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This study investigated relations between a measure of early-stage visual function and self-reported visual anomalies in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P). Eleven individuals at CHR identified via the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS) were recruited from a CHR-P research program in NYC. The sample was ~36% female, ranging from 16 to 33 years old ( M = 23.90, SD = 6.14). Participants completed a contrast sensitivity task on an iPad with five spatial frequencies (0.41-13 cycles/degree) and completed the self-report Audio-Visual Abnormalities Questionnaire. Higher contrast sensitivity (better performance) to low spatial frequencies was associated with higher perceptual ( r = 0.616, p = 0.044) and visual disturbances ( r = 0.667, p = 0.025); lower contrast sensitivity to a middle spatial frequency was also associated with higher perceptual ( r = -0.604, p = 0.049) and visual disturbances ( r = -0.606, p = 0.048). This relation between the questionnaire and contrast sensitivity to low spatial frequency may be indicative of a reduction in lateral inhibition and "flooding" of environmental stimuli. The association with middle spatial frequencies, which play a critical role in face processing, may result in a range of perceptual abnormalities. These findings demonstrate that self-reported perceptual anomalies occur in these individuals and are linked to performance on a measure of early visual processing.

Objective: Of the many impacts of COVID-19 on contemporary healthcare is the rapid and overwhelming shift to remote telehealth (TH) service. The precise effect of TH on treatment is yet unknown, and the possible child/adult differences are an essential point of clarification for the utility of TH services and efforts to improve upon them., Methods: The current study considers data reflecting pre-, during-, and post-COVID-19 lockdown over the first six months of 2020. Data comprise records of N = 43,294 services delivered to N = 2520 unique clients across multiple outpatient mental health sites at a Certified Community Based Mental Health Clinic (CCBHC) in Rockland County, NY, an area hard hit by COVID-19., Results: Results demonstrate significant differences between child and adult sessions with a relative decrease in the number of child mental health services with the switch to TH in March 2020 (onset of lockdown) and a relatively rapid shift back to face-to-face among child services when in-person services resumed in May and June 2020. Results further highlight significant differences between child age and service type, with psychiatry less affected by TH than psychotherapy., Conclusions: Implicit in the data is the ability to offer remotely, a high volume of ongoing behavioral intervention. Findings support TH as less preferred for children than adults while indicating that child TH is favored for psychiatry and support services, less so for psychotherapy. Implications for enhancing child TH delivery and directions for continued research include relational factors, platform (phone/video) and screen salience., (© 2021 The Authors. Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of the American Psychiatric Association.)

To investigate associations between central visual function and inner retinal structure in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). This study enrolled 78 POAG patients and 58 healthy controls. POAG was classified into early glaucoma and moderate to advanced glaucoma. The following tests were performed on all participants: isolated-check visual evoked potential (icVEP) testing, 24-2 standard automated perimetry (SAP), and Cirrus optical coherence tomography (OCT) examinations. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measures obtained from icVEP responses to isolated checks presented at four depths of modulation (DOMs; 8%, 14%, 22%, and 32%) were explored. Mean macular sensitivity (mMS) was assessed by calculating the mean sensitivities of central 12 SAP points. Ganglion cell layer+ inner plexiform layer thickness (GCL+IPLT) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFLT) were measured by OCT scanning. For each group of subjects, linear relationships among the following measures were analyzed: SNR, mMS, GCL+IPLT, and pRNFLT. SNR, mMS, GCL+IPLT, and pRNFLT were all more significantly decreased in glaucoma than in controls (P<0.001). A significant positive association was found between SNR at 14% DOM and GCL+IPLT at the inferior sector in early glaucoma (r=0.465, P=0.004). In moderate to advanced glaucoma, significant correlations were found between SNR at 32% DOM and mean GCL+IPLT (r=0.364, P=0.023), superior GCL+IPLT (r=0.358, P=0.025), and mean pRNFLT (r=0.396, P=0.025). In addition, in moderate to advanced glaucoma, there were significant correlations between mMS and all relevant measures of retinal thickness (r=0.330-0.663, P< 0.010). In early glaucoma, significant correlations were found between mean mMS and minimum GCL+IPLT (r=0.373, P=0.023), and between inferior mMS and superior GCL+IPLT (r=0.470, P=0.003). Linear models provided a good explanation for the relationship between SNR and inner retinal thickness (IRT), whereas nonlinear models better explained the relationship between mMS and IRT. In early glaucoma, both SNR and mMS were related moderately and significantly to IRT, whereas in moderate to advanced glaucoma, mMS was more strongly correlated with IRT than SNR.

