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Cognitive complaints after chemotherapy are common in breast cancer patients, but the neural bases for these complaints remain unclear. This pilot study explored resting-state functional connectivity (FC) as a marker of subtle cognitive changes in breast cancer patients who experience cognitive complaints. Chemotherapy-treated (n = 20, at least 6 months off therapy) and untreated (n = 17, disease-control) female breast cancer patients with cognitive complaints and healthy controls (n = 20) were recruited. The FC of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was calculated, and any correlations between this FC and neuropsychological assessments were determined. Chemotherapy-treated patients with cognitive complaints displayed increased FC between the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and both the contralateral cerebellar lobule VII and the cerebellar vermis XI, compared to the disease-control and healthy-control groups, despite unimpaired neuropsychological performance. The increased FC was negatively correlated with executive function and attention in breast cancer survivors with cognitive complaints. Our pilot study findings provide evidence that cerebellar-cortical FC changes may be a pathophysiological basis for chemotherapy-related cognitive complaints. In addition, the FC changes have the potential to reflect minor or compensated cognitive function impairment in breast cancer patients.

Although the relationship between obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and impulsivity has long been debated, impulsivity has not been systematically examined in clinical samples of OCD. Meanwhile, recent findings suggest that impulsivity is multi-dimensional construct that can be examined through several constructs. Therefore, this study is aimed to evaluate multiple facets of impulsivity in OCD. The recruitment includes 80 OCD and 76 healthy control participants. Participants completed a test battery comprising three behavioral tasks of stop signal task (SST), delay discounting task (DDT) and balloon analog risk test (BART), and one self-report measure of the Barratt Impulsiveness scale (BIS-11). OCD subjects showed significantly lower stop signal reaction time of SST reflecting higher action impulsivity and higher delay discounting parameter of DDT suggesting increased choice impulsivity but significantly lower adjusted mean pump of BART implying lower risk taking propensity of BART than healthy control. Increased Action and choice impulsivity, and decreased risk taking propensities were found in OCD. These findings seem to be consistent with clinical characteristics of OCD such as greater preference for or avoid risky situations (avoidance), inability to wait tension relief may provoke safety behaviors (compulsion) and inability to stop already started behaviors (repetition).

The early identification and prevention of dementia is important for reducing its worldwide burden and increasing individuals' quality of life. Although several dementia prediction models have been developed, there remains a need for a practical and precise model targeted to middle-aged and Asian populations. Here, we used national Korean health examination data from adults (331,126 individuals, 40-69 years of age, mean age: 52 years) from 2002-2003 to predict the incidence of dementia after 10 years. We divided the dataset into two cohorts to develop and validate of our prediction model. Cox proportional hazards models were used to construct dementia prediction models for the total group and sex-specific subgroups. Receiver operating characteristics curves, C-statistics, calibration plots, and cumulative hazards were used to validate model performance. Discriminative accuracy as measured by C-statistics was 0.81 in the total group (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.81 to 0.82), 0.81 in the male subgroup (CI = 0.80 to 0.82), and 0.81 in the female subgroup (CI = 0.80 to 0.82). Significant risk factors for dementia in the total group were age; female sex; underweight; current hypertension; comorbid psychiatric or neurological disorder; past medical history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, or hypertension; current smoking; and no exercise. All identified risk factors were statistically significant in the sex-specific subgroups except for low body weight and current hypertension in the female subgroup. These results suggest that public health examination data can be effectively used to predict dementia and facilitate the early identification of dementia within a middle-aged Asian population.

Introduction Theoretically, benzodiazepines (BZDs) can narrow the iridocorneal angle and induce acute angle-closure glaucoma (AACG). However, little evidence exists regarding this association. Objective The objective of this study was to assess whether the use of BZDs is associated with the risk of AACG. Methods We conducted a population-based case-crossover study using the nationwide claims database of the National Health Insurance Service in Korea. Patients with newly diagnosed AACG—between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2016—who had received at least one BZD prescription prior to AACG diagnosis were enrolled. The date of AACG diagnosis was set as the index date. We assessed BZD use by each patient during a 30-day case period prior to the index date and three consecutive control periods that preceded this date. We used conditional logistic regression that adjusted for concomitant medications to determine the odds ratio for the use of BZDs in the case period compared with that in the control period in patients with incident AACG. Results Of the 11,093 patients with incident AACG, 6709 received a prescription for BZD prior to diagnosis. BZD use was associated with an increased risk of AACG [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.40; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27–1.54]. AACG risk was similar for short-acting (aOR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.24–1.57) and long-acting BZDs (aOR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.18–1.50). Conclusion We found that BZD use was associated with AACG risk in the Korean population. Clinicians should carefully monitor the occurrence of visual disturbance in BZD-treated patients.

