Aim:The aim of this study is to examine the hemodynamic changes induced by the cognitive process of facial expression by using multi-channel nearinfrared spectroscopy in healthy subjects with varying degrees of autism tendency.Methods: Subjects were 38 volunteers, 20 men and 18 women. Autism tendency was measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient. The hemodynamic changes in the prefrontal cortex were measured by 24-channel near-infrared spectroscopy system, while subjects were asked to judge their own emotional response to standardized pictures of eight kinds of facial expressions on a computer screen.Results: There were significant negative correlations between Autism Spectrum Quotient scores and accuracy of fearful expression recognition as well as increases in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in response to four kinds of emotional faces (fear, contempt, sadness and disgust). Conclusion:Our findings suggest that the greater tendency to autism that subjects have, the more difficulty they have in recognizing a fearful expression and the less hemodynamic change in the prefrontal cortex they show in response to negative facial expressions.

No abstract

No abstract

Aim:  The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether individuals with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) show differential activation during an emotional activation task compared with age‐ and sex‐matched controls, by measuring changes in the concentration of oxygenated (oxyHb) and deoxygenated (deoxyHb) hemoglobin, using near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Methods:  Fourteen patients with PDD and 14 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls participated in the study. The relative changes of concentrations of oxyHb and deoxyHb were measured on NIRS during an implicit processing task of fearful expression using Japanese standard faces. Results:  PDD patients had significantly reduced oxyHb changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to healthy controls. Conclusion:  PFC dysfunction may exist in PDD.

Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), a known genetic risk factor for schizophrenia (SZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD), interacts with several proteins and some of them are reported to be genetically associated with SZ. Pericentrin (PCNT) also interacts with DISC1 and recently single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the PCNT gene have been found to show significant associations with SZ and MDD. In this study, case-controlled association analysis was performed to determine if the PCNT gene is implicated in SZ. Nine SNPs were analyzed in 1,477 individuals (726 patients with SZ and 751 healthy controls). No significant difference was observed between the controls and the patients in allelic frequencies or genotypic distributions of eight SNPs. Although allelic distribution of rs11702684 was different between the two groups (P = 0.042), the difference did not reach statistical significance after permutation correction for multiple comparisons. In the haplotypic analysis, we could not find any significant association in our subjects, either. This gene may not play a major role independently in the etiology of SZ in the Japanese population.

Japan is facing a markedly high incidence of adolescent suicide. This study examines the relationship between depression and self-rated health, which is a significant factor driving people towards suicide, highlighting the importance of children’s assessments of their health. In this cross-sectional study, an original questionnaire combining text and illustrations was administered to 6421 elementary, junior, and senior high-school students and an effective way of using the questionnaire was proposed. To assess children’s self-rated health, the survey questions were classified into two domains: physical and mental health. The questions were further classified based on symptom duration. Depression assessment was based on the Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children. To provide a basis for the effective use of the self-rated health assessment tool, the respondents were classified into three groups based on physical/mental conditions together with the duration of those conditions, and comparisons were subsequently made. The groups were Favourable Health, Temporarily Poor Health, and Persistently Poor Health, and the results were analysed using an ANOVA. Self-rated health levels decreased, and depressive conditions worsened with age. Although most children led physically and mentally healthy school lives, the mean Depression Self-Rating Scale score was significantly higher for the Persistently Poor Health group than the other two, and the Temporarily Poor Health group scored significantly higher than the Favourable Health group for both physical and mental health (all p < 0.001). As the Temporarily and Persistently Poor Health groups in the domains of physical and mental health are more likely to be depressed, it is important to monitor the health of children in educational settings. In this study, completing this questionnaire was shown to help children understand themselves objectively and help the adults around them comprehend their condition quicker. It is especially important to promptly develop systems for appropriate and organic collaboration between educational settings and medical or welfare services.

No abstract

No abstract