Biology subjects

Calkins, M. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Calkins, M. E..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Cannabis Use in Youth is Associated with Limited Alterations in Brain Structure

Frequent cannabis use during adolescence has been associated with alterations in brain structure. However, studies have featured relatively inconsistent results, predominantly from small samples, and few studies have examined less frequent users to shed light on potential brain structure differences across levels of cannabis use. In this study, high-resolution T1-weighted MRIs were obtained from 781 youth aged 14-21 years who were studied as part of the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort. This sample included 147 cannabis users (109 Occasional [[≤]1-2 times per week] and 38 Frequent [[≥] 3 times per week] Users) and 634 cannabis Non-Users. Several structural neuroimaging measures were examined in whole brain analyses, including gray and white matter volumes, cortical thickness, and gray matter density. Established procedures for stringent quality control were conducted, and two automated neuroimaging software processing packages were used to ensure robustness of results. There were no significant differences by cannabis group in global or regional brain volumes, cortical thickness, or gray matter density, and no significant group by age interactions were found. Follow-up analyses indicated that values of structural neuroimaging measures by cannabis group were similar across regions, and any differences among groups were likely of a small magnitude. In sum, structural brain metrics were similar among adolescent and young adult cannabis users and non-users. Our data converge with prior large-scale studies suggesting small or limited associations between cannabis use and structural brain measures in youth. Detailed studies of vulnerability to structural brain alterations and longitudinal studies examining long-term risk are indicated.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2016

Influence Of Desire To Belong And Feelings Of Loneliness On Emotional Prosody Perception In Schizophrenia.

Objective: Humans are social creatures, with desires to connect or belong, producing loneliness when isolated. Individuals with schizophrenia are often more isolated than healthy adults and demonstrate profound social communication impairments such as vocal affect perception (prosody). Loneliness, levels of desire for social connectedness (need to belong, NTB), and their relationship to perception of social communications have not been investigated in schizophrenia.\n\nMethod: In a sample of 69 individuals (36 SZ), we measured endorsements of loneliness and NTB, and evaluated their putative relationships to clinical symptoms and social communication abilities, as indexed by emotional prosody and pitch perception.\n\nResults: Loneliness endorsement was highly variable but particularly so in patients, whilst patients endorsed NTB at levels equivalent to healthy controls. In schizophrenia, pitch and prosody acuity were reduced, and prosody perception correlated with NTB. Loneliness, but not desire for social connectedness, correlated with negative symptoms.\n\nConclusion: Loneliness and negative symptoms likely exert bidirectional effects on each other. Loneliness and desire to form interpersonal attachments may be pivotal in shaping and stimulating social interactions and, subsequently, the ability to perceive social intent through prosody. Intact NTB levels in patients augurs well for cognitive remediation which, target vocal-communication processing to improve social skills.\n\nSignificant OutcomesO_LIPatients with schizophrenia endorsed higher levels of loneliness than controls, but ratings of desire for social connectedness were at normal levels.\nC_LIO_LIPitch acuity and prosody perception were correlated, confirming the importance of basic sensory processing in recognizing prosodic emotions.\nC_LIO_LISocio-cognitive perceptual ability (emotional prosody perception) correlated with increased desire for social connections, implying that they may still be motivated to find social interactions reinforcing. Thus interventions to improve perceptual deficits could still be an effective means of improving social function.\nC_LI\n\nLimitationsO_LICausal relationships between desire for social connections, loneliness, and emotional prosody perception cannot be inferred through correlations and cross-sectional studies alone.\nC_LIO_LISubjective endorsements of loneliness through self-report are not the same thing as objective indices of loneliness. New and more extensive tools for measuring desire for both loneliness and social connectedness may be needed.\nC_LIO_LIDirect experimental comparison of the interrelations between desire for social connectedness, loneliness, pitch acuity and emotional prosody perception in patients with schizophrenia and other populations such as autism will enable a more accurate comparison of the likely success of remediating socio-cognitive perceptual impairment in neuropsychiatric disorders.\nC_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2016

What rhythmic perception and amusia can tell us about vocal social communication in schizophrenia

BackgroundPerceiving social intent throughvocal intonation is impaired in schizophrenia; thisdysprosodia partly arisingfrom impaired pitch perception.Individuals with amusia (tone-deafness) are insensitive to pitch change andalso demonstrate prosody deficits. Sensitivity to rhythm is reduced in amusia when tonal sequences contain pitch changes (polytonic), but is normal for monotonic sequences, suggesting perceptual impairment originates at a secondary processing stage where pitch- and time-relatedcues are yoked. Here, we sought to ascertain: 1) whether schizophreniapatients demonstrate rhythmic deficits, 2) whether suchdeficits are restricted to polytonic sequences, and 3) how pitch and rhythm perception relate to prosodic processing.\n\nMethodsSeventy-sixparticipants (33 schizophrenia) completed tasks assessing pitch and prosody perception, as well as monotonic and polytonic rhythmic perception.\n\nResultsIncreasing tone-deafness correlated with pitch-dependent rhythm detection impairments. Pitch and prosody correlated across all participants. Schizophreniapatients displayed basic time and pitch deficits. Correlations and path analyses indicated prosodic processing is an associatedfunction of pitch and pitch-dependent rhythm perception,with pure temporal processing playing an indirect role.In schizophrenia, deficits in monotonic and polytonic rhythmic perception did not contribute to prosodic processing dysfunction, and montonic rhythmic dysfunction and pitch perception did not covary.\n\nConclusionsExploring similarities between amusia and schizophrenia focused our characterization of prosodic processing as the function of sub-processes reflecting pitch and time perception,whichare prerequisite for prosodic processing. The uniqueness of dysprosodia in schizophrenia relative to other illnesses may be measured by idiosyncrasy in the pattern and magnitude of the sub-process task relationships.

neuroscience↗