Frontiers in Psychiatry最新文献

{"title":"Group CBT targeting hostile attribution bias in adolescents and young adults with ASD traits.","authors":"Hidehiro Umehara, Tomoya Takeda, Kanae Matsuura, Koushi Irizawa, Yasuko Abe, Tarishi Masuda, Yuichiro Kamiyama, Naoki Yamada, Shusuke Numata","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1796850","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1796850","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Adolescence is characterized by heightened self-consciousness and sensitivity to social evaluations. During this period, hostile attribution bias-interpreting ambiguous social cues as hostile-can lower quality of life (QOL) and contribute to future mental health problems. Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show similar difficulties, often more pronounced due to their cognitive style and interpersonal vulnerabilities. Group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) aims to correct such biases through structured cognitive and social experiences. This study evaluated the psychological effects of group CBT on hostile attribution bias, social functioning, and QOL in adolescents and young adults with ASD traits.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted an 8-session group CBT program focusing on hostile attribution bias and suspiciousness in 21 adolescents and young adults with ASD traits attending a hospital psychiatric outpatient department. The 15 participants who completed the program were included in analyzes. Psychological indices included hostile attribution bias (Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire), social functioning (Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition [SRS-2]), and subjective QOL. Pre-post changes were quantified as change rates ((post - pre)/pre × 100). Group-level changes were tested with paired analyzes; exploratory associations among change rates were examined using Spearman correlations.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Group CBT significantly improved hostile attribution bias (effect size [ES] = 0.698, p = 0.017), social communication and interaction (SRS-2; ES = 0.780, p = 0.012), and subjective QOL (ES = 0.752, p = 0.011). Exploratory individual-level analyzes showed a discordant pattern: smaller reductions in hostile attribution bias (less negative change rates) were associated with greater increases in subjective QOL (ρ = 0.597, p = 0.019).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This pilot study suggests that group CBT may reduce hostile attribution bias and improve QOL and social functioning in adolescents and young adults with ASD traits. Notably, the positive correlation between hostile attribution bias change rates and QOL change rates suggests that greater QOL gains were not necessarily accompanied by larger reductions in hostile attribution bias, indicating that improvements in cognitive bias and perceived well-being may arise through partly distinct or non-linear pathways rather than a simple one-to-one relationship.</p><p><strong>Clinical trial registry: </strong>University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN000030140).</p>","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1796850"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13143942/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Psychometric properties of Lithuanian translation of the self-report version of the Liebowitz social anxiety scale in young adult sample.","authors":"Olga Zamalijeva, Karolina Petraškaitė, Giedrius Rupšys, Ieva Jurevičiūtė, Goda Gegieckaitė, Michael R Liebowitz, Jonas Eimontas","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1787195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1787195","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Social anxiety disorder starts in adolescence or young adulthood and may have damaging effects on psychosocial development of the individual. Any intervention starts from assessment and the Liebowitz social anxiety scale with later developed self-report version is a valuable tool for practitioners for almost four decades. Even though the original version and adaptations have consistently demonstrated good reliability, there remains considerable debate regarding the factor structure. The aim is to test the factor structure and internal consistency of Lithuanian translation of the self-report version of the Liebowitz social anxiety scale (LSAS-SR) in a non-clinical young adult sample.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Data of 452 young adults (mean age 21.3, 69.7% female) who volunteered participate in the study was used. Two factor solutions were tested: a single-factor model, with anxiety/fear and avoidance ratings loading on one factor, and a higher-order factor model, including two second-order scales (anxiety/fear scale and avoidance scale) and four first-order subscales (social interaction anxiety, performance anxiety, social interaction avoidance, performance avoidance). Internal consistency assessed using Cronbach's alpha.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Lithuanian version has excellent internal consistency for the total score, scales and subscales, with Cronbach's alfas ranging.85-.96. Confirmatory factor analysis shows that both tested models have acceptable data fit (RMSEA = .062-.067; CFI = .93-.94), however strong associations between (sub)scales, i.e. correlations exceeding.80, suggests that the use of scale and subscale scores may be less informative, especially in cross-sectional research, but could provide nuanced information in individual assessment.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Further research on psychometric properties of Lithuanian versions of LSAS-SR should focus on verifying these results in a representative sample and in a clinical sample as well as testing the convergent and discriminant validity.