Current Issue : October-December Volume : 2026 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 6 Articles
Standard diagnostic categories (International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)) were developed as a pragmatic compromise between competing theoretical schools in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Focused on recognizable patterns of symptoms, they produce reliable descriptions and facilitate clinical communication, research, and reimbursement. Such a focus, however, necessarily falls short of the etiological complexity of bodily, personal, interpersonal, and cultural processes that shape human suffering. This article argues that beneath the diversity of approaches seeking to address this gap, a fundamental complementarity emerges—one constitutive of human existence itself: the complementarity between two irreducible ways of being in the world. The first is the organismic–biological dimension, elaborated in Jakob von Uexküll’s biosemiotics: sign-governed, evolutionarily pre-formed processes of meaning-attribution that operate prior to and independent of language. The second is the symbolic–cultural dimension, developed in Ernst Cassirer’s philosophy of symbolic forms: the embedding of human beings in socially created, intersubjectively shared symbol systems through which the world is seen and understood. Although both approaches were published nearly a century ago, this article is not primarily a historical contribution. Rather, it argues that psychopathology and therapy can be understood more fully—and clinical practice enriched—when both dimensions are taken into account as genuinely complementary perspectives....
Background: Evidence indicates substantial genetic overlap between psychiatric diagnoses. Accounting for these transdiagnostic effects can sharpen research on disorderspecific genetic architecture and patterns of comorbidity. Methods: We applied genomic structural equation modeling to genomewide association study summary statistics from 11 major psychiatric disorders to isolate genetic effects shared across disorders (the genomic p factor) from residual genetic effects associated with each disorder (nonp). Using these nonp summary statistics, we examined SNP heritability, genetic correlations among psychiatric disorders, and genetic correlations with external biobehavioural traits spanning socio demographic, anthropometric, healthrelated, and psychological domains. Results: After accounting for transdiagnostic effects, genetic associations between psychiatric disorders changed substantially, with many correlations attenuated and some showing marked shifts in magnitude and direction. Genetic correlations between psychiatric disorders and external biobehavioural traits showed greater specificity. Conclusion: Removing transdiagnostic effects provides a more nuanced view of the genetic architecture underlying psychiatric disorders and sharpens inference about genetic relationships between disorders and other comorbid traits. This may inform future work on psychiatric classification, prediction, and treatment research....
We report the oldest female identified to date with a pathogenic NBEA variant who has been followed longitudinally. She presented with a complex, diagnostically inconclusive psychiatric phenotype extending in adulthood and a suspected mild neurodevelopmental impairment. The 64-year-old patient experienced recurrent episodes of mental state decompensation characterized predominantly by persecutory and health-related delusional ideation and anxiety. Her most recent psychiatric diagnosis was mixed conversion disorder. Although she never underwent formal cognitive testing, mild intellectual disability was suspected based on her educational attainment, occupational history, and social functioning. Additionally, the patient presented with a likely coincidental tremor. A history of childhood epilepsy could not be confirmed, as detailed epilepsy records were unavailable. Furthermore, the patient declined neuroimaging, precluding assessment of a possible relationship with the identified EXT2 deletion. This case expands the currently recognized neuropsychiatric spectrum possibly associated with pathogenic NBEA variants, highlights the importance of extending phenotypic characterization in later adulthood, and underscores the value of longitudinal follow-up....
Minor Neurological Signs, also referred to as neurological soft signs, are subtle abnormalities detected during neurological examination that do not meet criteria for major focal deficits. They are increasingly considered indicators of variability in neurodevelopment, likely reflecting differences in sensorimotor integration and maturation of cortico–subcortical networks. This mini review summarizes current evidence on the phenomenology, neurobiological correlates, and clinical relevance of MNS in child neurology and psychiatry. MNS include motor features such as overflow movements, dysmetria, dysrhythmia, and mild alterations in coordination, tone, and balance. Their assessment relies on standardized, developmentally appropriate tools that support identification of distinct patterns of dysfunction. MNS are frequently reported in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions. While not diagnostically specific, they have been associated with symptom severity and functional outcomes. Further longitudinal and integrative studies are needed to clarify their developmental trajectories, neurobiological mechanisms, and potential clinical utility....
Developing clinically useful brain-based biomarkers remains a central challenge in translational psychiatry and neurology. Traditional approaches focusing on disorder-specific signals have shown limited clinical utility. EEG, a scalable and non-invasive measure of brain function, illustrates the value of an alternative perspective: transdiagnostic and dimensional biomarker development. Here, we use low-frequency activity (LFA) as an illustrative example to demonstrate this framework. We synthesize evidence from 176 EEG studies across chronic pain, migraine, fatigue, and depression and identify increased low-frequency activity (LFA) as the most consistent alteration across studies. Crucially, this absence of disorder specificity does not diminish its clinical value. Instead, it points to shared neural dysfunction, consistent with frameworks of thalamo-cortical dysrhythmia and excitationinhibition imbalance. These processes may underlie shared symptom dimensions, such as negative affect, cognitive dysfunction, and somatic manifestations. Accordingly, such transdiagnostic, dimensional markers could support prevention, monitoring, stratification, and neuromodulation across disorders, exemplifying precision neuroscience via mechanistically grounded, clinically actionable biomarkers....
Background and Objectives: Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with widespread neuroanatomical alterations, particularly within subcortical structures involved in emotional regulation. Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approaches may fail to detect subtle microstructural changes. This study aimed to evaluate histogram-based texture characteristics of the putamen in patients with BD and to compare these findings with those of healthy controls. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 66 participants (33 BD patients, 33 controls). All subjects underwent standardized cranial MRI. Regions of interest corresponding to the putamen were manually delineated, and histogram-based texture parameters were extracted using custom-developed software. Group comparisons were performed using appropriate statistical tests based on data distribution. Results: The groups were comparable in age and sex (p > 0.05). Significant differences were observed in multiple texture parameters, particularly in the left putamen. Mean and median values were significantly higher in BD patients compared to controls (511.19 ± 106.96 vs. 440.68 ± 102.21, p = 0.008; 511.92 ± 106.71 vs. 440.53 ± 102.74, p = 0.007). Minimum intensity values and root-sum-of-squares levels were also significantly increased (p < 0.001). Skewness differed significantly (p = 0.004), indicating altered distribution asymmetry. Percentile analyses demonstrated consistent differences across nearly all levels, suggesting a shift in intensity distribution. Additionally, Katz fractal dimension was significantly lower in BD patients (p < 0.001), indicating reduced structural complexity. Similar but less pronounced alterations were observed in the right putamen. Overall, the findings suggest the presence of widespread alterations in intensity distribution and structural characteristics. Conclusions: Patients with BD exhibit significant alterations in putamen texture parameters, potentially reflecting alterations in intensity distribution and texture-derived structural characteristics. Histogram-based texture analysis may provide a sensitive, non-invasive approach for detecting subtle brain alterations in BD and may serve as a complementary neuroimaging biomarker....
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