Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exhibit smaller regional brain volumes in commonly reported regions including the amygdala and hippocampus, regions associated with fear and memory processing. In the current study, we have conducted a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) meta-analysis using whole-brain statistical maps with neuroimaging data from the ENIGMA-PGC PTSD working group.

T1-weighted structural neuroimaging scans from 36 cohorts (PTSD n = 1309; controls n = 2198) were processed using a standardized VBM pipeline (ENIGMA-VBM tool). We meta-analyzed the resulting statistical maps for voxel-wise differences in gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes between PTSD patients and controls, performed subgroup analyses considering the trauma exposure of the controls, and examined associations between regional brain volumes and clinical variables including PTSD (CAPS-4/5, PCL-5) and depression severity (BDI-II, PHQ-9).

PTSD patients exhibited smaller GM volumes across the frontal and temporal lobes, and cerebellum, with the most significant effect in the left cerebellum (Hedges’ g = 0.22, pcorrected = .001), and smaller cerebellar WM volume (peak Hedges’ g = 0.14, pcorrected = .008). We observed similar regional differences when comparing patients to trauma-exposed controls, suggesting these structural abnormalities may be specific to PTSD. Regression analyses revealed PTSD severity was negatively associated with GM volumes within the cerebellum (pcorrected = .003), while depression severity was negatively associated with GM volumes within the cerebellum and superior frontal gyrus in patients (pcorrected = .001).

PTSD patients exhibited widespread, regional differences in brain volumes where greater regional deficits appeared to reflect more severe symptoms. Our findings add to the growing literature implicating the cerebellum in PTSD psychopathology.

Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) commonly show deficits on tests of visuospatial functioning. The Identi-Fi is a new measure of visual organization and recognition composed of two components. The Visual Recognition (VR) subtest asks persons to identify an object that has been broken its pieces and rearranged, akin to the Hooper Visual Organization Test, but using updated and colorful pictures. The Visual Matching (VM) subtest involves showing the same stimuli, but the examinee must select the correct response from among five choices (1 correct and 4 foils), placing greater demand on visuospatial discrimination. Together, the two subtests comprise the Visual Organization Index (VOI), reflecting overall visual processing and organization ability. The present study examined performance on the Identi-Fi in patients with PD and its association with other aspects of cognition.

Participants were 23 patients with PD (95% male; mean age = 69.7 years [SD = 7.8], range = 47-79) and 12 patients with cognitive concerns (CC) who were intact on neuropsychological testing (excluding consideration of Identi-Fi scores; 50% male, mean age = 71.08 [SD = 6.27], range = 60-78) seen for a neuropsychological evaluation at a large Northeastern medical center. As part of a larger battery, patients completed the Identi-Fi, Trail Making Test (TMT), Category Fluency, Test of Premorbid Functioning (TOPF), and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test, Revised (BVMT-R).

The PD group performed significantly worse than the CC group on VR and VM, as well as VOI, of the Identi-Fi (p < .001). Within the PD group, poorer VR, VM, and VOI performance was associated with lower scores on the TOPF (p < .05), BVMT-R learning (p < .05) and delayed recall (p < .05), as well as TMT Parts A and B (p < .05). VR was significantly correlated with Category Fluency (p < .05), while a trend was seen for the association between VOI and Category Fluency (p = .094).

Identi-Fi performance was worse in the PD group than the CC group, which is consistent with prior research indicating that visuospatial processing is often abnormal in patients with PD. Furthermore, findings indicate that poorer performance on the Identi-Fi in the PD group is associated with poorer cognitive functioning in other domains (i.e., visuospatial learning and memory, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, and semantic fluency), as well as lower premorbid intellectual functioning. While these findings suggest that the Identi-Fi is useful in identifying visuospatial dysfunction in PD, findings should be interpreted with caution given the small sample sizes and uneven gender distribution

Patients with Post-Acute COVID Syndrome (PACS) are reported to commonly experience a variety of cognitive, physical, and neuropsychiatric symptoms well beyond the acute phase of the illness. Notably, concerns involving mood, fatigue, and physical symptoms (e.g., pain, headaches) following COVID-19 appears to be especially prevalent. It is unclear, however, the extent to which such symptoms are associated with cognitive problems in patients with PACS. In the present study, we examined the prevalence of cognitive impairment in a sample of patients with PACS, as well as the relationship between cognitive functioning and several non-cognitive symptoms.

Participants were 38 patients with PACS [71.1% female; mean age = 48.03 years (SD = 11.60) and years of education = 15.26 years (SD = 2.60)] seen for a neuropsychological evaluation at a large Northeastern medical center at least three months from the time of COVID-19 diagnosis (per PCR test). As part of a larger battery, patients completed the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test- Revised (HVLT, learning and delayed recall), Trail Making Test (TMT; time to complete parts A and B), Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT total correct), and Animals (total correct). They also were administered the Chalder Fatigue Scale-11 (CFS-11), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15). The percentage of patients with scores in the impaired range (z < -1.5) on cognitive tests was determined. Correlations between cognitive and non-cognitive measures were also examined.

The most frequent impairment was seen for COWAT (21.2%), followed by TMT-A and TMT-B (both 13.9%), then category fluency (9.1%). No patients were impaired on HVLT-R Learning and only one (4%) for HVLT-R Delayed Recall. Overall, the sample endorsed considerable depression, anxiety, fatigue, as well as physical symptoms. Greater fatigue was associated with worse verbal learning, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, and verbal fluency (letter and category). Worse physical symptom severity was related to poorer verbal delayed recall and cognitive flexibility. Greater anxiety was also associated with worse cognitive flexibility, while more severe depression was related to poorer category fluency.

