bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The application of a stress reduction intervention in patients with chronic diseases in Greece
Authors: Lyrakos G. , Tsironi M. , Aslani E. , Spinaris V. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionThis is the presentation of a postdoc research protocol under the supervision of University of Peloponnese, regarding the application of a program for stress reduction. Τhe intervention consisted of a psychoeducational session explaining the stress effect in the brain and the way that relaxation breathing is working, a training session on relaxation breathing and 2 more sessions, one with relaxation breathing and one with trigger points acupressure in the back of the patients.ObjectivesThe objective of the study was to test the effectiveness of relaxations techniques in patients with chronic diseases in a Greek General Hospital.MethodsOut of 335 participants, 153 were found to have high stress levels in the DASS scale and the stress VAS scale that was used for the intervention. 151 of them (49(32, 5%) males), agreed to participate in the intervention with relaxation breathing and 99 in the acupressure session. Diagnosis of the participants were: anxiety disorder (18.5%), Thalassaemia Major(31.1%), Crohn (26.5%), Kidney failure (9.9%) and major depression (13.9%). Analysis was performed with SPSS 24.ResultsThe results in DASS stress scale revealed that 54.3 % of the sample had very severe and 24.3% severe stress levels while 58.9% had very severe anxiety levels in DASS anxiety scale. Pair sample t test show statistically significant differences before and after the application of breathing relaxation t150=24.725 p=0.001, as well in the application of acupressure t98=15.901 p=0.001.ConclusionsAccording to the results of the present intervention, relaxation techniques can be very helpful as complimentary treatments for patients with chronic diseasesDisclosureNo significant relationships.
Age-related differences in the use of relaxation techniques during intensive professional training
Authors: Zlokazova T. , Kuznetsova A. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionIntensive professional training is widely used in modern organizations, as it helps employees adapt to dynamic work and technology changes (Noe, 2010; Patrick, 2000). Relaxation techniques may reduce the negative effects of intense learning processes (i.e. fatigue, anxiety and stress). They can also enhance the productivity of the training itself by helping to achieve optimal states for the completion of learning goals.ObjectivesOur study concerns differences in mastering relaxation techniques by employees of younger and middle-age groups during intensive professional training.MethodsSample - 62 employees, participants of communication training. The 15-min session of progressive relaxation combined with autogenic formulae was conducted after 5 hours of intensive training. Measures: standard psychological and physiological functional state tests (Leonova & Kapitsa, 2003); an information perception task.ResultsThe efficiency of the relaxation techniques varied between different age groups: younger participants (aged 20-30) were more successful in managing both tasks – learning new relaxation skills and achieving deeper rest (including more apparent positive physiological effects). They were also more prepared for completing the information perception task (they made less mistakes). Older participants (aged 30-50) experienced more difficulties with the new relaxation skills and used relaxation primarily to restore their psychophysiological resources, rather than to prepare for the upcoming training task.ConclusionsThe results showed that relaxation techniques provide a system optimization effect on the participants of intensive training programs, though participants’ individual differences (ie age, length of service) should be taken into account when planning the outcomes of such interventions.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Collaborative and scalable training model for rural comunities of La Sierra Madre in Chiapas, México: An opportunity for global mental health in low-middel income areas
Authors: Irurozqui M. Oscoz , Rodríguez-Cuevas F. , López-Salinas A. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionIn Chiapas, Mexico, it is estimated that 1,356 million people suffer from depression; there are about 210 psychologists (1/24,847 people) and 4 psychiatrists (1/1,304 people). Collaborative task sharing, which engages nonspecialists in mental health care delivery, is essential to address the large global burden of mental illness. The collaborative care model (CoCM), a specific type of task-sharing strategy, incorporates a team-based approach with: a primary care provider (PCP); a behavioral health professional, who is the care manager (CM); and a consulting psychiatrist. CoCM has shown improved outcomes for both mental and general health, expanded access to care, and cost-effectiveness.ObjectivesOur objective is to implement one of the arms of the phased model and CoCM, through supervision and training of health professionals not specialists in Mental Health, in different clinical spaces of community primary care, by specialists.MethodsWe implemented a training program taught by psychiatrists and psychologists for health workers in communities of La Sierra Madre in Chiapas, which includes: training of intern nurses, training and supervision of intern doctors and on-site supervision and training of community mental health workers (CMHW); all undergoing a process of monitoring, evaluation and quality.ResultsOf the patients that were treated (202; 89% women), more than 80% had a diagnosis of anxiety and depression. The most notable clinical improvement (measured with the PHQ-9 depression scale) occurred in the intervention group of CMHW + interns (reduction PHQ-9 58%).ConclusionsThis strategy seems acceptable to address the large gaps in the availability of mental health providers in low-income countries.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
The worms that invade your brain
