Yanan Liu, Sara Jalali, Ridha Joober, Martin Lepage, Srividya Iyer, Jai Shah, David Benrimoh
{"title":"Subtyping first-episode psychosis based on longitudinal symptom trajectories using machine learning.","authors":"Yanan Liu, Sara Jalali, Ridha Joober, Martin Lepage, Srividya Iyer, Jai Shah, David Benrimoh","doi":"10.1038/s44184-025-00129-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44184-025-00129-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Clinical course after first episode psychosis (FEP) is heterogeneous. Subgrouping and predicting longitudinal symptom trajectories after FEP may help develop personalized treatment approaches. We utilized k-means clustering to identify clusters of 411 FEP patients based on longitudinal positive and negative symptoms. Three clusters were identified. Cluster 1 exhibits lower positive and negative symptoms (LS), lower antipsychotic dose, and relatively higher affective psychosis; Cluster 2 shows lower positive symptoms, persistent negative symptoms (LPPN), and intermediate antipsychotic doses; Cluster 3 presents persistently high levels of both positive and negative symptoms (PPNS), and higher antipsychotic doses. We predicted cluster membership (AUC of 0.74) using ridge logistic regression on baseline data. Key predictors included lower levels of apathy, affective flattening, and anhedonia/asociality in the LS cluster, compared to the LPPN cluster. Hallucination severity, positive thought disorder and manic hostility predicted PPNS. These results help parse the FEP trajectory heterogeneity and may facilitate the development of personalized treatments.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12081720/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144082361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Giulia Poggi, Giulia Treccani, Martina von der Bey, Arnaud Tanti, Michael J Schmeisser, Marianne Müller
{"title":"Canonical and non-canonical roles of oligodendrocyte precursor cells in mental disorders.","authors":"Giulia Poggi, Giulia Treccani, Martina von der Bey, Arnaud Tanti, Michael J Schmeisser, Marianne Müller","doi":"10.1038/s44184-025-00133-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44184-025-00133-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Psychiatric research has shifted from a neuroncentric view to understanding mental disorders as disturbances of heterogeneous brain networks. Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs)- actively involved in the modulation of neuronal functions - are altered in psychiatric patients, but the extent and related consequences are unclear. This review explores canonical and non-canonical OPC-related pathways in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression in humans, highlighting potential mechanisms shared across diagnostic entities.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12081632/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144081890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Samantha Weber, Mario Müller, Golo Kronenberg, Erich Seifritz, Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross, Sebastian Olbrich
{"title":"Electrocardiography-derived autonomic profiles in depression and suicide risk with insights from the UK Biobank.","authors":"Samantha Weber, Mario Müller, Golo Kronenberg, Erich Seifritz, Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross, Sebastian Olbrich","doi":"10.1038/s44184-025-00130-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-025-00130-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in depression and suicidality is multifaceted. This study examined whether distinct electrocardiography based ANS profiles exist, associated with a lifetime/recent at-risk cohort or a resilient group. Using data from 15,768 participants from the UK Biobank, four unique ANS activity patterns related to heart rate variability (HRV) measures were identified. Two specific clusters, both with low HRV, showed different risks: one characterized by high relative sympathetic tonus and lower breathing rate, indicated higher resilience with less likely depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts whereas another cluster with dominant relative parasympathetic activity and high breathing rate, aligned with greater depression and suicide attempt prevalence, potentially representing a high-risk cluster. Resilience to depression might be defined by different psychophysiological entities and coping strategies, where the resilient cluster might be characterized by cognitive coping strategies, and increased susceptibility might be linked to more rigid maladaptive coping strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"17"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078707/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144082298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katie Ryan, Hyun-Joon Yang, Bohye Kim, Jane Paik Kim
{"title":"Assessing the impact of AI on physician decision-making for mental health treatment in primary care.","authors":"Katie Ryan, Hyun-Joon Yang, Bohye Kim, Jane Paik Kim","doi":"10.1038/s44184-025-00124-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-025-00124-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>AI models may soon be poised to recommend mental health treatments or referrals in primary care, yet little is known regarding their impact on physician decision-making. In this web-based study, primary care physicians (n = 420) were presented with a clinical scenario describing a patient with psychiatric symptoms, an AI tool for referring or prescribing, and the recommendation of the AI. A sequentially randomized vignette method was used to test the impact of initial assessments and AI output on physician decision-making patterns. Physicians were significantly more likely to change their decisions when the AI recommendation was misaligned with their initial assessment, especially when AI recommended treatment. There was no difference between the change-in-decision rate of physicians who received an AI recommendation to not treat, indicating that the direction of AI recommendations may influence physician decision-making, and raising important considerations for how physician decisions may be anticipated in the context of AI.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12065820/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144055028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yihong Zhao, Xuewei Han, Kara S Bagot, Susan F Tapert, Marc N Potenza, Martin P Paulus