</p>","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1787195"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13144108/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence in practice: implementing KAT in indigenous health services.","authors":"Jean Jacque Lovely, Hiedi Yardley, Reverdi Darda, Quintina Bearchief-Adolpho, Lisa Kemp, Charlene Brough, Vanessa Doore, Jennifer Kohlhammer, Andrew Charrette","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1722573","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1722573","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ketamine-Assisted Therapy (KAT) presents a promising alternative for addressing mental health challenges, particularly in treatment-resistant conditions, yet little exists in the literature guiding its implementation in an Indigenous context, for Indigenous participants, or describing culturally adapted delivery models. This paper presents insights and lessons learned from a collaborative pilot program between Siksika Health Services and ATMA CENA to design and deliver a culturally responsive KAT program within the Siksika First Nation in Alberta Canada. The initiative aimed to explore the feasibility and therapeutic impact of KAT in an Indigenous healthcare setting, while also being conscious of cultural relevance and opportunities for continued clinical and quality improvement of the program. The pilot followed a five-phase approach: collaboration, knowledge acquisition, lived experience, data collection, and follow-up. Recruitment resulted in 6 participants completing care (3 Indigenous and 3 non-Indigenous). Findings demonstrated notable improvements in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, with participants reporting increased emotional regulation and stronger cultural connections. Cultural elements including shared meals, traditional decor and blankets, community orientation, and a mid-program break for cultural events, were central to participant reported safety, trust, and meaning making. Notably, the Indigenous and non-Indigenous participant groups, who were treated together, reported comparable gains in safety, trust, and mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. These shared outcomes suggest the model may hold relevance for reducing inequities in group KAT delivery. Challenges and lessons learned included need to address stigma and systemic influences experienced by Indigenous participants, barriers affecting timely intention setting and integration therapy, and overcoming logistical barriers when working in rural First Nation environments. This pilot program implementation underscores the importance of culturally responsive mental health interventions and highlights key considerations for expanding psychedelic-assisted therapies in Indigenous communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1722573"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13147200/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experiences of violence among people with severe mental illness: social, biographical and institutional factors (EVIO). A study protocol for a mixed-methods study.","authors":"Silvia Krumm, Anita Scheuermann, Claudia Helmert, Paula Kittelmann, Melanie Pouwels, Nicolai Hojka, Jana Karp, Georg Schomerus","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1786850","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1786850","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>People with severe mental illness (SMI) face a significantly higher risk of victimization than the general population. Beyond physical harm, such experiences can severely impact mental health and recovery processes. Empirical research on violence prevalence among people with SMI in Germany is limited, with little understanding of mechanisms, the impact of gender, and the victim-perpetrator overlap. In order to develop successful prevention strategies against victimization, a comprehensive understanding of the complex phenomenon of victimization is needed. The study aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the biographical, socio-cultural and institutional context factors related to experiences of violence, as well as to identify barriers to addressing such experiences within mental health settings.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In a mixed-method study incorporating a quantitative survey and qualitative instruments, we investigate the prevalence of violence, including both victimization and perpetration, among people with SMI. Our study includes the following: (1) In a sample (n=500) of people with SMI, treated in inpatient and outpatient mental health settings, we will investigate the prevalence of victimization and violent behavior, (self-)stigmatization, and barriers for disclosure of experiences of violence within mental health settings. Data will be obtained from samples at seven psychiatric hospitals with mandatory care on a fixed day. For comparisons with the general population, we use an online sample (n=1000). (2) Based on this, we conduct qualitative interviews with a subsample of people with SMI (n=30) who reported experiences of violence. Using biographic-narrative interviews, we focus on the biographical and socio-cultural context (3). In addition, we use qualitative and quantitative measures to investigate mental health professionals' experiences, institutional factors, and strategies to deal with mental health service users' violence experiences.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Developing interventions to prevent and reduce victimization requires a systematic assessment of mental health service users' violence experiences and a comprehensive understanding of the biographical, socio-cultural, and institutional factors. Our study aims to contribute fundamentally to a deeper understanding of violence experiences in Germany, thereby providing the basis for the development of targeted interventions to improve the awareness and the handling of violence experiences among a specific vulnerable group.