There is supporting evidence of alcohol negative effects on the brain: neuroimaging and psychophysiological studies finding anatomical and functional connectivity (FC) changes associated with the ...dependence process. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate brain FC and network characteristics of alcohol‐dependent individuals in resting state. For this study, we included males diagnosed with alcohol dependence (N = 25) and a group of healthy individuals (N = 23). Simultaneous EEG‐MEG (electroencephalographic and magnetoencephalographic) activity was recorded in 5 min of eyes‐closed resting state. EEG‐MEG activity was preprocessed and FC was computed through the leakage‐corrected version of phase locking value (ciPLV). Additionally, local (degree, efficiency, clustering) and global (efficiency, characteristic path length) network parameters were computed. Connectivity analysis showed an increase in phase‐lagged synchronization, mainly between frontal and frontotemporal regions, in high beta band, and a decrease in interhemispheric gamma, for alcohol‐dependent individuals. Network analysis revealed intergroup differences at the local level for high beta, indicating higher degree, clustering, and efficiency, mostly at frontal nodes, together with a decrease in these measures at more posterior sites for patients’ group. The hyper‐synchronization in beta, next to the hypo‐synchronization in gamma, could indicate an alteration in communication between hemispheres, but also a possible functional compensation mechanism in neural circuits. This could be also supported by network characteristic data, where local alterations in communication are observed.
Alcohol‐dependent individuals present a differential pattern of resting‐state EEG‐MEG connectivity, as well as local communication alterations in brain network. Results point toward difficulties in information flow efficiency and cost, and a possible compensatory effort.
The high heterogeneity of psychiatric disorders leads to a lack of diagnostic precision. Therefore, the search of biomarkers is a fundamental aspect in psychiatry to reach a more personalized ...medicine. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) has gained increasing interest due to its involvement in many different functional processes in the brain, including the regulation of emotions, motivation, and cognition. This article reviews the role of the main components of the ECS as biomarkers in certain psychiatric disorders. Studies carried out in rodents evaluating the effects of pharmacological and genetic manipulation of cannabinoid receptors or endocannabinoids (eCBs) degrading enzymes were included. Likewise, the ECS-related alterations occurring at the molecular level in animal models reproducing some behavioral and/or neuropathological aspects of psychiatric disorders were reviewed. Furthermore, clinical studies evaluating gene or protein alterations in
brain tissue or
blood, plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were analyzed. Also, the results from neuroimaging studies using positron emission tomography (PET) or functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) were included. This review shows the close involvement of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1r) in stress regulation and the development of mood disorders anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder (BD), in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or eating disorders (
anorexia and bulimia nervosa). On the other hand, recent results reveal the potential therapeutic action of the endocannabinoid tone manipulation by inhibition of eCBs degrading enzymes, as well as by the modulation of cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2r) activity on anxiolytic, antidepressive, or antipsychotic associated effects. Further clinical research studies are needed; however, current evidence suggests that the components of the ECS may become promising biomarkers in psychiatry to improve, at least in part, the diagnosis and pharmacological treatment of psychiatric disorders.
The cognitive decline in people with substance use disorders is well known and can be found during both the dependence and drug abstinence phases. At the clinical level, cognitive decline impairs the ...response to addiction treatment and increases dropout rates. It can be irreversible, even after the end of drug abuse consumption. Improving our understanding of the molecular and cellular alterations associated with cognitive decline could be essential to developing specific therapeutic strategies for its treatment. Developing animal models to simulate drug abuse-induced learning and memory alterations is critical to continue exploring this clinical situation. The main aim of this review is to summarize the most recent evidence on cognitive impairment and the associated biological markers in patients addicted to some of the most consumed drugs of abuse and in animal models simulating this clinical situation. The available information suggests the need to develop more studies to further explore the molecular alterations associated with cognitive impairment, with the ultimate goal of developing new potential therapeutic strategies.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common complication of pregnancy and the postpartum period. Approximately 5% of women who have MDD during pregnancy or the postpartum period meet criteria for ...resistant depression, associated with increased morbidity in both the newborn and the pregnant woman. Currently we have different therapeutic options for the treatment of MDD during pregnancy, although in cases of resistance during that period the treatment criteria are not that well established.