Authors: Marinho G. , Peta J. , Vieira S. , Marguilho M. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionNeurocysticercosis is a parasitic infection of the central nervous system and caused by the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. Humans become infected after consuming undercooked food or water contaminated with tapeworm eggs, or through poor hygiene practices. The clinical manifestations of neurocysticercosis (NCC) largely depend on the number, type, size, localization, and stage of development of cysticerci, as well as on the host immune response against the parasite. Seizures are the most common manifestations of NCC (70–90%) of patients, followed by headache (38%), focal deficits (16%) and signs of intracranial hypertension (ICH) (12%), but psychiatric symptoms can also be seen.ObjectivesLiterature review on neuropsychiatric manifestations of neurocysticercosis, based on a clinical case.MethodsPubmed search using the keywords neurocysticercosis, psychiatric comorbidity, neuropsychiatric manifestations.ResultsWe present a clinical case of a 29-year-old male patient, with history of an epilepsy, that immigrated to Portugal with his family from Cape Verde for specialized medical care. He presented to the ER with an acute psychotic episode characterized by disorientation, persecutory ideation, psychomotor agitation and violent behavior. Brain CT scan showed multiple calcifications in cerebral parenchyma and CSF was positive for antibodies against T. solium.ConclusionsThe polymorphous symptomatology seen in NCC is mimicked only by neuro-tuberculosis and neurosyphilis in developing countries, and multiple sclerosis in the Western countries. Psychiatric symptoms are a part of the clinical presentation of infectious diseases. It is important to consider NCC in endemic areas presenting with psychiatric symptoms, especially those showing poor response to the standard treatment and in those with history of seizures.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Impact of initial health assessment and crisis counselling for newly arrived Asylum seekers
Authors: Uwamaliya P. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionEvaluate the impact of the initial health assessment service for asylum seekers provided by the Asylum Practice Service.ObjectivesExamine the inputs of Asylum practice service to asylum seekers. Investigate the activities and outputs of the Asylum practice service. Identify the outcomes of Asylum practice service to asylum seekers. Assess the impact of Asylum practice service to asylum seekers.MethodsThe conceptual framework for measuring impact at the asylum practice service was based on a Logic Model to engage stakeholders and service users in order to evaluate the impact of services provided by the service. Also the Refugee Health Screener – 15 (RHS15) was used to screen the emotional distress/trauma to identify those individuals who would benefit from further mental health evaluation and treatment. Both quantitative and qualitative data were used to articulate and evidence social value performance and to tell the story of change created.ResultsThe study shows that newly arrived asylum seekers benefit from the services of asylum practice, even though the impact could be marginal in some cases.ConclusionsThere is a need to revisit the current Initial Health Assessment tool, as in its current form, vital information on the causes of trauma such as rape, torture, human trafficking, and witnessing the death of parents, child, and close relatives which may underpin mental health problems, may not be captured, thus preventing access to appropriate interventions.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Roles of trait resilience, flexibility, and volitional self-control in social adaptation: An fMRI study
Authors: Tei S. , Fujino J. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionResilience and cognitive flexibility are considered as pre-adaptive traits that help individuals to deal with environmental and social distress. Although they may alleviate emotional impulses and/or support volitional self-control (VSC), these cognitive mechanisms remain insufficiently explored.ObjectivesTo better understand resilience and flexibility, we built a mechanistic framework to explain variations in socially adaptive responses under distressing situations (cooperation dilemma) using economic and social decision-making paradigms.MethodsTwenty-four university students (7 females) were enrolled. We used ego-resiliency (ER) and Machiavellian (Mach) questionnaires to measure resilience and flexibility, and applied third-party punishment (TPP) and ultimatum game (UG), as well as moral dilemma (MD) tasks to derive VSC-associated brain activity using 3T-functional magnetic resonance imaging. Mediation analysis was used to investigate whether these pre-adaptive trait levels explain cooperative decision-making (invested sum in TPP and acceptance rate of unfair offers in UG), together with VSC-associated brain activity during MD. The regions of interest included the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and temporoparietal junction (TPJ).ResultsPre-adaptive traits were a statistically significant mediator for two different models. There was an indirect effect of 1) ER on the relationship between OFC activity strength and TPP scores, and 2) Mach on the relationship between DLPFC/TPJ and UG (p < 0.05).ConclusionsAlthough recruitment is still ongoing, our results suggested that trait resilience and flexibility may help other-regarding and goal-directed motivation shifts. They may align self-interests with collective interests and support VSC, thereby adjusting peoples’ behaviors within social contexts and cultivating social intelligence.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Evaluation of the function of the hippocampus at the preoperative stage of cardiac surgery as a harbinger of postoperative psychosis
Authors: Sidenkova A. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionDevelopment of an acute cerebral dysfunction in a form of delirium after cardiac surgeries is common general medical problem that associated with prolonged hospital stay after the surgery, risk of development of infection, risk of subsequent neurocognitive changes, and postoperative morbidityObjectivesTo compare risk of development of postoperative delirium in elderly patients with and without hippocampal dysfunctionMethodsSelective observational longitudinal study of the same group of objects in pre and postoperative periodResultsFor the diagnosis of degenerative process in CNS on early stages Free and cued selective reminding test immediate recall (FCSRT-IT) was shown to be the most sensitive. Based on learning of verbal material and semantic cues with recalling, FCSRT-IT allows differentiating amnestic disturbances hippocampal type from secondary disturbances of memory due to neurodynamic changesConclusionsHippocampal dysfunction is a factor of developing of postoperative delirium in elderly patients that requires using additional measures in patients with mild cognitive disturbance to prevent developing of postoperative deliriumDisclosureNo significant relationships.
