Lucres Nauta-Jansen (Trouw): ‘Child with antisocial behavior? It could also be a brain disorder’
The brains of children and adolescents with antisocial behavior disorder are different. This was revealed by the largest study on this disorder to date. Lucres Nauta-Jansen, Research Associate in Compulsivity, Impulsivity & Attention, comments on this in Trouw.
Children and teenagers can be unresponsive, which we know is part of their development. In 3% of cases, this antisocial behavior escalates, resulting in prolonged aggressive behavior. This antisocial behavior disorder is also known as conduct disorder (CD). The largest study on this disorder to date found through MRI scans that the brains of children with CD differ.
Nauta-Jansen was not directly involved in this study but did participate in one of the fifteen studies. She notes in Trouw that this research was conducted on such a large group, and it is fantastic that the finding that specific parts of the brain are smaller in participants with a behavioral disorder has now been confirmed with so much more data. Additionally, she explains that the reduction in brain regions can vary per individual, which may reflect the diversity within the group with this behavior disorder. She points out two new insights that contradict long-standing beliefs: this study shows no significant difference in brain structure between boys and girls, and between participants who develop behavioral problems at a young age or during adolescence.
Read the full article on Amsterdam UMC Intranet or via Trouw.
Damiaan Denys (NRC.nl): 'The wish not to want to live should not be equated with the wish to be dead'
This spring, fifteen psychiatrists and doctors sent an urgent letter to the Public Prosecutor's Office about the consequences of what they see as "an intrusive public campaign." Psychiatrist of Amsterdam UMC Damiaan Denys is one of the signatories of the letter and opposes other prominent psychiatrists who, according to him, increasingly advocate "making euthanasia more readily available as a treatment option." Psychiatrists promote this view through media and foundations. The signatories of the letter are strongly against these media appearances because they fear it will encourage patients and their relatives to "demand euthanasia." Denys highlights this negative trend in an interview with NRC.
Read the full article on Amsterdam UMC Intranet or via NRC.nl
Philip de Witt Hamer (NRC): ‘Patients with a brain tumor can be so laconic that family members don’t recognize them anymore’
Neurosurgeon and professor of Translational Neuro-oncology at Amsterdam UMC, Philip de Witt Hamer, gave an interview in the Dutch newspaper NRC on the recent study that was published in Nature Mental Health, showing mood disorders in patients with brain tumors are related to the location of the tumor. "The tumor is sometimes located deep in the brain, where emotions are processed. This explains why depressive feelings are more common for patients with a brain tumor."
Read the full article on NRC. Or read the article in Nature Mental Health.
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