Neurobiological Perspective Research Articles

Современный нейропсихоанализ как интегративная научная и терапевтическая практика

We present the analysis of the main provisions of neuropsychoanalysis — a theory integrating psychoanalysis and neurosciences. The main prerequisites for the emergence of neuropsychoanalysis are described. Being developed along the principles of integration and convergence of sciences, neuropsychoanalysis faces complex theoretical and practical challenges, such as explaining the results of neuroscientific studies, building models of brain and psyche relationship and interpreting therapeutic process from the point of view of neural interactions. Neuropsychoanalysis as an integrative psychotherapeutic paradigm has been proven clinically usable; it helps form a new neurobiological perspective of psychotherapeutic relations. We emphasize the phenomenon of interpretation, which is essential both for understanding the functioning of the brain, building the models of the self and the world on the basis of interpreting the incoming flow of signals, and for effective therapeutic practice, where the client reinterprets and integrates traumatic narratives by incorporating repressed content of the unconscious contents.

Shame and The Family Project: An Interpersonal Neurobiological Perspective

This paper describes the powerful effect of shame in social fragmentation. Discussing different aspects of shame and the Contemplative Discovery Pathway Theory, the paper seeks to illustrate how Sigel’s Interpersonal Neurobiological Concept deepens our ability to understand the healing effect of group psychotherapy, enhancing neuroplasticity and well-being.

Kratom and Future Treatment for the Opioid Addiction and Chronic Pain: Periculo Beneficium?

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), a naturally existing plant found in South-East Asia, is traditionally used as a herb to help elevate a person's energy and also to treat numerous medical ailments. Other than the analgesic property, kratom has been used as an agent to overcome opioid withdrawal as it contains natural alkaloids, i.e. mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, and MGM-9, which has agonist affinity on the opioid receptors, including mu (µ) and kappa (κ). The role of neural reward pathways linked to µ-opioid receptors and both dopaminergic and gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic interneurons that express µ-opioid receptors were deliberated. However, kratom has been reported to be abused together with other illicit substances with high risk of potential addiction. There are also anecdotes of adverse effects and toxicity of kratom, i.e. tremor, fatigue, seizure, and death. Different countries have distinctive regulation and policy on the plantation and use of this plant when most of the countries banned the use of it because of its addiction problems and side effects. The aim of this review is to highlight on the potential use of kratom, unique 'herbs" as a substitution therapy for chronic pain and opioid addiction, based on the neurobiological perspective of pain and the underlying mechanism of actions of drug addiction.

Host in the machine: A neurobiological perspective on psychological stress and cardiovascular disease.

Psychological stress still attracts scientific, clinical, and public interest because of its suspected connection to health, particularly cardiovascular health. Psychological stress is thought to arise from appraisal processes that imbue events and contexts with personal significance and threat-related meaning. These appraisal processes are also thought to be instantiated in brain systems that generate and control peripheral physiological stress reactions through visceral motor (brain-to-body) and visceral sensory (body-to-brain) mechanisms. In the short term, physiological stress reactions may enable coping and adaptive action. Among some individuals, however, the patterning of these reactions may predict or contribute to pathology in multiple organ systems, including the cardiovascular system. At present, however, we lack a precise understanding of the brain systems and visceral control processes that link psychological appraisals to patterns of stress physiology and physical health. This understanding is important: A mechanistic account of how the brain connects stressful experiences to bodily changes and health could help refine biomarkers of risk and targets for cardiovascular disease prevention and intervention. We review research contributing to this understanding, focusing on the neurobiology of cardiovascular stress reactivity and cardiovascular health. We suggest that a dysregulation of visceral motor and visceral sensory processes during stressful experiences may confer risk for poor cardiovascular health among vulnerable individuals. We further describe a need for new interpretive frameworks and markers of this brain-body dysregulation in cardiovascular behavioral medicine. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

State-Dependent Memory: Neurobiological Advances and Prospects for Translation to Dissociative Amnesia.