Background
Previous studies demonstrated that patients with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) show altered startle reflex responses to alcohol‐related stimuli. However, there is little information about ...the role of these altered responses in the development of AUDs. This study examined the startle reflex response to different visual stimuli and the role of these patterns in the development of AUDs in a 4‐year follow‐up.
Methods
Two hundred and thirty‐nine (nondependent) heavy‐drinking participants were selected. In the baseline period, the startle reflex responses to alcohol‐related, aversive, appetitive, and neutral pictures were assessed. Startle reflex responses to these pictures were used as predictive variables. Status drinking (alcohol dependence and nondependence) assessed at 4‐year follow‐up was used as outcome measure.
Results
At the 4‐year follow‐up assessment, 46% of participants fulfilled DSM‐IV alcohol abuse or dependence criteria. Alcohol dependence status was predicted by an attenuated startle reflex response to alcohol‐related and aversive pictures.
Conclusions
This study revealed that an attenuated modulation of startle reflex response to alcohol‐related and aversive stimuli could be used as a clinical marker to predict the development of AUDs in participants with previous alcohol consumption.
The participants are 239 men with a heavy‐drinking profile who had not received previous formal treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Results show that in comparison with participants remaining as heavy drinkers and remitted at 4‐year follow‐up, alcohol‐dependent subjects show an attenuated startle reflex response to alcohol‐related, aversive, appetitive and neutral pictures. The predictive analysis shows that the startle reflex response to alcohol‐related and aversive pictures are significant predictors of alcohol‐dependence status at the follow‐up 4 years later.
The consensus on recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) has shifted toward encompassing psychological wellbeing and quality of life dimensions. However, few studies have explored the long-term ...recovery process and its dimensions, timing, styles, and modes. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent, timing, and process of psychological wellbeing and quality of life recovery in alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients, as well as the relationship with classic dimensions of AUD recovery.
A cross-sectional study has been carried out with 348 participants with AUD, in different abstinence periods (1 month-28 years), and 171 control subjects. Participants underwent a psychological evaluation, which included self-informed measures of psychological wellbeing, quality of life, negative emotionality, and coping strategies related to alcohol consumption avoidance. Statistical analysis included linear and non-linear regression models between psychological dimensions and maintenance of abstinence, as well as matching the scores of the sample with AUD to those of controls. Scatter plots were used to explore inflection points. In addition, mean comparison tests were performed between participants with AUD and controls and by gender.
In general, according to the regression models, there were pronounced increases in indices of wellbeing and coping strategies (and pronounced decreases in negative emotionality) during the first 5 years of abstinence, followed by less pronounced improvements. The matching of AUD subjects in wellbeing and negative emotionality indices with controls occurs at different times: (a) 1 year or less: physical health; (b) 1-4 years: psychological health; (c) 4-10 years: social relationships, wellbeing, and negative emotionality; and (d) more than 10 years: autonomy and self-acceptance. There are statistically significant differences by gender for the negative emotionality and physical health variables.
Recovery from AUD is a long process that involves improvements in wellbeing and quality of life. Four stages can be described in this process, with the most pronounced changes occurring during the first 5 years of abstinence. However, AUD patients take more time to obtain similar scores to controls in several psychological dimensions.
Addiction management is complex, and it requires a bio-psycho-social perspective, that ought to consider the multiple etiological and developmental factors. Because of this, a large amount of ...resources has been allocated to assess the vulnerability to dependence, i.e., to identify the processes underlying the transition from substance use to dependence, as well as its course, in order to determine the key points in its prevention, treatment, and recovery. Consequently, knowledge \from neuroscience must be taken into account, which is why different initiatives have emerged with this objective, such as the “Research Domain Criteria” (RDoC), and the “Addiction Neuroclinical Assessment” (ANA). Particularly, neuropsychophysiological measures could be used as markers of cognitive and behavioral attributes or traits in alcohol dependence, and even trace clinical change. In this way, the aim of this narrative review is to provide an overview following ANA clinical framework, to the most robust findings in neuropsychophysiological changes in alcohol dependence, that underlie the main cognitive domains implicated in addiction: incentive salience, negative emotionality, and executive functioning. The most consistent results have been found in event-related potential (ERP) analysis, especially in the P3 component, that could show a wide clinical utility, mainly for the executive functions. The review also shows the usefulness of other components, implicated in affective and substance-related processing (P1, N1, or the late positive potential LPP), as well as event-related oscillations, such as theta power, with a possible use as vulnerability or clinical marker in alcohol dependence. Finally, new tools emerging from psychophysiology research, based on functional connectivity or brain graph analysis could help toward a better understanding of altered circuits in alcohol dependence, as well as communication efficiency and effort during mental operations. This review concludes with an examination of these tools as possible markers in the clinical field and discusses methodological differences, the need for more replicability studies and incipient lines of work. It also uses consistent findings in psychophysiology to draw possible treatment targets and cognitive profiles in alcohol dependence.
