Social cognition in first episode adolescent depression and its correlation with clinical features and quality of life.

Research has suggested that patients with depression have deficits in social cognition, however they provide limited data regarding adolescent depression. Moreover, the relationship of social cognition with clinical features and quality of life is less studied. This study investigated social cognition in depressive adolescents and the correlations of social cognition with clinical features and quality of life. Thirty-five depressed adolescents and 37 healthy controls were assessed. Emotion perception and decoding ToM, quality of life and clinical variables were evaluated. No significant differences were found between depression and control groups regarding social cognitive tests. The results indicated that examined clinical features were not correlated significantly with social cognitive tests. Results suggest that social cognitive abilities are not disturbed in adolescents with first depressive episode.

Neuropsychological outcome in cases with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an immune-mediated, inflammatory and demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system. There have been a few studies in recent years on the fact that these cases have neurocognitive impairment. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the neurocognitive outcome and quality of life in cases with ADEM. METHODS: Eleven cases who were on follow-up between 2008 and 2017 were included in the study, systemic, neurological and psychiatric examinations were done. All magnetic resonance images were re-evaluated. The neuropsychiatric evaluation was performed by clinical examination and psychometric scales; (1) The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0, (2) Child Behavior Checklist, (3) Children`s Depression Inventory, (4) The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised and (5) Continuous Performance Test. The cases in our study underwent neuropsychiatric evaluation 3-42 months after the diagnosis of ADEM had been established. RESULTS: Nine cases (81.8%) fully recovered without neurologic deficit. One case (9.1%) had a psychiatric disorder. During follow-up, cognitive and psychiatric problems were encountered in half of the cases (54.5%). Most of the cases with basal ganglia involvement (80%) displayed attention deficit and cognitive problems. CONCLUSION: In particular, cases with basal ganglia involvement should be followed carefully in terms of attention and cognitive problems.