In susceptible individuals, overwhelming traumatic stress often results in severe abnormalities of memory processing, manifested either as the uncontrollable emergence of memories (flashbacks) or as an inability to remember events (dissociative amnesia, DA) that are usually, but not necessarily, related to the stressful experience. These memory abnormalities are often the source of debilitating psychopathologies such as anxiety, depression and social dysfunction. The question of why memory for some traumatic experiences is compromised while other comparably traumatic experiences are remembered perfectly well, both within and across individuals, has puzzled clinicians for decades. In this article, we present clinical, cognitive, and neurobiological perspectives on memory research relevant to DA. In particular, we examine the role of state dependent memory (wherein memories are difficult to recall unless the conditions at encoding and recall are similar), and discuss how advances in the neurobiology of state-dependent memory (SDM) gleaned from animal studies might be translated to humans.

Embodied Neurobiological Perspective on the Survey Study of Conceptual Metaphors of Chinese Eating Verb 吃 Chi ‘Eating' Phrases

Embodied Neurobiological Perspective on the Survey Study of Conceptual Metaphors of Chinese Eating Verb 吃 Chi ‘Eating' Phrases

Socio-cultural and neurobiological perspectives of betel nut chewing in schizophrenia

Socio-cultural and neurobiological perspectives of betel nut chewing in schizophrenia

Corticolimbic Connectivity Mediates the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Symptom Severity in Borderline Personality Disorder

The interaction between biological and environmental factors (especially adverse childhood experiences, ACEs) plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of borderline personality disorder (BPD). These factors act influencing BPD core features such as pervasive instability in affect regulation, impulse control, social cognition, and interpersonal relationships. In line with this perspective, abnormalities in social cognition and related neurobiological underpinnings could mediate the relationship between ACEs and psychopathological manifestations in adulthood. In a sample of 14 females, functional connectivity (FC) analyses were performed modeling the interaction between ACEs and corticolimbic dysregulation during emotional processing and its relationship with BPD symptom severity. ACEs were associated with a dampening of the negative FC between (1) the right amygdala (Amy) and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and between (2) the left Amy and bilateral DLPFC, right precuneus, left cerebellum and left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during emotional processing. The connectivity between right Amy and DLPFC mediates the relationship between childhood adversities and BPD symptomatology. Furthermore, the negative FC between Amy and DLPFC, postcentral gyrus, the vermis of cerebellum and precuneus was also associated with BPD symptom severity, with a weaker negative coupling between Amy and these regions being related to a worse BPD psychopathology. Our results confirm the role of ACEs in contributing to social cognition impairments in BPD and related symptomatology from a neurobiological perspective.

Disease modifying effects of antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia: a clinical and neurobiological perspective.

Disease modifying effects of antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia: a clinical and neurobiological perspective.

Assessing the continuum between temperament and affective illness: psychiatric and mathematical perspectives.

Temperament of healthy people and mental illnesses, particularly affective disorders, have been conjectured to lie along a continuum of neurobehavioural regulation. Understanding the nature of this continuum may better inform the construction of taxonomies for both categories of behaviour. Both temperament and mental illness refer to patterns of behaviour that manifest over long time scales (weeks to years) and they appear to share many underlying neuroregulatory systems. This continuum is discussed from the perspectives of nonlinear dynamical systems theory, neurobiology and psychiatry as applied to understanding such multiscale time-series behaviour. Particular emphasis is given to issues of generativity, fungibility, metastability, non-stationarity and contextuality. Implications of these dynamical properties for the development of taxonomies will be discussed. Problems with the over-reliance of psychologists on statistical and mathematical methods in deriving their taxonomies (particularly those based on factor analysis) will be discussed from a dynamical perspective. An alternative approach to temperament based upon functionality, and its discriminative capabilities in mental illness, is presented.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Diverse perspectives on diversity: multi-disciplinary approaches to taxonomies of individual differences’.