{"title":"Examining measurement discrepancies in adolescent screen media activity with insights from the ABCD study.","authors":"Yihong Zhao, Xuewei Han, Kara S Bagot, Susan F Tapert, Marc N Potenza, Martin P Paulus","doi":"10.1038/s44184-025-00131-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-025-00131-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Concerns about the accuracy of self-reported screen time persist due to discrepancies with objective measures. This study compared passive smartphone tracking via the \"Effortless Assessment of Risk States'' (EARS) app with self-reported screen time from 495 adolescents. Based on self-reports, 94.26% of social media use occurred on smartphones. EARS-recorded social media use was higher (1.64 ± 1.93 h) than past-year self-report (1.44 ± 1.97 h; p = 0.037) but similar to post-sensing self-report (1.63 ± 1.93 h; p = 0.835). Higher picture vocabulary scores were associated with lower odds of under-reporting social media use (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99). Both self-reported (β = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01-0.11) and EARS (β = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.03-0.12) measures correlated with externalizing symptoms. They were also correlated with social media addiction (self-reported:β = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.10-0.20; EARS:β = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01-0.11). However, past-year self-report uniquely correlated with internalizing symptoms (β = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01-0.09) and video game addiction (β = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01-0.10). These findings highlight the value of integrating self-report and objective measures in screen media use research.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"15"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12064680/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144060157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ying Chen, Laura D Kubzansky, Eric S Kim, Hayami Koga, Koichiro Shiba, R Noah Padgett, Renae Wilkinson, Byron R Johnson, Tyler J VanderWeele
{"title":"When the glass is half full: early life experiences and adult optimism in 22 countries.","authors":"Ying Chen, Laura D Kubzansky, Eric S Kim, Hayami Koga, Koichiro Shiba, R Noah Padgett, Renae Wilkinson, Byron R Johnson, Tyler J VanderWeele","doi":"10.1038/s44184-024-00109-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-024-00109-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Little is known about early-life experiences that may lead to higher optimism levels in adulthood. Using data from 202,898 adults in 22 countries, we evaluated childhood candidate antecedents of optimism. We examined the associations between retrospectively reported childhood experiences and adult optimism levels in each country separately, and cross-nationally by pooling results across countries. Our pooled results suggest that higher adult optimism levels were associated with childhood experiences of having positive relationships with both parents, higher subjective financial status, better childhood self-rated health, frequent religious service attendance, an earlier year of birth, and being female. Conversely, lower adult optimism was associated with childhood experiences of parental divorce, abuse, financial hardship, and feeling like an outsider in the family. However, country-specific analyses showed substantial between-country variations in these associations, suggesting diverse societal influences. This study provides valuable insights into the association between early-life experiences and adult optimism levels across national contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12044022/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144023031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eric S Kim, Matt Bradshaw, R Noah Padgett, Ying Chen, Koichiro Shiba, James L Ritchie-Dunham, Brendan W Case, Byron R Johnson, Tyler J VanderWeele
{"title":"Identifying childhood correlates of adult purpose and meaning across 22 countries (Global Flourishing Study).","authors":"Eric S Kim, Matt Bradshaw, R Noah Padgett, Ying Chen, Koichiro Shiba, James L Ritchie-Dunham, Brendan W Case, Byron R Johnson, Tyler J VanderWeele","doi":"10.1038/s44184-025-00127-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-025-00127-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How might we cultivate a life imbued with purpose and meaning? Though common experience indicates purpose and meaning are inherently important, empirical evidence confirms they are also linked to improved health/well-being. However, childhood antecedents of purpose and meaning in adulthood are understudied. We analyzed nationally representative data from 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study (N = 202,898) and evaluated whether 11 aspects of a child's upbringing correlate with purpose and meaning in adulthood, and if these associations vary by country. Some childhood factors were associated with increased purpose and meaning, including: good health, good relationship with parents, economic stability, regular religious service attendance, being female, and older birth cohorts. Childhood factors associated with decreased purpose and meaning included: abuse, feeling alienated, poor health, economic hardship, and loss of a parent. These findings may inform the development of programs designed to foster purpose and meaning that are globally adaptable and locally nuanced.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12043817/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144048074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jacob Ross, Bruna Cuccurazzu, Dylan Delmar, Christian Cortez, Giovanni Castillo, Dean T Acheson, Dewleen G Baker, Victoria B Risbrough, Daniel M Stout
