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Background and Hypothesis: Neuroimaging studies investigating the neural substrates of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in schizophrenia have yielded mixed results, which may be reconciled by network localization. We sought to examine whether AVH-state and AVH-trait brain alterations in schizophrenia localize to common or distinct networks., Study Design: We initially identified AVH-state and AVH-trait brain alterations in schizophrenia reported in 48 previous studies. By integrating these affected brain locations with large-scale discovery and validation resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets, we then leveraged novel functional connectivity network mapping to construct AVH-state and AVH-trait dysfunctional networks., Study Results: The neuroanatomically heterogeneous AVH-state and AVH-trait brain alterations in schizophrenia localized to distinct and specific networks. The AVH-state dysfunctional network comprised a broadly distributed set of brain regions mainly involving the auditory, salience, basal ganglia, language, and sensorimotor networks. Contrastingly, the AVH-trait dysfunctional network manifested as a pattern of circumscribed brain regions principally implicating the caudate and inferior frontal gyrus. Additionally, the AVH-state dysfunctional network aligned with the neuromodulation targets for effective treatment of AVH, indicating possible clinical relevance., Conclusions: Apart from unifying the seemingly irreproducible neuroimaging results across prior AVH studies, our findings suggest different neural mechanisms underlying AVH state and trait in schizophrenia from a network perspective and more broadly may inform future neuromodulation treatment for AVH., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Functional homotopy, the high degree of spontaneous activity synchrony and functional coactivation between geometrically corresponding interhemispheric regions, is a fundamental characteristic of the intrinsic functional architecture of the brain. However, little is known about the genetic mechanisms underlying functional homotopy. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from a discovery dataset (656 healthy subjects) and 2 independent cross-race, cross-scanner validation datasets (103 and 329 healthy subjects) were used to calculate voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) indexing brain functional homotopy. In combination with the Allen Human Brain Atlas, transcriptome-neuroimaging spatial correlation analysis was conducted to identify genes linked to VMHC. We found 1,001 genes whose expression measures were spatially associated with VMHC. Functional enrichment analyses demonstrated that these VMHC-related genes were enriched for biological functions including protein kinase activity, ion channel regulation, and synaptic function as well as many neuropsychiatric disorders. Concurrently, specific expression analyses showed that these genes were specifically expressed in the brain tissue, in neurons and immune cells, and during nearly all developmental periods. In addition, the VMHC-associated genes were linked to multiple behavioral domains, including vision, execution, and attention. Our findings suggest that interhemispheric communication and coordination involve a complex interaction of polygenes with a rich range of functional features., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Brain structural damage is a typical feature of schizophrenia. Investigating such disease phenotype in patients with drug-naive first-episode schizophrenia (DFSZ) may exclude the confounds of antipsychotics and illness chronicity. However, small sample sizes and marked clinical heterogeneity have precluded definitive identification of gray matter volume (GMV) changes in DFSZ as well as their underlying genetic mechanisms. Here, GMV changes in DFSZ were assessed using a neuroimaging meta-analysis of 19 original studies, including 605 patients and 637 controls. Gene expression data were derived from the Allen Human Brain Atlas and processed with a newly proposed standardized pipeline. Then, we used transcriptome-neuroimaging spatial correlations to identify genes associated with GMV changes in DFSZ, followed by a set of gene functional feature analyses. Meta-analysis revealed consistent GMV reduction in the right superior temporal gyrus, right insula and left inferior temporal gyrus in DFSZ. Moreover, we found that these GMV changes were spatially correlated with expression levels of 1,201 genes, which exhibited a wide range of functional features. Our findings may provide important insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying brain morphological abnormality in schizophrenia., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Neuronal oscillations within certain frequency bands are assumed to associate with specific neural processes and cognitive functions. To examine this hypothesis, transcriptome-neuroimaging spatial correlation analysis was applied to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 793 healthy individuals and gene expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas. We found that expression measures of 336 genes were correlated with fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) in the slow-4 band (0.027-0.073 Hz), whereas there were no expression-fALFF correlations for the other frequency bands. Furthermore, functional enrichment analyses showed that these slow-4 fALFF-related genes were mainly enriched for ion channel, synaptic function, and neuronal system as well as many neuropsychiatric disorders. Specific expression analyses demonstrated that these genes were specifically expressed in brain tissue, in neurons, and during the late stage of cortical development. Concurrently, the fALFF-related genes were linked to multiple behavioral domains, including dementia, attention, and emotion. In addition, these genes could construct a protein-protein interaction network supported by 30 hub genes. Our findings of a