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Introduction: Anti-transgender stigma contributes to the disproportionately high rates of mental health problems faced by transgender and gender diverse youth (TGDY). TGDY benefit when their providers use gender-affirming practices (i.e.,... more
Introduction: Anti-transgender stigma contributes to the disproportionately high rates of mental health problems faced by transgender and gender diverse youth (TGDY). TGDY benefit when their providers use gender-affirming practices (i.e., supportive clinical practices tailored to TGDY’s needs). However, few mental health providers use gender-affirming practices due to a dearth of implementation strategies supporting practice adoption. As part of a larger study focused on developing and piloting a training to support the adoption of these practices (our primary implementation strategy), we identified several secondary implementation strategies. We propose an implementation strategy blueprint for promoting the adoption of gender-affirming practices. Methods: The Gender-Affirming Psychotherapy (GAP) Training was systematically developed via collaboration with TGDY, their caregivers, and mental health providers, coupled with a clinical and empirical literature review. The pilot phase of...
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The objective of this study was to establish a large, densely sampled, U.S. population‐based cohort of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment (RI‐CART) represents a unique... more
The objective of this study was to establish a large, densely sampled, U.S. population‐based cohort of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment (RI‐CART) represents a unique public‐private‐academic collaboration involving all major points of service for families in Rhode Island affected by ASD. Diagnosis was based on direct behavioral observation via the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition. For the first 1,000 participants, ages ranged from 21 months to 64 years. Using Geographic Information System and published prevalence rates, the overall cohort is estimated to represent between 20% and 49% of pediatric age persons in Rhode Island with ASD, with demographics representative of U.S. Census. We observed a high rate of co‐occurring medical and psychiatric conditions in affected individuals. Among the most prominent findings of immediate clinical importance, we found that females received a first diagn...
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Mutations in NHE6 (also termed SLC9A6) cause the X-linked neurological disorder Christianson syndrome (CS) in males. The purpose of this study was to examine the phenotypic spectrum of female carriers of NHE6 mutations. Twenty female... more
Mutations in NHE6 (also termed SLC9A6) cause the X-linked neurological disorder Christianson syndrome (CS) in males. The purpose of this study was to examine the phenotypic spectrum of female carriers of NHE6 mutations. Twenty female carriers from 9 pedigrees were enrolled, ranging from approximately age 2 to 65. A subset of female carriers was assessed using standardized neuropsychological measures. Also, the association of NHE6 expression with markers of brain age was evaluated using 740 participants in the Religious Orders Study (ROS) and Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP). A majority, but not all, female carriers demonstrated a deficit in at least one neurocognitive domain (85%). A recognizable neuropsychological profile emerged, revealing impairments in visuospatial function, attention, and executive function. Common neuropsychiatric diagnoses included: intellectual disability/developmental delay (20%), learning difficulties (31%), speech/language delays (30%), and attention-d...
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Childhood maltreatment is a significant risk factor for a host of psychiatric, developmental, medical, and neurocognitive conditions, often resulting in debilitating and long-term consequences. However, there is no available... more
Childhood maltreatment is a significant risk factor for a host of psychiatric, developmental, medical, and neurocognitive conditions, often resulting in debilitating and long-term consequences. However, there is no available neuropsychological resource reviewing the literature on the associated neurocognitive deficits in children and adolescents. This review comprehensively examines the 23 prior studies that evaluated the intellectual, language, visual-spatial, memory, motor, and/or attention/executive functions in children and adolescents following an experience of childhood abuse and/or neglect. Neurocognitive impairments were frequently reported. Impairments in executive functions were the most frequent and severe reported impairments, although intelligence, language, visual-spatial skills, and memory are also at serious risk for compromised development following maltreatment. However, specific factors such as abuse/neglect duration, severity, type, and timing during development were all associated with neurocognition. This indicates that these factors are of greater importance than just the presence of abuse/neglect in identifying risk for neurocognitive compromise. Such neurocognitive deficits appear to be a consequence to the known neurobiological and brain development abnormalities of this population, suggesting traumatic stress can be a potential cause of neurodevelopmental disorders. These findings have critical implications for the clinical practice and research involving children following childhood maltreatment and other types of traumatic stress.