{"title":"Impaired mnemonic pattern separation associated with PTSD symptoms paradoxically improves with regular cannabis use.","authors":"Jacob Ross, Bruna Cuccurazzu, Dylan Delmar, Christian Cortez, Giovanni Castillo, Dean T Acheson, Dewleen G Baker, Victoria B Risbrough, Daniel M Stout","doi":"10.1038/s44184-025-00126-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-025-00126-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with poor hippocampal function and disrupted pattern recognition. Cannabis use is highly prevalent in individuals with PTSD, yet the impact on these cognitive functions is poorly understood. Participants (n = 111) with a range of PTSD symptoms with and without regular cannabis use completed the mnemonic similarity task. We hypothesized that regular use would be associated with alterations in pattern separation ability in individuals with PTSD symptoms. High PTSD symptoms were associated with reduced pattern separation performance in minimal users. Regular users with high PTSD symptoms showed greater pattern separation, but reduced pattern separation with low PTSD symptoms. These results suggest that regular cannabis use may disrupt pattern separation and similar hippocampal-dependent processes, while it may improve pattern separation in individuals with high PTSD symptoms. These cross-sectional results require longitudinal follow-up studies to evaluate the causal effects of regular cannabis use on cognitive function in PTSD.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"13"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12022266/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144060710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yuezhou Zhang, Amos A Folarin, Yatharth Ranjan, Nicholas Cummins, Zulqarnain Rashid, Pauline Conde, Callum Stewart, Shaoxiong Sun, Srinivasan Vairavan, Faith Matcham, Carolin Oetzmann, Sara Siddi, Femke Lamers, Sara Simblett, Til Wykes, David C Mohr, Josep Maria Haro, Brenda W J H Penninx, Vaibhav A Narayan, Matthew Hotopf, Richard J B Dobson, Abhishek Pratap
{"title":"Assessing seasonal and weather effects on depression and physical activity using mobile health data.","authors":"Yuezhou Zhang, Amos A Folarin, Yatharth Ranjan, Nicholas Cummins, Zulqarnain Rashid, Pauline Conde, Callum Stewart, Shaoxiong Sun, Srinivasan Vairavan, Faith Matcham, Carolin Oetzmann, Sara Siddi, Femke Lamers, Sara Simblett, Til Wykes, David C Mohr, Josep Maria Haro, Brenda W J H Penninx, Vaibhav A Narayan, Matthew Hotopf, Richard J B Dobson, Abhishek Pratap","doi":"10.1038/s44184-025-00125-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-025-00125-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Seasonal and weather changes can significantly impact depression severity, yet findings remain inconsistent across populations. This study explored depression variations across the seasons and the interplays between weather changes, physical activity, and depression severity among 428 participants in a real-world longitudinal mobile health study. Clustering analysis identified four participant subgroups with distinct patterns of depression severity variations in 1 year. While one subgroup showed stable depression levels throughout the year, others peaked at various seasons. The subgroup with stable depression had older participants with lower baseline depression severity. Mediation analysis revealed temperature and day length significantly influenced depression severity, which in turn impacted physical activity levels indirectly. Notably, these indirect influences manifested differently or even oppositely across participants with varying responses to weather. These findings support the hypothesis of heterogeneity in individuals' seasonal depression variations and responses to weather, underscoring the necessity for personalized approaches in depression management and treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12008285/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144058814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Probiotics reduce negative mood over time: the value of daily self-reports in detecting effects.","authors":"Katerina V-A Johnson, Laura Steenbergen","doi":"10.1038/s44184-025-00123-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-025-00123-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The burgeoning field of the microbiome-gut-brain axis has inspired research into how the gut microbiome can affect human emotion. Probiotics offer ways to investigate microbial-based interventions but results have been mixed, with more evidence of beneficial effects in clinically depressed patients. Using a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled design in 88 healthy volunteers, we conduct a comprehensive study into effects of a multispecies probiotic on emotion regulation and mood through questionnaires, emotional processing tests and daily reports. We find clear evidence that probiotics reduce negative mood, starting after two weeks, based on daily monitoring, but few other changes. Our findings reconcile inconsistencies of previous studies, revealing that commonly used pre- versus post-intervention assessments cannot reliably detect probiotic-induced changes in healthy subjects' emotional state. We conclude that probiotics can benefit mental health in the general population and identify traits of individuals who derive greatest benefit, allowing future targeting of at-risk individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":74321,"journal":{"name":"Npj mental health research","volume":"4 1","pages":"10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11982403/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144044101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}