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>This study is registered in the German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS) and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) under registration number DRKS00032041 (Date of registration July 2023).</p>","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1786850"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13144152/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From run-to-failure to condition-based care: a multi-domain framework for preventive psychiatry.","authors":"Samir El Alaoui","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1821471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1821471","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mental disorders are the leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide, yet the dominant clinical model remains reactive, intervening only after diagnostic thresholds are met. Drawing on the engineering distinction between run-to-failure and condition-based maintenance, this review argues that psychiatry faces a quantifiable intervention threshold gap. Synthesising recent meta-analytic evidence, we show that psychological interventions at subclinical symptom levels reduce major depression incidence by 43% at post-treatment and 33% at 12-month follow-up (individual-participant-data meta-analysis; 30 trials; <i>N</i> = 7,201), that shorter duration of untreated illness is associated with 70% greater likelihood of treatment response, and that early intervention for first-episode psychosis reduces hospitalisation by 26%. We review convergent evidence across five modifiable domains - sleep and glymphatic clearance, nutritional psychiatry, allostatic load regulation, autonomic function, and psychoneuroimmunological monitoring - selected for objective measurability, meta-analytic interventional support, identified mechanistic pathways, and population-level scalability. These domains form a mechanistically interconnected network in which deterioration in one can cascade across others. Clinical staging models, adapted from oncology, provide the graduated diagnostic architecture for condition-based care. We present a speculative multi-domain monitoring protocol with parameters, frequencies, and action thresholds calibrated to clinical stage. Among the five domains, inflammatory monitoring via C-reactive protein emerges as the most implementation-ready, with established clinical thresholds, demonstrated treatment-selection utility, and symptom-specific associations with neurovegetative features consistent with an immuno-metabolic depression subtype. Prospective multi-domain monitoring trials are identified as the most urgent research priority.</p>","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1821471"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13143987/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome comorbid with anxiety and depression: study protocol for a placebo run-in, randomized clinical trial.","authors":"Xuezhou Wang, Weijuan Gang, Xiaoyan Wang, Hang Zhou, Jin Huo, Yingying Wang, Rongjun Li, Lingyu Qi","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1782020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1782020","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms jointly motivate patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to seek medical care, with the latter often exacerbating the difficulty of achieving overall improvement. Although acupuncture has been shown to improve gastrointestinal symptoms in the general IBS population, the evidence in individuals with psychological disturbances remains insufficient.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This will be a placebo run-in, randomized controlled trial. After the 1-week sham acupuncture intervention run-in period, the 80 eligible IBS patients without strong placebo responses will be randomly assigned to the true acupuncture (TA) group and sham acupuncture (SA) group. During the 4-week intervention period, all patients will receive the assigned intervention three times per week, followed by an 8-week follow-up. The primary endpoint is the response rate, defined as the proportion of patients with a decrease of greater than or equal to 50 points in the IBS Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS) score from baseline at week 4. Secondary outcomes include the response rates at other time points, original IBS-SSS scores, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for abdominal pain, satisfaction with bowel habits, blinding assessment, and Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire. Safety will be monitored and recorded during the trial.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This trial will provide individualized evidence for addressing IBS with key comorbidities while excluding placebo response. The results of this trial will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.</p><p><strong>Clinical trial registration: </strong>https://itmctr.ccebtcm.org.cn/mgt/project/view/1985616257155727360, identifier ITMCTR2025002100.