Aislinn Antrim, Associate Editor

Neuroscientists have found that a region of the forebrain known as the striatum was on average 10% larger in individuals with psychopathy compared to a control group of individuals who had low or no psychopathic traits, according to a study.

Psychopathic individuals are generally defined as those who have an egocentric and antisocial personality, marked by a lack of remorse for their actions, a lack of empathy for others, and often criminal tendencies. The striatum is the subcortical region of the brain that contains the entire cerebrum and coordinates multiple aspects of cognition, including motor and action planning, decision-making, motivation, reinforcement, and reward perception.

Notably, although not all individuals with psychopathic traits end up breaking the law and not all criminals meet the criteria for psychopathy, there is a correlation. Clear evidence has linked psychopathy to more violent behavior, according to the study. Understanding the role of biology in antisocial and criminal behavior may help improve existing theories of behavior, as well as inform policy and treatment options.

“Our study’s results help advance our knowledge about what underlies antisocial behavior such as psychopathy,” said Olivia Choy, PhD, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University, in the press release. “We find that in addition to social environmental influences, it is important to consider that there can be differences in biology—in this case, the size of brain structures—between antisocial and non-antisocial individuals.”

Earlier research has suggested that psychopaths may have an overly active striatum but have not conclusively determined the impact of its size on behaviors. The new study, conducted by researchers at Nanyang Technical University Singapore, the University of Pennsylvania, and California State University, reveals a significant biological difference between individuals who have psychopathic traits and those who do not.

In their study, the researchers scanned the brains of 120 participants in the United States and interviewed them using the Revised Psychopathy Checklist, which helps determine the presence of psychopathic traits in individuals. Through an analysis of the MRI scans and interviews, the researchers linked having a larger striatum to an increased need for stimulation through thrills and excitement, and a higher likelihood of impulsive behaviors.

As part of the basal ganglia, the researchers noted that this region of the brain receives signals from the cerebral cortex, which controls cognition, social behavior, and discerning which sensory information warrants attention. In the past 20 years, however, the understanding of the striatum has expanded, with hints that the region is linked to difficulties in social behavior.

However, earlier studies have not addressed whether striatal enlargement is observed in adult women with psychopathic traits. Within the study of 120 individuals, the researchers examined 12 women and observed, for the first time, that psychopathy was linked to an enlarged striatum in females, just as in males. In human development, the striatum typically becomes smaller as a child matures, suggesting that psychopathy could be related to differences in brain development.

“A better understanding of the striatum’s development is still needed,” Choy said in the press release. “Many factors are likely involved in why one individual is more likely to have psychopathic traits than another individual. Psychopathy can be linked to a structural abnormality in the brain that may be developmental in nature. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that the environment can also have effects on the structure of the striatum.”

Study finds psychopathic individuals are more likely to have larger striatum region in the brain. News release. Nanyang Technological University; May 10, 2022. Accessed May 11, 2022. 

https://www.ntu.edu.sg/docs/default-source/corporate-ntu/hub-news/study-finds-psychopathic-individuals-are-more-likely-to-have-larger-striatum-region-in-the-brain.pdf?sfvrsn=fd7259b3_1

Articles

Earlier research has suggested that psychopaths may have an overly active striatum but have not conclusively determined the impact of its size on behaviors.

Research Finds Psychopathic Individuals Are More Likely to Have a Larger Striatum Region in the Brain

Researchers from the University of California San Francisco have found that individuals who are vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 and have a history of certain psychiatric conditions may have a heightened risk of breakthrough COVID-19 infection.

The investigators found that patients over the age of 65 with substance abuse, psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, adjustment disorder, and anxiety faced increased risks up to 24% for breakthrough COVID-19. For those under 65 years of age, risks were up to 11% higher than for those without a psychiatric history.

Data for both age groups were adjusted for age, sex, race, ethnicity, and vaccine type, as well as for smoking and underlying conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, sleep apnea, cardiovascular, lung, kidney and liver diseases, HIV, and cancer. The findings could be related to impaired immune responses in patients with certain psychiatric conditions, as well as risky behaviors associated with some disorders.

