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Background: A moral injury occurs when a deeply held moral code has been violated, and it can lead to the development of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the neural correlates that differentiate moral injury and PTSD remain largely unknown. Intrinsic connectivity networks such as the default mode network (DMN) appear to be altered in people with PTSD who have experienced moral injury. However, brainstem, midbrain and cerebellar systems are rarely integrated into the intrinsic connectivity networks; this is a critical oversight, because these systems display marked differences in people with PTSD and are thought to underlie strong moral emotions such as shame, guilt and betrayal. Methods: We conducted an independent component analysis on data generated during script-driven memory recall of moral injury in participants with military- or law enforcement-related PTSD (n = 28), participants with civilian-related PTSD (n = 28) and healthy controls exposed to a potentially morally injurious event (n = 18). We conducted group-wise comparisons of functional network connectivity differences across a DMN-correlated independent component, with a particular focus on brainstem, midbrain and cerebellar systems. Results: We found stronger functional network connectivity in the midbrain periaqueductal grey ([t.sub.71] = 4.95, [p.sub.FDR] = 0.028, k = 39) and cerebellar lobule IX ([t.sub.71] = 4.44, [p.sub.FDR] = 0.046, k = 49) in participants with civilian-related PTSD as compared to healthy controls. We also found a trend toward stronger functional network connectivity in the midbrain periaqueductal grey ([t.sub.71] = 4.22, [p.sub.FDR] = 0.076, k = 60) in participants with military--or law enforcement-related PTSD as compared to healthy controls. Limitations: The significant clusters were large, but resolution is generally lower for subcortical structures. Conclusion: In PTSD, the DMN appears to be biased toward lower-level, midbrain systems, which may drive toxic shame and related moral emotions that are common in PTSD, highlighting the depth at which moral injuries are represented neurobiologically., Introduction In unusually high-stress situations, a person may perpetuate, fail to prevent, or witness an event that contradicts their deeply held moral beliefs and expectations. (1) When someone does something [...]

Objective: Although abnormalities of neural circuits involving the cortex, striatum, and thalamus are hypothesized to underlie Tourette's disorder, the neuronal abnormalities within components of these circuits are unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the cellular neurochemistry within these circuits in Tourette's disorder using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, a method that has not previously been used in neurobiological investigations of the disorder. Method: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging examinations were conducted in 25 males with Tourette's disorder (age 10.9 [+ or -] 2.0 years) and 32 male comparison subjects (age 11.5 [+ or -] 2.7 years). Spectra from frontal cortex, caudate nucleus, putamen, and thalamus were analyzed, and N-acetylaspartate, creatine, choline, myoinositol, and glutamate + glutamine were quantified and compared between the groups. Results: Patients with Tourette's disorder demonstrated a reduction in N-acetylaspartate and choline in the left putamen, along with reduced levels of creatine bilaterally in the putamen. In the frontal cortex, patients had significantly lower concentrations of N-acetylaspartate bilaterally, lower levels of creatine on the right side, and reduced myoinositol on the left side. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest compromised neuronal integrity and deficits in density of neuronal and nonneuronal cells in components of the neural circuits implicated in Tourette's disorder.

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that is characterized by positive and negative symptoms and cognitive impairments. The etiology of the disorder is complex, and it is thought to follow a multifactorial threshold model of inheritance with genetic and neurodevelopmental contributions to risk. Human studies are particularly useful in capturing the richness of the phenotype, but they are often limited to the use of correlational approaches. By assessing behavioural abnormalities in both humans and rodents, nonprimate animal models of schizophrenia provide unique insight into the etiology and mechanisms of the disorder. This review discusses the phenomenology and etiology of schizophrenia and the contribution of current nonprimate animal models with an emphasis on how research with models of neurotransmitter dysregulation, environmental risk factors, neurodevelopmental disruption and genetic risk factors can complement the literature on schizophrenia in humans., Introduction Schizophrenia is a devastating psychiatric disorder that disrupts cognition, emotion, language and thought, and it typically affects 0.5%-1.5% of the population. (1) The onset of the disorder usually occurs [...]

