探花直播 of Cambridge - Developmental Psychiatry /taxonomy/affiliations/developmental-psychiatry News from Developmental Psychiatry. en Young people at risk of addiction show differences in key brain region /research/news/young-people-at-risk-of-addiction-show-differences-in-key-brain-region <div class="field field-name-field-news-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="cam-scale-with-grid" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content-580x288/public/news/research/news/smoking-7370571920.jpg?itok=JIsTySpv" alt="" title="Smoking young people, Credit: karosieben" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p> 探花直播study adds further evidence to support the idea that an individual鈥檚 biological makeup plays a significant role in whether or not they develop an addictive disorder.</p> <p>Adolescence and young adulthood is an important time in a person鈥檚 development. It is during this time that individuals begin to demonstrate behaviours that are associated with addiction and which suggest that they may be at risk.</p> <p>One of these behaviours is impulsivity. Sometimes, we need to make quick decisions, for example in response to a danger or a threat. At other times, it is better to hesitate and decide only after careful deliberation. Impulsivity refers to where we respond and act prematurely, without considering the consequences of our actions. While most people occasionally act impulsively, people affected by disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), substance and behavioural addictions, and mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, show much greater levels of impulsivity.</p> <p>In a study published today in the journal <em>Neuropsychopharmacology</em>, a team of researchers at Cambridge鈥檚 Department of Psychiatry, in collaboration with a group at Aarhus 探花直播 in Denmark, has shown a strong association between increased behavioural impulsivity in young adults and abnormalities in nerve cells in the putamen, a key brain region involved in addictive disorders.</p> <p>As part of the study, 99 young adults aged 16 to 26 carried out a computer-based measure of impulsivity. 探花直播researchers also scanned the volunteers鈥 brains using a sequence that is sensitive to myelin content. Myelin is a protein-rich sheath that coats the axis of a nerve cell, analogous to the plastic coating that surrounds electrical wiring, and is essential to fast nerve conduction in the brain and body.</p> <p> 探花直播team found that those young adults who displayed higher measures of behavioural impulsivity also had lower levels of myelin in the putamen. This work builds on similar findings in rodent models of impulsivity from scientists at Cambridge and elsewhere.</p> <p>鈥淧eople who show heightened impulsivity are more likely to experience a number of mental health issues, including substance and behavioural addictions, eating disorders, and ADHD,鈥 says Dr Camilla Nord of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, lead author on the study.</p> <p>This suggests that impulsivity is an 鈥榚ndophenotype鈥, say the researchers; in other words, a set of behavioural and brain changes that increases people鈥檚 general risk for developing a group of psychiatric and neurological disorders.</p> <p>鈥淲e know that most mental health symptoms are not specific to particular disorders,鈥 says Dr Nord. 鈥淭his work provides an important piece of the puzzle in establishing brain signatures that are general across a number of mental health disorders, rather than specific to any single one.鈥澛</p> <p> 探花直播putamen is a key brain hub in addiction, sending dopamine signals elsewhere in the brain, and helping mediate how impulsively we behave. 鈥 探花直播significance of decreased myelination implies there are tiny microstructural changes in this part of the brain affecting its function, and thereby affecting impulsivity,鈥 says senior author Dr Valerie Voon, also from Cambridge.</p> <p>鈥 探花直播degree of myelination alters the speed and efficiency of neuronal communication, meaning that if a population has decreased myelination only in one particular region, as we show, there is something highly local about any changes in neural speed and efficiency,鈥 add co-author Dr Seung-Goo Kim. 聽</p> <p>Although it is not possible to say definitely whether the decreased myelination causes individuals to behave impulsively, the fact that all participants were healthy and had not been diagnosed with addiction or any other psychiatric diagnosis suggests a more causal link than has been demonstrated in previous studies.</p> <p>In future, the finding may help in predicting an individual鈥檚 risk of developing a problem with addiction, say the researchers, but they caution that this would require further research and testing.</p> <p> 探花直播research was funded by the Aarhus 探花直播 Research Foundation, the Danish Ministry for Social Affairs and the Interior and the UK Medical Research Council. 探花直播work was also supported by NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.</p> <p><em><strong>Reference</strong><br /> Nord CL, Kim S, R酶mer Thomsen,K, Callesen MB, Kvamme TL, Jensen M, Pedersen MU, Voon V. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-019-0343-6"> 探花直播myeloarchictecture of impulsivity: premature responding in youth is associated with decreased myelination of ventral putamen.</a> Neuropsychopharmacology; 15 Feb 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41386-019-0343-6</em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-summary field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><p>Young adults at risk of developing problems with addiction show key differences in an important region of the brain, according to an international team led by researchers at the 探花直播 of Cambridge.