Low-grade inflammation decreases emotion recognition - Evidence from the vaccination model of inflammation.

The ability to adequately interpret the mental state of another person is key to complex human social interaction. Recent evidence suggests that this ability, considered a hallmark of 'theory of mind' (ToM), becomes impaired by inflammation. However, extant supportive empirical evidence is based on experiments that induce not only inflammation but also induce discomfort and sickness, factors that could also account for temporary social impairment. Hence, an experimental inflammation manipulation was applied that avoided this confound, isolating effects of inflammation and social interaction. Forty healthy male participants (mean age = 25, SD = 5 years) participated in this double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial. Inflammation was induced using Salmonella Typhi vaccination (0.025 mg; Typhim Vi, Sanofi Pasteur, UK); saline-injection was used as a control. About 6 h 30 m after injection in each condition, participants completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), a validated test for assessing how well the mental states of others can be inferred through observation of the eyes region of the face. Vaccination induced systemic inflammation, elevating IL-6 by +419% (p < .001), without fever, sickness symptoms (e.g., nausea, light-headedness), or mood changes (all p's > .21). Importantly, compared to placebo, vaccination significantly reduced RMET accuracy (p < .05). RMET stimuli selected on valence (positive, negative, neutral) provided no evidence of a selective impact of treatment. By utilizing an inflammation-induction procedure that avoided concurrent sicknesses or symptoms in a double-blinded design, the present study provides further support for the hypothesis that immune activation impairs ToM. Such impairment may provide a mechanistic link explaining social-cognitive deficits in psychopathologies that exhibit low-grade inflammation, such as major depression.

The relationship between inflammatory state and quantity of affective episodes in bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVES: Immunological/inflammatory processes have been proposed to play an important role in the pathophysiology of mood disorders, including bipolar disorder (BD). The present study aimed to examine the influence of immune activation, measured on the basis of inflammatory markers, on the course of illness, proxied by the number of affective episodes, in patients with BD. METHODS: We investigated the relationship between high-sensitive CRP (hsCRP) and Interleukin 6 (IL-6), two inflammatory markers and characteristics of course of illness (e.g. number of affective episodes, depressive and manic symptoms) amongst a group of 190 individuals with BD. RESULTS: Among females with BD, there was a positive correlation between levels of hsCRP and the number of manic and depressive episodes. Moreover, levels of hsCRP and IL-6 were positively correlated with current manic symptoms, as measured by Young-Mania-Rating-Scale. There were no significant correlations between levels of the foregoing inflammatory markers, and manic and depressive symptoms in male individuals with BD. Furthermore, compared to their untreated counterparts, female patients treated with lithium demonstrated higher levels of hsCRP and male patients treated with atypical antipsychotics lower levels of hsCRP, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are suggesting that the association between inflammatory state and affective response in patients with BD may be gender-dependent. A future research would be to evaluate whether or not these gender differences can be observed in other inflammatory pathways associated with BD.

Are mood and anxiety disorders and alexithymia associated with endometriosis? A preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this preliminary study was to determine whether psychiatric disorders, psychopathological symptoms, and alexithymia are associated with endometriosis in an Italian population. STUDY DESIGN: A preliminary study comprising 37 Italian patients with surgically confirmed endometriosis and 43 controls, without clinical and ultrasound signs of endometriosis, was carried out. Both patients and controls were evaluated for the presence/absence of psychiatric disorders, psychopathological symptoms, alexithymia, and pain symptoms (nonmenstrual pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and dyspareunia). RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found between cases and controls for prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders, malfunctioning on obsessive-compulsive subscale (P < 0.01) and depression subscale (P < 0.05) of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revisited (SCL-90-R), and higher alexithymia levels (P < 0.01). Patients with endometriosis-associated pain showed greater prevalence of psychiatric disorders compared to pain-free patients but that difference was not significant. Significant correlation was found between malfunctioning in some SCL-90-R dimensions and pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and dyspareunia scores at the visual analog score (VAS). CONCLUSION: Some psychopathological aspects, such as psychoemotional distress and alexithymia, are more frequent in women with endometriosis and might amplify pain symptoms in these patients.

Aspectos cognitivos en la depresión / Cognitive Aspects of Depression

La depresión mayor (DM) es una de las afecciones más frecuentes en salud mental, esperándose un incremento de esta para el año 2020 (WHO). Se ha efectuado una revisión de los estudios recientes existentes acerca de las alteraciones cognitivas en pacientes con depresión mayor, concluyéndose en varios estudios, incluido un metanálisis, que los pacientes con DM tienen alteraciones en las funciones ejecutivas, comparados con sujetos sanos. Este hecho se ha observado tanto en pacientes con reiterados episodios de depresión mayor como en aquellos con el primer episodio. Esta alteración cognitiva puede llevar a dificultades en el rendimiento laboral, escolar, social, etc. Por ello, surge la necesidad de profundizar el estudio de este aspecto poco analizado de la depresión, así como capacitar a los profesionales de la salud en su detección y reconocimiento precoz, ya que podría constituir un síntoma trazador de la evolución de la enfermedad depresiva

