Although cognitive remediation (CR) improves cognition and functioning, the key features that promote or inhibit its effectiveness, especially between cognitive domains, remain unknown. Discovering these key features will help to develop CR for more impact.

To identify interrelations between cognition, symptoms, and functioning, using a novel network analysis approach and how CR affects these recovery outcomes.

A secondary analysis of randomized controlled trial data (N = 165) of CR in early psychosis. Regularized partial correlation networks were estimated, including symptoms, cognition, and functioning, for pre-, post-treatment, and change over time. Pre- and post-CR networks were compared on global strength, structure, edge invariance, and centrality invariance.

Cognition, negative, and positive symptoms were separable constructs, with symptoms showing independent relationships with cognition. Negative symptoms were central to the CR networks and most strongly associated with change in functioning. Verbal and visual learning improvement showed independent relationships to improved social functioning and negative symptoms. Only visual learning improvement was positively associated with personal goal achievement. Pre- and post-CR networks did not differ in structure (M = 0.20, p = 0.45) but differed in global strength, reflecting greater overall connectivity in the post-CR network (S = 0.91, p = 0.03).

Negative symptoms influenced network changes following therapy, and their reduction was linked to improvement in verbal and visual learning following CR. Independent relationships between visual and verbal learning and functioning suggest that they may be key intervention targets to enhance social and occupational functioning.

Educational attainment (EduA) is correlated with life outcomes, and EduA itself is influenced by both cognitive and non-cognitive factors. A recent study performed a ‘genome-wide association study (GWAS) by subtraction,’ subtracting genetic effects for cognitive performance from an educational attainment GWAS to create orthogonal ‘cognitive’ and ‘non-cognitive’ factors. These cognitive and non-cognitive factors showed associations with behavioral health outcomes in adults; however, whether these correlations are present during childhood is unclear.

Using data from up to 5517 youth (ages 9–11) of European ancestry from the ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM Study, we examined associations between polygenic scores (PGS) for cognitive and non-cognitive factors and cognition, risk tolerance, decision-making & personality, substance initiation, psychopathology, and brain structure (e.g. volume, fractional anisotropy [FA]). Within-sibling analyses estimated whether observed genetic associations may be consistent with direct genetic effects.

Both PGSs were associated with greater cognition and lower impulsivity, drive, and severity of psychotic-like experiences. The cognitive PGS was also associated with greater risk tolerance, increased odds of choosing delayed reward, and decreased likelihood of ADHD and bipolar disorder; the non-cognitive PGS was associated with lack of perseverance and reward responsiveness. Cognitive PGS were more strongly associated with larger regional cortical volumes; non-cognitive PGS were more strongly associated with higher FA. All associations were characterized by small effects.

While the small sizes of these associations suggest that they are not effective for prediction within individuals, cognitive and non-cognitive PGS show unique associations with phenotypes in childhood at the population level.

Most evidence on suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts comes from Western countries; prevalence rates may differ in other parts of the world.

This study determined the prevalence of suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts in high school students in three different regional settings in Kenya.

This was a cross-sectional study of 2652 high school students. We asked structured questions to determine the prevalence of various types of suicidality, the methods planned or effected, and participants’ gender, age and form (grade level). We provided descriptive statistics, testing significant differences by chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests, and used logistic regression to identify relationships among different variables and their associations with suicidality.

The prevalence rates of suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts were 26.8, 14.9 and 15.7%, respectively. These rates are higher than those reported for Western countries. Some 6.7% of suicide attempts were not associated with plans. The most common method used in suicide attempts was drinking chemicals/poison (18.8%). Rates of suicidal thoughts and plans were higher for older students and students in urban rather than rural locations, and attempts were associated with female gender and higher grade level – especially the final year of high school, when exam performance affects future education and career prospects.

Suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts are prevalent in Kenyan high school students. There is a need for future studies to determine the different starting points to suicidal attempts, particularly for the significant number whose attempts are not preceded by thoughts and plans.

Although the link between alcohol involvement and behavioral phenotypes (e.g. impulsivity, negative affect, executive function [EF]) is well-established, the directionality of these associations, specificity to stages of alcohol involvement, and extent of shared genetic liability remain unclear. We estimate longitudinal associations between transitions among alcohol milestones, behavioral phenotypes, and indices of genetic risk.