Abstract There is evidence that visuo-spatial capacity can become overloaded when processing a secondary visual task (Dual Task, DT), as occurs in daily life. Hence, we investigated the influence of ...the visuo-spatial interference in the identification of emotional facial expressions (EFEs) in early stages of Parkinson's disease (PD). We compared the identification of 24 emotional faces that illustrate six basic emotions in, unmedicated recently diagnosed PD patients (16) and healthy adults (20), under two different conditions: a) simple EFE identification, and b) identification with a concurrent visuo-spatial task (Corsi Blocks). EFE identification by PD patients was significantly worse than that of healthy adults when combined with another visual stimulus.
The heterogeneity of the population with alcohol use disorder (AUD) sometimes makes the knowledge generated in areas such as neuroscience appear to be contradictory. One aspect that may help ...elucidate this apparent contradiction is controlling for certain variables that are not usually controlled, such as the abstinence time in people with AUD. This research aims to study the neuroelectrical oscillations in people with AUD with longer and shorter abstinence time in comparison with healthy individuals. We recruited twenty-nine individuals with AUD with abstinence time longer than fifteen days and shorter than six months (STA), twenty-six individuals with AUD with abstinence time longer than six months and shorter than thirteen months (LTA), and sixteen healthy individuals (HC). All participants underwent electroencephalographic recording in resting-state with eyes closed. The oscillatory activity obtained was analyzed to obtain the spectral power and phase synchronization level. Regarding the obtained spectral power results, these revealed that the STA group showed higher theta band power and lower alpha band power than the LTA and HC groups. The obtained results at the phase synchronization level also show two main results. On the one hand, the STA group showed lower alpha band phase synchronization than the LTA and HC groups. On the other hand, the HC group showed higher beta band phase synchronization than the STA and LTA groups. In conclusion, the obtained results reflect that abstinence maintenance for six or more months appears to produce an important oscillatory brain functioning normalization in people with AUD.
•Alcoholics with short-term abstinence showed several oscillatory alterations.•Alcohol long-term abstinence could produce an oscillatory functioning normalization.•Beta band synchronization alteration remains after one year of alcohol abstinence.
Offspring of parents with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are more susceptible to developing AUD, with an estimated heritability of around 50%. Vulnerability to AUD in first-degree relatives is influenced ...by biological factors, such as spontaneous brain activity, and high-risk psychosocial characteristics. However, existing resting-state EEG studies in AUD offspring have shown inconsistent findings regarding theta, alpha, and beta band frequencies. Additionally, research consistently demonstrates an increased risk of internalizing and externalizing disorders, self-regulation difficulties, and interpersonal issues among AUD offspring.
This study aimed to investigate the absolute power of theta, alpha, and beta frequencies in young adult offspring with a family history of AUD compared to individuals without family history. The psychosocial profiles of the offspring were also examined in relation to individuals without a family history of AUD. Furthermore, the study sought to explore the potential association between differences in frequency bands and psychosocial variables. Resting-state EEG recordings were obtained from 31 young adult healthy offspring of alcohol-dependent individuals and 43 participants with no family history of AUD (age range: 16–25 years). Participants also completed self-report questionnaires assessing anxiety and depressive symptoms, impulsivity, emotion regulation, and social involvement.
The results revealed no significant differences in spontaneous brain activity between the offspring and participants without a family history of AUD. However, in terms of psychosocial factors, the offspring exhibited significantly lower social involvement than the control group.
This study does not provide evidence suggesting vulnerability in offspring based on differences in spontaneous brain activity. Moreover, this investigation highlights the importance of interventions aimed at enhancing social connections in offspring. Such interventions can not only reduce the risk of developing AUD, given its strong association with increased feelings of loneliness but also improve the overall well-being of the offspring.
PDF
