bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rewarding Network Mechanism of Left Orbito-frontal Cortex Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Depression
Authors: Dai Q. , Xuntao Y. , Zhengzhi F. 
Published: June 2017

ObjectiveThe difficulties in the clinical antidepressant treatment lead to the pursuing of more effective methods such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Mixed findings from DLPFC targeted TMS result in the exploration of optimal stimulation location. Disturbed function of obitofrontal cortex (OFC) has been indicated in depression, which is involving in the remission of depression. However, whether it could be a more specific treating target is not tested. Simultaneously, disturbed reward network (RN) has been confirmed in depression, however, whether this could be improved by TMS treatment remains unclear.MethodsFourteen patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) were allocated in a four-week course of OFC targeted TMS. Motivated by the literature, before and after the treatment, the function connectivity of RN with the seed of ventral striatum was conducted. The results were also compared with the data from 33 healthy controls.ResultsThe OFC targeted TMS improved the clinical depression significantly and enhanced the function connectivity within the RN effectively. Specifically, lower baseline dorsolateral striatum connectivity predicted strong therapeutic effect of TMS on depression, while lower baseline insula connectivity predicted weak therapeutic effect on depression.ConclusionsThe findings offer the first experimental evidence of the therapeutic effect of OFC targeted TMS on clinical depression, enhanced function connectivity within RN might be the potential neural mechanism (Fig. 1). Lower dorsolateral striatum connection might be a reliable neural biomarker of strong responding for TMS treatment, which helps to identify the patients who will be cured by TMS most effectively.
The Subjective Perception of Time as a Factor of the Course of Depressive Disorders
Authors: Fedchenko V. , Panko T. , Kalenska G. 
Published: June 2017

IntroductionPersonal peculiarities of the individual are the separate significant factor of formation and course of depression that has a predictive value.ObjectivesInvestigation of an emotionally significant attitude of patients to their past, present, future and also depending on the severity of depressive symptoms.MethodologyForty patients with depressive episodes (F 32.0. F 32.1, F 32.2) and 35 persons without mental disorders were examined. An integrated approach was applied using the method of “Semantic time differential”.ResultsCorrelation analysis showed that in mild depression patients experienced their present condition changed, it is associated with emotional assessment of the past (r = −0.441) and extrapolated their experiences for the future–feeling doubt about their implementation in the future, including its activity (r = −0.484) and size (r = −0.523). In an moderate degree of depression patients in the present acutely realized that they had depression and from the point of view of this condition perceived their past and future–feeling a structureness and size of the past (r = 0.500) and worrying about the emotional background, structureness and activity of the future (r = −0.500. r = −0.756 and r = −0.500. respectively). In severe depression patients did not associate their condition with the past, realized the presence of depression in the present, and did not expected to improve their emotional conditions in the future (r = −0.432).ConclusionsThe data can be used to assess the dynamics of patient's conditions with depressive episodes as well as to develop an adequate psychotherapy.
Quetiapine XR as Add-on to Antidepressants in Treatment-resistant Late-life Major Depression
Authors: Vasiliu O. , Vasile D. , Vasiliu D.G. , Andreea Filareta A. , Vasile F. 
Published: June 2017

ObjectiveTo assess the efficacy and tolerability of quetiapine as add-on to antidepressant agents in treatment-resistant late-life major depression.MethodsA group of 15 patients, 8 male and 7 female, mean age 68.2, evaluated in our department for clinical symptoms that made possible a DSM 5 diagnosis of major depressive disorder, were initiated on quetiapine XR, flexible daily dose 50–300 mg QD. All patients were on treatment with an antidepressant–either a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) (n = 10), or venlafaxine (n = 5)–for at least 6 weeks and presented no improvement during current treatment administered at therapeutic doses. Patients were assessed using Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Clinical Global Impression–Severity (CGI-S), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), and Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) every 4 weeks for 3 months.ResultsAfter 12 weeks, patients had a mean improvement in MADRS score of 45.7 ± 2.3%, with a final mean MADRS score of 13.5 (P < 0.01). No variations were registered depending on the specific SSRI or venlafaxine concomitant treatment. Quetiapine XR mean daily dose administered during the study was 125 mg. C-SSRS didn’t registered significant variations in suicidal ideation or behavior throughout the trial. Overall GAF score increased with 22.1 points, and CGI-S decreased with a mean of 1.5 points at week 12 (P < 0.01). Tolerability of add-on quetiapine was very good, no serious adverse event being reported.ConclusionsQuetiapine was efficient and well tolerated in late-life resistant major depression, as add-on to SSRIs or venlafaxine, during the 12 weeks of the trial.
Telemedicine – How Does it Work in Practice?
Authors: Kachnic J. , Wojtuszek M. , Wutke J. , Krysta K. , Krzystanek M. 
Published: June 2017