</p>","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1782020"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13143963/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effectiveness and mechanisms of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression: a reanalysis of a randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Robert Johansson, Peter Lilliengren","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1815946","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1815946","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy has shown promising effects for treatment-resistant depression, but it remains unclear whether its hypothesized mechanisms - reducing emotional repression, negative affect, and psychological distress - actually mediate treatment outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We reanalyzed publicly available data from a randomized controlled trial (<i>N</i> = 86) comparing 20 sessions of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy to waitlist control for treatment-resistant depression. Depression and process measures were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up. Linear mixed-effects models analyzed trajectories; bootstrap mediation and cross-lagged panel analyses provided an exploratory examination of proposed process variables.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Treatment produced large effects on depression at post-treatment (Cohen's <i>d</i> = 1.68) that continued to increase through 3-month follow-up (<i>d</i> = 2.50, 95% CI [1.88, 3.11]). All proposed process measures also showed very large effects (<i>d</i> = 1.96-2.95). However, neither emotional repression nor negative affect significantly mediated depression improvement. Distress showed apparent mediation, but a sensitivity analysis removing the overlapping depression subscale eliminated this effect entirely, confirming it reflected construct overlap rather than a genuine indirect effect. Cross-lagged analyses revealed no temporal precedence for any process measure, indicating concurrent rather than sequential change.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>These findings confirm that this psychotherapy produces large, durable effects on treatment-resistant depression. However, the theorized sequential process - whereby reducing defensive functioning leads to improved affect regulation, which in turn alleviates depression - was not supported in the present data. Instead, the treatment appears to produce broad, simultaneous therapeutic change across multiple psychological domains. These exploratory findings suggest that understanding how psychotherapy works may require finer temporal measurement and observational methods that capture in-session processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1815946"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13143956/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impulsivity, time perception and non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents: from behavioral and fNIRS evidence.","authors":"He He, Lipeng Chen, Yuxuan Wu, Linling Hu, Lan Hong, Ke Zhao, Dongwu Xu","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1773287","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1773287","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Elevated impulsivity and temporal processing deficits are key risk factors for adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI); however, their joint neural substrates and specific contributions to NSSI remain inadequately characterized. This study aimed to elucidate the behavioral and neural interplay between these cognitive domains in adolescents with NSSI.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We recruited 44 adolescents with NSSI and 37 typically developing (TD) controls. Participants completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), a Choice Delay Task (CDT), and time perception assessments (discrimination and estimation tasks). A subsample (33 NSSI, 30 TD) subsequently underwent functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to monitor prefrontal hemodynamic responses during an oddball task, a paradigm assessing inhibitory control.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Compared to TD controls, adolescents with NSSI exhibited significantly elevated trait impulsivity (BIS-11), heightened delay aversion (preference for immediate rewards in CDT), impaired short-interval temporal discrimination (600ms), and a consistent underestimation of time intervals (7s, 12s, 34s, and 90s). Stepwise regression analysis identified BIS-11 scores, 600ms discrimination thresholds, and 90s estimation bias as significant predictors of NSSI. Neuroimaging revealed that the NSSI group showed lower accuracy on the oddball task and significant hypoactivation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC). Crucially, reduced L-DLPFC activation was associated with greater time estimation errors (at 12s and 34s) and increased NSSI.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Adolescents with NSSI display a distinct neurocognitive phenotype characterized by high impulsivity and distorted time perception. These deficits may be associated with reduced activation in the L-DLPFC. Our findings suggest that NSSI involves a dual failure of inhibitory control and temporal processing, indicating that interventions targeting prefrontal regulation may offer novel strategies for risk reduction.</p>","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1773287"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13143842/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A multi-scale mathematical framework for modelling the dynamic nature of autism spectrum disorder symptoms: integrating predictive coding, information theory, and network principles.","authors":"Marios Adamou, Athanasios Kehagias, Grigoris Antoniou","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1787120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1787120","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterised by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction alongside restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities. Standard diagnostic criteria provide static descriptions, failing to capture the dynamic variability of these symptoms across contexts and developmental trajectories. Furthermore, current descriptions often lack mechanistic explanations for why these symptom fluctuations occur. There is a need for dynamic, theory-driven models that bridge neurobiological mechanisms with observable clinical phenomena.