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Background: The process of obtaining informed consent is guided by many ethical values such as autonomy, beneficence, and justice. At times these principles are in conflict, directing researchers to seek guidance at the institutional,... more
Background: The process of obtaining informed consent is guided by many ethical values such as autonomy, beneficence, and justice. At times these principles are in conflict, directing researchers to seek guidance at the institutional, state and federal level. When it comes to consenting individuals who may lack the capacity to make a truly informed decision about participation, a disparity arises between autonomy (the ability for a person to make their own decisions) and justice (the fair selection of research participants). Historically protections have been put in place to shield potentially vulnerable populations including children, prisoners, pregnant woman and individuals who may have reduced capacity to consent. The protections set in place for these groups were patriarchal in nature, in that, these groups were thought to be at greater risk for exploitation and misuses. However, this protection has lead to the restriction of participation in research in turn diminishing the ev...
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Prosopagnosia is defined by impaired recognition of the identity of specific faces. Whether the perception of faces at the categorical level (recognizing that a face is a face) is also impaired to a lesser degree is unclear. We examined... more
Prosopagnosia is defined by impaired recognition of the identity of specific faces. Whether the perception of faces at the categorical level (recognizing that a face is a face) is also impaired to a lesser degree is unclear. We examined whether prosopagnosia is associated with impaired detection of facial contours in a bistable display, by testing a series of five prosopagnosic patients on a variation of Rubin's vase illusion, in which shading was introduced to bias perception towards either the face or the vase. We also included a control bistable display in which a disc or an aperture were the two possible percepts. With the control disc/aperture test, prosopagnosic patients did not generate a normal sigmoid function, but a U-shaped function, indicating that they perceived the shading but had difficulty in using the shading to make the appropriate figure – ground assignment. While controls still generated a sigmoid function for the vase/face test, prosopagnosic patients showed...
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Objective:To study the effects of depression and treatment with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on sequence learning. Background:Prefrontal dysfunction in depression may affect sequence learning and be amenable to... more
Objective:To study the effects of depression and treatment with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on sequence learning. Background:Prefrontal dysfunction in depression may affect sequence learning and be amenable to normalization by rTMS. Method:The serial reaction time test (SRTT) was administered to 19 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 20 nondepressed control participants. MDD patients were examined before and following treatment with rTMS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in daily sessions of 1600 stimuli at 10 Hz and at an intensity of 110% of the motor threshold. Treatment occurred over a 2-week interval of time. Results:MDD and nondepressed groups differed significantly with respect to baseline response speed. Following treatment with rTMS, MDD participants demonstrated significantly improved mood, improved response speed, and improved procedural learning. Conclusions:Findings suggest that rTMS over a 2-week period improves performance on tasks of response speed and procedural memory in patients with MDD. These cognitive effects are greater in those patients who showed a significant antidepressant effect to rTMS intervention.
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The adverse effects of reduced cerebral perfusion on cognition and brain structure in older adults with cardiovascular disease
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Objective: To study the effects of depression and treatment with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on sequence learning. Background: Prefrontal dysfunction in depression may affect sequence learning and be amenable to... more
Objective: To study the effects of depression and treatment with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on sequence learning. Background: Prefrontal dysfunction in depression may affect sequence learning and be amenable to normalization by rTMS. Method: The serial reaction time test (SRTT) was administered to 19 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 20 nondepressed control participants. MDD patients were examined before and following treatment with rTMS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in daily sessions of 1600 stimuli at 10 Hz and at an intensity of 110% of the motor threshold. Treatment occurred over a 2-week interval of time. Results: MDD and nondepressed groups differed significantly with respect to baseline response speed. Following treatment with rTMS, MDD participants demonstrated significantly improved mood, improved response speed, and improved procedural learning. Conclusions: Findings suggest that rTMS over a 2-week period improves performance on tasks of response speed and procedural memory in patients with MDD. These cognitive effects are greater in those patients who showed a significant antidepressant effect to rTMS intervention.