</p> </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-credit field-type-link-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/smoking-young-people-youth-be-cool-737057/" target="_blank">karosieben</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-desctiprion field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Smoking young people</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-panel-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Researcher profile: Dr Camilla Nord</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-panel-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="" src="/sites/www.cam.ac.uk/files/inner-images/cnord_camneurophoto.jpg" style="width: 559px; height: 600px;" /></p> <p>Dr Camilla Nord is interested in mental health disorders, and in particular how we translate what we have learnt about the brain from neuroscience into better and more effective treatments.</p> <p>鈥淲hat most motivates me about my own research is working out how to test specific hypotheses about mental health鈥攕ay, if a specific brain region is under-active in depression鈥 in a way that could improve our ability to predict, diagnose, and treat mental health disorders,鈥 she says.</p> <p>A key aim of her work at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and at Addenbrooke鈥檚 Hospital is to develop more refined ways of predicting treatment outcome 鈥 鈥渋n other words, when someone shows a certain set of symptoms, we could run computer-based tests or brain imaging scans that would give us some indication of the best treatment for that individual person.</p> <p>鈥淭hese tests will never exist without a series of experiments developing and testing different possible predictors. I hope to run these sorts of early-stage studies in the next few years, before taking these studies forward into clinical trials in the future, in collaboration with the NHS and other large-scale organisations.鈥</p> <p>Ultimately, she hopes this will lead to is a future where it is possible to tailor mental health treatments to each patient.</p> <p>Camilla鈥檚 research involves working with volunteers on a daily basis for computer-based experiments at the MRC unit, or at Addenbrooke鈥檚 for brain stimulation experiments.</p> <p>鈥淲hen I am not running experiments, I am analysing data, including brain scans, using statistical models to test my hypotheses, or writing papers and giving talks to communicate my findings to the rest of the field and the public.鈥</p> <p>It is the public engagement side of her work that can be particularly insightful. 鈥淚 think some of the most interesting opportunities I鈥檝e had were when I鈥檝e been given the chance to discuss my work with patients, hear their feedback, and listen to their ideas about what might be most fruitful for our future directions of research. I think this sort of research-patient interaction will be vital to developing better ways of treating mental health difficulties in future.鈥</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cc-attribute-text field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" style="border-width:0" /></a><br /> 探花直播text in this work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>. Images, including our videos, are Copyright 漏 探花直播 of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified.聽 All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways 鈥 as here, on our <a href="/">main website</a> under its <a href="/about-this-site/terms-and-conditions">Terms and conditions</a>, and on a <a href="/about-this-site/connect-with-us">range of channels including social media</a> that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-show-cc-text field-type-list-boolean field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Yes</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-license-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Licence type:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/imagecredit/public-domain">Public Domain</a></div></div></div> Mon, 04 Mar 2019 08:03:30 +0000 cjb250 203662 at Changes in brain structure during teenage years provide clues to onset of mental health problems /research/news/changes-in-brain-structure-during-teenage-years-provide-clues-to-onset-of-mental-health-problems <div class="field field-name-field-news-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="cam-scale-with-grid" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content-580x288/public/news/research/news/teen.jpg?itok=f-QLqBms" alt="Teenager" title="Teenager, Credit: Bob Bradburn" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>In a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the 探花直播 of Cambridge and 探花直播 College London (UCL) used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brain structure of almost 300 individuals aged 14-24 years old.<br /><br />&#13; By comparing the brain structure of teenagers of different ages, they found that during this important period of development, the outer regions of the brain, known as the cortex, shrink in size, becoming thinner. However, as this happens, levels of myelin 鈥 the sheath that 鈥榠nsulates鈥 nerve fibres, allowing them to communicate efficiently 鈥 increase within the cortex.<br /><br />&#13; Previously, myelin was thought mainly to reside in the so-called 鈥榳hite matter鈥, the brain tissue that connects areas of the brain and allows for information to be communicated between brain regions. However, in this new study, the researchers show that it can also be found within the cortex, the 鈥榞rey matter鈥 of the brain, and that levels increase during teenage years. In particular, the myelin increase occurs in the 鈥榓ssociation cortical areas鈥, regions of the brain that act as hubs, the major connection points between different regions of the brain network.<br /><br />&#13; Dr Kirstie Whitaker from the Department of Psychiatry at the 探花直播 of Cambridge, the study鈥檚 joint first author, says: 鈥淒uring our teenage years, our brains continue to develop. When we鈥檙e still children, these changes may be more dramatic, but in adolescence we see that the changes refine the detail. 探花直播hubs that connect different regions are becoming set in place as the most important connections strengthen. We believe this is where we are seeing myelin increasing in adolescence.鈥<br /><br />&#13; 探花直播researchers compared these MRI measures to the Allen Brain Atlas, which maps regions of the brain by gene expression 鈥 the genes that are 鈥榮witched on鈥 in particular regions. They found that those brain regions that exhibited the greatest MRI changes during the teenage years were those in which genes linked to schizophrenia risk were most strongly expressed.