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objective: &lt;/strong&gt;This study aimed to develop and present a set of interpretable mathematical models representing the dynamic, context-dependent nature of the core symptoms of ASD, explicitly grounded in established neuropsychological theories including Predictive Coding, Information Theory, and Network Neuroscience principles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;Mathematical models were theoretically derived using algebraic and differential equations to represent hypothetical symptom dynamics across both diagnostic domains. Social reciprocity was modelled using modulated exponential decay functions derived from executive function and predictive processing theories. Nonverbal communication was represented by weighted summation reflecting multi-channel integration demands. Relationship development was modelled using sigmoid growth functions incorporating social motivation theory. Stereotyped movements were represented by sinusoidal functions conceptualised as homeostatic entropy-reduction mechanisms. Insistence on sameness was modelled using sigmoid preference functions explicitly derived from Bayesian precision-weighting of prediction errors. Restricted interests were represented by exponential functions reflecting atypical reward processing. Sensory sensitivities were modelled using integral functions representing habituation failure due to excitation-inhibition imbalance. No empirical data were collected; parameter ranges were derived from theoretical considerations and existing literature.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;The study produced theoretical mathematical equations that quantify the temporal dynamics and contextual modulation for each core symptom domain. These equations provide a formalised representation grounded in mechanistic principles: how social reciprocity would decay due to executive and predictive processing load, how nonverbal communication effectiveness would depend on multi-channel integration capacity, how relationships would develop under constraints of social motivation, how repetitive behaviours would fluctuate to regulate environmental entropy, how preference for sameness would emerge from aberrant Bayesian precision, how restricted interests would persist due to heightened reward salience, and how sensory sensitivities would accumulate due to habituation failure. These models generate te","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1787120"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13143917/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sleep quality metrics combined with virtual reality motion parameters enhance early detection of mild cognitive impairment.","authors":"Ruirui Zhang, Huaiqing Sun, Yaxuan Di, Hui Cao, Chengliang Zhang, Hongjun Yao, Hao Yan, Ding Ding, Qing He, Ting Wu","doi":"10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1727576","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1727576","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder marked by cognitive and motor deficits. With its global prevalence increasing rapidly and no effective treatment available, early identification of high-risk individuals is critical. This study investigated the relationship between motor parameters extracted from virtual reality (VR) tasks, combined with sleep-related measures, and cognitive impairment in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Our goal was to determine whether integrating VR-derived digital markers with sleep quality metrics could provide an objective and clinically applicable tool for early detection.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>66 participants were recruited, including 28 healthy controls (HC) and 38 patients with MCI. Cognitive status was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). All participants performed two scenario-based VR tasks, during which task completion time, accuracy, and overall performance scores were recorded. Group differences were evaluated using independent-samples t-tests, and these behavioral features and sleep quality metrics were further incorporated into ROC analyze to assess predictive performance for distinguishing MCI from HC.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Compared with HC, patients with MCI reported significantly poorer sleep quality based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and subdomains such as sleep latency and habitual sleep efficiency. In the VR tasks, MCI patients required more time and achieved lower accuracy than HC, consistent with MoCA and MMSE scores. Correlation analysis confirmed strong associations between VR performance metrics and cognitive test scores. Importantly, integrating VR-derived digital markers with sleep parameters yielded superior predictive accuracy for MCI (AUC = 0.863; sensitivity = 86.84%; specificity = 71.43%; p < 0.001) compared with single-modality models.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>VR-based cognitive and sensorimotor tasks, when combined with sleep quality assessments, offer a robust and noninvasive approach for the early identification of prodromal AD. This multimodal strategy holds promise for enhancing clinical decision-making and enabling timely interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":12605,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychiatry","volume":"17 ","pages":"1727576"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13144084/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}