Irregular sleep habits, regional grey matter volumes, and psychological functioning in adolescents

Changing sleep rhythms in adolescents often lead to sleep deficits and a delay in sleep timing between weekdays and weekends. The adolescent brain, and in particular the rapidly developing structures involved in emotional control, are vulnerable to external and internal factors. In our previous study in adolescents at age 14, we observed a strong relationship between weekend sleep schedules and regional medial prefrontal cortex grey matter volumes. Here, we aimed to assess whether this relationship remained in this group of adolescents of the general population at the age of 16 (n = 101; mean age 16.8 years; 55% girls). We further examined grey matter volumes in the hippocampi and the amygdalae, calculated with voxel-based morphometry. In addition, we investigated the relationships between sleep habits, assessed with self-reports, and regional grey matter volumes, and psychological functioning, assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and tests on working memory and impulsivity. Later weekend wake-up times were associated with smaller grey matter volumes in the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdalae, and greater weekend delays in wake-up time were associated with smaller grey matter volumes in the right hippocampus and amygdala. The medial prefrontal cortex region mediated the correlation between weekend wake up time and externalising symptoms. Paying attention to regular sleep habits during adolescence could act as a protective factor against the emergence of psychopathology via enabling favourable brain development.

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Sleep, regional grey matter volumes, and psychological functioning in adolescents

10.1101/645184 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Winok Lapidaire ◽

Anna S. Urrila ◽

Eric Artiges ◽

Ruben Miranda ◽

Hélène Vulser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Psychological Functioning ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Strong Relationship ◽

Sleep Habits ◽

Internal Factors ◽

The Right ◽

The Relationship

AbstractChanging sleep rhythms in adolescents often lead to sleep deficits and increased variability in sleep schedules. The adolescent brain, and in particular the rapidly developing structures involved in emotional control, are vulnerable to external and internal factors. In our previous study in adolescents at age 14, we observed a strong relationship between weekend sleep schedules and regional medial prefrontal cortex grey matter volumes. Here, we aimed to assess whether this relationship remained in this group of adolescents of the general population at the age of 16 (n=101; mean age 16.8 years; 55% girls). We further examined grey matter volumes in the hippocampi and the amygdalae, calculated with voxel-based morphometry. In addition, we investigated the relationship between regional grey matter volumes with psychological functioning. Sleep was assessed with self-reports and psychological functioning with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and tests on working memory and impulsivity. Later weekend wake-up times were associated with smaller grey matter volumes in the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdalae, and greater weekend delays in wake-up time were associated with smaller grey matter volumes in the right hippocampus and amygdala. The medial prefrontal cortex region mediated the correlation between weekend wake up time and both externalising and internalising symptoms. Paying attention to regular sleep habits during adolescence could act as a protective factor against the emergence of psychopathology via enabling favourable brain development.

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Habitual ‘sleep credit’ is associated with greater grey matter volume of the medial prefrontal cortex, higher emotional intelligence and better mental health

Journal of Sleep Research ◽

10.1111/jsr.12056 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 22 (5) ◽

pp. 527-534 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Mareen Weber ◽

Christian A. Webb ◽

Sophie R. Deldonno ◽

Maia Kipman ◽

Zachary J. Schwab ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Emotional Intelligence ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Grey Matter Volume ◽

Matter Volume

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Daily and Intermittent Smoking Decrease Gray Matter Volume and Concentrations of Glutamate, Creatine, Myo-Inositol and N-acetylaspartate in the Prefrontal Cortex

10.1101/2020.09.08.288050 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Paul Faulkner ◽

Susanna Lucini Paioni ◽

Petya Kozhuharova ◽

Natasza Orlov ◽

David J. Lythgoe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Smoking Status ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Structural Mri ◽

Resonance Spectroscopy ◽

Matter Volume ◽

The Right

AbstractCigarette smoking is still the largest contributor to disease and death worldwide. Successful cessation is hindered by decreases in prefrontal glutamate concentrations and gray matter volume due to daily smoking. Because non-daily, intermittent smoking also contributes greatly to disease and death, understanding whether infrequent tobacco use is associated with reductions in prefrontal glutamate concentrations and gray matter volume may aid public health. Eighty-five young participants (41 non-smokers, 24 intermittent smokers, 20 daily smokers, mean age ~23 years old), underwent 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the medial prefrontal cortex, as well as structural MRI to determine whole-brain gray matter volume. Compared to non-smokers, both daily and intermittent smokers exhibited lower concentrations of glutamate, creatine, N-acetylaspartate and myo-inositol in the medial prefrontal cortex, and lower gray matter volume in the right inferior frontal gyrus; these measures of prefrontal metabolites and structure did not differ between daily and intermittent smokers. Finally, medial prefrontal metabolite concentrations and right inferior frontal gray matter volume were positively correlated, but these relationships were not influenced by smoking status. This study provides the first evidence that both daily and intermittent smoking are associated with low concentrations of glutamate, creatine, N-acetylaspartate and myo-inositol, and low gray matter volume in the prefrontal cortex. Future tobacco cessation efforts should not ignore potential deleterious effects of intermittent smoking by considering only daily smokers. Finally, because low glutamate concentrations hinder cessation, treatments that can normalize tonic levels of prefrontal glutamate, such as N-acetylcysteine, may help intermittent and daily smokers to quit.