Data came from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (n = 3681; ages 11–36). Alcohol transitions (first: drink, intoxication, alcohol use disorder [AUD] symptom, AUD diagnosis), internalizing, and externalizing phenotypes came from the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism. EF was measured with the Tower of London and Visual Span Tasks. Polygenic scores (PGS) were computed for alcohol-related and behavioral phenotypes. Cox models estimated associations among PGS, behavior, and alcohol milestones.

Externalizing phenotypes (e.g. conduct disorder symptoms) were associated with future initiation and drinking problems (hazard ratio (HR)⩾1.16). Internalizing (e.g. social anxiety) was associated with hazards for progression from first drink to severe AUD (HR⩾1.55). Initiation and AUD were associated with increased hazards for later depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation (HR⩾1.38), and initiation was associated with increased hazards for future conduct symptoms (HR = 1.60). EF was not associated with alcohol transitions. Drinks per week PGS was linked with increased hazards for alcohol transitions (HR⩾1.06). Problematic alcohol use PGS increased hazards for suicidal ideation (HR = 1.20).

Behavioral markers of addiction vulnerability precede and follow alcohol transitions, highlighting dynamic, bidirectional relationships between behavior and emerging addiction.

Significant advances in the research of sport-related concussion (SRC) and repetitive head impacts (RHI) over the previous decade have translated to improved injury identification, diagnosis, and management. However, an objective gold standard for SRC/RHI treatment has remained elusive. SRC often result in heterogenous clinical outcomes, and the accumulation of RHI over time is associated with long-term declines in neurocognitive functioning. Medical management typically entails an amalgamation of outpatient medical treatment and psychiatric and/or behavioral interventions for specific symptoms rather than treatment of the underlying functional and/or structural brain injury. Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM), a form of light therapy, has been proposed as a non-invasive treatment for individuals with traumatic brain injuries (TBI), possibly including SRC/RHI. With the present proof-of-concept pilot study, we sought to address important gaps in the neurorehabilitation of former athletes with a history of SRC and RHI by examining the effects of tPBM on neurocognitive functioning.

The current study included 49 participants (45 male) with a history of SRC and/or RHI. Study inclusion criteria included: age 18-65 years and a self-reported history of SRC and/or RHI. Exclusion criteria included: a history of neurologic disease a history of psychiatric disorder, and MRI contraindication. We utilized a non-randomized proof-of-concept design of active treatment over the course of 8-10 weeks, and neurocognitive functioning was assessed at pre- and post-treatment. A Vielight Neuro Gamma at-home brain tPBM device was distributed to each participant following baseline assessment.

Participants completed standardized measures of neurocognitive functioning, including the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-3), Delis Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS), Continuous Performance Test (CPT-3), and The NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. Neurocognitive assessments were collected prior to and following tPBM treatment. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon’s signed-rank tests were used to evaluate change in performance on measures of neurocognitive functioning for normal and nonnormal variables, respectively, and estimates of effect size were obtained.

Study participants’ ability for adapting to novel stimuli and task requirements (i.e., fluid cognition; t=5.96; p<.001; d=.90), verbal learning/encoding (t=3.20; p=.003; d=.48) and delayed recall (z=3.32; p=.002; d=.50), processing speed (t=3.13; p=.003; d=.47), sustained attention (t=-4.39; p<.001; d=-.71), working memory (t=3.61; p=.001; d=.54), and aspects of executive functioning improved significantly following tPBM treatment. No significant improvements in phonemic and semantic verbal fluencies, reading ability, and vocabulary were shown following tPBM treatment.

The results of this pilot study demonstrate that following 8-10 weeks of active tPBM treatment, retired athletes with a history of SRC and/or RHI experienced significant improvements in fluid cognition, learning and memory, processing speed, attention, working memory, and aspects of executive functioning. Importantly, the majority of effect sizes ranged from moderate to large, suggesting that tPBM has clinically meaningful improvements on neurocognitive functioning across various cognitive domains. These results offer support for future research employing more rigorous study designs on the potential neurorehabilitative effects of tPBM in athletes with SRC/RHI.

