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Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is one of the major public health problems endangering adolescents. However, the neural mechanisms of NSSI is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore regional brain activity and corresponding brain circuits in drug-naïve adolescents with NSSI using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) combined with functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Thirty-two drug-naïve adolescents with NSSI (NSSI group) and 29 healthy controls matched for sex, age, and level of education (HC group) were enrolled in this study. ALFF and seed-based FC analyses were used to examine the alterations in regional brain activity and corresponding brain circuits. The correlation between ALFF or FC values of aberrant brain regions and clinical characteristics were detected by Pearson correlation analysis. The NSSI group showed increased ALFF in the left inferior and middle occipital gyri, lingual gyrus, and fusiform gyrus; additionally, decreased ALFF in the right medial cingulate gyrus, left anterior cingulate gyrus, and left medial superior frontal gyrus compared to those in the HC group. With the left inferior occipital gyrus as seed, the NSSI group showed increased FC between the left inferior occipital gyrus and the bilateral superior parietal gyrus, right inferior parietal angular gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus of the insular region, and left precuneus relative to that the HC group. With the left anterior cingulate gyrus as seed, the NSSI group showed increased FC between the left anterior cingulate gyrus and right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus. With the left lingual gyrus as seed, the NSSI group showed increased FC between the left lingual gyrus and right middle frontal gyrus, and decreased FC between the left lingual gyrus and the left superior temporal gyrus, right supplementary motor area, and left rolandic operculum. With the left fusiform gyrus as seed, the NSSI group showed increased FC between the left fusiform gyrus and left middle and inferior temporal gyrus, and decreased FC between the left fusiform gyrus and the bilateral postcentral gyrus, right precentral gyrus, right lingual gyrus, and left inferior parietal angular gyrus. Moreover, the FC value between the left fusiform gyrus and left inferior temporal gyrus was positively correlated with suicidal ideations score. This study highlights alterations in regional brain activity and corresponding brain circuits in brain regions related to visual and emotional regulation functions in drug-naïve adolescents with NSSI. These findings may facilitate better understand the underlying neural mechanisms of NSSI in adolescents.

Background The white matter network changes that accompany nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents are not well understood. This study thus sought to investigate the structural connectivity and network features of adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI, while also evaluating the alterations in these parameters following treatment. Method The diffusion tensor imaging and clinical scales were used to evaluate 43 adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI, 20 of them after treatment (post-treatment NSSI group), and 43 healthy controls (HC). Graph theory analyses were used to construct a white matter network consisting of 90 regions for these participants. Network-based statistic (NBS) correction methods were used to assess structural connectivity within this network, and a generalized linear model was used to compare network metrics between NSSI and HCs, whereas paired t-tests were used to compare the same patients pre- and post-treatment. Correlations between clinical symptoms and both structural connectivity and network metrics were assessed. Results Greater structural connectivity was observed between the right caudate nucleus and right olfactory cortex, right superior frontal gyrus (medial orbital), and right amygdala in adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI relative to HCs. Adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI was also found with increased characteristic path length and normalized characteristic path length values in network metrics, and reduced global efficiency and nodal network metrics for the right orbital middle frontal gyrus, which were also negatively correlated with anxiety and self-injury symptoms. After treatment, post-treatment NSSI group exhibited network alterations that were most pronounced in the prefrontal lobes, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left middle occipital gyrus. Conclusions These results offer new insight into the abnormal structural connectivity and network metrics that arise in the prefrontal gyrus and limbic system of adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI, potentially providing guidance for the interpretation of NSSI-related imaging changes in the white matter network.

The characteristics of the white matter network in schizophrenia patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) remain unclear. This study analyzed white matter network characteristics in schizophrenia patients with MetS undergoing risperidone or clozapine treatment and explored their potential association with metabolic index and cognitive function. Diffusion tensor imaging was used to evaluate 19 schizophrenia patients with comorbid MetS (MetS-SZ) and 20 schizophrenia patients without MetS (nMetS-SZ), as well as 25 healthy controls (HC). Differences in these network metrics were compared among these through groups using ANCOVAs and post-hoc testing. Associations between differential network metrics and clinical characteristics were also analyzed. Relative to HC individuals, both MetS-SZ and nMetS-SZ patients exhibited a reduction in bilateral thalamic degree centrality (DC) and nodal efficiency (NE). Relative to the HC group, MetS-SZ patients exhibited reductions in both global efficiency and local efficiency, lower levels of DC in the superior occipital gyrus, and reduced NE in the prefrontal and occipital cortices. Relative to nMetS-SZ patients, MetS-SZ patients also exhibited reduced global efficiency and local efficiency, together with decreases in NE in the prefrontal cortex, medial and paracentral cingulate gyrus, occipital cortex, angular gyrus, and temporal pole. Impairments in executive function were associated with reduced NE values in the right angular gyrus, left medial and paracingulate gyrus. Increases in waist circumference and hip circumference, as well as impairments in executive function, were associated with reductions in NE among patients with schizophrenia. Specific changes in the structure of the white matter network accompanying cognitive deficits were observed in MetS-SZ patients. These results offer new insight into the mechanisms underlying the neural network in schizophrenia patients with MetS.

