TY - JOUR A1 - Froehlich, Matthias A1 - Zahner, Antonia A1 - Schmalzing, Marc A1 - Gernert, Michael A1 - Strunz, Patrick-Pascal A1 - Hueper, Sebastian A1 - Portegys, Jan A1 - Schwaneck, Eva Christina A1 - Gadeholt, Ottar A1 - Kübler, Andrea A1 - Hewig, Johannes A1 - Ziebell, Philipp T1 - Patient-reported outcomes provide evidence for increased depressive symptoms and increased mental impairment in giant cell arteritis JF - Frontiers in Medicine N2 - Objectives The spectrum of giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) represents highly inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Patients mostly report severe physical impairment. Possible consequences for mental health have been scarcely studied. The aim of this study was to investigate psychological well-being in the context of GCA and PMR. Methods Cross-sectional study with N = 100 patients with GCA and/or PMR (GCA-PMR). Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were measured using the Short Form 36 Version 2 (SF-36v2) and visual analog scale (VAS) assessment. Moreover, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) was used in 35 of 100 patients to detect depression. To compare PROs with physician assessment, VAS was also rated from physician perspective. To assess a possible association with inflammation itself, serological parameters of inflammation (C-reactive protein [CRP], erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR]) were included. Results In all scales of the SF-36v2 except General Health (GH) and in the physical and mental sum score (PCS, MCS), a significant impairment compared to the German reference collective was evident (MCS: d = 0.533, p < 0.001). In the PHQ-9 categorization, 14 of the 35 (40%) showed evidence of major depression disorder. VAS Patient correlated significantly with PHQ-9 and SF-36 in all categories, while VAS Physician showed only correlations to physical categories and not in the mental dimensions. Regarding inflammatory parameters, linear regression showed CRP to be a complementary significant positive predictor of mental health subscale score, independent of pain. Conclusion PRO show a relevant impairment of mental health up to symptoms of major depression disorder. The degree of depressive symptoms is also distinctly associated with the serological inflammatory marker CRP. KW - giant cell arteritis KW - PRO KW - depression KW - mental impairment KW - SF-36 KW - PHQ-9 KW - VAS KW - polymyalgia rheumatica Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-319761 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziebell, Philipp A1 - Rodrigues, Johannes A1 - Forster, André A1 - Sanguinetti, Joseph L. A1 - Allen, John JB. A1 - Hewig, Johannes T1 - Inhibition of midfrontal theta with transcranial ultrasound explains greater approach versus withdrawal behavior in humans JF - Brain Stimulation N2 - Highlights • Transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation/stimulation (TUS) is a growing field. • We conducted a double-blind sham-controlled within-subjects large sample TUS study. • Right prefrontal cortex TUS inhibits midfrontal theta electroencephalography (MFT). • TUS MFT inhibition explains greater approach versus withdrawal in a virtual T-maze. • This distinct TUS-MFT-behavior link merits future basic and applied research. Abstract Recent reviews highlighted low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (TUS) as a promising new tool for non-invasive neuromodulation in basic and applied sciences. Our preregistered double-blind within-subjects study (N = 152) utilized TUS targeting the right prefrontal cortex, which, in earlier work, was found to positively enhance self-reported global mood, decrease negative states of self-reported emotional conflict (anxiety/worrying), and modulate related midfrontal functional magnetic resonance imaging activity in affect regulation brain networks. To further explore TUS effects on objective physiological and behavioral variables, we used a virtual T-maze task that has been established in prior studies to measure motivational conflicts regarding whether participants execute approach versus withdrawal behavior (with free-choice responses via continuous joystick movements) while allowing to record related electroencephalographic data such as midfrontal theta activity (MFT). MFT, a reliable marker of conflict representation on a neuronal level, was of particular interest to us since it has repeatedly been shown to explain related behavior, with relatively low MFT typically preceding approach-like risky behavior and relatively high MFT typically preceding withdrawal-like risk aversion. Our central hypothesis is that TUS decreases MFT in T-maze conflict situations and thereby increases approach and reduces withdrawal. Results indicate that TUS led to significant MFT decreases, which significantly explained increases in approach behavior and decreases in withdrawal behavior. This study expands TUS evidence on a physiological and behavioral level with a large sample size of human subjects, suggesting the promise of further research based on this distinct TUS-MFT-behavior link to influence conflict monitoring and its behavioral consequences. Ultimately, this can serve as a foundation for future clinical work to establish TUS interventions for emotional and motivational mental health. KW - approach versus withdrawal KW - electroencephalography (EEG) KW - midfrontal theta (MFT) KW - right prefrontal cortex (PFC) KW - transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation/stimulation (TUS) KW - virtual reality Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-349890 VL - 16 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rodrigues, Johannes A1 - Ziebell, Philipp A1 - Müller, Mathias A1 - Hewig, Johannes T1 - Standardizing continuous data classifications in a virtual T-maze using two-layer feedforward networks JF - Scientific Reports N2 - There continues to be difficulties when it comes to replication of studies in the field of Psychology. In part, this may be caused by insufficiently standardized analysis methods that may be subject to state dependent variations in performance. In this work, we show how to easily adapt the two-layer feedforward neural network architecture provided by Huang1 to a behavioral classification problem as well as a physiological classification problem which would not be solvable in a standardized way using classical regression or “simple rule” approaches. In addition, we provide an example for a new research paradigm along with this standardized analysis method. This paradigm as well as the analysis method can be adjusted to any necessary modification or applied to other paradigms or research questions. Hence, we wanted to show that two-layer feedforward neural networks can be used to increase standardization as well as replicability and illustrate this with examples based on a virtual T-maze paradigm\(^{2−5}\) including free virtual movement via joystick and advanced physiological data signal processing. KW - standardized analysis method KW - neural network architecture KW - two‑layer feedforward networks Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301096 VL - 12 IS - 1 ER -