Reward processing has been proposed to underpin the atypical social feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, previous neuroimaging studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding the specificity of atypicalities for social reward processing in ASD.

Utilising a large sample, we aimed to assess reward processing in response to reward type (social, monetary) and reward phase (anticipation, delivery) in ASD.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging during social and monetary reward anticipation and delivery was performed in 212 individuals with ASD (7.6–30.6 years of age) and 181 typically developing participants (7.6–30.8 years of age).

Across social and monetary reward anticipation, whole-brain analyses showed hypoactivation of the right ventral striatum in participants with ASD compared with typically developing participants. Further, region of interest analysis across both reward types yielded ASD-related hypoactivation in both the left and right ventral striatum. Across delivery of social and monetary reward, hyperactivation of the ventral striatum in individuals with ASD did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Dimensional analyses of autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) scores were not significant. In categorical analyses, post hoc comparisons showed that ASD effects were most pronounced in participants with ASD without co-occurring ADHD.

Our results do not support current theories linking atypical social interaction in ASD to specific alterations in social reward processing. Instead, they point towards a generalised hypoactivity of ventral striatum in ASD during anticipation of both social and monetary rewards. We suggest this indicates attenuated reward seeking in ASD independent of social content and that elevated ADHD symptoms may attenuate altered reward seeking in ASD.

There is an association between anterior cerebral artery vessel asymmetry and anterior communicating artery aneurysm, presumably based on flow dynamics. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential relationship between aortic arch branching patterns and incidence of intracranial aneurysm.

This study included patients scanned over 1 year at our tertiary care center who underwent high-resolution imaging (computed tomography angiography or digital subtracted angiogram) of the head and neck arteries, aortic arch, and superior mediastinum. Exclusion criteria included patients with suboptimal images. Patient age, gender, aortic arch branching pattern, and the presence, location, and number of aneurysms were documented.

Among the 1082 patients analyzed, 250 (23%) patients had a variant aortic arch branching pattern, 22 (8.8%) of whom had aneurysms. There were 104 patients with 126 aneurysms, with majority of patients with normal aortic arch branching pattern (n = 82, 79%). The most common variant was a common origin of the left common carotid artery and brachiocephalic trunk with or without direct origin of the left vertebral artery. Twenty-two patients with aneurysms had an aberrant aortic arch (21%), compared to 232 patients without an aneurysm (24%). Fischer exact test showed no statistically significant difference between the incidence of aneurysm with different aortic arch variant groups (two-tailed p-value = 0.715).

To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the association between aortic arch branching patterns and incidence of intracranial aneurysm. No significant association was found between aortic arch branching pattern and the incidence of intracranial aneurysm.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is effective for most patients with a social anxiety disorder (SAD) but a substantial proportion fails to remit. Experimental and clinical research suggests that enhancing CBT using imagery-based techniques could improve outcomes. It was hypothesized that imagery-enhanced CBT (IE-CBT) would be superior to verbally-based CBT (VB-CBT) on pre-registered outcomes.

A randomized controlled trial of IE-CBT v. VB-CBT for social anxiety was completed in a community mental health clinic setting. Participants were randomized to IE (n = 53) or VB (n = 54) CBT, with 1-month (primary end point) and 6-month follow-up assessments. Participants completed 12, 2-hour, weekly sessions of IE-CBT or VB-CBT plus 1-month follow-up.

Intention to treat analyses showed very large within-treatment effect sizes on the social interaction anxiety at all time points (ds = 2.09–2.62), with no between-treatment differences on this outcome or clinician-rated severity [1-month OR = 1.45 (0.45, 4.62), p = 0.53; 6-month OR = 1.31 (0.42, 4.08), p = 0.65], SAD remission (1-month: IE = 61.04%, VB = 55.09%, p = 0.59); 6-month: IE = 58.73%, VB = 61.89%, p = 0.77), or secondary outcomes. Three adverse events were noted (substance abuse, n = 1 in IE-CBT; temporary increase in suicide risk, n = 1 in each condition, with one being withdrawn at 1-month follow-up).

Group IE-CBT and VB-CBT were safe and there were no significant differences in outcomes. Both treatments were associated with very large within-group effect sizes and the majority of patients remitted following treatment.