New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute

LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and related identities) individuals in science face unique career challenges. We surveyed a large sample (N = 428) of neuroscientists, uniquely capturing a diverse international population (hundreds of participants from Europe and the USA; more than 60 transgender participants). In the USA, compared to Europe, we found higher institutional support and a higher likelihood of being out of the closet in academic settings. However, participants based in the USA also reported more negative workplace experiences. A concerning 15% of the participants reported experiencing harassment at their workplace. Thematic analysis of qualitative responses showed that reasons for not being out varied by group; for example, asexual people were more likely to mention a lack of understanding, while transgender people reported safety concerns. The majority of participants (67.3%) felt that legislation affected decisions within their scientific career, with most of these participants reporting moving away from locations unsupportive of LGBTQIA+ individuals or forgoing career opportunities in certain locations. Overall, we show differential experiences of neuroscientists between the USA and Europe, as well as between identities. While our results demonstrate the challenges many LGBTQIA+ individuals in neuroscience face, they also put forward actionable recommendations for institutions that could vastly improve the lives and careers of LGBTQIA+ neuroscientists.

Brain network architecture is anticipated to influence future grey matter loss in individuals at Clinical High Risk (CHR) for psychosis. However, existing studies on grey matter structural network properties in CHR are scarce and constrained by small sample sizes. Here, we examined network topology differences comparing a) CHR versus healthy controls (HC); b) CHR who transitioned to psychosis (CHR-T) versus those who did not (CHR-NT); and c) different subsyndromes. We included structural scans from 1842 CHR individuals and 1417 HC individuals from 31 sites within the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) consortium. At the global level, CHR individuals exhibited lower structural covariance (q < 0.001; Cohen's d = 0.164) and less optimal structural network configuration than HC (lower global efficiency and clustering coefficient, d = 0.100,0.087, qs <= 0.027). Though no global difference between CHR-T and CHR-NT, network distinctiveness of the frontal and temporal surface area networks was higher in CHR-T than CHR-NT (d = 0.223,0.237) and HC (d = 0.208,0.219) (qs < 0.001). Network distinctiveness of the frontal cortical thickness network was lower in CHR-T (d = 0.218, q < 0.001) than CHR-NT and HC (d = 0.165, q < 0.001). Importantly, higher network distinctiveness was associated with worse positive symptoms in CHR-NT (frontal surface area, q = 0.008, R2 = 0.013) and at trend with worse negative symptoms in CHR-T (frontal thickness, q = 0.063, R2 = 0.049). Further, the brief intermittent psychotic syndrome subgroup showed more severe network alterations. Together, brain structural networks inform symptoms and the risk of transition to psychosis in CHR individuals.

Adhesion G protein-coupled receptors are proposed to function as mechanosensors, yet whether controlled mechanical force can directly activate receptor signaling in living cells remains unclear. Using optical tweezers, we demonstrate that direct tensile force applied to the N-terminus of the adhesion GPCR Adgrl3 is sufficient to induce G protein recruitment in living cells. Activation is direction-specific, requires a functional tethered agonist, and aligns with coexisting force-driven GAIN-domain conformational changes and dissociation.

Suicide is a significant public health problem that usually co-occurs with major psychiatric disorders. Suicidal behaviors have heritability of 30-50%, and the largest genome-wide association studies identified 12 loci linked to suicide attempts (SA). These findings indicate shared genetic architecture among SA and psychiatric disorders. We analyzed public GWAS summary statistics of SA, major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BIP), schizophrenia (SCZ), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to quantify genetic overlap using statistical genetics methods: MiXeR for polygenic overlap, LAVA for locus-specific genetic correlations, and HyPrColoc for multi-trait colocalization. MTAG and conditional false discovery rate (condFDR) identified SA- associated loci, while conjunctional false discovery rate (conjFDR) identified shared loci with psychiatric disorders. Additionally, we used polygenic risk scores (PRS) calculated in the UK Biobank to validate associations between genetic liabilities of psychiatric disorders and SA. SA involve approximately 6.9k (SD = 1.5k) risk variants with substantial overlap between psychiatric disorders, ranging from 53.2% with SCZ to 82.1% with BIP. Using MTAG, condFDR, and conjFDR, we identified 14 and 48 novel risk loci for SA, respectively. Through conjFDR, we identified 78 loci associated with SA and major psychiatric disorders, including one locus shared across all five traits. Genes linked to SA were enriched in synaptic components and signaling pathways. Despite significant genetic overlap, the SA PRS was the single strongest predictor of SA, followed by the MDD and ADHD PRS. The genetic overlap reflects potential common comorbidities complicating the identification of biological processes unique to SA, instead reflecting a complex genetic framework shared with psychiatric disorders.

In this journal, Moses Gomberg's 1900 revelation, "An Instance of Trivalent Carbon: Triphenylmethyl", lauded on a centennial National Historic Chemical Landmark for challenging the "prevailing belief that carbon can only have four bonds", shifts its place in our imaginations as the facts given here are accommodated. In 1898 Gomberg presumed that he had made a molecular complex of bromotriphenylmethane and two neutral I2 molecules. But he was mistaken. Instead, Gomberg produced a mixture of three persistent single crystals of the triphenylmethyl cation before he published his aforementioned, controversial paper. Trigonal carbon coordination was the crack in the valency rules that had organized chemistry prior to the invention of quantum mechanics. Gomberg did not recognize the wealth of trivalent carbon compounds he had in hand before the proposition of the radical and corresponding cation thereafter. This work alludes to a counterfactual history.