Background: The "default network" consists of a number of brain regions that exhibit correlated low-frequency activity at rest and that have been suggested to be involved in the processing of self-relevant stimuli. Activity in many of these areas has also been shown to be altered in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We hypothesized that the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus, part of the default network, would exhibit altered connectivity at rest with other areas of the default network and regions associated with PTSD. Methods: Seventeen medicated and unmedicated female patients with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to early-life trauma and 15 healthy female controls underwent a 5.5-minute functional magnetic resonance imaging scan with their eyes closed. We assessed areas of the brain whose activity positively and negatively correlated with that of the PCC/precuneus in both groups. Results: At rest, spontaneous low-frequency activity in the PCC/precuneus was more strongly correlated with activity in other areas of the default network in healthy controls than in patients with PTSD. Direct comparison of the 2 groups showed that PCC/ precuneus connectivity was also greater in healthy controls than in patients with PTSD in a number of areas previously associated with PTSD, including the right amygdala and the hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus. Limitations: Because our PTSD sample comprised only women with chronic early-life trauma exposure, our results may not be generalizeable to male patients, to a population with single trauma exposure or to those who were adults when the trauma occurred. In addition, our sample included patients taking medication and it is not yet clear how altered connectivity is affected by medication. Conclusion: Spontaneous activity in the default network during rest, as measured using PCC correlations, is altered in patients with PTSD. The potential effects of psychotropic medications on default network connectivity in the present sample remain unknown. In this patient population, the observed alterations may be associated with the disturbances in self-referential processing often observed in patients with chronic PTSD related to early-life trauma. Contexte : Le <> englobe plusieurs regions du cerveau qui manifestent une activite de basse frequence correlee au repos et qui, comme le suggerent certains, joueraient un role dans le traitement des stimuli autoreferentiels. Dans bon nombre de ces regions, l&apos;activite s&apos;est egalement revelee perturbee chez les individus atteints de syndrome de stress post-traumatique (SSPT). Selon notre hypothese, le cortex cingulaire posterieur (CCP) et le precuneus, elements du reseau par defaut, manifesteraient au repos une connectivite alteree avec les autres regions du reseau par defaut et les regions associees au SSPT. Methodes : Dix-sept patientes (dont certaines traitees pharmacologiquement) atteintes d&apos;un syndrome de stress post-traumatique chronique lie a un traumatisme subi en bas age, de meme que 15 participantes temoins en bonne sante, ont subi une epreuve d&apos;imagerie par resonance magnetique fonctionnelle de 5,5 minutes, les yeux fermes. Nous avons examine les regions du cerveau dont l&apos;activite etait en correlation positive et negative avec le CCP/precuneus dans les 2 groupes. Resultats : Au repos, l&apos;activite de basse frequence spontanee du CCP/precuneus a ete en plus forte correlation avec celle des autres regions du reseau par defaut chez les temoins en bonne sante que chez les patientes atteintes de SSPT. Une comparaison directe entre les 2 groupes a revele que la connectivite CCP/precuneus etait egalement plus grande chez les temoins en bonne sante que chez les patientes atteintes de SSPT dans un certain nombre de regions auparavant associees avec le SSPT, y compris l&apos;amygdale cerebrale droite et la region hippocampe/gyrus parahippocampique. Limites : Etant donne que notre echantillon de patientes atteintes de SSPT ne comprenait que des femmes presentant un syndrome chronique consecutif a un traumatisme subi en bas age, nos resultats pourraient ne pas s&apos;appliquer aux hommes, aux victimes de traumatismes simples ou aux patients qui etaient adultes lors du traumatisme. De plus, notre echantillon incluait des patientes qui prenaient des medicaments; or, l&apos;impact potentiel de ceux-ci sur la connectivite est inconnu. Conclusion : L&apos;activite spontanee du reseau par defaut au repos, mesuree par l&apos;analyse de ses correlations avec le CCP, est alteree chez des patientes atteintes de SSPT. Les effets potentiels des psychotropes sur la connectivite du reseau par defaut dans le present echantillon demeurent inconnus. Chez cette population de patients, les alterations observees peuvent etre associees a des dereglements du traitement des stimuli autoreferentiels souvent observes chez les patients atteints de SSPT chronique consecutif a un traumatisme subi en bas age., Introduction Recent research has suggested that, in the absence of heavy processing demands, activity in the brain is characterized by positively correlated, low-frequency (> 0.1 Hz) oscillations within functional neural [...]

Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often exhibit deficits in emotional experience and expression, which suggests that certain individuals with PTSD may be alexithymic. In this study, in a sample of 105 individuals with PTSD, clinical correlates of alexithymia included reexperiencing, hyperarousal, numbing, dissociative symptoms, and retrospectively reported experiences of childhood emotional neglect. In a subsample of 26 individuals with PTSD related to a motor vehicle accident, functional neural responses to trauma-script imagery were associated with severity of alexithymia, including increased right posterior-insula and ventral posterior-cingulate activation and decreased bilateral ventral anterior-cingulate, ventromedial prefrontal, anterior-insula, and right inferior frontal cortex activation. Clinical and theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed. Keywords: alexithymia, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), script-driven imagery, neuroimaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Connectionist-model simulations of competing hypotheses of cognition in schizophrenia were constructed and tested. Emphasis was placed on judgment of affect, a prominent area of disturbance in this disorder with potential implications for social impairment. Participants with paranoid or nonparanoid schizophrenia and control participants provided judgments of affect as expressed in photographic faces. Schizophrenia groups were less accurate than control groups, and the paranoid group had greater latencies than did other groups. Model predictions simultaneously addressed judgment content and latencies for each trial. Results provide a connectionist extension of an account of deficits in schizophrenia that originated at the computational (stochastic modeling) level of analysis. This account postulates extra stages of item encoding but no reduction in formally defined processing capacity. It also provides for abnormalities in both judgment patterns and duration and is consistent with biological accounts of schizophrenia deficits. The substantive findings are supported by strategic innovations in the construction and testing of connectionist models. Keywords: schizophrenia, encoding deficit, connectionist modeling, facial affect, cognitive performance Supplemental material: http:dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-843x.116.2.290.supp

A study was conducted to characterize stochastic process frameworks and their applications in assessment psychology. The dynamic properties of the model were examined based on the specific time and time-related variables they accommodate. Assessment problems correlating with process-model analysis were also analyzed. In addition, parametric and nonparametric characterization of probability distributions related to clinically critical phenomena were examined.

The present study investigated the interacting effects of an information-based preparation and dispositional desire for information among first-time cardiac catheterization patients. Seventy-two male and female Ss were randomly assigned to either a high- or low-information preparation condition. Dispositional desire for information was assessed with the Krantz Health Opinion Survey and the Miller Behavioral Styles Scale. Desire for information was not associated with a desire for control. When desire for information and preparatory information level were matched, there was less behavioral anxiety, more problem-focused coping, and less emotion-focused coping during catheterization. Coping disposition alone did not affect adjustment during catheterization. Information condition did affect adjustment, with high information resulting in more positive self-statements and less time to complete the procedure.

Previous vulnerability models of schizophrenia, while strong, have serious limitations. To deal with the main areas of concern, a multifactor transactional conceptual framework of stress and schizophrenia, which builds on earlier models and incorporates recent research findings, is proposed. Research implications deriving from this framework are discussed.