Cognitive control is essential for flexible, top-down, goal-directed behavior. Individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) are characterized by impaired prefrontal cortex function and cognitive control. This results in an increase in stimulus-driven habitual behavior, particularly related to pathological gaming. In the present study, we investigated the electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in individuals with IGD. Twenty-four individuals with IGD and 35 healthy control (HC) subjects were recruited. We analyzed their EEG activity while the subjects played their favorite game (30-40 minutes duration). We compared the band power between the two groups. During gaming, the left frontal theta, alpha, and beta band activities were lower in subjects with IGD than in HCs. Moreover, the left frontal theta power negatively correlated with IGD severity. These results indicate that left frontal theta power could be used as a neurophysiological biomarker for the detection of diminished cognitive control patterns in individuals with IGD.

Background: Experiences of negative social interactions and childhood trauma (CT) can lead to aberrant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal functions. Poor theory of mind (ToM) ability is related to increased social stress levels; however, studies on the relationship between ToM and cortisol remain scarce. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between ToM and the hair cortisol concentration (HCC) in healthy young adults considering the moderating role of CT. Method: A total of 206 healthy young adults were divided into two groups based on an experience of moderate-to-severe childhood trauma (CT+ and CT-). To determine whether CT moderated the relationship between ToM and HCC, moderation analysis was conducted controlling for age, sex, years of education, and scores of perceived stress, depression, and anxiety. Results: CT+ individuals reported higher subjective stress perception and depressive symptoms than CT- individuals, whereas anxiety-related symptoms, ToM, and HCC were not different between the groups. The experience of CT significantly moderated the relationship between ToM and HCC. The association between poorer ToM ability and higher HCC was significant only in CT+ group. Conclusion: CT is a moderator of the association between ToM and HCC, indicating the importance of CT in social cognition and the stress response. Impaired social cognition and childhood trauma (CT) is associated with cortisol secretion. Higher hair cortisol levels and poorer theory of mind (ToM) were associated in adults with CT. CT is a significant moderator of the link between ToM and hair cortisol levels.

Oxytocin receptor gene single nucleotide polymorphisms have been associated with structural and functional alterations in brain regions, which involve social-emotional processing. Therefore, oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms may contribute to individual differences in alexithymia, which is considered to be a dysfunction of emotional processing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between oxytocin receptor gene single nucleotide polymorphisms or haplotypes and alexithymia in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. We recruited 355 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (234 men, 121 women). Alexithymia was measured by using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. We performed single-marker and haplotype association analyses with eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs237885, rs237887, rs2268490, rs4686301, rs2254298, rs13316193, rs53576, and rs2268498) in the oxytocin receptor gene. There were no significant associations between any of the eight single nucleotide polymorphism of the oxytocin receptor gene and alexithymia. In addition, a six-locus haplotype block (rs237885-rs237887-rs2268490-rs4686301-rs2254298-rs13316193) was not significantly associated with alexithymia. These findings suggest that genetic variations in the oxytocin receptor gene may not explain a significant part of alexithymia in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211957.].[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211957.].

Purpose: Resilience refers to the individual positive capacity to cope with stress and to restore homeostasis, which may be mediated by adaptive neurobiological changes in the brain. We investigated the genetic influence of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met for individual differences in resilience in healthy Korean college students. Methods: A sample of 321 healthy college volunteers (167 males, 154 females) was assessed by genotyping and with the 25-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Two-way analysis of covariance was used to test the association between participants' COMT and BDNF functional polymorphisms and their resilience. Results: A significant main effect of the COMT polymorphism on resilience and a gene-gene interaction effect between the COMT and BDNF on resilience were observed for males. Male subjects with the COMT Met-present genotype had a significantly higher resilience than those with the Val/Val genotype. Among males with the COMT Val/Val genotype, subjects with the homozygous Val allele of the BDNF tended to have lower resilience than the BDNF Met carriers, while among males with the COMT Met-present genotype, those with the homozygous Val allele of the BDNF tended to have higher resilience than BDNF Met carriers. No main or interaction effects of the COMT and BDNF on resilience were observed for females. Conclusion: These findings suggest the effects of COMT Val158Met polymorphism on resilience could be modulated by BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in males.