IntroductionToday telemedicine is a very popular and rapidly growing area, which allows the treatment, regardless of the distance between the patient and doctor. We present the latest research, conducted amongst polish doctors about the usefulness of telemedicine as a therapeutic tool in different medical specialties.Objectives and aimsThe aim of the study was to examine doctors’ attitude to telemedicine and usefulness of Platform ‘Moneo’ in the therapy of the areas other than psychiatry.MethodsThe first part was the polish telemedical project (grant no. POIG.01.04.00–04–219/12) conducted to assess medical Platform ‘Moneo’. It was based on a questionnaire filled by participants in scale 1 to 5. The second study based on authors’ anonymous questionnaires was distributed amongst 105 psychiatrists from Poland.ResultsEverybody noticed advantages of medical platform. The Platform's functionalities, rated as the best by healthcare directors were: educational materials, appointment and therapy planning. Managers indicated parts, which could be improved in e-prescribing system, the process of collecting information about hospitalizations and operations. Functionalities indicated by doctors as desirable to increase the utility of the platform is e-prescribing system, reporting side effects, planning visits, educational materials. In study addressed to psychiatrists, only 15% of them claimed to have an extensive knowledge on telepsychiatry, but they had confirmed the potential of telemedicine in psychiatry.ConclusionTelemedicine is a useful method, which can improve quality of healthcare services and make an access to it possible for some people. However, lots of improvements in telemedical services are needed to make it an efficient medical tool.
Smartphone for Mental Health Patients: A Double-edged Weapon?
Authors: Mâalej M. , Turki M. , Nada C. , Hentati S. , Sana O. , Nassreddine Z. , Lobna Z. , Jihène B.T. , Mohamed M. 
Published: June 2017

IntroductionThe current development of new technologies dedicated to healthcare, such as smartphones, provides an interesting opportunity to improve both assessment and follow-up of different illnesses, particularly mental diseases.AimTo investigate, the contributions and risks of smartphone use among mental health patients.MethodsWe conducted a literature research of PubMed and Sciencedirect using the key words “smartphone”; “bipolar disorder”; “schizophrenia”; “anxiety disorders”; “addiction”; “dementia”.ResultsLiterature data provide several examples of the use of the smartphone's features for patient monitoring. One such example involved patients with Alzheimer disease. An attempt to deal with the risk of wandering was proposed with the use of the Android app iWander, which works by using the smartphone's GPS to track the patient at all times. As for bipolar disorder, several applications have been proposed both for diagnostic ic instruments…) and interventional purposes (applications that offer subjects psycho-education in the form of emotional self-awareness…). Several other applications can be used in the management of schizophrenia, social anxiety disorder and addictions. Along with its obvious benefits, however, the smartphone use has a dark side. Problematic smartphone use is one form of behavioral addiction recently identified. In addition, the access to Internet through the smartphone opens the door to Internet addiction and its sub-types (cybersexual addiction, cyber-relationship addiction…).ConclusionThe use of smartphone for medical purposes must be cautious among mental health patients, because of a field of vulnerability that promotes the appearance of other mental diseases, especially addictions, which may darken their prognosis.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Identification of Biological Pathways to Alzheimer's Disease Using Polygenic Scores
Authors: Harrison J. , Baker E. , Hubbard L. , Linden D. , Williams J. , Escott-Price V. , Holmans P. 
Published: June 2017

IntroductionSingle nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) contribute small increases in risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). LOAD SNPs cluster around genes with similar biological functions (pathways). Polygenic risk scores (PRS) aggregate the effect of SNPs genome-wide. However, this approach has not been widely used for SNPs within specific pathways.ObjectivesWe investigated whether pathway-specific PRS were significant predictors of LOAD case/control status.MethodsWe mapped SNPs to genes within 8 pathways implicated in LOAD. For our polygenic analysis, the discovery sample comprised 13,831 LOAD cases and 29,877 controls. LOAD risk alleles for SNPs in our 8 pathways were identified at a P-value threshold of 0.5. Pathway-specific PRS were calculated in a target sample of 3332 cases and 9832 controls. The genetic data were pruned with R2 > 0.2 while retaining the SNPs most significantly associated with AD. We tested whether pathway-specific PRS were associated with LOAD using logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex, country, and principal components. We report the proportion of variance in liability explained by each pathway.ResultsThe most strongly associated pathways were the immune response (NSNPs = 9304, = 5.63 × 10−19, R2 = 0.04) and hemostasis (NSNPs = 7832, P = 5.47 × 10−7, R2 = 0.015). Regulation of endocytosis, hematopoietic cell lineage, cholesterol transport, clathrin and protein folding were also significantly associated but accounted for less than 1% of the variance. With APOE excluded, all pathways remained significant except proteasome-ubiquitin activity and protein folding.ConclusionsGenetic risk for LOAD can be split into contributions from different biological pathways. These offer a means to explore disease mechanisms and to stratify patients.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Hippocampal Volume Recovery After Depression: Evidence from an Elderly Sample
Authors: Bensassi I. , Lopez-Castroman J. , Calati R. , Courtet P. 
Published: June 2017