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Anxiety is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is associated with neurocognitive outcomes. The effect of anxiety on brain perfusion in a CVD population has yet to be examined, and no study has investigated the interactive... more
Anxiety is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is associated with neurocognitive outcomes. The effect of anxiety on brain perfusion in a CVD population has yet to be examined, and no study has investigated the interactive effects of anxiety and cerebral perfusion on cognition. A total of 55 older adults with CVD completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and underwent arterial spin labeling to quantify cortical perfusion and thickness. Participants were administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status. Reduced perfusion predicted poorer cognition and decreased cortical thickness. Higher anxiety score predicted worse memory performance and decreased frontal perfusion. Frontal lobe hypoperfusion combined with increased BAI scores exacerbated poorer MMSE performance. Higher anxiety may exacerbate the effects of cerebral hypoperfusion on cognitive impairment. Longitudinal studies are needed to...
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Left atrial (LA) diameter is easily attainable from echocardiograph and sensitive to underlying cardiovascular disease severity, although its association with neurocognitive outcomes is not well understood. Fifty older adults (64.50 ±... more
Left atrial (LA) diameter is easily attainable from echocardiograph and sensitive to underlying cardiovascular disease severity, although its association with neurocognitive outcomes is not well understood. Fifty older adults (64.50 ± 9.41 years), recruited from outpatient cardiology clinics and local papers who underwent magnetic resonance imaging, were administered the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), and completed psychosocial self-report measures. LA diameter was quantified using echocardiogram. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that greater LA size was independently associated with reduced performance on the following RBANS composites: language, delayed memory, and total index (p < 0.05 for all). Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated no significant association between LA diameter and whole brain volume (p > 0.05). The current study suggests that greater LA size is associated with cognitive dysfunction in older adu...
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Our objective was to determine whether a Symbol Search paradigm developed for functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) is a reliable and valid measure of cognitive processing speed (CPS) in healthy older adults. As all older adults... more
Our objective was to determine whether a Symbol Search paradigm developed for functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) is a reliable and valid measure of cognitive processing speed (CPS) in healthy older adults. As all older adults are expected to experience cognitive declines due to aging, and CPS is one of the domains most affected by age, establishing a reliable and valid measure of CPS that can be administered inside an MR scanner may prove invaluable in future clinical and research settings. We evaluated the reliability and construct validity of a newly developed FMRI Symbol Search task by comparing participants’ performance in and outside of the scanner and to the widely used and standardized Symbol Search subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). A brief battery of neuropsychological measures was also administered to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of the FMRI Symbol Search task. The FMRI Symbol Search task demonstrated high test–retest reli...
Research Interests: Cognition, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Attention, Medicine, FMRI, and 15 moreProcessing Speed, Brain, Humans, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Female, Construct Validity, Male, Aged, Middle Aged, Convergent Validity, Oxygen, Intelligence tests, Discriminant Validity, Neuropsychological Tests, and Medical and Health Sciences
ABSTRACT This chapter is divided into three primary sections. The first describes substantive findings with an emphasis on the prevalence of personality disorders in different settings. The second section of the chapter discusses... more
ABSTRACT This chapter is divided into three primary sections. The first describes substantive findings with an emphasis on the prevalence of personality disorders in different settings. The second section of the chapter discusses conceptual issues, such as categorical versus dimensional approaches to classifying personality disorders. The third section addresses methodological issues that are important for studying the epidemiology of personality disorders.
