 1873-7862. ; 44, s. 105-120
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is a recurring debate on the role of the serotonin transporter gene linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) in the moderation of response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in anxiety disorders. Results, however, are still inconclusive. We here aim to perform a meta-analysis on the role of 5-HTTLPR in the moderation of CBT outcome in anxiety disorders. We investigated both categorical (symptom reduction of at least 50%) and dimensional outcomes from baseline to post-treatment and follow-up. Original data were obtained from ten independent samples (including three unpublished samples) with a total of 2,195 patients with primary anxiety disorder. No significant effects of 5-HTTLPR genotype on categorical or dimensional outcomes at post and follow-up were detected. We conclude that current evidence does not support the hypothesis of 5-HTTLPR as a moderator of treatment outcome for CBT in anxiety disorders. Future research should address whether other factors such as long-term changes or epigenetic processes may explain further variance in these complex gene-environment interactions and molecular-genetic pathways that may confer behavioral change following psychotherapy.
|
|
| 6. |
- Trost, Fabian, et al.
(author)
-
Imaging via Correlation of X-Ray Fluorescence Photons
- 2023
-
In: Physical Review Letters. - : American Physical Society. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 130:17
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We demonstrate that x-ray fluorescence emission, which cannot maintain a stationary interference pattern, can be used to obtain images of structures by recording photon-photon correlations in the manner of the stellar intensity interferometry of Hanbury Brown and Twiss. This is achieved utilizing femtosecondduration pulses of a hard x-ray free-electron laser to generate the emission in exposures comparable to the coherence time of the fluorescence. Iterative phasing of the photon correlation map generated a model-free real-space image of the structure of the emitters. Since fluorescence can dominate coherent scattering, this may enable imaging uncrystallised macromolecules.
|
|