In the study, investigators tracked data from more than one-quarter of a million United States Department of Veterans Affairs patients, who had completed their COVID-19 vaccine regimen and had at least 1 test for SARS-CoV-2. Just over half (51.4%) of the patients had received at least 1 psychiatric diagnosis within the past 5 years, and 14.8% developed breakthrough COVID-19 confirmed by a positive test. The average age of the 263,697 participants was 66 years and 90.8% were male.

“Our research suggests that increased breakthrough infections in people with psychiatric disorders cannot be entirely explained by socio-demographic factors or pre-existing conditions,” said senior author Aoife O’Donovan, PhD, in a press release. “It’s possible that immunity following vaccination wanes more quickly or more strongly for people with psychiatric disorders and/or they could have less protection to newer variants.”

An earlier study led by the same researchers found that individuals with elevated anxiety and probable post-traumatic stress disorder—conditions associated with impulsivity—were more likely to engage in behaviors that put them at higher risk of COVID-19.

According to the new study, participants with psychiatric disorders had an overall 3% increased risk for breakthrough COVID-19 infections in 2021 compared with participants without a psychiatric history. However, the risk was 24% higher for individuals over 65 years of age with substance abuse, 23% higher for those with psychotic disorders, 16% higher for those with bipolar disorder, 14% higher for patients with adjustment disorder, and 12% for individuals with anxiety.

Surprisingly, given the greater incidence of breakthrough infections among younger individuals, the study showed significantly smaller effects in those under 65 years of age. Moreover, risks were 10% lower in participants with psychotic disorders compared to those without a psychiatric diagnosis, which O’Donovan attributed to possible lower socialization among younger patients with psychiatric disorders. She noted that older patients “may be less socially isolated because of their greater burden of ill health and contacts with caregivers.”

However, risks of breakthrough infections associated with substance abuse, adjustment disorder, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder were all higher in the younger cohort than in their peers without a psychiatric diagnosis—11%, 9%, 4%, and 3%, respectively.

A potential reason for the higher incidence of breakthrough infections among older participants could be due to a lower immunological response to the vaccines, which has been associated with some psychiatric disorders and could be more substantial among older adults, according to the study. It is also possible that older adults with psychiatric disorders may require more frequent in-person care, thereby increasing their risk of contracting COVID-19 from a health care provider.

To provide context, breakthrough risk for other non-psychiatric conditions were also calculated and adjusted for factors such as obesity and smoking status, as well as other underlying conditions. The researchers found that patients with chronic kidney disease had an increased risk of 23%, compared with 20% for HIV, 19% for cardiovascular disease, 18% for COPD, and 13% for sleep apnea. These findings demonstrate that patients with certain psychiatric conditions, particularly those 65 years of age and older, face risks that are on par with other conditions, according to the study authors.

“Mental health is important to consider in conjunction with other risk factors, and some patients should be prioritized for boosters and other critical preventive efforts,” O’Donovan concluded in the press release.

Your Mental Health May Impact Your Chances of Breakthrough COVID. News release. University of California San Francisco; April 14, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. 

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2022/04/422616/your-mental-health-may-impact-your-chances-breakthrough-covid

Findings demonstrate that patients with certain psychiatric conditions, particularly those aged 65 and older, face risks that are on par with other conditions. 



Study Shows Heightened Risk of Breakthrough COVID-19 in Patients with Psychosis, Substance Abuse, Anxiety

Investigators at Columbia University found that babies born during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic scored lower on a developmental screening test of social and motor skills at 6 months, regardless of whether their mothers had COVID-19 during pregnancy, compared to infants born just before the pandemic.

 included 255 babies born at New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Allen Hospital between March and December 2020.

“Infants born to mothers who have viral infections during pregnancy have a higher risk of neurodevelopmental deficits, so we thought we would find some changes in the neurodevelopment of babies whose mothers had COVID during pregnancy,” lead investigator Dani Dumitriu, MD, PhD, said in a press release.

Dumitriu was involved in the organization of studies at the beginning of the pandemic to investigate the impact of the virus on infants through the COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes Initiative. In an early study, a team discovered that mothers do not pass the SARS-CoV-2 virus onto their fetuses. However, it is known that viral illnesses during pregnancy can increase the risk of neurodevelopmental delays in children through activation of the mother’s immune system.