frequency-dependent genetic modulation of spontaneous neuronal activity may support the concept that neuronal oscillations within different frequency bands capture distinct neurobiological processes from the perspective of underlying molecular mechanisms., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The human visual cortex is a heterogeneous entity that has multiple subregions showing substantial variability in their functions and connections. We aimed to identify genes associated with resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of visual subregions using transcriptome-neuroimaging spatial correlations in discovery and validation datasets. Results showed that rsFC of eight visual subregions were associated with expression measures of eight gene sets, which were specifically expressed in brain tissue and showed the strongest correlations with visual behavioral processes. Moreover, there was a significant divergence in these gene sets and their functional features between medial and lateral visual subregions. Relative to those associated with lateral subregions, more genes associated with medial subregions were found to be enriched for neuropsychiatric diseases and more diverse biological functions and pathways, and to be specifically expressed in multiple types of neurons and immune cells and during the middle and late stages of cortical development. In addition to shared behavioral processes, lateral subregion associated genes were uniquely correlated with high-order cognition. These findings of commonalities and differences in the identified rsFC-related genes and their functional features across visual subregions may improve our understanding of the functional heterogeneity of the visual cortex from the perspective of underlying genetic architecture., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

In recent years, Protaetia brevitarsis Lewis has gradually become an important pest of several crops including grape (Vitis vinifera L.) and peach (Amygdalus persica L.) in Xinjiang, China. Toward improving trapping efficacy as part of a management program, various colors, types, and placement of traps and the use of an attractant were evaluated in field and laboratory studies. Laboratory color-choice tests and field tests indicated that P. brevitarsis adults preferred red. In trap placement tests, more adults were captured on traps placed 1 or 1.5 m above the ground and on top of the horizontal grape canopy. Before grape ripening, more adults were captured in traps placed in a 0.5-m border around the outside edge of the vineyard; during grape ripening, more were caught within the vineyard. Newly designed traps that were red, with a triangular baffle and a landing plate, were more efficient than traditional bucket-shaped traps. When P. brevitarsis adults were trapped and killed from June to July 2018, the population of P. brevitarsis adults in August to early September 2018 was significantly lower than in August to early September 2017, when adults had not been trapped and killed in the prior 2 mo., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.)

Background: Lifelong premature ejaculation (LPE) has been linked to altered brain function and structure. Although the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) is consistently more affected in LPE, its functional and structural changes have yet to be determined at the subregional level., Aim: To explore the functional and structural changes of MTG in LPE at the subregional level based on a combined analysis of multimodal magnetic resonance imaging data., Methods: 25 patients with LPE and 21 healthy controls underwent resting-state functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging scans. The MTG was parcellated into the anterior part of the MTG (aMTG), middle part of the MTG, posterior part of the MTG, and sulcus part of the MTG. Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and gray matter volume (GMV) of each MTG subregion were calculated and compared between the 2 groups., Outcomes: The functional and structural changes of MTG at the subregional level were assessed in patients with LPE and controls, as well as the correlation of them with premature ejaculation diagnostic tool and Beck Depression Inventory., Results: Despite similar rsFC patterns of each MTG subregion in both groups, quantitative comparison analyses revealed that patients with LPE showed increased rsFC between the left aMTG and the right cuneus (0.34 ± 0.12 vs 0.17 ± 0.17), between the right aMTG and the right parahippocampal gyrus (0.36 ± 0.16 vs 0.15 ± 0.10), and between the right middle MTG and the left MTG (0.40 ± 0.14 vs 0.18 ± 0.15) relative to controls (P < .05, cluster-level family-wise error corrected). Moreover, validation analyses revealed that these results remained significant after adjusting for depression. However, there were no significant group differences in GMV in all the MTG subregions (P > .05, Bonferroni corrected). In addition, no significant correlations between rsFC and GMV of the MTG subregions and the clinical variables were found in patients with LPE (P > .05, Bonferroni corrected)., Clinical Implications: Functional hyperconnectivity in the MTG subregions may facilitate a more sophisticated understanding of the neuropathological mechanism underlying LPE., Strengths and Limitations: There are no previous studies examining functional and structural changes in LPE at the MTG subregional level. The main limitation is the small sample size., Conclusions: We present evidence that individuals with LPE have a selective functional hyperconnectivity yet preserved structural integrity in the MTG subregions, which may facilitate a more sophisticated understanding of the neuropathological mechanism underlying LPE by highlighting the critical role of the MTG in this disorder. Zhang T, Tang D, Cai H, et al. Selective Functional Hyperconnectivity in the Middle Temporal Gyrus Subregions in Lifelong Premature Ejaculation. J Sex Med 2020;17:1457-1466., (Copyright © 2020 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)