In our sample of patients with PACS, seen for evaluation several months since contracting COVID-19, phonemic fluency was the most common cognitive impairment, though less than a quarter were impaired on any given cognitive test. Importantly, several associations were observed between cognitive test performance and non-cognitive symptoms commonly endorsed by patients with PACS. These findings highlight the importance of assessing multiple factors potentially contributing to cognitive impairment in these patients. Interventions designed to address such symptoms may be helpful in ameliorating cognitive functioning in those with PACS.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is characterized by subjective and objective memory concerns, though additional cognitive concerns are commonly reported, including changes in executive functions (EF). Rabin et al. (2006) showed that a sample of research participants with MCI endorsed problems with their EFs, especially working memory. Similarly, those with subjective cognitive dysfunction (SCD) also reported greater difficulty with aspects of their EF than a healthy comparison sample of older adults (HC). In the present study, we investigated subjective EF in clinical samples of older adults with MCI or SCD, which represents a more naturalistic sample relative to a research sample. Furthermore, we evaluated whether subjective EF varied in these groups depending on whether patients were "young-old" versus "old-old" given prior research indicating objective cognitive differences between these age groups.

Participants were 135 older adults (53 MCI, 52 SCD, and 30 HC) matched for age (p = .116) and education (p = .863). Dichotomous categorization of age used the sample median (72 years) as cutoff score with 72 participants in the young-old group (mean age = 65.8 ± 4.7 years) and 63 in the old-old group (mean age = 78.1 ± 3.7 years). Participants completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult (BRIEF-A), assessing executive functions in everyday life over the past month. The BRIEF-A yields an overall score (Global Executive Composite [GEC]) composed of two index scores (Behavioral Regulation Index [BRI] and Metacognition Index [MI]) and nine clinical scales (Inhibit, Shift, Emotional Control, Self-Monitor, Initiate, Working Memory, Plan/Organize, Task Monitor, and Organization of Materials). A diagnosis by age-group multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with post-hoc comparisons for diagnosis using a Tukey HSD correction was conducted using SPSS Version 24.

MCI and SCD groups endorsed worse EF on all three index scores (ps < .005) and all nine clinical scales (ps < .05) relative to the HC group, and the MCI group reported worse initiation relative to the SCD group. Additionally, worse executive functions on all three index scores (ps < .05) and four clinical scales (ps < .05; emotional control, self-monitoring, planning/organization, and task monitoring) were reported by the young-old group relative to the old-old group. No diagnosis by age-group interactions were observed.

Problems with aspects of EF were endorsed by older adults with MCI and SCD compared to HCs across all indices and clinical scales; however, only initiation was reported to be worse in MCI than those with SCD. Additionally, the young-old group endorsed having worse EF than the old-old group across BRIEF-A indices and several more specific aspects of EF, without a moderating effect of diagnosis. These findings highlight the importance of assessing subjective EF in older adults, as they may be early indicators of cognitive change, prior to objective evidence of cognitive decline. Furthermore, results also point to differences in how the young-old and old-old perceive their EF in everyday life.

Obesity is highly prevalent and disabling, especially in individuals with severe mental illness including bipolar disorders (BD). The brain is a target organ for both obesity and BD. Yet, we do not understand how cortical brain alterations in BD and obesity interact.

We obtained body mass index (BMI) and MRI-derived regional cortical thickness, surface area from 1231 BD and 1601 control individuals from 13 countries within the ENIGMA-BD Working Group. We jointly modeled the statistical effects of BD and BMI on brain structure using mixed effects and tested for interaction and mediation. We also investigated the impact of medications on the BMI-related associations.

BMI and BD additively impacted the structure of many of the same brain regions. Both BMI and BD were negatively associated with cortical thickness, but not surface area. In most regions the number of jointly used psychiatric medication classes remained associated with lower cortical thickness when controlling for BMI. In a single region, fusiform gyrus, about a third of the negative association between number of jointly used psychiatric medications and cortical thickness was mediated by association between the number of medications and higher BMI.

We confirmed consistent associations between higher BMI and lower cortical thickness, but not surface area, across the cerebral mantle, in regions which were also associated with BD. Higher BMI in people with BD indicated more pronounced brain alterations. BMI is important for understanding the neuroanatomical changes in BD and the effects of psychiatric medications on the brain.

Impactful, transdisciplinary scientific discoveries are created by teams of researchers spanning multiple disciplines, but collaboration across disciplines can be challenging. We examined how team dynamics and collaboration are related to successes and barriers faced by teams of researchers from multiple disciplines.

A mixed-methods approach was used to examine 12 research teams granted multidisciplinary pilot awards. Team members were surveyed to assess their team dynamics and individual views about transdisciplinary research. Forty-seven researchers (59.5%) responded, including two to eight members from each funded team. Associations were examined between collaborative dynamics and scholarly product outcomes, including manuscripts, grant proposals, and awarded grants. One member from each team was selected for an in-depth interview to contextualize and extend information about collaborative processes, successes, and barriers to performing transdisciplinary research.

Quality of team interactions was positively associated with achievement of scholarly products (r = 0.64, p = 0.02). Satisfaction with team members (r = 0.38) and team collaboration scores (r = 0.43) also demonstrated positive associations with achievement of scholarly products, but these were not statistically significant. Qualitative results support these findings and add further insight into aspects of the collaborative process that were particularly important to foster success on multidisciplinary teams. Beyond scholarly metrics, additional successes from the multidisciplinary teams were identified through the qualitative portion of the study including career development and acceleration for early career researchers.

Both the quantitative and qualitative study results indicate that effective collaboration is critical to multidisciplinary research team success. Development and/or promotion of team science-based trainings for researchers would promote these collaborative skills.