ObjectivesStructural neuroimaging studies have revealed a consistent pattern of volumetric reductions in both the hippocampus and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of individuals with a major depressive episode (MDE). This study investigated hippocampal and ACC volume differences in the elderly comparing currently depressed individuals and individuals with a past lifetime history of MDE versus healthy controls.MethodsWe studied non-demented individuals from a cohort of community-dwelling people aged 65 and over (ESPRIT study). T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were used to acquire anatomical scans from 150 currently depressed individuals, 79 individuals with at least one past MDE, and 310 healthy controls. We derived quantitative regional estimates of subcortical volume of hippocampus and ACC using FreeSurfer Software (automated method). Concerning hippocampus, we also used a manual method of measurement. General Linear Model was used to study brain volumes in current and past depression adjusting for gender, age, education level, total brain volume, and anxiety disorder comorbidity.ResultsAfter adjustment, current depression was associated with a lower left posterior hippocampal volume (F = 10.38, P = 0.001) using manual estimation of volume. No other significant differences were observed. A positive correlation was found between time since the last MDE and left posterior hippocampal volume.ConclusionsThe finding of left posterior hippocampal volume reduction in currently depressed individuals but not in those with a past MDE compared to healthy controls could be related to brain neuroplasticity. Additionally, our results suggest manual measures to be more sensitive than automated methods.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
The relationship between neurocognitive functioning and metabolic syndrome (MetS) parameters and the interaction effect of cognitive insight in non-psychiatric individuals
Authors: Kilian S. , Asmal L. , Suliman S. , Seedat S. , Emsley R. 
Published: June 2017

IntroductionMetabolic syndrome (MetS) parameters are: elevated waist circumference (WC), triglycerides (TG), fasting glucose (FBG) and blood pressure (BP) and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). MetS parameters are associated with poor cognition and this association should be studied in the context of other factors. In particular, factors that are involved in maintaining poor lifestyle choices – MetS is largely a lifestyle illness. One factor important to consider is cognitive insight – an individual's ability to be flexible in how you think about yourself and others and to question your own thoughts.ObjectivesTo conduct an exploratory cross-sectional study investigating the influence of cognitive insight on the relationship between MetS parameters and cognition in non-psychiatric individuals.AimsTo explore the nature of the relationship between cognition and MetS parameters and test whether cognitive insight moderates the association.MethodsOur sample consisted of n = 156 participants with mixed-ancestry. Correlations between MetS parameters and cognition were tested. ANOVA was used to test interaction effects and logistic regression was done to test the predictive power of selected factors.ResultsBP correlated with attention, delayed memory, and RBANS total scale score. The BCIS self-certainty subscale moderated the relationship between BP and immediate memory and attention. Age and BCIS self-certainty were the only predictors of elevated BP.ConclusionsGood cognitive insight act as protective factor and reduce the impact of elevated BP on cognition. Cognitive insight may be a predictor of elevated BP.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Paediatric mental health training to school teachers in London, UK
Authors: Nijabat K. 
Published: June 2017

IntroductionThe British National Foundation for Educational Research poll found that two thirds of school teachers feel they lack the appropriate training to help identify mental health issues in pupils.1 National Foundation for Education Research, http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/DFE-June2015.I contacted 10 schools in London and teachers gave similar responses to the above poll, stating teachers did not feel confident identifying or managing common mental health issues in children and adolescents aged 5–18.AimTo deliver mental health training in a user friendly way to teachers and enable them to identify common mental health issues in young people.ObjectivesAddress underlying concerns teachers have regarding pupils mental health. Discuss strategies to manage common mental health issues.MethodI delivered a 2-hour training workshop to 25 teachers in two different schools in London, June 2016. The training included a lecture on emotional/behavioural and communication disorders in children. There was interactive discussion with teachers, discussing various scenarios, such as children becoming tearful, showing limited eye contact and displaying aggressive behaviour. We discussed how teachers were dealing with this and how better they could manage the situation.ResultsI got excellent feedback from teachers, 100% of teachers found the training very useful and would like to have more training of this kind in the future. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to improve the management of mental health in young people.ConclusionsThere is a gap in the knowledge teachers have on mental health within the young people and the stigma of mental health makes it more difficult for teachers to address these issues.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.
“To live”: An experimental brief therapy for patients who attempt suicide
Authors: Silva D. , coutinho A. , Marques A. , Silva R. 
Published: June 2017

