The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, is based on a concept known as the “common factor.”
Researchers have created a neurobiological analoguep-factor, which they called the neuropsychopathological (NP) factor. Using data from a large group of adolescents followed into young adulthood, scientists have identified specific patterns of brain connectivity associated with symptoms of mental disorders.
Biologists used data from the IMAGEN study,in which thousands of teenagers from four European countries - the UK, France, Germany and Ireland - contributed brain scans, as well as behavioral and genetic data.
To find the NP factor of participantsresearch, biologists relied on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Using these brain images, scientists assessed patterns of functional brain connectivity in adolescent brains. Then how the patterns relate to behavioral symptoms that are common in eight different mental disorders.
Four disorders were “externalizing” —Patient behaviors typically involve interactions with other people or the environment, including autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. The remaining four were internalizing—their consequences, as a rule, are directed at the patient himself. These include generalized anxiety disorder, depression, eating disorders and specific phobias.
To calculate the NP factor, the researchersused a special model. They set the NP factor at age 14 and then validated the data by testing whether the pattern was a predictor of participants' behavior at age 19.
The researchers also found that the presenceA high NP factor is associated with the presence of a gene variant associated with both ADHD and generalized depressive disorder. Scientists believe that this mutation may lead to the appearance of synapses, or gaps between neurons, between which brain chemical signals jump, forming strong but inflexible connections.
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