“The developmental trajectory of an infant begins before birth,” Dumitriu said in the press release. “With potentially millions of infants who may have been exposed to COVID in utero, and even more mothers just living through the stress of the pandemic, there is a critical need to understand the neurodevelopmental effects of the pandemic on future generations.”

In the current study, researchers analyzed responses from a questionnaire that pediatricians give to parents to evaluate aspects of infant development, including communication, fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving, and social skills. Nearly half of the mothers in the study had COVID-19 at some point during pregnancy, although most of the illnesses were mild or asymptomatic, according to the study results.

The researchers found no differences between the scores of infants who were exposed to COVID-19 in utero and those born during the pandemic whose mothers did not contract COVID-19 during pregnancy. However, average scores among all infants born during the pandemic were lower than the gross motor, fine motor, and social skills of 62 pre-pandemic infants born at the same hospitals.

“We want parents to know that the findings in our small study do not necessarily mean that this generation will be impaired later in life,” Dumitriu said in the press release. “This is still a very early developmental stage with lots of opportunities to intervene and get these babies onto the right developmental trajectory.”

Although the study did not measure maternal stress during pregnancy, it is possible that the stress caused by the pandemic explains the decrease in motor and social skills found in infants born during the pandemic. Earlier studies have found that maternal stress in the earliest stages of pregnancy has a more significant effect on socioemotional functioning in infants than stress later in pregnancy.

The researchers in the current study found a similar trend. According to the study results, infants whose mothers were in the first trimester of pregnancy at the height of the pandemic had the lowest neurodevelopmental scores. Other factors, including fewer social interactions and altered interactions with stressed caregivers, could help explain why babies born during the pandemic have weaker social and motor skills.

“We were surprised to find absolutely no signal suggesting that exposure to COVID while in utero was linked to neurodevelopmental deficits,” Dumitriu said in the press release. “Rather, being in the womb of a mother experiencing the pandemic was associated with slightly lower scores in areas such as motor and social skills, though not in others, such as communication or problem-solving skills. The results suggest that the huge amount of stress felt by pregnant mothers during these unprecedented times may have played a role.”

Babies Born During Pandemic’s First Year Score Slightly Lower on a Developmental Screening Test. News release. Columbia University Irving Medical Center; January 4, 2022. Accessed February 10, 2022. 

https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/babies-born-during-pandemics-first-year-score-slightly-lower-developmental-screening-test

There were no differences between the scores of infants exposed to COVID-19 in utero and those born during the pandemic whose mothers did not contract COVID-19 during pregnancy.

Researchers Find Infants Born During First Year of COVID-19 Pandemic Score Lower on Developmental Screening Test

Survey data from adolescents between 11 and 14 years of age found that supportive relationships with family and friends, physical activity, and better sleep habits helped to limit the harmful impacts of the pandemic on mental health, according to a press release from the National Institutes of Health.

, the study used longitudinal survey data from more than 3000 adolescents. The research was based on data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, which is the largest long-term study of brain development and child health ever conducted in the United States.

Researchers also explored predictors of perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, and found that girls were more likely than boys to experience psychological distress during the pandemic. Other predictors of youth distress included psychosocial factors such as poorer quality and functioning of family relationships, increased screen time, and witnessing discrimination in relation to the pandemic.

“Early adolescence is a time when youth are already experiencing rapid change physically, emotionally, and socially, and the COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense disruption to this sensitive stage in life,” said National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora D. Volkow, MD, in the press release. “This study helps us understand how modifiable lifestyle factors affect the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents, and it can inform the development of interventions to protect youth during a major life stress. This is important now, as we continue to grapple with the pandemic, and also in future crisis response at the local or national level.”

In the study, investigators analyzed data from more than 3000 participants in the ABCD study as well as their families. The adolescents and their parents completed pre-pandemic assessments by February 2020, which documented baseline parent/caregiver reports of externalizing problems and sleep disturbances, as well as youth reports of internalizing problems, such as feeling anxious or depressed. Participating parents and youth then separately completed 3 online COVID-19 surveys, conducted between May and August 2020, which featured more than 200 items across psychosocial and lifestyle domains.

The researchers then used machine learning methods to identify patterns of positive affect, anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms across the surveys. They then interpreted the results using an algorithm to provide an overall ranking of variables according to their importance for predicting youth mental health outcomes. The top variables were categorized into 8 domains: coping behaviors such as having a regular mealtime; physical activities; relationships; resources such as being able to afford food; screen time; sleep; and other variables.