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Elderly patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) often report cognitive difficulties including reduced cognitive processing speed and attention. On cross-sectional examination, such reports relate more closely to mood than to objective... more
Elderly patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) often report cognitive difficulties including reduced cognitive processing speed and attention. On cross-sectional examination, such reports relate more closely to mood than to objective measures of cognitive performance, thus questioning the validity of subjective cognitive complaints as a marker of neurodegenerative processes. This study examined the longitudinal relationship among self-reported cognitive difficulties, depression, and performance on objective tests of global cognition in patients with CVD. Forty-seven patients with CVD (aged 55-85 years) completed a measure of perceived cognitive dysfunction (Cognitive Difficulties Scale [CDS]), a medical history questionnaire, the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at baseline and 12 months later. Baseline brain imaging was available on a small subsample (N = 17). Hierarchical linear regression revealed that increased report of cognitive difficul...
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BackgroundIt is well established that aging and vascular processes interact to disrupt cerebral hemodynamics in older adults. However, the independent effects of cerebral perfusion on neurocognitive function among older adults remain... more
BackgroundIt is well established that aging and vascular processes interact to disrupt cerebral hemodynamics in older adults. However, the independent effects of cerebral perfusion on neurocognitive function among older adults remain poorly understood. We examined the associations among cerebral perfusion, cognitive function, and brain structure in older adults with varying degrees of vascular disease using perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) arterial spin labeling (ASL).Materials and methods52 older adults underwent neuroimaging and were administered the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), and measures of attention/executive function. ASL and T1‐weighted MRI were used to quantify total brain perfusion, total brain volume (TBV), and cortical thickness.ResultsRegression analyses showed reduced total brain perfusion was associated with poorer performance on the MMSE, RBANS total index, immediate a...
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Factors determining who develops PTSD following trauma are not well understood. The €4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene is associated with dementia and unfavorable outcome following brain insult. PTSD is also associated with... more
Factors determining who develops PTSD following trauma are not well understood. The €4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene is associated with dementia and unfavorable outcome following brain insult. PTSD is also associated with dementia. Given evidence that psychological trauma adversely affects the brain, we hypothesized that the apoE genotype moderates effects of psychological trauma on PTSD pathogenesis. To investigate the moderation of the relationship between PTSD symptoms and combat exposure, we used 172 participants with combat trauma sustained during the Vietnam War. PTSD symptoms were the dependent variable and number of combat experiences, apoE genotype, and the combat experiences × apoE genotype interaction were predictors. We also examined the outcome of a diagnosis of PTSD (n = 39) versus no PTSD diagnosis (n = 131). The combat × apoE genotype interaction was significant for both PTSD symptoms (P = .014) and PTSD diagnosis (P = .009). ApoE genotype moderates the ...
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This study was designed to examine verbal working memory (VWM) components among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and determine the influence of information processing speed. Of two frequently studied VWM sub-components, subvocal rehearsal... more
This study was designed to examine verbal working memory (VWM) components among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and determine the influence of information processing speed. Of two frequently studied VWM sub-components, subvocal rehearsal was expected to be more affected by MS than short-term memory buffering. Furthermore, worse subvocal rehearsal was predicted to be specifically related to slower cognitive processing. Fifteen MS patients were administered a neuropsychological battery assessing VWM, processing speed, mood, fatigue, and disability. Participants performed a 2-Back VWM task with modified nested conditions designed to increase subvocal rehearsal (via inter-stimulus interval) and short-term memory buffering demands (via phonological similarity). Performance during these 2-Back conditions did not significantly differ and both exhibited strong positive correlations with disability. However, only scores on the subvocal rehearsal 2-Back were significantly related to performance on the remaining test battery, including processing speed and depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that performance during increased subvocal rehearsal demands is specifically influenced by cognitive processing speed and depressive symptoms.
