Children with a high IQ and ADHD showed a pattern of familiality as well as cognitive, psychiatric and behavioral features consistent with the diagnosis of ADHD in children with average IQ. These data suggest that the diagnosis of ADHD is valid among high IQ children.

The purpose of this study was to identify areas of abnormal white matter microstructure in adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Fractional anisotropy (FA) values representing preferential diffusivity along major tracts were examined using tract-based spatial statistics across the whole brain in adolescents ages 13-19 with MDD (n = 31) compared with demographically-matched healthy controls (n = 31). We not only examined frontal lobe tracts that have been most frequently identified as abnormal in previous DTI studies of older depressed patients, but also tested for FA group differences across the whole brain to determine if adolescent depression was related to any other regional white matter abnormality. MDD-diagnosed adolescents had significantly lower FA in many regions concentrated predominantly in the frontal lobe. There also was strong evidence for lower FA in bilateral anterior/posterior limbs of the internal capsules, as well as tracts through the midbrain, left external capsule, right thalamic radiation and left inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Consistent with previous findings in depressed young and elderly adults, the current study found evidence for abnormal microstructure in white matter connections of the frontal lobe in MDD adolescents. There also was strong evidence for FA abnormalities in corpus callosum genu, internal and external capsule tracts, thalamus and midbrain, notable for both the relative magnitude of these effects and absence from most previous white matter studies of depression. These abnormalities might represent important markers of early life-onset depression.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01450306.

The content of original song lyrics was manipulated to explore the relationship of nostalgia to identity and social connectedness. A sample of 96 undergraduates rated six attributes of four sets of lyrics and completed measures of identity exploration, styles of maintaining identity, nostalgia for their past, and nostalgia for a general historical past. Lyrical nostalgia was not a function of how happy, sad, meaningful or liked the lyrics were, but was characterized by the irretrievability of the past. More active identity exploration was associated with higher ratings of lyrical nostalgia. The more actively participants were exploring their identity, the more closely they related to and found meaningful lyrics that emphasize the influence of the past on identity. Consistent with the greater social connectedness of individuals prone to personal nostalgia, nostalgia for one's past was related to reliance on the standards of others in defining identity, and higher ratings of liking, meaning, and relevance for other-directed lyrics. By contrast, participants more nostalgic for an historical past rely less heavily on others to define their identity, and they related more closely to the solitary identity lyrics.

No abstract