Out of all the possible predictors considered, positive relationship variables such as discussing plans for the day with parents, participating in family activities, and predictors related to healthy behaviors were among the top predictors of high positive affect. These factors were also protective against stress, anxiety, and depression, according to the press release.

Conversely, increased screen time and witnessing racism or discrimination related to COVID-19 were found to be important predictors for negative affect. The study also found that girls and adolescents who entered the pandemic with existing mental health or sleep problems appeared to be particularly vulnerable to negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Focusing on what you can do to support young people, like maintaining as much of a routine as possible, walking at least 10 minutes a day, and strengthening family relationships, really matters during times of stress,” Fiona C. Baker, PhD, director of the Center for Health Sciences at SRI International, said in the press release.

The study authors noted that compared to the full ABCD study sample of approximately 11,800 individuals at entry, this study included only a subsample of 3000 youth with sufficient data from pre-pandemic assessments and COVID-19 surveys. Compared to the full ABCD study, this subsample of youth was less likely to be Hispanic/Latinx, less likely to be Black, more likely to be Asian, and their parents were more likely to have higher education. Generalizability of the study is therefore limited, according to the authors.

“This additional COVID data collection is also a valuable example of how the ABCD study team was able to effectively pivot within such a massive project, to leverage this important learning opportunity during the pandemic,” lead author Orsolya Kiss, PhD, said in the press release. “Further, machine learning techniques allowed the data itself to drive the findings, rather than expectations or hypotheses. While the team informed the structure of what data was incorporated from before and during the pandemic, the model then determined what was important.”

Social connectedness, sleep, and physical activity associated with better mental health among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. News release. National Institutes of Health; January 24, 2022. Accessed January 26, 2022. 

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/social-connectedness-sleep-physical-activity-associated-better-mental-health-among-youth-during-covid-19-pandemic

Predictors of youth distress included psychosocial factors such as poorer quality of family relationships, increased screen time, and witnessing discrimination in relation to the pandemic.

Social Connectedness, Sleep, Physical Activity During COVID-19 Pandemic Linked With Improved Mental Health Among Youth 

New research suggests that individuals who do vigorous physical activities in areas with higher air pollution may show less benefit from that exercise with certain markers of brain disease.

According to a press release from the American Academy of Neurology, researchers examined markers including white matter hyperintensities, which indicate injury to the brain’s white matter, and gray matter volume. Larger volumes of gray matter and smaller volumes of white matter hyperintensity are signifiers of overall better brain health. However, air pollution could limit the impacts of exercise on these markers of brain health, according to the study.

“Vigorous exercise may increase exposure to air pollution, and prior studies have shown adverse effects of air pollution on the brain,” said study author Melissa Furlong, PhD, in the press release. “We did show that physical activity is associated with improved markers of brain health in areas with lower air pollution. However, some beneficial effects essentially disappeared for vigorous physical activity in areas with the highest levels of air pollution.”

In the study, researchers examined 8600 individuals with an average age of 56 years from the UK Biobank database. Individuals’ exposure to pollution, including nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, was estimated with land use regression, which models air pollution levels based on air monitors and land use characteristics such as traffic, agriculture, and industrial sources of air pollution.

Participants’ exposure to air pollution was categorized into 4 equal groups, from lowest air pollution to highest, and each individual’s physical activity was measured for 1 week with a wearable movement-detecting device. Researchers then characterized their physical activity patterns depending on how much vigorous physical activity they got, ranging from none to 30 minutes or more per week.

On average, individuals who got the greatest amounts of vigorous physical activity each week had 800 cm3 gray matter volume, compared to an average of 790 cm3 in individuals who did not get any vigorous exercise. Researchers also found that air pollution exposures did not alter the effects of physical activity on gray matter volume.

However, the study found that air pollution exposures altered the impact of vigorous physical activity when looking at white matter hyperintensities. After adjusting for age, sex, and other covariates, researchers found that vigorous physical activity reduced white matter hyperintensities in areas of low air pollution, but these benefits were not found in individuals in high air pollution areas.

