The impact of illness duration on brain activity in goal-directed and habit-learning systems in obsessive-compulsive disorder progression: A resting-state functional imaging study.

It is increasingly evident that structural and functional changes in brain regions associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are often related to the development of the disease. However, limited research has been conducted on how the progression of OCD may lead to an imbalance between goal-directed and habit-learning systems. This study employs resting-state functional imaging to examine the relationship between illness duration and abnormal brain function in goal-directed/habitual-learning systems. Demographic, clinical, and multimodal fMRI data were collected from participants. Our findings suggest that, compared to healthy controls, individuals with OCD exhibit abnormal brain functional indicators in both goal-directed and habit-learning brain regions, with a more pronounced reduction observed in the goal-directed regions. Additionally, abnormal brain activity is associated with illness duration, and the abnormalities observed in goal-directed regions are more effective in distinguishing different courses of OCD patients. Patients with different durations of OCD have functional abnormalities in the goal-directed and habitual-learning brain regions. There are differences in the degree of abnormality in different brain regions, and these abnormalities may disrupt the balance between goal-directed and habitual-learning systems, leading to increasing reliance on repetitive behaviors.

Shared genetics of psychiatric disorders and type 2 diabetes:a large-scale genome-wide cross-trait analysis.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with psychiatric disorders have elevated rates of type 2 diabetes comorbidity. Although little is known about the shared genetics and causality of this association. Thus, we aimed to investigate shared genetics and causal link between different type 2 diabetes and psychiatric disorders. METHODS: We conducted a large-scale genome-wide cross-trait association study(GWAS) to investigate genetic overlap between type 2 diabetes and anorexia nervosa, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and Tourette syndrome. By post-GWAS functional analysis, we identify variants genes expression in various tissues. Enrichment pathways, potential protein interaction and mendelian randomization also provided to research the relationship between type 2 diabetes and psychiatric disorders. RESULTS: We discovered that type 2 diabetes and psychiatric disorders had a significant correlation. We identified 138 related loci, 32 were novel loci. Post-GWAS analysis revealed that 86 differentially expressed genes were located in different brain regions and peripheral blood in type 2 diabetes and related psychiatric disorders. MAPK signaling pathway plays an important role in neural development and insulin signaling. In addition, there is a causal relationship between T2D and mental disorders. In PPI analysis, the central genes of the DEG PPI network were FTO and TCF7L2. CONCLUSION: This large-scale genome-wide cross-trait analysis identified shared genetics andpotential causal links between type 2 diabetes and related psychiatric disorders, suggesting potential new biological functions in common among them.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Metabolic Disorders: Overview and Future Perspective.

ABSTRACT: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has a bidirectional relationship with metabolic disorders. The purposes of this review are to decipher the links between OCD and metabolic disorders and to explore the etiological mechanism of OCD in metabolism, which may aid in early identification of and tailored interventions for OCD and metabolic disorders.

Shared genetics between classes of obesity and psychiatric disorders: A large-scale genome-wide cross-trait analysis.

AIMS: Epidemiological studies demonstrate an association between classes of obesity and psychiatric disorders, although little is known about shared genetics and causality of association. Thus, we aimed to investigate shared genetics and causal link between different classes of obesity and psychiatric disorders. METHODS: We used genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data range from 9725 to 500,199 sample sizes of European descent, conducted a large-scale genome-wide cross-trait association study to investigate genetic overlap between the classes of obesity and anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and Tourette syndrome. We conducted transcriptome-wide association study analysis (TWAS) to identified variants regulated gene expression in those related disorders. Finally, pathway enrichment analysis to identified major pathways. RESULTS: In the combined analysis, we replicated 211 previously reported loci and discovered 58 novel independent loci that were associated with all three classes of obesity and related psychiatric disorders. Functional analysis revealed that the identified variants regulated gene expression in major tissues belonging to exocrine/endocrine, digestive, circulatory, adipose, digestive, respiratory, and nervous systems, such as DCC, NEGR1, INO80E. Mendelian randomization analyses suggested that there may be a two-way or one-way causal relationship between obesity and psychiatric disorders. CONCLUSION: This large-scale genome-wide cross-trait analysis identified shared genetics and potential causal links between classes of obesity and psychiatric disorders (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, anorexia nervosa, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder). Such shared genetics suggests potential new biological functions in common among them.

Functional Connectivity within the Frontal-Striatal Network Differentiates Checkers from Washers of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder with high clinical heterogeneity manifested by the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions. The classification of the symptom dimensional subtypes is helpful for further exploration of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the clinical heterogeneity of OCD. Washing and checking symptoms are the two major symptom subtypes in OCD, but the neural mechanisms of the different types of symptoms are not yet clearly understood. The purpose of this study was to compare regional and network functional alterations between washing and checking OCD based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). METHODS: In total, 90 subjects were included, including 15 patients in the washing group, 30 patients in the checking group, and 45 healthy controls (HCs). Regional homogeneity (ReHo) was used to compare the differences in regional spontaneous neural activity among the three groups, and local indicators were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves as imaging markers for the prediction of the clinical subtypes of OCD. Furthermore, differently activated local brain areas, as regions of interest (ROIs), were used to explore differences in altered brain functioning between washing and checking OCD symptoms based on a functional connectivity (FC) analysis. RESULTS: Extensive abnormalities in spontaneous brain activity involving frontal, temporal, and occipital regions were observed in the patients compared to the HCs. The differences in local brain functioning between checking and washing OCD were mainly concentrated in the bilateral middle frontal gyrus, right supramarginal gyrus, right angular gyrus, and right inferior occipital gyrus. The ROC curve analysis revealed that the hyperactivation right middle frontal gyrus had a better discriminatory value for checking and washing OCD. Furthermore, the seed-based FC analysis revealed higher FC between the left medial superior frontal gyrus and right caudate nucleus compared to that in the healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that extensive local differences exist in intrinsic spontaneous activity among the checking group, washing group, and HCs. The neural basis of checking OCD may be related to dysfunction in the frontal-striatal network, which distinguishes OCD from washing OCD.

Dynamic observation and qualitative analysis of a psychological crisis hotline during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the chief complaints of psychological crisis hotlines during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Jiangsu, China, and to summarize the psychological characteristics of the public during the different stages of COVID-19. Methods: The chief complaints of calls to the psychological crisis hotline from 27 January 2020 to 30 June 2020. A total of 578 calls were extracted and grouped using thematic analysis into categories. After statistical analysis, the monthly and three-period trends were observed dynamically to determine whether there were statistical differences in the proportion of specific chief complaints over the phases. Results: There were a total of 495 cases of psychological problems or physical discomfort, accounting for 85.64% of the total sample number of hotline calls related to the pandemic. The numbers of callers with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, illness anxiety, insomnia, and physical discomfort were 370 (64.01%), 103 (17.99%), 33 (5.71%), 36 (6.23%), 51 (8.82%), and 72 (12.46%), respectively, and 83 (14.36%) callers consulted other problems. The monthly main complaints showed a fluctuating trend, and each main complaint peaked at different stages. The main complaints during the three stages had distinct features, respectively, and the proportions of calls for the specific complaints differed statistically over the phases. Conclusion: Dynamic observation and qualitative analysis of psychological crisis hotline data might indicate dynamic changes and accordingly provide guidance for online crisis intervention when other public health crises occur.