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Multiple sclerosis, Cognition, Working Memory, and 15 moreMedicine, Information Processing, Processing Speed, Humans, Reaction Time, Verbal behavior, Verbal working memory, Cognitive Process, Clinical Sciences, Middle Aged, Adult, Short Term Memory, Depressive Symptoms, Neuropsychological Tests, and Disability Evaluation
Research Interests: Neuroimaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Medicine, Brain, Humans, and 15 moreNeuroradiology, Male, Pediatric radiology, Infant, Image Enhancement, Reproducibility of Results, Sensitivity and Specificity, Physical Restraint, Equipment Design, Equipment Failure Analysis, Patient Positioning, Conscious Sedation, Child preschool, Paediatrics and reproductive medicine, and Restraint Physical
The human brain is asymmetric in gross structure as well as functional organization. However, the developmental basis and trajectory of this asymmetry is unclear, and its relationship(s) to functional and cognitive development, especially... more
The human brain is asymmetric in gross structure as well as functional organization. However, the developmental basis and trajectory of this asymmetry is unclear, and its relationship(s) to functional and cognitive development, especially language, remain to be fully elucidated. During infancy and early childhood, in concert with cortical gray matter growth, underlying axonal bundles become progressively myelinated. This myelination is critical for efficient and coherent interneuronal communication and, as revealed in animal studies, the degree of myelination changes in response to environment and neuronal activity. Using a novel quantitative magnetic resonance imaging method to investigate myelin contentin vivoin human infants and young children, we investigated gross asymmetry of myelin in a large cohort of 108 typically developing children between 1 and 6 years of age, hypothesizing that asymmetry would predict language abilities in this cohort. While asymmetry of myelin content ...
Research Interests: Neuroscience, Psychology, Cognition, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Language Development, and 15 moreMedicine, Brain, Humans, Child, Female, Male, Infant, Asymmetry, Human Brain, White matter, Myelin, Functional Laterality, Child preschool, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Neuroimaging, Audiology, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Medicine, and 15 moreDefault Network, Affect, Brain, Humans, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Female, Male, Abstinence, Craving, Clinical Sciences, Middle Aged, Adult, Functional Neuroimaging, Brain Function, and Medical and Health Sciences
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Neuropsychology, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Facial expression, and 15 moreMedicine, Space perception, Humans, Glioblastoma, Female, Differential Diagnosis, Clinical Sciences, Aged, Adult, Parietal Lobe, Cerebral Hemorrhage, Neurosciences, Brain Neoplasms, Brain Diseases, and Neuropsychological Tests
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Both HIV infection and high levels of early life stress (ELS) have been related to abnormalities in frontal-subcortical structures, yet the combined effects of HIV and ELS on brain structure and function have not been previously... more
Both HIV infection and high levels of early life stress (ELS) have been related to abnormalities in frontal-subcortical structures, yet the combined effects of HIV and ELS on brain structure and function have not been previously investigated. In this study we assessed 49 non-demented HIV-seropositive (HIV+) and 47 age-matched HIV-seronegative healthy control (HC) adults. Levels of ELS exposure were quantified and used to define four HIV-ELS groups: HC Low-ELS (N= 20); HC High-ELS (N= 27); HIV+ Low-ELS (N= 24); HIV+ High-ELS (N= 25). An automated segmentation tool measured volumes of brain structures known to show HIV-related or ELS-related effects; a brief neurocognitive battery was administered. A significant HIV-ELS interaction was observed for amygdala volumes, which was driven by enlargements in HIV+ High-ELS participants. The HIV+ High-ELS group also demonstrated significant reductions in psychomotor/processing speed compared with HC Low-ELS. Regression analyses in the HIV+ gro...