Background/introductionIt is widely known that attempted suicide is the main risk factor for suicide and repeated suicide attempts. However, there is a lack of evidence for follow-up interventions/treatments reducing suicidal behavior in this population. The aim of the present study was to describe a novel-therapy as a potential treatment with effectiveness in reducing suicidal behavior. On of the main objectives of this project is to potentiate the benefits of the usual treatment in patients with history of suicidal attempt.Description and method “To live” is a proposal of short psychotherapeutic intervention program for patients with recent suicide attempts. The participants were randomly allocated in two groups, one worked as our control group (n = 8), which had the usual treatment (individual outpatient care), and the other group (n = 8) underwent the usual treatment plus the experimental treatment. This treatment consists of a well structured program, in which participants receive eight group sessions followed by regular contact through telefonic calls over 12 months. In order to evaluate its impact and measure results, a set of structured interviews and clinical questionnaires have been applied in different times: time zero (before admission), time one (in the end of the intervention), time 2 (1month after intervention), then at each every 3 months over a 12 month follow up period.Results/conclusionBy the time this study was conducted, the experimental program was being administered, therefore no results could be taken. However, preliminary findings suggest the effectiveness of the program in reducing suicidal behavior in a real-world clinical setting.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Long acting antipsychotics treatment of schizophrenia: A 24-month prospective study on patient's attitude towards treatment
Authors: Calderani E. , Pietrini F. , Burian I. , Chiarello F. , Dahlke D. , Gemignani S. , Marino P. , Talamba G.A. , Poli L. , Santangelo A. , Ricca V. , Ballerini A. 
Published: June 2017

IntroductionLong-acting injectable (LAI) second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are considered an alternative to oral antipsychotics for schizophrenic patients with low adherence to therapy. However, it is still a matter of debate whether LAI-SGAs are able to significantly improve patient's attitudes towards treatment (ATT) [1].ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of LAI on ATT over 24 months.MethodsNineteen schizophrenic patients were switched from either oral olanzapine (11) or paliperidone (8) to the corresponding LAI. Patients were assessed at baseline (T0), after 6 (T1), 12 (T2) and 24 months (T3). Drug Attitude Inventory-10 (DAI-10) [2] was used to assess ATT. Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) were used for psychopathology evaluations.ResultsEleven patients reached T3. Eight patients were excluded (4 olanzapine, 4 paliperidone): 4 required a significant change in concomitant treatment, 4 a change of antipsychotic (metabolic comorbidity). No changes in psychopathology occurred between T2 and T3, some scales improved from baseline to T2. DAI-10 mean scores were improved after 12 months, thus not significantly, and were further improved at 24 months (P = .008 vs baseline).ConclusionsATT keeps improving after one year of LAI treatment, unrelated to clinical response.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Cognitive outcomes of Bergamot Polyphenolic Fraction (BPF) supplementation in schizophrenia: Preliminary data
Authors: Crucitti M. , Bruno A. , Pandolfo G. , Troili G.M. , Zoccali R.A. , Muscatello M.R.A. 
Published: June 2017

BackgroundCognitive deficits in schizophrenia significantly affect illness and community outcomes, and quality of life. Several studies support the neuroprotective properties of polyphenolic compounds resulting in neuronal protection, suppression of neuroinflammation and the potential to promote memory, learning and cognitive functions. Bergamot differs from other citrus fruits for flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides composition (neoeriocitrin, neohesperidin, naringin, rutin, neodesmina, roifolina and poncirina), and for their high amount. For these features, BPF may represent a potential supplement for improving cognitive functions.AimsThe present study was aimed to explore the efficacy of BPF supplementation on clinical symptoms andcognitive functioning in a sample of schizophrenic subjects receiving atypical antipsychotics (APs).MethodsTen schizophrenic outpatients treated with atypical APs assumed BPF at the oral daily dose of 1000 mg/day for 30 days. Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Verbal Fluency Task-Controlled Oral Word Association Test, and Stroop Color-Word Test were administered.ResultsThe results obtained indicate that BPF administration substantially improved WCST performances (perseverative responses, P = 0.008; perseverative errors, P = 0.012; total errors, P = 0.011; categories, P = 0.023). Moreover, a trend for others clinical (BPRS) and cognitive variables (Verbal Fluency Task-Controlled Oral Word Association Test, and Stroop Color-Word Test) decrease was observed.ConclusionsThe findings provide evidence that BPF administration may be proposed as an effective therapeutic strategy to improve cognitive outcome in schizophrenia. Further clinical trials with adequately powered and well-designed methodology are needed to better explore the BPF effectiveness on cognitive impairments in schizophrenic patients.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.