Functional connectivity alterations between default mode network and occipital cortex in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Authors: Geffen T. , Smallwood J. , Finke C. , Sjoerds Z. , Schlagenhauf F. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionA meta-analysis by Gürsel et al. (2018) found altered functional connectivity in OCD patients within and between default mode (DMN), salience (SN), and frontoparietal networks (FPN), as well as evidence for aberrant fronto-striatal circuitry.ObjectivesTesting the replicability of meta-analysis rsfMRI findings in OCD patients.MethodsWe measured functional connectivity during resting-state fMRI in a sample of OCD patients (n=24) and controls matched for age and sex (n=33). The CONN toolbox implemented in SPM was used to perform seed-to-voxel analysis using 30 seed regions based on the previous meta-analytic findings.ResultsOCD patients showed reduced functional connectivity between SN and DMN compared to controls, replicating previous findings. We did not observe significant group differences of functional connectivity within the DMN, SN, or FPN. The strongest finding consisted of altered connectivity between DMN and SN to the visual network. OCD patients showed reduced functional connectivity between the left lateral parietal seed (LPl) and the inferior lateral occipital pole left (iLOCl) compared to controls. Furthermore, the LPl was found to be hyperconnected with the right superior lateral occipital cortex (sLOCr) and the right precuneus. This finding was positively correlated to OCD symptom severity, especially compulsions.ConclusionsOur findings replicated partly the meta-analysis findings, specifically reduced connectivity between SN and DMN. Using seeds based on the meta-analysis, we identified aberrations between the SN and, in particular, the DMN to the visual network. This raises the question about the visual system’s involvement in OCD symptoms and the abnormal connectivity of a unimodal region to the multimodal DMN.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Face sensitivity: Effects of gender and orientation
Authors: Romagnano V. , Sokolov A. , Fallgatter A. , Pavlova M. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionResearch on face tuning is of particular relevance during the Covid-19 pandemic leading to social isolation and anxiety, but also requiring social integrity. Face sensitivity represents an essential component of social competence. This ability is aberrant in most neuropsychiatric conditions. Studies in typically developing individuals enable to develop new tools for examination and better understanding non-verbal social cognition in neuropsychiatry.ObjectivesHere we used a novel set of Face-n-Thing images to address the following issues: (i) whether the ability to seeing faces in non-face images (face pareidolia) is affected by gender; and (ii) whether it is altered with changing display orientation. The main advantage of Face-n-Thing images is that face tuning occurs without being explicitly fostered by familiar elements.MethodsA newly developed Face-n-Thing task, on which images were shown either with canonical upright orientation or inverted 180º in the image plane, was administered to healthy females and males. On each trial, they have to indicate whether they have a face impression.ResultsFace impression was substantially impeded by display inversion in both males and females. With upright display orientation, no gender differences were found, whereas with inversion, Face-n-Thing images elicited face impression in females significantly more often.ConclusionsThe findings open a way for examination of face sensitivity and underwriting brain networks in neuropsychiatric conditions, most of which are gender-specific. Display inversion represents a proper control for face tuning in neuroimaging studies. Gender differences should be taken into account when conceiving studies in neuropsychiatric populations.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Impairments in theory of mind following traumatic brain injury: A systematic review
Authors: Chikramane R. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionTheory of Mind (ToM) enables one to reflect upon the thoughts and emotions of others and oneself. Brain damage can lead to impaired social cognition resulting from ToM deficits. Studies examining ToM in patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have yielded conflicting findings.ObjectivesTo assess the nature and extent of Theory of Mind (ToM) impairments post-TBI.MethodsElectronic databases searches included PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, Scopus, PsychArticles, PsychINFO, Web of Science, ProQuest Central, and Wiley Online Library databases. Only studies conducted on adult patients with TBI compared with healthy controls published in English in peer-reviewed journals were considered. Reference lists were manually checked for additional studies. 