“That’s not to say people should avoid exercise,” Furlong said in the press release. “Overall, the effect of air pollution on brain health was modest—roughly equivalent to half the effect of 1 year of aging, while the effects of vigorous activity on brain health were much larger—approximately equivalent to being 3 years younger.”

The study used air pollution values from 1 year only, and levels may vary from year to year, according to the researchers.

“More research is needed, but if our findings are replicated, public policy could be used to address people’s exposure to air pollution during exercise,” Furlong said in the press release. “For example, since a significant amount of air pollution comes from traffic, promoting running or bicycling along paths far from heavy traffic may be more beneficial.”

Does Air Pollution Reduce the Benefits of Physical Activity on the Brain? News release. American Academy of Neurology; December 8, 2021. Accessed January 19, 2022. 

https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/4940

Individuals who got the greatest amounts of vigorous exercise each week had more gray matter volume than individuals who did not get any vigorous exercise.

Study: Air Pollution Potentially Reduces Benefits of Physical Activity On the Brain

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders may be linked with significantly higher rates of first-time cesarean deliveries (C-section) among women who are otherwise at a low risk of having one, according to a study from researchers at Michigan Medicine.

Earlier research had linked perinatal mood and anxiety disorders with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as low birth weight and preterm birth, but the new findings suggest they may be connected with the type of delivery a woman has. The findings were published in 

“Our findings reinforce the importance of better identifying and treating perinatal depression and anxiety disorders in pregnant women,” said senior author Vanessa Dalton, MD, MPH, an obstetrician gynecologist at University of Michigan Health Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, in the press release. “It’s critical to better understand how these mood disorders increase the likelihood of cesarean section deliveries, which we know have both short and long-term health consequences for both expecting moms and their babies.”

The study is one of the largest to document a link between predated mood and anxiety disorders and first-time C-sections among low-risk pregnant women. Previous research on this topic is limited and often includes patients who had prior C-sections, which is one of the more significant predictors of a repeat C-section.

C-sections have numerous risks, including blood clots, hemorrhaging, infection, and risks to future pregnancies. Most women who undergo a C-section for their first birth will have a repeat C-section as well.

“Cesarean sections are a major contributing factor to maternal morbidity events after a delivery with many adverse downstream effects,” Dalton said in the press release. “We need to understand all factors that may increase a woman’s chance of a C-section delivery so we can avoid any unnecessary risks.”

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders affect as many as 20% of reproductive-aged women in the United States, and the prevalence of these disorders more than doubled between 2006 and 2015 among childbearing women in the United States. Significantly, the prevalence of suicidal ideation and intentional self-harm in the year before or after birth also rose during that time period, and suicide was a leading cause of maternal mortality.

“There’s been growing recognition that mental health is really important during the time of pregnancy,” Dalton said in the press release. “Maternal suicide risk is especially high the year following delivery.”

In the study, investigators analyzed national data for 360,225 delivery hospitalizations among commercially insured women between the ages of 15 and 44 between 2008 and 2017. Among those, 24% were a first-time delivery by C-section. Reducing the rate of first-time C-sections by 2.3% is a Health People 2030 goal in the United States, and the authors noted that women with a prenatal diagnosis of anxiety or depression had a predicted probability of having a C-section that was about 3.5% higher than women without those conditions.

Women with anxiety or depression were more likely to be older, white, and reside in a household with income more than 400% over the poverty line compared with those without perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Although reasons for the link between mental health and C-sections are speculative, some unproven theories include the idea that prenatal anxiety is sometimes focused on the delivery itself—which may prompt providers to turn to C-sections to reduce the labor process. Other researchers have posited that maternal distress may impact placental development, which could lead to symptoms of fetal distress during labor.

“We need more research to clarify the relationship between perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and primary cesarean section rates to enhance our understanding of the consequences of these disorders for health outcomes,” Dalton said in the press release. “This could potentially inform efforts to develop and evaluate effective treatments and policy interventions.”

Depression, anxiety may be linked to c-section risk among pregnant women. News release. Michigan Health Lab; October 19, 2012. Accessed November 17, 2021. 

https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/rounds/depression-anxiety-may-be-linked-to-c-section-risk-among-pregnant-women

The study is one of the largest to document a link between predated mood and anxiety disorders and first-time cesarean sections among low-risk pregnant women.