It remains unclear if there are potentially associated abnormalities in gray matter (GM) and cognitive function in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and if there are associations with self-injury characteristics. Therefore, exploring the alterations in GM and cognitive functions and their associations with self-injury characteristics in adolescents with first-episode NSSI can provide imaging and clinical evidence for understanding the pathogenesis of NSSI. In this cross-sectional study, we prospectively collected 29 adolescents (NSSI group) with first-episode NSSI and 28 healthy controls (HC group). Participants were scanned using a 3.0T MRI scanner. GM measures were extracted and compared between the NSSI group and the HC group using covariance analysis with total intracranial volume, age, sex, and years of education as covariates. Evaluate the cognitive functions of two groups and perform covariance analysis with years of education, age, and sex as covariates. The assessment of self-injury function was conducted using the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation and the Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory. With years of education as the control variable, partial correlation analysis is carried out between GM volume (GMV) and cognitive functions. A mediation effect analysis was conducted on GMV, cognitive function, and NSSI to explore the relationships among them. The cognitive functions of the NSSI group are poorer than those of the HC group. Compared with the HC group, the NSSI group had decreased GMV in the left putamen and left nucleus accumbens and an increased GMV in the left rostral anterior cingulate cortex. In the NSSI group, the self-injury characteristics and poorer cognitive function are associated with abnormal alternations in GMV, and the poorer cognitive functions are also associated with the self-injury characteristics. The mediation analysis showed that the volume of the left rostral anterior cingulate cortex played a partial mediating role in the relationship between NSSI behavior and cognitive decline.

The white matter network changes that accompany nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents are not well understood. This study thus sought to investigate the structural connectivity and network features of adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI, while also evaluating the alterations in these parameters following treatment. The diffusion tensor imaging and clinical scales were used to evaluate 43 adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI, 20 of them after treatment (post-treatment NSSI group), and 43 healthy controls (HC). Graph theory analyses were used to construct a white matter network consisting of 90 regions for these participants. Network-based statistic (NBS) correction methods were used to assess structural connectivity within this network, and a generalized linear model was used to compare network metrics between NSSI and HCs, whereas paired t-tests were used to compare the same patients pre- and post-treatment. Correlations between clinical symptoms and both structural connectivity and network metrics were assessed. Greater structural connectivity was observed between the right caudate nucleus and right olfactory cortex, right superior frontal gyrus (medial orbital), and right amygdala in adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI relative to HCs. Adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI was also found with increased characteristic path length and normalized characteristic path length values in network metrics, and reduced global efficiency and nodal network metrics for the right orbital middle frontal gyrus, which were also negatively correlated with anxiety and self-injury symptoms. After treatment, post-treatment NSSI group exhibited network alterations that were most pronounced in the prefrontal lobes, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left middle occipital gyrus. These results offer new insight into the abnormal structural connectivity and network metrics that arise in the prefrontal gyrus and limbic system of adolescents with drug-naïve NSSI, potentially providing guidance for the interpretation of NSSI-related imaging changes in the white matter network.

Semiconducting materials are the foundations of electronics and optoelectronics, and their heat management guides the design of highly efficient devices. For most semiconductors, the thermal conductivity of materials composed of light chemical species is higher than that of the iso-structured materials with heavy elements. For example, bulk Si shows a thermal conductivity higher than Ge. However, for many copper-based compounds, e.g. Cu halides, the thermal conductivity increases monotonously as the atomic number of halogens increases. On the other hand, for lead chalcogenides, the thermal conductivity of PbSe is lower than PbS and PbTe. In this work, we reveal that the combined effect of electronic states coupling and phonon collisions, giving rise to strong anharmonicity, is responsible for the abnormal trend of thermal conductivity of Cu halides and Pb chalcogenides. From CuCl to CuBr and CuI, the increasing thermal conductivity is due to the decreasing electronic coupling strength between Cu-occupied 3 d and unoccupied 4 s states when crystal symmetry is reduced, which leads to the increase of atomic vibrational potential energy and reduction of lattice anharmonicity. In Pb chalcogenides, the unusually lower thermal conductivity of PbSe than PbTe and PbS is mainly due to the intensive scattering between phonons caused by the localized transverse acoustic modes and soft optical modes, which outweigh the contribution of the crystal anharmonicity due to the anharmonic potential energy surface.