Major depression (MD) is one of the most frequent diseases of mental health; this disorder is expected to increase by 2020 (WHO). The author does a revision of recent existing studies on cognitive alterations in patients with major depression, many of which, including a meta-analysis, conclude that such patients display alterations in their execuive functions, as compared with healthy subjects. This has been observed both in patients with repeated episodes of major depression, as well as in patients with a first episode. This congnitive alteration may lead to difficulties in work, school, social, etc. performance. Therefore, it becomes necessary to delve into the study of this poorly analyzed aspect of depression, and train health care professionals in its prompt detection and identification, since it might be a revealing symptom of the progression of the depressive disorder

La demencia frontotemporal en la consulta psiquiátrica / Frontotemporal Dementia in the Psychiatric Consultation

La Demencia Lobar Fronto Temporal (DFTL) variante frontal suele ser subdiagnosticada por presentar síntomas psiquiátricos y preservación de la memoria hasta etapas muy avanzadas de la enfermedad. Se inicia durante la mediana edad con trastornos conductuales, afectivos y del habla. Frecuentemente es tratada erróneamente como trastorno depresivo, esquizofrenia o psicosis funcional durante las primeras fases. Es la 3ra causa de demencia degenerativa y la 2da causa en menores de 65 años. Es por ello que considero importante el tener en cuenta su diagnóstico y diagnósticos diferenciales con patologías psiquiátricas y también orgánicas como la del Cerebro Hundido (FBSS) que suele diagnosticarse como DFTL. Se abordan las definiciones, prevalencia, incidencia, factores de riesgo, genética, clasificaciones, criterios diagnósticos, diagnósticos diferenciales y abordajes terapéuticas

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) with frontal variant is usually underdiagnosed for presenting psychiatric symptoms and the preservation of memory until very advanced stages of the disease. Its onset is during midlife with behavioral, affective and speech disorders. it is frequently mistreated as depressive disorder, schizophrenia or functional psychosis during the first phases. It's the third cause of degenerative dementia and the second cause among people below 65 years-old. This is why I consider it important to take into consideration its diagnosis and differential diagnoses with sychiatric as well as organic pathologies such as the "Sagging Brain" which is usually diagnosed as FTLD. This article includes definitions, prevalence, incidence, risk factors, genetics, classifications, diagnostic criteria, differential diagnoses and therapeutic approch

Alexithymia and tissue inflammation.

BACKGROUND: Altered immune responses are seen in depression, and recent data suggest that similar changes could also be observable in alexithymia. We examined whether the inflammatory markers high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin (IL)-6 are independently related to alexithymia or its factors in a population-based sample. METHODS: This study formed a clinical part of the Kuopio Depression (KUDEP) general population study focusing on the mental health of a general population of adults aged 25-64 years (n = 308). Alexithymia was measured using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-21). RESULTS: The levels of IL-6 (in picograms per milliliter) and hs-CRP (in milligrams per liter) were significantly higher in alexithymic than in nonalexithymic subjects (IL-6 effect size, ES: 0.50; hs-CRP ES: 0.27). The BDI scores, hs-CRP and IL-6 explained 33.5% of the variation in TAS scores in the whole study population. According to logistic regression analysis, hs-CRP but not IL-6 increased the likelihood of belonging to the alexithymic group. This observation remained unaltered after additional adjustments for chronic inflammation-related disorders, the use of inflammation-modulating medications and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the association between hs-CRP and alexithymia resembles that observed in depressed patients. It is, however, independent of depressive symptoms. These findings widen our view on the stress-alexithymia concept.

Emotions and their cognitive control in children with cerebellar tumors.

A constellation of deficits, termed the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS), has been reported following acquired cerebellar lesions. We studied emotion identification and the cognitive control of emotion in children treated for acquired tumors of the cerebellum. Participants were 37 children (7-16 years) treated for cerebellar tumors (19 benign astrocytomas (AST), 18 malignant medulloblastomas (MB), and 37 matched controls (CON). The Emotion Identification Task investigated recognition of happy and sad emotions in music. In two cognitive control tasks, we investigated whether children could identify emotion in situations in which the emotion in the music and the emotion in the lyrics was either congruent or incongruent. Children with cerebellar tumors identified emotion as accurately and quickly as controls (p > .05), although there was a significant interaction of emotions and group (p < .01), with the MB group performing less accurately identifying sad emotions, and both cerebellar tumor groups were impaired in the cognitive control of emotions (p < .01). The fact that childhood acquired cerebellar tumors disrupt cognitive control of emotion rather than emotion identification provides some support for a model of the CCAS as a disorder, not so much of emotion as of the regulation of emotion by cognition.

