Neurocognitive markers of suicidal ideation in patients with anxiety and mood disorders

Abstract

Objective: This study aims at identifying associations between cognitive function and suicidal ideation in the sample of patients with anxiety and mood disorders (AMD).

Methods: In sum, 186 (age = 39?±?12.3 years; 142 [76.3%] females) patients with AMD were enrolled in the study. Assessment included evaluation of socio-demographic information, medication use, anxiety and depression symptoms. Cognitive tests included measures of psychomotor performance and incidental learning using the Digit Symbol Test. Trail Making Tests respectively measured perceptual speed, task-switching and executive control. Additionally, 21 patients completed tests from the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery measuring set shifting (Interdimensional/extradimensional set-shift), executive planning (Stockings of Cambridge), and decision making (Cambridge Gamble Task [CGT]).

Results: Almost half (45.0%, n?=?86) of the study sample patients had experienced suicidal ideations. In multivariable regression analysis, suicidal ideation was associated with a greater overall proportion of bet and risk taking on the CGT task (β?=?0.726, p?=?.010 and β?=?0.634, p?=?.019), when controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, medication use, anxiety and depression symptoms.

Conclusions: Outpatients with AMD and suicidal ideation could be distinguished by the presence of cognitive deficits in the executive function domain, particularly in impulse-control and risk taking.     

Relationships Between Arousal-Related Moods and Episodic Tension-Type Headache: A Biopsychological Study

An exploratory study was conducted examining arousal-related moods and episodic tension-type headache. Twelve subjects meeting International Headache Society criteria for episodic tension-type headache and 12 headache-free controls recorded headache activity and mood eight times daily for 14 consecutive days. Moods were measured using the Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List, a self-report list that subjectively represents general arousal along two dimensions of Tension and Energy. Headache subjects had higher Tension levels than controls even in the absence of pain, and greater variation in this dimension as well. Within the headache group, Tension during pain-free periods was significantly lower than when experiencing headache, and was correlated with headache activity. The results were taken to support Thayer's (1989) biopsychological model of mood and arousal, and are discussed in terms of the model's heuristic value for general arousal and headache research.     

Multivariable non-linear controller for a synchronous generator

The problem of multivariable controller synthesis for a turbogenerator is considered. Using the feedback linearization approach for multi-input non-linear systems, the existence of a linearizing state feedback for the improved reduced-order model of a turbogenerator is proved and the simplest form of this feedback is derived. Application of the obtained non-linear controller to the multivariable control of a turbogenerator provides very good results not only for the reduced-order model but also for the ‘exact’ (Park's) model of a turbogenerator. Simulations of fault and post-fault conditions in the obtained nonlinear control system confirm its superiority over a system with a voltage regulator and power system stabilizer.     

孕妇情绪与产后抑郁症相关因素的研究

为了探讨孕妇抑郁、焦虑情绪、产后抑郁症的发生率，及其关系和有关影响因素，随机抽取1997年1～11月在本院分娩的部分孕妇共1052例进行情绪测定（HAD）问卷调查，其中以艾氏广后抑郁量表（EPDS）跟踪至产后7天的有866例。调查结果：EPDS阳性率为15．01％，HAD问卷中A值总分、D值总分≥11分的分别为5．13％及437％；随着A值、D值的增高，EPDS阳性率也随之升高。据此分析了影响EPDS和A值、D值的有关因素，并提出了相应措施。     

奎硫平合并心境稳定剂治疗躁狂发作的疗效

目的探讨奎硫平合并碳酸锂或丙戊酸钠治疗躁狂发作的疗效和安全性。方法将符合CCMD-3躁狂发作或分裂情感障碍诊断标准的68例研究对象随机分成两组,研究组应用奎硫平合并碳酸锂或丙戊酸钠,对照组单一使用碳酸锂或丙戊酸钠,治疗观察6周。采用Beck—Rafaelsen躁狂量表(BRMS)评定疗效,以副反应量表(TESS)及实验室有关辅助检查评价安全性。结果奎硫平组在治疗第1周末的减分率比对照组显著,这种差异在1～6周一直存在,而且第6周结束后的临床痊愈率也显著高于对照组。奎硫平组痊愈率为69．7%,对照组为19．2%(x~2=14．85,P＜0．01)。两组均没有严重的药物不良反应,因无疗效和不良反应导致的脱落率两组差异无显著性。奎硫平组脱落率为8．3%,对照组为18．7%(x~2=1．58,P＞0．05)。结论奎硫平合并碳酸锂或丙戊酸钠治疗躁狂发作的疗效比较理想,比单一使用心境稳定剂好。     

Neurobiology of Bipolar Illness: Implications for Future Study and Therapeutics

Many findings implicating prefrontal cortical and limbic areas of the brain and endocrine systems in the neuropathology and pathophysiology of bipolar illness have greatly increased our understanding of the neurobiology of the illness. New imaging techniques such as PET, MRI, SPECT, and MRS have detailed more evidence of specific regional alterations in the brains of bipolar patients than was thought possible just 20 years ago. These methods are beginning to be used to help predict response to treatment. Examining the mechanisms of action of mood stabilizers (such as lithium, carbamazepine, and valproate) has provided clues to potential underlying neurobiological abnormalities in the illness. Recent studies of postmortem brain tissue have begun to confirm prefrontal cortical and limbic neurochemical and microstructural alterations in patients with bipolar illness compared with controls. It is postulated that it is the balance between primary pathological versus secondary adaptive alterations in gene expression in the illness and their enhancement or dampening by pharmacotherapy, that may determine the episodic course of mood fluctuations and remissions. Further examination of the pathophysiology and neurobiology of bipolar illness should lead to both more effective treatments and, potentially, secondary and even primary episode prevention.     

Neocortical gray matter volume in first-episode schizophrenia and first-episode affective psychosis: a cross-sectional and longitudinal MRI study.

BACKGROUND: Overall neocortical gray matter (NCGM) volume has not been studied in first-episode schizophrenia (FESZ) at first hospitalization or longitudinally to evaluate progression, nor has it been compared with first-episode affective psychosis (FEAFF). METHODS: Expectation-maximization/atlas-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tissue segmentation into gray matter, white matter (WM), or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) at first hospitalization of 29 FESZ and 34 FEAFF, plus 36 matched healthy control subjects (HC), and, longitudinally approximately 1.5 years later, of 17 FESZ, 21 FEAFF, and 26 HC was done. Manual editing separated NCGM and its lobar parcellation, cerebral WM (CWM), lateral ventricles (LV), and sulcal CSF (SCSF). RESULTS: At first hospitalization, FESZ and FEAFF showed smaller NCGM volumes and larger SCSF and LV than HC. Longitudinally, FESZ showed NCGM volume reduction (-1.7%), localized to frontal (-2.4%) and temporal (-2.6%) regions, and enlargement of SCSF (7.2%) and LV (10.4%). Poorer outcome was associated with these LV and NCGM changes. FEAFF showed longitudinal NCGM volume increases (3.6%) associated with lithium or valproate administration but without clinical correlations and regional localization. CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal NCGM volume reduction and CSF component enlargement in FESZ are compatible with post-onset progression. Longitudinal NCGM volume increase in FEAFF may reflect neurotrophic effects of mood stabilizers.