Exposure is considered the most active element of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for pediatric anxiety, and its efficacy is theorized to depend on cognitive control and its supporting neural substrates (e.g., central executive [CEN], salience [SN], and default mode networks [DMN]). However, little work has identified how CBT, or exposure specifically, modulates intrinsic connectivity of these networks. Progress may be limited by heterogeneity in network connectivity in anxiety, which may obscure treatment-related effects in group-averaged analyses. This randomized clinical trial (RCT) leverages person-specific network modeling to test how exposure-focused CBT (EF-CBT) influences resting-state connectivity of cognitive control networks in pediatric anxiety, relative to an active control (relaxation mentorship training; RMT). Youth aged 7–18 years with an anxiety disorder (N = 104) or low/no anxiety (L/NA; N = 37) completed resting-state fMRI scans before being randomized to EF-CBT or RMT. Resting-state connectivity was reassessed following treatment (or commensurate time L/NA youth) in 113 participants. Changes in within-CEN, CEN-SN, and CEN-DMN density were examined using Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation, which yields sparse, person-specific networks capturing both shared and individual connectivity structure. At baseline, anxious youth exhibited lower density within-CEN, between CEN-SN, and between CEN-DMN than L/NA youth. Treatment effects differed by intervention: EF-CBT selectively increased (i.e., normalized) CEN–SN density, whereas RMT increased within-CEN density. These findings demonstrate dissociable effects of exposure and relaxation on cognitive control network organization in pediatric anxiety. Exposure-focused CBT uniquely strengthens coordination between control and salience systems, consistent with a mechanism supporting top-down control of threat-related signals during exposure. Network-based measures of cognitive control may help identify mechanistic targets for optimizing and personalizing treatment.

Abstract Purpose of Review Alcohol and cannabis are substances commonly used by people with or made vulnerable to HIV. With changing cannabis legalization, cannabis use has been on the rise, including simultaneous use (co-use) with alcohol. Prior reviews have assessed patterns, correlates, and consequences of alcohol and cannabis co-use. We conducted a scoping review to examine alcohol and cannabis co-use and HIV risk, treatment, and prevention outcomes. Recent Findings We identified 818 unique articles across seven databases through December 2024, of which, 28 met criteria. There was substantial heterogeneity in the conceptualization of co-use, measurement, and analysis methods. Many studies employed cluster analyses, with alcohol and cannabis co-use often included in the context of polysubstance use. Only one study utilized event-level methods to assess simultaneous use and sex behaviors. Findings on the relationship between alcohol and cannabis co-use and antiretroviral medications (ARV) outcomes and sex behaviors are mixed, though several studies suggest that co-use may be associated with poorer ARV adherence and increased engagement in sex behaviors that increased HIV risks. Summary This review highlights substantial heterogeneity in how alcohol and cannabis co-use is conceptualized and measured. Few studies examined simultaneous use specifically or disentangle co-use from broader polysubstance patterns. Research prioritizes standardized and event-level assessment can enhance accuracy of measurement and elucidate contextual factors for alcohol and cannabis co-use. Understanding how alcohol and cannabis co-use affects populations disproportionately impacted by HIV can inform more effective and tailored HIV treatment and prevention strategies.

BackgroundReduced heart rate variability (HRV) has been associated with cognitive decline in older adults. However, prior research relied on brief in-clinic electrocardiography (ECG) recordings to measure HRV. Using 7-day continuous ambulatory ECG monitoring, we investigated time-specific differences in HRV (i.e., differences in HRV at each time point over the course of a 24-h day) between individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and those who were cognitively normal (CN) in a cohort of community-dwelling older adults.MethodsAnalyses included 81 dementia-free participants [mean age = 78, standard deviation (SD) = 5, age range = 72–95; 82% female; 38% non-Hispanic White individuals, 43% non-Hispanic Black individuals]. Among them, 20 met the Jak/Bondi criteria for MCI. Participants were instructed to wear a single-lead ECG monitor continuously for 7 days. Power spectral analyses were used to determine HRV in the high-frequency band (0.15–0.40 Hz, HF-HRV) over consecutive 5-min epochs throughout the recording. Functional additive mixed models were used to analyze participants’ 24-h HF-HRV profiles to examine time-specific HRV differences between MCI and CN, after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, and education and further adjusting for depression, history of diabetes, and hypertension.ResultsCompared to the CN group, the MCI group showed reduced HRV in the early morning (before 7 a.m.) and evening (after 7 p.m.), with the greatest difference occurring around midnight (difference: 0.6, 95% pointwise CI: 0.2, 1.1, Cohen’s d: 0.75).ConclusionOur findings highlight HRV’s dynamic nature and the need to consider the time of day when investigating the relationship between HRV and cognition. Compared to daytime HRV, reduced nighttime HRV may have a stronger association with worse cognition.