Research Interests: Psychology, Neuroimaging, Cognition, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Medicine, and 15 moreNeurocognitive, Brain, Humans, Female, Male, Amygdala, Middle Aged, Adult, Psychological Stress, Psychomotor Performance, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, Psychomotor Learning, Medical and Health Sciences, and HIV infections
Poor cardiac pumping efficiency has shown to lead to cognitive impairments in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The current study examined the relationship between left ventricular ejection fraction and sustained attention and... more
Poor cardiac pumping efficiency has shown to lead to cognitive impairments in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The current study examined the relationship between left ventricular ejection fraction and sustained attention and inhibitory processes measured by the Adaptive Rate Continuous Performance Task and the Go/No-go test. Participants were 67 older outpatients (age 68.5 ± 7.4) with a range of CVD. Associations between cognition and ejection fraction were examinedvialinear regression analysis. Results were consistent with the hypothesis that lower ejection fraction is significantly associated with decrements in sustained attention and vigilance. Overall, the results provide support for the hypothesis that a change in cardiac pumping leads to decrements in some aspects of attention; however, inhibitory processes are relatively spared. (JINS, 2009,15, 137–141.)
Research Interests: Psychology, Cardiology, Sustained Attention, Attention, Medicine, and 15 moreHumans, Internal Medicine, Female, Disease, Male, Heart Disease, Aged, Adult, Older Adult, Ejection Fraction, Heart Diseases, Psychomotor Performance, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
OBJECTIVES: To prospectively relate C‐reactive protein (CRP), a systemic marker of inflammation, to cognitive change over a 1‐year follow‐up period.DESIGN: Prospective 1‐year follow‐up.SETTING: Outpatient university medical... more
OBJECTIVES: To prospectively relate C‐reactive protein (CRP), a systemic marker of inflammation, to cognitive change over a 1‐year follow‐up period.DESIGN: Prospective 1‐year follow‐up.SETTING: Outpatient university medical setting.PARTICIPANTS: Seventy‐eight adults (aged 56–84; 39% female) with cardiovascular disease.MEASUREMENTS: CRP levels were measured using a high‐sensitivity assay, and participants completed a neuropsychological battery at study entry. Neuropsychological assessment was repeated 1 year later.RESULTS: The association between CRP and change in cognition over the 1‐year follow‐up was examined using hierarchical linear regression modeling for five cognitive domains (global cognition, language, memory, visuospatial abilities, and attention‐executive‐psychomotor). High CRP levels were associated with subtle declines in attention‐executive‐psychomotor performance (CRP β=−0.22, P=.04) after adjusting for the effects of age and cognitive performance at study entry. CRP ...
Research Interests: Neuropsychology, Geriatrics, Gerontology, Cognition, Cardiovascular disease, and 15 moreMedicine, Humans, Female, Male, The, Aged, Middle Aged, C reactive protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Older Adult, Cognitive Decline, Cognition disorders, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychomotor Learning, and Medical and Health Sciences
SummaryPositive airway pressure (PAP) is the most common form of treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Treatment adherence is notoriously low, and holidays from treatment are common. To date, there is no literature on the effects... more
SummaryPositive airway pressure (PAP) is the most common form of treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Treatment adherence is notoriously low, and holidays from treatment are common. To date, there is no literature on the effects of acute withdrawal from PAP treatment on the brain activity of individuals with OSA. Nine participants with OSA performed a 2‐Back verbal working memory paradigm during repeated functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). Counterbalanced FMRI sessions were under conditions of PAP treatment (at least one consecutive week) or non‐treatment (for two consecutive nights). Treatment effects on 2‐Back‐related brain activity were significant, with greater deactivation in the right posterior insula and overactivation in the right inferior parietal lobule. The observed responses to PAP treatment withdrawal were more extreme in all regions of interest, such that 2‐Back‐related activity increased and 2‐Back‐related deactivation decreased further relative to t...
