Faculty Bibliography

At least half of the well-documented achievement gap for low-income Black children is already present in kindergarten, due in part to limited opportunities for acquiring foundational skills necessary for school success. There is some evidence that low-income minority children from immigrant families have more positive outcomes than their non-immigrant counterparts, although little is known about how the immigrant paradox may manifest in young children. This study examines foundational school readiness skills (academic and social-emotional learning) at entry into pre-kindergarten (pre-k) and achievement in kindergarten and second grade among Black children from low-income immigrant and non-immigrant families (N = 299). Immigrant and non-immigrant children entered pre-k with comparable readiness scores; in both groups, reading scores decreased significantly from kindergarten to second grade and math scores decreased significantly for non-immigrant children and marginally for immigrant children. Regardless of immigrant status, pre-k school readiness and pre-k classroom quality were associated with elementary school achievement. However, declines in achievement scores were not as steep for immigrant children and several predictive associations were moderated by immigrant status, such that among those with lower pre-k school readiness or in lower quality classrooms, immigrant children had higher achievement test scores than children from non-immigrant families. Findings suggest that immigrant status provides young Black students with some protection against individual- and classroom-level risk factors for early underachievement in elementary school.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the presence of affective signs and symptoms as precursors of bipolar disorder in prospective studies, including assessment of their prevalence, duration, and predictive value. DATA SOURCES: We followed PRISMA guidelines to search PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and ISI Web of Science databases to May 31, 2013, using the terms bipolar disorder AND (antecedent* OR predict* OR prodrom* OR prospect*) AND (diagnosis OR development). Hand searching of identified reports led to additional relevant references. STUDY SELECTION: We included only English-language articles containing (1) prospective, longitudinal studies with at least 2 structured clinical assessments (intake and follow-up); (2) no previous DSM-III or DSM-IV diagnoses of bipolar I or bipolar II; and (3) diagnostic outcome of bipolar I or bipolar II. Studies of subjects at familial risk of bipolar disorder were excluded, as these have been reviewed elsewhere. DATA EXTRACTION: We tabulated details of study design, outcomes, precursors, and predictive value. Only studies reporting a positive predictive association were included. RESULTS: In 26 published reports meeting selection criteria, methods varied widely in terms of design, duration of follow-up, ages, and populations investigated. Despite such heterogeneity in methods, findings were notably consistent. Precursors of bipolar disorder include mood lability, subsyndromal and major depression, subsyndromal hypomanic symptoms with or without major depression, cyclothymia and bipolar not otherwise specified, major depression with psychotic features, and other psychotic disorders. Bipolar disorder was also predicted by juvenile onset of major depression as well as frequency and loading of hypomanic or depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the limitations of published reports, prospectively identified precursors of bipolar disorder typically arose years prior to syndromal onset, often with significant early morbidity and disability. Prospectively identified precursors of bipolar disorder are generally consistent with findings in retrospective and family-risk studies. Combining precursors and other risk factors may increase predictive value, support earlier diagnosis, improve treatment, and limit disability in bipolar disorder.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) patients may have self-referential ideas and share other cognitive processes with paranoid delusional disorder (PDD) patients. From an evolutionary perspective, SAD may derive from biologically instinctive social hierarchy ranking, thus causing an assumption of inferior social rank, and thus prompting concerns about mistreatment from those of perceived higher rank. This naturalistic longitudinal study followed four patients with initial SAD and later onset of PDD. These four patients show the same sequence of diagnosed SAD followed by diagnosed PDD, as is often retrospectively described by other PDD patients. Although antipsychotic medication improved psychotic symptoms in all patients, those who also had adjunctive serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors for SAD had much more improvement in both psychosis and social functioning. From an evolutionary perspective, it can be conjectured that when conscious modulation of the SAD social rank instinct is diminished due to hypofrontality (common to many psychotic disorders), then unmodulated SAD can lead to paranoid delusional disorder, with prominent ideas of reference. Non-psychotic SAD may be prodromal or causal for PDD.

The adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) quality-of-life (AAQoL) scale was previously validated in adult patients in the USA; here, the AAQoL is validated in adult European patients. Data from a 12-week open-label acute treatment period with atomoxetine (80-100 mg/day) in adults with ADHD were used. Patients (>/=18 to /=2 on >/=6 items on the inattentive or hyperactive core subscales of Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale-Investigator Rated: Screening Version (CAARS-Inv:SV); a CAARS-Inv:SV 18-item total ADHD symptom score >/=20; and Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale-Observer: Screening Version 6-item inattentive or hyperactive core subscale scores >/=2. Data were stratified based on patients' geographic region (Europe vs USA). Scale validation psychometric properties results were very similar between European (n = 1,217; 57.7 % male; mean age 33.0 years) and US (n = 602; 62.1 % male; mean age 33.5 years) patients, including factor loading, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity, and responsiveness. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed four AAQoL subscales. Internal consistency was acceptable (Cronbach's alpha > 0.70 for all subscales). The AAQoL total score showed moderate convergent validity with CAARS-Inv:SV 18-item total ADHD symptom and clinical global impression-ADHD-severity (CGI-ADHD-S) scores; and strong convergent validity with Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version: Self-Report Global-Executive-Composite Index scores. Mean AAQoL total scores were significantly different among patients grouped by CGI-ADHD-S scores, suggesting good discriminant validity. The AAQoL total and subscale scores presented good responsiveness from baseline to 12 weeks. The AAQoL scale shows comparable validity in European and US adults with ADHD.

Past research involving cocaine and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) has shown altered functional connectivity within frontal and between frontal and other cortical and subcortical brain regions in chronic users of cocaine. However, there have been discrepancies in literature regarding the relationship between RSFC between brain regions and cocaine use behavior. This study explored the RSFC between brain regions in cocaine smokers abstinent from cocaine use for 72 hours and healthy controls. Also, the relationship between RSFC between brain regions and various cocaine use measures (cocaine use duration; frequency and money spent on cocaine/week) was examined. Twenty chronic cocaine users and 17 controls completed a resting state scan and an anatomical MPRAGE scan. Group independent component analysis (ICA) performed on fMRI data identified 13 ICs pertaining to distinct resting state networks, and group level differences were examined. To examine inter-network functional connectivity between brain regions, these 13 ICs were divided into 61 distinct regions of interest (ROIs). Correlations were calculated between 61 ROI time series. For the ROI pairs that significantly differed from controls in connectivity strength, correlations were computed between connectivity strength and cocaine use measures. Results showed an enhanced RSFC within the sensory motor cortex and the left frontal-parietal network in cocaine users than controls. An increased inter-network RSFC between frontal-temporal and frontal-parietal brain regions, and a decreased RSFC between parietal-parietal, occipital-limbic, occipital-occipital, and occipital-parietal brain regions was found in cocaine users. This study demonstrated that intra-network connectivity strength of sensory motor cortex was negatively correlated with years of cocaine use. Inter-network connectivity strength between occipital-limbic brain regions was positively correlated with years of cocaine use, while connectivity strength within occipital brain regions was negatively related to cocaine use frequency and money spent on cocaine per week in abstinent cocaine users.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental conditions primarily characterized by abnormalities in social cognition. Abundant previous functional MRI studies have shown atypical activity in networks encompassing medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and medial parietal regions corresponding to posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus (PCC/PCU). Conversely, studies assessing structural brain anomalies in ASD have been rather inconsistent. The current work evaluated whether structural changes in ASD can be reliability detected in a large multicenter dataset. Our comprehensive structural MRI framework encompassed cortical thickness mapping and structural covariance analysis based on three independent samples comprising individuals with ASD and controls (n = 220), selected from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange open-access database. Surface-based analysis revealed increased cortical thickness in ASD relative to controls in mPFC and lateral prefrontal cortex. Clusters encompassing mPFC were embedded in altered inter-regional covariance networks, showing decreased covariance in ASD relative to controls primarily to PCC/PCU and inferior parietal regions. Cortical thickness increases and covariance reductions in ASD were consistent, yet of variable effect size, across the different sites evaluated and measurable both in children and adults. Our multisite study shows regional and network-level structural alterations in mPFC in ASD that, possibly, relate to atypical socio-cognitive functions in this condition. Hum Brain Mapp 36:2364-2373, 2015. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Adolescent obesity continues to be a major public health issue with a third of American adolescents being overweight or obese. Excess weight is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and pre-diabetes. High school students identified as carrying excess weight [body mass index (BMI) >/=25 kg/m2, or BMI percentile >/=85 %] were invited to participate in The BODY Project, an intervention that included a medical evaluation and a personalized medical report of the results of that evaluation sent to the parent/guardian at home. The medical evaluation and report was repeated 12 months later. The reports also contained advice on how the individual student could modify their lifestyle to improve the specific medical parameters showing abnormalities. Outcomes were change in BMI, blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), fasting glucose, and fasting insulin. Students participating in The BODY Project intervention demonstrated modest, yet significant, reductions in BMI (p < 0.001) 1 year later, and also had significant improvements in systolic blood pressure (p < 0.001) and cholesterol profile (HDL p = 0.002; LDL p < 0.001) at follow-up. The BODY Project, by means of a minimal educational program anchored on the principle of teachable moments around the students' increased perception of their own risk for disease from the medical abnormalities uncovered, demonstrates evidence of potential effectiveness in addressing adolescent obesity.