Browsing by Author "Arango, C."

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    How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic
    (2020) Moreno, C.; Arango, C.; Wykes, T.; Wykes, T.; Galderisi, S.; Nordentoft, M.; Crossley, Nicolás; Jones, N.; Cannon, M.; Correll, C. U.; Byrne L.; Krystal J.H.; Carr, S.; Chen, E. Y. H.; Gorwood, P.; Johnson, S.; Kärkkäinen, H.; Krystal, J. H.; Lee, J.; Lieberman, J.
    The unpredictability and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic; the associated lockdowns, physical distancing, and other containment strategies; and the resulting economic breakdown could increase the risk of mental health problems and exacerbate health inequalities. Preliminary findings suggest adverse mental health effects in previously healthy people and especially in people with pre-existing mental health disorders. Despite the heterogeneity of worldwide health systems, efforts have been made to adapt the delivery of mental health care to the demands of COVID-19. Mental health concerns have been addressed via the public mental health response and by adapting mental health services, mostly focusing on infection control, modifying access to diagnosis and treatment, ensuring continuity of care for mental health service users, and paying attention to new cases of mental ill health and populations at high risk of mental health problems. Sustainable adaptations of delivery systems for mental health care should be developed by experts, clinicians, and service users, and should be specifically designed to mitigate disparities in health-care provision. Thorough and continuous assessment of health and service-use outcomes in mental health clinical practice will be crucial for defining which practices should be further developed and which discontinued. For this Position Paper, an international group of clinicians, mental health experts, and users of mental health services has come together to reflect on the challenges for mental health that COVID-19 poses. The interconnectedness of the world made society vulnerable to this infection, but it also provides the infrastructure to address previous system failings by disseminating good practices that can result in sustained, efficient, and equitable delivery of mental health-care delivery. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic could be an opportunity to improve mental health services.
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    Human development, inequality, and their associations with brain structure across 29 countries
    (Cambridge University Press, 2025) Medel, V.; Alliende, L.M.; Bethlehem, R.; Seidlitz, J.; Ringlein, G.; Arango, C.; Arnatkeviciute, A.; Asmal, L.; Bellgrove, M.; Benegal, V.; Bernardo, M.; Billeke, P.; Bosch-Bayard, J.; Bressan, R.; Busatto, G.; Castro, M.; Chaim-Avancini, T.; Costanzi, M.; Czepielewski, L.; Dazzan, P.; de la Fuente-Sandoval, C.; Diaz-Caneja, C.M.; Diaz-Zuluaga, A.M.; Plessis, S.D.; Duran, F.; Fittipaldi, S.; Fornito, A.; Freimer, N.; Gadelha, A.; Gama, C.; Garani, R.; Garcia-Rizo, C.; Campo, C.G.; Gonzalez-Valderrama, A.; Guinjoan, S.; Holla, B.; Ibanez, A.; Ivanovic, D.; Jackowski, A.; Leon-Ortiz, P.; Lochner, C.; Lopez-Jaramillo, C.; Luckhoff, H.; Massuda, R.; McGuire, P.; Miyata, J.; Mizrahi, R.; Murray, R.; Ozerdem, A.; Pan, P.; Parellada, M.; Phahladira, L.; Ramirez-Mahaluf, J.P.; Reckziegel, R.; Marques, T.R.; Reyes-Madrigal, F.; Roos, A.; Rosa, P.; Salum, G.; Scheffler, F.; Schumann, G.; Serpa, M.; Stein, D.J.; Tepper, A.; Tiego, J.; Ueno, T.; Undurraga, J.; Undurraga, Eduardo A.; Valdes-Sosa, P.; Valli, I.; Villarreal, M.; Winton-Brown, T.; Yalin, N.; Zamorano, F.; Zanetti, M.; Winkler, A.; Evans-Lacko, S.; Forti, M.D.; Crossley, N.A.
    © 2025 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.Background: The macro-social and environmental conditions in which people live, such as the level of a country’s development or inequality, are associated with brain-related disorders. However, the relationship between these systemic environmental factors and the brain remains unclear. We here aimed to determine the association between the level of development and inequality of a country and the brain structure of healthy adults. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study pooling brain imaging (T1-based) data from 145 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in 7,962 healthy adults (4,110 women) in 29 different countries. We used a meta-regression approach to relate the brain structure with the country’s level of development and inequality. Results: Higher human development was consistently associated with larger hippocampi and more expanded global cortical surface area, particularly in frontal areas. Increased inequality was most consistently associated with smaller hippocampal volume and thinner cortical thickness across the brain. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the macro-economic conditions of a country are reflected in its inhabitants’ brains and may explain the different incidence of brain disorders across the world. The observed variability of brain structure in health across countries should be considered when developing tools in the field of personalized or precision medicine that are intended to be used across the world.