Structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia patients with a history and presence of auditory verbal hallucination.

Although many studies have demonstrated structural brain abnormalities associated with auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in schizophrenia, the results remain inconsistent because of the small sample sizes and the reliability of clinical interviews. We compared brain morphometries in 204 participants, including 58 schizophrenia patients with a history of AVH (AVH + ), 29 without a history of AVH (AVH-), and 117 healthy controls (HCs) based on a detailed inspection of medical records. We further divided the AVH+ group into 37 patients with and 21 patients without hallucinations at the time of the MRI scans (AVH++ and AVH+-, respectively) via clinical interviews to explore the morphological differences according to the persistence of AVH. The AVH + group had a smaller surface area in the left caudal middle frontal gyrus (F = 7.28, FDR-corrected p = 0.0008) and precentral gyrus (F = 7.68, FDR-corrected p = 0.0006) compared to the AVH- group. The AVH+ patients had a smaller surface area in the left insula (F = 7.06, FDR-corrected p = 0.001) and a smaller subcortical volume in the bilateral hippocampus (right: F = 13.34, FDR-corrected p = 0.00003; left: F = 6.80, FDR-corrected p = 0.001) compared to the HC group. Of these significantly altered areas, the AVH++ group showed significantly smaller bilateral hippocampal volumes compared to the AVH+- group, and a smaller surface area in the left precentral gyrus and caudal middle frontal gyrus compared to the AVH- group. Our findings highlighted the distinct pattern of structural alteration between the history and presence of AVH in schizophrenia, and the importance of integrating multiple criteria to elucidate the neuroanatomical mechanisms.

A review of effects of calorie restriction and fasting with potential relevance to depression.

In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest in the effects of calorie reduction (calorie restriction) and fasting on depression. In the current paper, we have reviewed the literature in this area, with discussion of the possible neurobiological mechanisms involved in calorie restriction and intermittent fasting. Factors which may play a role in the effects of these dietary manipulations on health include changes involving free fatty acids, ketone bodies, neurotransmitters, cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein (CREB), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cytokines, orexin, ghrelin, leptin, reactive oxygen species and autophagy. Several of these factors are potential contributors to improving symptoms of depression. Challenges encountered in research on calorie restriction and intermittent fasting are also discussed. Although much is now known about the acute effects of calorie restriction and intermittent fasting, further long term clinical studies are warranted.