Dopaminergic modulation of emotional memory in Parkinson’s disease

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of dopaminergic treatment on emotional memory in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We tested memory for emotional and neutral visual stimuli in ten non-demented PD patients on and off dopaminergic medication. Patients recalled significantly more emotional items during the off- than on-medication testing session. In contrast, treatment condition did not affect memory for neutral items. These findings demonstrate that emotional memory deficits observed in PD may result from dopaminergic treatment and suggest an involvement of dopaminergic neurotransmission in emotional processing.     

“Everything is so relaxed and personal” – The construction of helpful relationships in individual placement and support

The relationship with professionals is an important factor in relation to the outcome of interventions directed to persons with severe mental problems. However, the current knowledge regarding the development of helpful relationships within Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services is limited. The aim of the study was to investigate how participants in IPS services described their relationship with their IPS coach. The article is based on interviews from a Swedish government evaluation of IPS services, thematically analyzed. The results showed that the relationship with the coach is central for the participants’ success in the service. The main theme, “something different - as a human being” highlighted that the conditions for the relationship are different within IPS as compared to traditional services. The other themes were “here and now action,” “closer to wish-fulfilment – impact on the self,” and “from role to person.” The principles of IPS parallel the results from research about helpful relationships and offers good preconditions for the occurrence of such relationships. This can represent a bridge between evidence based methods and research on helpful relationships, and should be possible to implement in the development of evidence based methods as well as of treatment as usual.     

Impairment of sleep-related memory consolidation in schizophrenia: relevance of sleep spindles?

ObjectivesDeficits in declarative memory performance are among the most severe neuropsychological impairments in schizophrenia and contribute to poor clinical outcomes. The importance of sleep for brain plasticity and memory consolidation is widely accepted, and sleep spindles seem to play an important role in these processes. The aim of this study was to test the associations of sleep spindles and picture memory consolidation in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.MethodsWe studied 16 patients with schizophrenia on stable antipsychotic medication (mean age ± standard deviation, 29.4 ± 6.4 years) and 16 healthy controls matched for age and educational level. Sleep was recorded and scored according to American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) standard criteria. We performed a picture recognition paradigm and compared recognition performance for neutral and emotional pictures in sleep and wake conditions.ResultsRecognition accuracy was better in healthy controls than in patients with schizophrenia in the sleep and wake conditions. However, the memory-promoting effect of sleep was significantly lower in schizophrenia patients than in controls. Sleep spindle activity was reduced in patients, and sleep spindle density was correlated with sleep-associated facilitation of recognition accuracy for neutral pictures.ConclusionReduced sleep spindles seem to play an important role as a possible mechanism or biomarker for impaired sleep-related memory consolidation in patients with schizophrenia, and are a new target for treatment to improve memory functions and clinical outcomes in these patients.     

Visual short-term memory binding in Alzheimer’s disease and depression

The differential diagnosis between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and major depression (MD) in the elderly can be problematic because the cognitive profile of the two conditions overlaps. Associative learning tasks seem to separate AD from MD. However, they are sensitive to the effects of normal ageing. Short-term memory-binding tasks have proved insensitive to the effects of normal ageing and highly sensitive to AD. However, they have not been used to differentiate AD from MD. The present study was aimed at investigating visual short-term memory binding in AD and MD. Fourteen AD patients, 14 patients with MD, and 14 healthy older adults were asked to perform a visual short-term memory binding task that investigated the retention of shapes, colors, or combinations of shapes and colors. Participants were to recognize changes occurring between two consecutive displays either in a single dimension (i.e., shape or color only) or in two dimensions (i.e., shape-color binding). Short-term memory performance for shape or color only was equivalent across groups. The only significant effect found was in short-term memory for shape-color binding and this was due to AD patients performing poorly in this condition only. The results extend previous findings in AD to visual short-term memory and suggest that the specific impairment in binding information in memory differentiates between the performance of AD and patients with MD.     

