Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Sep 2018
Review Meta AnalysisInvestigating the influence of social support on experimental pain and related physiological arousal: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Social support is demonstrated to have mixed effects on both pain and related physiological arousal. In this study, a meta-analysis was conducted to characterise these effects. A total of 2416 studies were identified in a systematic search, among which 21 were eligible for the quantitative review. ⋯ We further found verbal support to decrease pain (SMD = -0.69) and arousal (SMD = -0.99), and we demonstrated moderate to large analgesic effects of intimate relationships through touching (SMD = -0.95) and viewing (SMD = -0.60) of a romantic partner. Finally, we presented evidence of publication bias for pain-related arousal but not for behavioural pain outcomes. Together, our findings suggest that the impact of social support on pain is context-dependent with the verbal communication of support and intimate relationships being of particular importance.
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Jun 2018
Review Meta AnalysisModerate effects of noninvasive brain stimulation of the frontal cortex for improving negative symptoms in schizophrenia: Meta-analysis of controlled trials.
Negative symptoms in schizophrenia concern a clinically relevant reduction of goal-directed behavior that strongly and negatively impacts daily functioning. Existing treatments are of marginal effect and novel approaches are needed. Noninvasive neurostimulation by means of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are novel approaches that may hold promise. ⋯ The available evidence indicates that noninvasive prefrontal neurostimulation can improve negative symptoms. This finding suggests a causal role for the lateral frontal cortex in self-initiated goal-directed behavior. The evidence is stronger for rTMS than for tDCS, although this may be due to the small number of studies as yet with tDCS. More research is needed to establish moderator variables that may affect response to neurostimulation and to optimize treatment parameters in order to achieve stable and durable (and thus clinically relevant) effects.
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Mar 2018
Meta AnalysisMultisensory temporal binding window in autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Multisensory temporal integration could be compromised in both autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and may play an important role in perceptual and cognitive impairment in these two disorders. This review aimed to quantitatively compare the sensory temporal acuity between healthy controls and the two clinical groups (ASD and SSD). ⋯ Such multisensory dysfunction is associated with symptoms like hallucinations and impaired social communications. Future studies focusing on improving multisensory temporal functions may have important implications for the amelioration of schizophrenia and autistic symptoms.
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Sep 2017
Review Meta AnalysisThe impact of machine learning techniques in the study of bipolar disorder: A systematic review.
Machine learning techniques provide new methods to predict diagnosis and clinical outcomes at an individual level. We aim to review the existing literature on the use of machine learning techniques in the assessment of subjects with bipolar disorder. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase and Web of Science for articles published in any language up to January 2017. ⋯ Most of the included studies used multiple levels of biological data to distinguish the diagnosis of bipolar disorder from other psychiatric disorders or healthy controls. We also found studies that assessed the prediction of clinical outcomes and studies using unsupervised machine learning to build more consistent clinical phenotypes of bipolar disorder. We concluded that given the clinical heterogeneity of samples of patients with BD, machine learning techniques may provide clinicians and researchers with important insights in fields such as diagnosis, personalized treatment and prognosis orientation.
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Jan 2017
Review Meta AnalysisAberrant regional homogeneity in Parkinson's disease: A voxel-wise meta-analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies.
Studies of abnormal regional homogeneity (ReHo) in Parkinson's disease (PD) have reported inconsistent results. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis using the Seed-based d Mapping software package to identify the most consistent and replicable findings. ⋯ Increased ReHo was consistently identified in the bilateral inferior parietal lobules, bilateral medial prefrontal cortices, and left cerebellum of patients with PD when compared to healthy controls, while decreased ReHo was observed in the right putamen, right precentral gyrus, and left lingual gyrus. The results of the current meta-analysis demonstrate a consistent and coexistent pattern of impairment and compensation of intrinsic brain activity that predominantly involves the default mode and motor networks, which may advance our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying PD.