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Polygenic effects of schizophrenia on hippocampal grey matter volume and hippocampus–medial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.2019.127 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 216 (5) ◽

pp. 267-274 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shu Liu ◽

Ang Li ◽

Yong Liu ◽

Hao Yan ◽

Meng Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Grey Matter Volume ◽

Polygenic Risk Score ◽

Polygenic Inheritance ◽

Polygenic Risk ◽

Matter Volume ◽

A Genome

BackgroundSchizophrenia is a complex mental disorder with high heritability and polygenic inheritance. Multimodal neuroimaging studies have also indicated that abnormalities of brain structure and function are a plausible neurobiological characterisation of schizophrenia. However, the polygenic effects of schizophrenia on these imaging endophenotypes have not yet been fully elucidated.AimsTo investigate the effects of polygenic risk for schizophrenia on the brain grey matter volume and functional connectivity, which are disrupted in schizophrenia.MethodGenomic and neuroimaging data from a large sample of Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia (N = 509) and healthy controls (N = 502) were included in this study. We examined grey matter volume and functional connectivity via structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, respectively. Using the data from a recent meta-analysis of a genome-wide association study that comprised a large number of Chinese people, we calculated a polygenic risk score (PGRS) for each participant.ResultsThe imaging genetic analysis revealed that the individual PGRS showed a significantly negative correlation with the hippocampal grey matter volume and hippocampus–medial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity, both of which were lower in the people with schizophrenia than in the controls. We also found that the observed neuroimaging measures showed weak but similar changes in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia.ConclusionsThese findings suggested that genetically influenced brain grey matter volume and functional connectivity may provide important clues for understanding the pathological mechanisms of schizophrenia and for the early diagnosis of schizophrenia.

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Altered heartbeat perception sensitivity associated with brain structural alterations in generalised anxiety disorder

General Psychiatry ◽

10.1136/gpsych-2019-100057 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. e100057 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hui Li ◽

Bin Zhang ◽

Qiang Hu ◽

Lanlan Zhang ◽

Yi Jin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Grey Matter Volume ◽

Generalised Anxiety Disorder ◽

Matter Volume ◽

Heartbeat Perception

BackgroundPalpitation is a common complaint in generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). Brain imaging studies have investigated the neural mechanism of heartbeat perception in healthy volunteers. This study explored the neuroanatomical differences of altered heartbeat perception in patients with GAD using structural MRI.AimsBased on the strong somatic-interoceptive symptoms in GAD, we explored the regional structural brain abnormalities involved in heartbeat perception in patients with GAD.MethodsThis study was applied to the a priori regions using neuroanatomical theories of heartbeat perception, including the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area and prefrontal cortex. A total of 19 patients with GAD and 19 healthy control subjects were enrolled. We used the FMRIB Software Library voxel-based morphometry software for estimating the grey matter volume of these regions of interest and analysed the correlation between heartbeat perception sensitivity and the volume of abnormal grey matter.ResultsPatients with GAD showed a significantly decreased volume of grey matter in their left medial prefrontal cortex, right orbital frontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex. The grey matter volume of the left medial prefrontal cortex negatively correlated with heartbeat perception sensitivity in patients with GAD.ConclusionsIt should be the first study that shows heartbeat perception is associated with brain structure in GAD. Our findings suggest that the frontal region may play an important role in aberrant heartbeat perception processing in patients with GAD, and this may be an underlying mechanism resulting in the abnormal cardiovascular complaints in GAD. This is hypothesised as a ‘top-down’ deficiency, especially in the medial prefrontal cortex. This will provide the foundation for a more targeted region for neuromodulation intervention in the future.

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Distinct Effects of Social Stress on Working Memory in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Neuroscience Bulletin ◽

10.1007/s12264-020-00579-3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Qianqian Li ◽

Jun Yan ◽

Jinmin Liao ◽

Xiao Zhang ◽

Lijun Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Supplementary Motor Area ◽

Motor Area ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

The Right

Abstract Stress might exaggerate the compulsion and impair the working memory of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study evaluated the effect of stress on the cognitive neural processing of working memory in OCD and its clinical significance using a “number calculation working memory” task. Thirty-eight patients and 55 gender- and education-matched healthy controls were examined. Stress impaired the performance of the manipulation task in patients. Healthy controls showed less engagement of the medial prefrontal cortex and striatum during the task under stress versus less stress, which was absent in the patients with OCD. The diagnosis × stress interaction effect was significant in the right fusiform, supplementary motor area, precentral cortex and caudate. The failure of suppression of the medial prefrontal cortex and striatum and stress-related hyperactivation in the right fusiform, supplementary motor area, precentral cortex, and caudate might be an OCD-related psychopathological and neural response to stress.

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Topographically organized representation of space and context in the medial prefrontal cortex

10.1101/2021.06.04.447085 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jonas-Frederic Sauer ◽

Marlene Bartos

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Left Hemisphere ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Pyramidal Cells ◽

Hemispheric Lateralization ◽

Spatial Features ◽

Spatial Tuning ◽

Deep Layers ◽

Context Discrimination ◽

The Right

Spatial tuning of pyramidal cells has been observed in diverse neocortical regions, but a systematic characterization of the properties of spatially tuned neurons across cortical layers and regions is lacking. Using mice navigating through virtual environments, we find topographical organizational principles for the representation of spatial features in the medial prefrontal cortex. We show that spatial tuning emerges across layers with a dorso-ventral gradient in the depth of spatial tuning, which resides in superficial layers. Moreover, the prefrontal cortex shows hemispheric lateralization of spatial tuning such that neurons located in the left hemisphere display more pronounced spatial tuning. During exploration of a novel compared to a familiar context, a different picture emerges. Context discrimination and familiarity detection is higher in superficial compared to deep layers. However, neurons of the right medial prefrontal cortex discriminate more efficiently between contexts than cells in the left hemisphere. Jointly, these results reveal a complex topographic organization of spatial representation and suggest a division of labor among prefrontal layers and subregions in the encoding of spatial position in the current environment and context discrimination.

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