19 studies were identified.ResultsMarked moderate-to-severe ToM deficits in adults post-TBI were observed across all severities of injury and chronicity. ToM deficits were documented across tasks and reflected a hierarchy where performance worsened significantly as tasks progressed in complexity. Despite supportive factors, certain aspects of ToM impairment, such as ability to detect and interpret non-literal speech and judge appropriateness of context remained affected in the subjects.ConclusionsToM deficits represent a robust finding in adults with TBI. The chronicity of TBI requires a long-term view and is complicated by the fact that ToM deficits are invisible and difficult to understand. Perceptive-taking deficits faced by TBI sufferers has bio-socio-economic implications. This review also discusses implications for basic and clinical neuropsychology and rehabilitation efforts. Further research is needed, particularly in the form of large, longitudinal studies that mimic day-to-day interactions, to inform/support rehabilitation programs.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Mechanisms linking gut microbiota to depression
Authors: Fraga A. , Esteves-Sousa D. , Facucho-Oliveira J. , Albuquerque M. , Costa M. , Espada-Santos P. , Moura N. , Moutinho A. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionThe gut microbiota constitute the largest and most diverse community in the body which is primarily responsible for the maintenance of the intestinal wall integrity and the protection against pathogens. Besides having an important role in the regulation of host energy metabolism, the gut microbiota can also influence neurodevelopment, modulate behavioral and might contribute to the development of psychiatry disorders.ObjectivesThe authors elaborated a narrative literature review to understand how gut microbiota can influence depression.MethodsUsing PubMed as the database, a research was conducted about how Gut Microbiota relates with Depression.ResultsThe microbiota-gut-brain axis encompasses the strong bidirectional communication between the gut microbiota and the CNS. Multiple mechanisms may be involved in this bilateral communication, including immune, endocrine and neural pathways. Permutations in the gut microbiome composition trigger microbial lipopolysaccharides production that activates inflammatory responses. Cytokines send signals to the vagus nerve, which links the process to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that consequently causes behavioral effects. Beyond this, gut microbiota have the capacity to produce many neurotransmitters and neuromodulators such as serotonin and can induce the secretion of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor, an important plasticity-related protein that promotes neuronal growth, development and survival.ConclusionsNeuroinflammatory processes like those that occur in depression are deeply modulated by peripheral inflammatory stimuli, especially those from the intestinal microbiota. However, the knowledge is currently limited and the information available is not enough to understand the exact mechanisms. Therefore, more studies are required to show how gut microbiota influences the human brain.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder onset and COVID-19 pandemic: Is there a relation between both?
Authors: Aldeias J. , Polido F. , Cruz M.D.C. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionObsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and/or behaviors (compulsions). Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, a lot of people developed fears of contamination or being infected.ObjectivesTo describe a clinical case and discuss the diagnosis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in context of COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThe data was achieved through patient’s and his family. For the literature review we searched the terms: “OCD” and “COVID-19 Pandemic”.Results45 years-old, male, single. He has a generalised anxiety disorder since 2010. At July 2020, the patient asked for help due to worsening of symptoms. Before the appointment, he was waiting outside because he didn’t feel comfortable in the waiting room. When he touch anything unintentionally, he wash his hands immediately. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, he stopped working because he was too afraid of being infected. He started to think a lot about SARS-COV2 contamination, avoiding all public places, depending on his mother and friends to do basic daily tasks. His thoughts led to cleaning and hand-washing rituals, spending a lot of time. Those symptoms are egodystonic, have a huge impact on global functioning and are not explained by normative fear or protection measures. During 10 years of psychiatric follow-up he never showed obsessive-compulsive symptoms.ConclusionsThis case is an example of OCD onset during the COVID-19 pandemic in a patient with an anxiety disorder (without previous obsessive-compulsive symptoms). He has improved after paroxetine 60mg and risperidone 1mg daily, as well as cognitive behaviour therapy weekly.DisclosureNo significant relationships.