Features of dissociation differentially predict antidepressant response to ketamine in treatment-resistant depression

BackgroundKetamine induces rapid and robust antidepressant effects, and many patients also describe dissociation, which is associated with antidepressant response. This follow-up study investigated whether antidepressant efficacy is uniquely related to dissociative symptom clusters. MethodsTreatment-resistant patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD) (n = 126) drawn from three studies received a single subanesthetic (0.5 mg/kg) ketamine infusion. Dissociative effects were measured using the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS). Antidepressant response was measured using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). A confirmatory factor analysis established the validity of CADSS subscales (derealization, depersonalization, amnesia), and a general linear model with repeated measures was fitted to test whether subscale scores were associated with antidepressant response. ResultsFactor validity was supported, with a root mean square error of approximation of .06, a comparative fit index of .97, and a Tucker-Lewis index of .96. Across all studies and timepoints, the depersonalization subscale was positively related to HAM-D percent change. A significant effect of derealization on HAM-D percent change was observed at one timepoint (Day 7) in one study. The amnesia subscale was unrelated to HAM-D percent change. LimitationsPossible inadequate blinding; combined MDD/BD datasets might have underrepresented ketamine's antidepressant efficacy; the possibility of Type I errors in secondary analyses. ConclusionsFrom a psychometric perspective, researchers may elect to administer only the CADSS depersonalization subscale, given that it was most closely related to antidepressant response. From a neurobiological perspective, mechanistic similarities may exist between ketamine-induced depersonalization and antidepressant response, although off-target effects cannot be excluded.

Therapist's Empathy, Attachment, and Therapeutic Alliance: Neurobiological Perspective

This paper discussed the relationships between therapist’s empathy, attachment between therapist and client, and therapeutic alliance in a neurobiological context. There are some interrelated areas of brain function such as mirror neurons, the middle prefrontal cortex, and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex regarding the relationships between empathy, attachment between therapist and clients, and therapeutic alliance. Clinical implications were also discussed. Understanding the interrelationships between therapist’s empathy, attachment, and therapeutic alliance in therapy in brain function may contribute to better treatment for clients. Also, a therapist may have more confidence based on understandings of these interrelationships.

Reconfiguring Sociomateriality from a Neurobiological Perspective

The aim of this paper is to propose a reconfiguration of sociomateriality (SM) from a neurobiological perspective, which maintains the relational ontology of SM without relapsing into untenable entanglement positions of strong SM (SSM).

Fantasy, dream, vision, and hallucination: Approaches from a parallactic neuro-psychoanalytic perspective

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we present a model of a specific category of complex thought and memory processes – figurative representations – which are viewed from a parallactic, psychoanalytic and neurobiological perspective. We postulate that figurative representations can be understood as the products of a complex memory process. Modern memory research distinguishes between a “dispositional space” containing the blueprints for producing representations, and the “image space” in which these representations are fabricated; in other words, between the “archive” and the “workshop” of memory. The selective retrieval of specific memories and the transformation of the Remembered permit the creative formation of different types of figurative representations such as fantasies, dreams, visions and hallucinations. Both cognitive and affective processes can contribute to the differences between these types of representations. Depending on the intensity with which reality is perceived, figurative representations may appear as dreams or fantasies, visions or hallucinations. These transformations can be traced on the basis of known dreams and hallucinations which Freud described in his work, From the History of an Infantile Neurosis. We suggest that parallactic points of view, although nearly identical to one another, are nevertheless wholly incompatible: this gap is inherent in every parallactic model, and possibly has a determining influence on postmodern subjectivity.