It is now well documented that schizophrenia is associated with impairments in visual processing at all levels of vision, and that these disturbances are related to deficits in multiple higher-level cognitive and social cognitive functions. Visual remediation methods have been slow to appear in the literature as a potential treatment strategy to target these impairments, however, in contrast to interventions that aim to improve auditory and higher cognitive functions in schizophrenia. In this report, we describe a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded R61/R33 grant that uses a phased approach to optimize and evaluate a novel visual remediation intervention for people with schizophrenia. The goals of this project are: (1) in the R61 phase, to establish the optimal components and dose (number of sessions) of a visual remediation intervention from among two specific visual training strategies (and their combination) for improving low and mid-level visual functions in schizophrenia; and (2) in the R33 phase, to determine the extent to which the optimal intervention improves not only visual processing but also higher-level cognitive and role functions. Here we present the scientific background for and innovation of the study, along with our methods, hypotheses, and preliminary data. The results of this study will help determine the utility of this novel intervention approach for targeting visual perceptual, cognitive, and functional impairments in schizophrenia., Competing Interests: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Background: Cognitive impairments are common in individuals with MS and adversely affect functioning. Early detection of cognitive impairment, therefore, would enable earlier, and possibly more effective, treatment. We sought to compare self-reports with a short neuropsychological test as possible screening tools for cognitive impairment., Methods: One hundred patients with MS were tested with the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Multiple Sclerosis; z scores were used to derive the Cognitive Index (CI). Receiver operator characteristic curve analyses were performed, with criteria for impairment set at -1.5 and -2.0 SD below the mean. Scores from two self-reports (the Multiple Sclerosis Neuropsychological Screening Questionnaire-Patient Version and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version [BRIEF-A]) and a neuropsychological test (the Symbol Digit Modalities Test [SDMT]) were entered as test variables. Exploratory regression analyses were conducted with 1) CI and self-reports and 2) CI and the Problem-Solving Inventory (PSI)., Results: Classification accuracy was high or moderately high for SDMT when the criterion was -2.0 or -1.5 SD, respectively, but low for the self-reports. Hierarchical linear regression showed that the SDMT alone was the best predictor of cognitive impairment; adding the self-reports did not improve the model. Exploratory analyses indicated that certain self-reports (BRIEF-A, PSI) provided some explanatory power in separate models., Conclusions: The SDMT is a more accurate screening tool for cognitive impairment; however, self-reports provide additional information and may complement objective testing. Results suggest that screening for cognitive impairment may require a multidimensional approach.

Objective: There is a critical need to identify biomarkers and objective outcome measures that can be used to understand underlying neural mechanisms in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) offer a noninvasive technique to evaluate the functional integrity of neural mechanisms, specifically visual pathways, while probing for disease pathophysiology., Methods: Transient VEPs (tVEPs) were obtained from 96 unmedicated children, including 37 children with ASD, 36 typically developing (TD) children, and 23 unaffected siblings (SIBS). A conventional contrast-reversing checkerboard condition was compared to a novel short-duration condition, which was developed to enable objective data collection from severely affected populations who are often excluded from electroencephalographic (EEG) studies., Results: Children with ASD showed significantly smaller amplitudes compared to TD children at two of the earliest critical VEP components, P60-N75 and N75-P100. SIBS showed intermediate responses relative to ASD and TD groups. There were no group differences in response latency. Frequency band analyses indicated significantly weaker responses for the ASD group in bands encompassing gamma-wave activity. Ninety-two percent of children with ASD were able to complete the short-duration condition compared to 68% for the standard condition., Conclusions: The current study establishes the utility of a short-duration tVEP test for use in children at varying levels of functioning and describes neural abnormalities in children with idiopathic ASD. Implications for excitatory/inhibitory balance as well as the potential application of VEP for use in clinical trials are discussed., Competing Interests: Paige M. Siper received grant support from Autism Speaks (grant #8685), the NIH (MH107839), and the Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Foundation. Vance Zemon is a principal in VeriSci Corp. which has a financial agreement with Konan Medical USA. James Gordon receives consulting fees from VeriSci Corp. Stacey Lurie reports no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. Julia George-Jones reports no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. Jessica Zweifach reports no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. Teresa Tavassoli received grant support from the Autism Science Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, the NIH (MH107839), and the Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Foundation. A. Ting Wang receives grant support from the NIH (MH107839). Jesslyn Jamison reports no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. Joseph D. Buxbaum holds a shared patent with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for insulin-like growth factor-1 in the treatment of Phelan-McDermid syndrome and receives grant support from the NIH (MH107839). Alexander Kolevzon receives research support from NIMH (R34 MH100276-01;(R21 MH107839)), NINDS (U54 NS092090- 01), the Autism Science Foundation, the Seaver Foundation, Hoffmann-La Roche, and Neuren Pharmaceuticals and is a consultant for Vencerx Therapeutics, Fulcrum Therapeutics, Ovid Therapeutics, and Supernus Pharmceuticals. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common cause of neurologic disease in young and middle-aged adults, and 75% of patients are female. Nearly one in two patients with MS will experience clinically significant depression-approximately three times the prevalence rate in the general population. This study used a cross-sectional approach to examine the link between depression levels and use of interferon medications among individuals with MS. Data were collected from 694 patients of the Multiple Sclerosis Comprehensive Care Center at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, New Jersey. Analysis of variance was used to compare depression scores between patients taking and not taking interferons. Regression analyses with depression scores as the dependent variable were also conducted. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was reduced to a set of dimensions by principal components analysis. Two components were identified, reflecting somatic and cognitive symptoms. The results showed no significant relationship between depression levels and interferon treatment. Significant associations were observed between depression and both age and disability status, with younger, more disabled patients tending to be more depressed.