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Dr Petra V茅rtes, the other first author, also from the Department of Psychiatry explains: "A lot of information already exists on the function of various genes: which parts of the cell they are important for, what biological processes they are involved in and which diseases they are associated with.聽 Matching up MRI brain maps with the Allen Brain Atlas allows us to make connections between large-scale brain changes observed through MRI 鈥 such as thinning of the cortex 鈥 and the microscopic biological processes that are likely to underpin these changes and which may be compromised in certain disorders."<br /><br />&#13; 鈥淎dolescence can be a difficult transitional period and it鈥檚 when we typically see the first signs of mental health disorders such as schizophrenia and depression,鈥 explains Professor Ed Bullmore, Head of Psychiatry at Cambridge. 鈥淭his study gives us a clue why this is the case: it鈥檚 during these teenage years that those brain regions that have the strongest link to the schizophrenia risk genes are developing most rapidly.<br /><br />&#13; 鈥淎s these regions are important hubs that control how regions of our brain communicate with each other, it shouldn鈥檛 be too surprising that when something goes wrong there, it will affect how smoothly our brains work. If one imagines these major hubs of the brain network to be like international airports in the airline network, then we can see that disrupting the development of brain hubs could have as big an impact on communication of information across the brain network as disruption of a major airport, like Heathrow, will have on flow of passenger traffic across the airline network.鈥<br /><br />&#13; 探花直播researchers are confident about the robustness of their findings as they divided their participants into a 鈥榙iscovery cohort鈥 of 100 young people and a 鈥榲alidation cohort鈥 of almost 200 young people to ensure the results could be replicated.<br /><br />&#13; 探花直播study was funded by a Strategic Award from the Wellcome Trust to the Neuroscience in Psychiatry Network (NSPN) Consortium.<br /><br />&#13; Dr Raliza Stoyanova in the Neuroscience and Mental Health team at Wellcome, which funded the study, comments: 鈥淎 number of mental health conditions first manifest during adolescence. Although we know that the adolescent brain undergoes dramatic structural changes, the precise nature of those changes and how they may be linked to disease is not understood.<br /><br />&#13; 鈥淭his study sheds much needed light on brain development in this crucial time period, and will hopefully spark further research in this area, and tell us more about the origins of serious mental health conditions such as schizophrenia.鈥<br /><br /><em><strong>Video</strong><br />&#13; Nodes of the adolescent brain's structural network coloured by how much they change between 14 and 24 years of age. 探花直播size of the nodes represent how well connected they are and halfway through the movie the smallest nodes are removed and only the hubs remain. 探花直播edges that are added in are the strongest connections between these hub regions and represent the brain's rich club. Credit: Kirstie Whitaker</em><br /><br /><em><strong>Reference</strong><br />&#13; Whitaker, KJ, Vertes, PE et al. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1601745113">Adolescence is associated with genomically patterned consolidation of the hubs of the human brain connectome.</a> PNAS; 25 July 2016; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1601745113</em></p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-summary field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><p>Scientists have mapped the structural changes that occur in teenagers鈥 brains as they develop, showing how these changes may help explain why the first signs of mental health problems often arise during late adolescence.</p>&#13; </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-quote field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> 探花直播hubs that connect different regions are becoming set in place as the most important connections strengthen. We believe this is where we are seeing myelin increasing in adolescence</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-content-quote-name field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Kirstie Whitaker</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-media field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div id="file-111912" class="file file-video file-video-youtube"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/file/111912">Nodes and Edges: NSPN_WhitakerVertes_PNAS2016</a></h2> <div class="content"> <div class="cam-video-container media-youtube-video media-youtube-1 "> <iframe class="media-youtube-player" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ztm2knaLBFc?wmode=opaque&controls=1&rel=0&autohide=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> </div> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-credit field-type-link-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bradburn/2332641376/" target="_blank">Bob Bradburn</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-desctiprion field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Teenager</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cc-attribute-text field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" style="border-width:0" /></a><br />&#13; 探花直播text in this work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>. For image use please see separate credits above.</p>&#13; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-show-cc-text field-type-list-boolean field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Yes</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-license-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Licence type:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/imagecredit/attribution-noncommercial-sharealike">Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike</a></div></div></div> Mon, 25 Jul 2016 19:00:37 +0000 cjb250 177102 at