Physical Activity and Neural Correlates of Sad Facial Expressions in Premenstrual Syndrome

Exercise benefits our emotional function, particularly frontal lobe-mediated cognitive processes. Recent studies have indicated that affective neural circuits are modulated by premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Meanwhile, observational studies have reported that physical activity can promote PMS remission. Nonetheless, few studies have investigated the effect of physical activity on sad emotion recognition from a neurobiological perspective. Our objective was to explore the relationships between exercise and high order sad emotion cognitive processing in women with PMS. We conducted a sad facial emotion recognition task to examine the effects of aerobic exercise on activity in central frontal regions with electroencephalography in 31 participants. Participants were divided into a high (HPMS) or low severity PMS (LPMS) group according to self-reported PMS scores. We then analyzed cortical activity in response to sad cues, comparing such activity between the groups. Repeated ANOVA and pooled t statistics were used for statistical analysis. We observed a significant reduction in the N250 wave evoked by sad emotions after exercise compared with baseline at most channels in HPMS (P < 0.05), but not in LPMS. There was also a significant post-exercise prolongation of N250 latency at F3 and C3 in HPMS. There were no differences in N250 activation between the groups at baseline but significantly lower activation was noted in the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC: F7 and F8) of HPMS compared with LPMS after exercise. Furthermore, higher PMS scores were significantly associated with greater PFC-N250 amplitude before exercise, but this was not observed after exercise. Acute exercise induced significant brain activity changes in response to sad cues in the HPMS group only. Furthermore, significantly lower activation of the lateral PFC was found after exercise in HPMS compared with LPMS. Given our results, we discuss the potential efficacy of exercise to modulate emotional context or sad emotion regulatory capabilities in women with PMS.

Perspectivas neurobiológicas para explicar el autismo: una revisión sistemática de literatura

En este artículo se abordan las perspectivas neurobiológicas para explicar el autismo a partir de una revisión sistemática de literatura académica. Partimos de considerar a la neurobiología como un campo complejo que estudia los aspectos anátomo-fisiológicos del sistema nervioso central. En vinculación con el autismo, reconocemos dentro de este campo cuatro perspectivas principales: i) la perspectiva neuroanatómica, ii) la perspectiva neurosocial, iii) la perspectiva genética y iv) la perspectiva neuroquímica. Luego de desarrollar cada una, analizamos posibles compatibilidades, yuxtaposiciones y contraposiciones entre ellas.

Oxytocin Genotype Moderates the Impact of Social Support on Psychiatric Distress in Alcohol-Dependent Patients.

The social environment strongly influences individual mental health. Individuals with strong social support systems tend to experience higher levels of well-being, lower levels of psychological distress and exhibit fewer psychiatric symptoms. However, there is a significant degree of individual variability as to the extent to which social support is beneficial to overall mental health. From a neurobiological perspective, it is suggested that the social hormone, oxytocin, may moderate the favorable effects of social interaction. To explore this possibility, we evaluated oxytocin genotype, social support and psychological health in a group of individuals diagnosed with DSM-IV alcohol dependence. The associations between OXT genotype, social support and psychological health were analyzed in data from 269 adults diagnosed with DSM-IV alcohol dependence (25% female) admitted into residential treatment programs and outpatient centers in Warsaw, Poland. In line with past observations, we noted that psychiatric distress scores were negatively correlated with social support. Extending these observations, we uncovered a significant moderating effect of OXT genotype (rs2740210) on the relationship between social support and psychiatric distress. While G carriers displayed the predicted negative relationship between social support and psychiatric distress, T homozygotes failed to exhibit such a relationship. Genetically driven variation in oxytocin system functioning may influence the degree to which the beneficial effects of social support are felt in this population. These results have direct clinical relevance as enhancing social engagement to improve mental health may prove to be a less effective strategy in some patients owing to intrinsic factors. The associations between oxytocin genotype, social support, and psychological health were analyzed in data from 269 adults diagnosed with DSM-IV alcohol dependence. A significant moderating effect of OXT genotype (rs2740210) on the relationship between social support and psychiatric distress was detected.