The role of memory in awareness of memory deficits in Alzheimer’s disease,schizophrenia, and brain injury

Patients with neuropsychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), schizophrenia (Sz), and brain injury (BI) often show memory deficits and lack of awareness of those deficits. This study aimed to investigate the role of memory in awareness of memory deficits and illness in multiple patient groups. Comparison of awareness profiles between groups can reveal common or distinct patterns of awareness and predictors, which may inform theories about the structure of awareness. Using the same standardized measures, AD (N = 27) Sz (N = 31), and BI (N = 26) patients were compared on memory functioning, awareness of illness, and awareness of memory deficits—measured by discrepancy of pretest estimate and actual test scores. All groups were poor at pretest estimation of memory functioning, particularly the AD and BI groups. In AD, patients with the lowest memory functioning rated their performance highest. The BI group and to a lesser extent the AD group showed improved estimations of performance following the memory test. Those with the poorest memory showed the greatest improvement in ratings accuracy post test. The relationship between memory and awareness of memory was stronger than the association between memory and awareness of illness. There was a double dissociation between awareness of memory and awareness of illness across patient groups. The study shows that awareness of memory is linked to memory functioning, while memory is only modestly related to awareness of illness. Dissociations in the role of memory in different domains of awareness and “online” awareness of performance provide information to refine cognitive models of awareness. However, the results should be interpreted with caution given the heterogeneous nature of the sample.     

Effects of cortisol on the memory bias for emotional words? A study in patients with depression and healthy participants using the Directed Forgetting task

Mood congruent alterations in information processing such as an impaired memory bias for emotional information and impaired inhibitory functions are prominent features of a major depressive disorder (MDD). Furthermore, in MDD patients hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis dysfunctions are frequently found. Impairing effects of stress or cortisol administration on memory retrieval as well as impairing stress effects on cognitive inhibition are well documented in healthy participants. In MDD patients, no effect of acute cortisol administration on memory retrieval was found.The current study investigated the effect of acute cortisol administration on memory bias in MDD patients (N = 55) and healthy controls (N = 63) using the Directed Forgetting (DF) task with positive, negative and neutral words in a placebo controlled, double blind design. After oral administration of 10 mg hydrocortisone/placebo, the item method of the DF task was conducted. Memory performance was tested with a free recall test.Cortisol was not found to have an effect on the results of the DF task. Interestingly, there was significant impact of valence: both groups showed the highest DF score for positive words and remembered significantly more positive words that were supposed to be remembered and significantly more negative words that were supposed to be forgotten. In general, healthy participants remembered more words than the depressed patients. Still, the depressed patients were able to inhibit intentionally irrelevant information at a comparable level as the healthy controls. These results demonstrate the importance to distinguish in experimental designs between different cognitive domains such as inhibition and memory in our study.     

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein in stroke patients – The importance in consideration of influence of multiple factors in the predictability for disease severity and death

High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) has been evaluated as a biomarker in stroke and relevant pathological diseases. While its predictive values in several pathological phenotypes have been confirmed, controversy exists among different studies. This review summarizes reports of the predictive values of hsCRP for the diagnosis, etiology, prognosis and mortality of stroke diseases. The current literature suggests that CRP expression is influenced by multiple factors, such as polymorphisms, the genomic backgrounds and gender. However, few reported studies analyzed data based on all these multiple factors. Future studies should focus on comprehensive analysis based on multiple factors.     

The relevance of neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive problems in new-onset epilepsy — Current knowledge and understanding

Neurobehavioral and cognition problems are highly prevalent in epilepsy, but most research studies to date have not adequately addressed the precise nature of the relationship between these comorbidities and seizures. To address this complex issue and to facilitate collaborative, innovative research in the rising field of neurobehavioral comorbidities and cognition disturbances in new-onset epilepsy, international epilepsy experts met at the 3rd Halifax International Epilepsy Conference & Retreat at White Point, South Shore, Nova Scotia, Canada from September 18 to 20, 2014. This Conference Proceedings provides a summary of the conference proceedings. Specifically, the following topics are discussed: (i) role of comorbidities in epilepsy diagnosis and management, (ii) role of antiepileptic medications in understanding the relationship between epilepsy and neurobehavioral and cognition problems, and (iii) animal data and diagnostic approaches. Evidence to date, though limited, strongly suggests a bidirectional relationship between epilepsy and cognitive and psychiatric comorbidities. In fact, it is likely that seizures and neurobehavioral problems represent different symptoms of a common etiology or network-wide disturbance. As a reflection of this shared network, psychiatric comorbidities and/or cognition problems may actually precede the seizure occurrence and likely get often missed if not screened.     

Short-term social isolation induces depressive-like behaviour and reinstates the retrieval of an aversive task: Mood-congruent memory in male mice?

Background

Although mood-congruent memory (MCM), or the tendency to recall information consistent with one’s mood, is a robust phenomenon in human depression, to our knowledge, it has never been demonstrated in animals.