Research Interests: Health Sciences, Neuroimaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Medicine, Brain Mapping, and 15 moreHippocampus, Humans, Obstructive sleep apnea, Cerebral Cortex, Insula, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Female, Male, Middle Aged, Adult, Parietal Lobe, N back, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, Neuropsychological Tests, and Medical and Health Sciences
Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Cardiology, Cognition, Attention, Cardiovascular disease, and 15 moreEchocardiography, Brain, Blood Pressure, Cerebrovascular Disease, Clinical, Aged, Cognitive Function, Cardiovascular Diseases, Ejection Fraction, Cognition disorders, Blood pressure variability, Brachial artery, Cardiac function, Diastolic Blood Pressure, and Cardiac output
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This study examined the nature of the relationship among lifetime major depression, smoking, and nicotine dependence. Subjects were 8,169 male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Biometrical modeling demonstrated a genetic influence... more
This study examined the nature of the relationship among lifetime major depression, smoking, and nicotine dependence. Subjects were 8,169 male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Biometrical modeling demonstrated a genetic influence on daily smoking, nicotine dependence, and major depression, and a family environmental influence on daily smoking. Genetic factors influencing nicotine dependence also strongly influenced major depression. We also compared probands with a history of major depression (n = 398) from pairs discordant for major depression, their nondepressed cotwins (n = 364), and controls (n = 1,863) on a number of secondary smoking outcomes. Major depression was associated with current daily smoking and certain nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Individuals with a familial vulnerability for major depression, even without a personal history of major depression, were more likely to smoke despite a serious illness and to report nervousness, restlessness, difficulty concentr...
Research Interests: Marketing, Psychology, Psychiatry, Life Style, Medicine, and 15 moreComorbidity, Family history, Humans, Nicotine, Male, Nicotine Dependence, History of Depression, Depressive Disorder, Clinical Sciences, Middle Aged, Major Depression, Adult, Public health systems and services research, Oxford university, and Case Control Studies
Marriage is considered one of the most important sources of social support that an individual receives as an adult. Although hypotheses have been formulated as to why individuals may dissolve a marriage, the determinants of marital... more
Marriage is considered one of the most important sources of social support that an individual receives as an adult. Although hypotheses have been formulated as to why individuals may dissolve a marriage, the determinants of marital success or failure are still relatively unknown. Behavioral geneticists have found that both marriage and divorce are, in part, genetically influenced. The goal of this research was to determine the degree of shared genetic and environmental variance between the two marital statuses. Participants were 6,225 twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Data were obtained on marital history, and if the individual was no longer married, how the marriage ended. Univariate analyses were performed to determine the extent of genetic and environmental influences each of the marital statues (i.e., marriage and divorce), followed by a novel bivariate analysis to test the shared variance between marriage and divorce. Results from this analysis revealed that the tw...
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Lower working memory performance and altered brain activity have been reported in studies of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. However, little is known about the effect of treatment of OSA on brain function, particularly effects on... more
Lower working memory performance and altered brain activity have been reported in studies of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. However, little is known about the effect of treatment of OSA on brain function, particularly effects on default network processing. We previously reported increased brain response to a working memory challenge in active regions and decreased response in relatively deactivated a priori regions of interest (ROIs) following withdrawal of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. This follow-up analysis was conducted to examine the effects of CPAP withdrawal on default network processing using empirically defined ROIs analyses (i.e., in ROIs exhibiting significant deactivation in the sample). Ten OSA patients performed a 2-Back working memory task during functional magnetic resonance imaging in two separate conditions, following regular CPAP use, and after two nights of CPAP withdrawal. Eleven clusters of significant 2-Back-related deactivation consistent with the default network were identified and further examined for CPAP withdrawal effects. Significant further deactivation relative to the treatment adherent baseline was observed in the majority of these ROIs during the withdrawal condition. The magnitude of deactivation during withdrawal was significantly associated with better working memory performance in the posterior cingulate and right postcentral gyrus, and greater sleepiness in the left and right medial frontal gyrus. Results suggest that default network functions are further suspended as a result of a shifting of attention towards a more difficult active task in the context of lowered attentional capacity related to sleepiness.