13 Advanced neuroimaging of pain, analgesia and anaesthesia induced altered states of consciousness

Professor Irene Tracey holds the Nuffield Chair of Anaesthetic Science and is Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, a 500-person world-leading basic and clinical research department, at the University of Oxford. Irene did her undergraduate and graduate studies at Oxford from 1985–1993, graduating with top-First, and then held a postdoctoral position at Harvard Medical School until 1996. In 1997, Irene helped to co-found the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, and was its Director from 2005 until 2015 alongside other senior leadership roles within the University. Irene has served and continues to serve on many national and international committees, and is currently on Council of the Medical Research Council. In 2008 she was awarded the triennial Patrick Wall Medal from the Royal College of Anaesthetists and in 2009 was made an FRCA for her contributions to the discipline in the field of pain neuroscience and mechanisms of anaesthesia. In 2015 she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and in 2017 was awarded the Feldberg Foundation Prize. Irene is married to Professor Myles Allen, a climate physicist, and they have three fabulous children: Colette (19), John (15) and Jim (11). The ability to experience pain is old and shared across species. Acute pain is the body’s alarm and warning system, and as such a good thing. Chronic pain is the system gone wrong and now one of the largest medical health problems worldwide. The brain is key to these experiences and relating specific neurophysiologic measures from advanced brain imaging to perceptual or non-perceptual changes in pain perception induced by peripheral or central sensitisation, psychological or pharmacological mechanisms has tremendous value. Identifying non-invasively where functional and structural plasticity, sensitisation and other amplification or attenuation processes occur along the pain neuraxis for an individual and relating these neural mechanisms to specific pain experiences, measures of pain relief, persistence of pain states, degree of injury and the subject’s underlying genetics, has neuroscientific and potential diagnostic relevance. As such, advanced neuroimaging methods can powerfully aid explanation of a subject’s multidimensional pain experience, analgesia and even what makes them vulnerable to developing chronic pain. Relatively far less work has been directed at understanding what changes in the brain occur during altered states of consciousness induced either endogenously (e.g. sleep) or exogenously (e.g. anaesthesia). However, that situation is changing rapidly. For example, our recent multimodal neuroimaging work explores how anaesthetic agents produce altered states of consciousness such that perceptual experiences of pain and awareness are degraded. This is bringing us fascinating insights into the complex phenomenon of anaesthesia. References . Bingel U, Wanigasekera V, Wiech K, Ni Mhuircheartaigh R, Lee MC, Ploner M,Tracey I. The effect of treatment expectation on drug efficacy: imaging the analgesic benefit of the opioid remifentanil. Sci Transl Med2011Feb 16;3(70):70ra14. . Denk F, McMahon SB, Tracey I. Pain vulnerability: a neurobiological perspective. Nat Neurosci2014Feb;17(2):192–200.

Child sexual abuse and the development of psychiatric disorders: a neurobiological trajectory of pathogenesis.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is an important public health problem with long-standing neurobiological, developmental, and psychiatric abnormalities. The present review analyzes the long-term effects of CSA from a developmental, psychiatric morbidity, neurochemical and neurobiological perspective and then tries to posit a developmental neurobiological trajectory from CSA to the genesis of psychopathology in later life. The role of various neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine affected by CSA are discussed. Serotonin abnormalities have been reported in various studies among participants exposed to CSA. Structures such as the prefrontal cortex, superior temporal gyrus, corpus callosum, parietal lobes, hippocampus, and cerebellum all demonstrate volumetric and structural changes in response to the trauma of CSA. Neurocognitive studies demonstrate memory and spatial awareness as well as decrements in general cognitive performance and memory when compared to normal individuals. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis has also been implicated in CSA, and there is an alteration in corticotropin-releasing hormone response due to the continuous cumulative trauma of CSA. This paper also reviews a section on the role of genetic and epigenetic factors in the development of psychiatric disorders as a result of exposure to episodes of CSA where studies have demonstrated changes in DNA methylation in response to CSA. This review tries to hypothesize a developmental trajectory framework which is individual for every case where exposure to CSA may lead to psychopathology and psychiatric morbidity later in life. Rapid and emerging fields such as developmental traumatology in relation to CSA are also discussed.

The Conscious Brain: Some Views, Concepts, and Remarks from a Neurobiological Perspective

The Conscious Brain: Some Views, Concepts, and Remarks from a Neurobiological Perspective