Methods

Mice were subjected to social isolation (SI) or crowding for 12 hours and had their depressive-like behaviour (evaluated by the forced swim, tail suspension, sucrose preference and splash tests) or their serum corticosterone concentrations evaluated. In addition, we determined the temporal forgetting curve of the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task (PM-DAT) and examined the effects of SI or crowding on memory retrieval in the PM-DAT. Finally, we verified the effects of metyrapone pretreatment on reinstatement of memory retrieval or on the increase of corticosterone levels induced by SI.

Results

Twelve hours of SI produced depressive-like behaviour, enhanced corticosterone concentration and reinstated retrieval of a forgotten discriminative aversive (i.e., negatively valenced) task. Depressive-like behaviour was critical for this facilitative effect of SI because 12 hours of crowding neither induced depressive-like behaviour nor enhanced retrieval, although it increased corticosterone levels at the same magnitude as SI. However, corticosterone increase was a necessary condition for MCM in mice, in that the corticosterone synthesis inhibitor metyrapone abolished SI-induced retrieval reinstatement.

Limitations

Our study did not investigate the effects of the social manipulations proposed here in a positively valenced task.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, the present paper provides the first evidence of MCM in animal models.     

A matter of motion or an emotional matter? Management of depression in Parkinson's disease

Depression is one of the most frequent comorbidities occurring in Parkinson's disease, affecting up to 50% of patients. Depression is associated with severe negative symptoms and has been shown to contribute to an increased rate of decline of both cognitive and motor function, profoundly impacting on the patient's quality of life. The symptoms of depression overlap with the motor features of Parkinson's disease, making detection difficult. Moreover, the lack of specialized screening tools means that depression remains undiagnosed and untreated in a high percentage of patients. However, depression in Parkinson's disease, when identified early, can be effectively treated with a variety of antidepressant medications, improving quality of life and preserving daily function. The focus of this review is to provide an overview of current knowledge regarding depression in Parkinson's disease, followed by a practical discussion addressing the issues of the detection, diagnosis and treatment.     

Clinico – diagnostic and therapeutic relevance of computed tomography scan of brain in children with partial seizures

Background:

Therapeutic relevance of computed tomography (CT) in children with partial seizures is reported to be remarkably low (1-2%). However, in the developing countries where infections involving the nervous system are common, routine CT scan of brain may help in finding treatable causes of seizures.

Objective:

Aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of CT scan of brain in the management of children with partial seizures.

Materials and Methods:

Children with partial epilepsy, whose predominant seizure type was focal motor seizures, were included in the study. CT scan of brain was done in all children aged between 1 month and 12 years with partial seizures of unknown etiology prospectively. The clinical findings of these children were noted along with the CT findings.

Results:

Between August 2001 and July 2002, of the 200 children with seizure disorder 50 children who satisfied the inclusion criteria were included in the study. CT scan of brain was normal in 16 children (32%) and was abnormal in 34 children (68%). Twenty children (~60% of abnormal scan) had potentially correctable lesions: Tuberculoma (n = 13), neurocysticercosis (n = 3), and brain abscess (n = 4). Five children had changes representing static pathology that did not influence patient management. The clinical features correlated with CT findings in 78% children.

Conclusion:

Children with partial motor seizures have high probability of having abnormal findings on CT scan of brain, especially, neuro-infections which are potentially treatable. Therefore, CT scan brain should be carried out in all children with partial motor seizures especially, in developing countries.     

Postnatal depression – myth and reality: maternal depression before and after the birth of a child

  Background: Much has been written about postnatal depression as a clinical condition. There is some evidence to suggest that a substantial proportion of women who give birth experience a depression in the postnatal period. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of the mental health of a large sample of women who were in the early stages of pregnancy at entry to the study. Methods: Each participant was assessed for symptoms of depression at the first clinic visit (entry to the study), and reassessed at various intervals – at 3–5 days, at 6 months, and again at 5 years after the birth of the child – using the DSSI-D (Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory). Results: Retrospective recall questions indicate that shortly after the birth the majority of women experienced some depressed mood. Of those who experienced depressed mood, the data suggest that the symptoms were not severe, nor did these symptoms generally continue beyond a few weeks. The longitudinal data indicate that levels of depression in our sample are highest either at the first clinic visit or at the 5-year follow-up. Rates of depression at the 6-month follow-up are relatively low by comparison. Conclusion: While most mothers experience periods of depressed mood after the birth of their baby, these periods are generally of short duration and of lesser intensity than a major depression. Mothers appear to experience increasing levels of symptoms of depression as their child grows up. Many of the “cases” of depression experienced at the 5-year follow-up represent a recurrence of a previous experience of depression. Accepted: 8 October 1999