Isolated-checks were luminance-modulated temporally to elicit VEPs. Bright or dark checks were used to drive ON or OFF pathways, and low or high-contrast conditions were used to emphasize activity from magnocellular or parvocellular pathways. Manipulation of stimulus parameters and frequency analysis of the VEP were performed to obtain spatial and contrast-response functions. A biophysical explanation is offered for why the opposite polarity stimuli drive selectively ON and OFF pathways in primary visual cortex, and a lumped biophysical model is proposed to quantify the data and characterize changes in the dynamics of the system with contrast given a limited number of parameters. Response functions were found to match the characteristics of the targeted pathways.

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that glaucoma leads to selective deficits in parallel pathways or channels. Sweep VEPs were obtained to isolated-check stimuli that were modulated sinusoidally in either isoluminant chromatic contrast or in positive and negative luminance contrast. Response functions were obtained from 14 control subjects, 15 patients with open-angle glaucoma, and seven glaucoma suspects. For all three groups of subjects we found characteristic differences between the VEP response functions to isoluminant chromatic contrast stimuli and to luminance contrast stimuli. The isoluminant chromatic stimulus conditions appeared to favor activity of the P-pathway, whereas the luminance contrast stimuli at low depths of modulation favored M-pathway activity. VEP responses for patients with OAG were significantly reduced for chromatic contrast and luminance contrast conditions, whereas VEP responses for glaucoma suspects were significantly reduced only for the 15-Hz positive luminance contrast condition. Our results suggest that both M- and P-pathways are affected by glaucoma.

Purpose: The authors examined the development of lateral interactions between neurons in the human visual system through the use of visual evoked potentials (VEPs) elicited by windmill-dartboard stimuli. Previously, these VEPs have revealed two distinct types of lateral interactions (short-range and long-range) in adults. This study aims to track the development of these interactions in the first 6 months of life., Method: Windmill-dartboard stimuli were generated by a computer-controlled visual stimulator and presented on an oscilloscope display. VEPs to these stimuli were obtained from a group of human infants between 14 days and 6 months of age and from a group of adults who served as a basis for comparison. Fourier analysis was used to retrieve amplitude and phase measures of the relevant frequency components of the response., Results: Amplitude measures of the VEP components elicited by the windmill-dartboard stimulus showed that the attenuation of the second harmonic frequency component (reflecting long-range lateral interactions) was essentially adultlike at all temporal frequencies for the majority of infants. In contrast, the amplitude of the fundamental frequency component (thought to reflect short-range lateral interactions) exhibited a low-pass temporal tuning function in infants that differed dramatically from adults. Additional immaturities were observable in the phase of the fundamental component of the infant VEPs., Conclusions: Evidence for the presence of some degree of lateral interaction was seen in even the youngest infant. Long-range lateral interactions appear to mature rapidly in infancy, whereas short-range lateral interactions show a much longer developmental time-course, and their properties are dependent on temporal frequency.

Subjects were adapted to alternating upright red and oblique green checkerboards. After adaptation, vertical and horizontal gratings appeared pink and oblique gratings appeared green. The results show an orientation and spatial frequency selectivity predicted by two-dimensional Fourier analysis.