Pramipexol en pacientes con apatía / Pramipexole in patients with apathy

Introducción: la apatía es un estado mental patológico, adquirido, que se caracteriza por una disminución del interés, pérdida de la motivación y/o déficit en la iniciación de la autoactivación, tanto cognitiva, como motora. Objetivo: evaluar la eficacia de pramipexol en pacientes ambulatorios con apatía. Método: diez pacientes ambulatorios con criterios clínicos de apatía (DSM-IV-like, Marin et al.) y un puntaje de 42+/-1 en la Escala de Evaluación de Apatía (AES) fueron ingresados al estudio. Los pacientes fueron evaluados al inicio, al mes y a los tres meses con la Escala de evaluación de Apatía (AES). Al ingreso del estudio se incluyó, también, laboratorio completo, una resonancia magnética de cerebro (RMN), el Inventario de depresión de Beck (BDI-I) y el MEC-30 (Miniexamen cognoscitivo) con el objetivo de evaluar patología psiquiátrica y/o neurológica coexistente. El ingreso de los pacientes al estudio se hizo entre octubre y diciembre de 2008. Conclusión: la apatía mejoró significativamente con el tratamiento, evidenciado al AES con un incremento promedio del 40,57 % respecto del inicio (valor incremento:9,75, DST: 6,78) siendo bien tolerado (dosis media: 0,125 mg/día), sn efectos secundarios significativos.

Background: Apathy is a mental disease, acquired, characterized by a diminished interest, loss of motivation with deficits in the initiation of self-activation, both cognitive and motor. Objective: Evaluate the efficacy of pramipexole in outpatients with apathy. Methods: were recluted ten autpatients with clinical criteria for apathy. The initial score was 42+/-1 in the AES (Apathy Evaluation Scale) when admitted to the study. Patients were assessed at baseline, at one month and finally at threee months using the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES). At study entry was also included a complete laboratory, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I) and the MeC-30 (Mini Mental State Examination) in order to assess psychiatric disorders and exclude coexisting neurological or clinical pathology. The patients admission to the study was done between October and December, 2008. Conclusion: Apathy was improved significantly with treatment as evidenced at AES with an average of 40.57 % from baseline (value increase: 9.75, STD: 6.78) and well to lerted (mean dose: 0.125 mg/day).

Cuestiones actuales en terapia cognitiva / Current questions on cognitive therapy

La Terapia Cognitiva es uno de los modelos de intervención y explicación de la psicopatología que se ha mostrado más efectivo en los últimos años (Riso, 2006). Desde sus inicios, a partir de los trabajos de Albert Ellis y Aaron Beck en los años sesenta, se ha presentado un desarrollo progresivo, que ha logrado mostrar importantes avances en el tratamiento de trastornos del estado de ánimo (Depresión mayor y Trastorno Bipolar), trastornos de Ansiedad, trastornos de la conducta alimentaria, así como algunos menos documentados, pero en los que se ha evidenciado el impacto de la intervención.

Cognitive Therapy is one of the models of intervention and explanation of psychopathology that has been shown to be most effective in recent years (Laughter, 2006). From the beginning, from the work of Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck in the sixties, there has been a progressive development, which has been able to show important advances in the treatment of mood disorders (Major Depression and Bipolar Disorder), Anxiety disorders, food conduct disorders, as well as some less documented, but the impact of intervention has been evidenced.

Síntomas dolorosos y deprsión en la consulta ambulatoria en Salud Mental / Pain complaints and depression in ambulatory care patients from a mental health department

Se evaluú una muestra de 97 pacientes en consulta ambulatoria de un Servicio de Salud Mental perteneciente a un Hospital General, sin patología orgánica demostrabale, a fin de determinar la asociación entre síndrome depresivo, definido por varias escalas (Symptom Check List 90R (Schl 90 R), Millon, Hamilton), y dolor reportado por los mismos (Schl 90 R), asociándose significativamente (p:<0,001) entre sí, y con otros factores de riesgo, tales como Ansiedad medida por el Cuestionario Autoevaluativo de Ansiedad (Stai), estado y rasgo) (p:<0,001), Estrés (Escala de Estrés Percibido de Fernández Seara y Mielgo Robles: EAE) (p:<0,001), y Alexitimia (Escala de Toronto: TAS) (p:<0,001). Se recomienda la detección sistemática de la presencia de dolor, y sus factores de riesgo descriptos, en las consultas ambulatorias por síntomas depresivos, jerarquizando el componente físico en la sintomatología del síndrome, para su correcta evaluación y tratamiento.

Cerebellar tumour presenting with pathological laughter and gelastic syncope.

There is no report of patients in whom pathological laughter, a rare condition characterized by uncontrollable episodes of laughter usually triggered by unrelated stimuli, was ever closely associated with a loss of consciousness overtly linked with the onset of such uncontrollable laughter, also referred to as a gelastic syncope. A 53-year-old man presented with a 4-month history of syncope following intense and uncoordinated laughter. Physical and neurological examination was normal and the patient had no other typical cerebellar signs. We found a mass in the cerebellar vermis abutting the floor of the fourth ventricle, which upon histological examination after surgery proved to be an ependymoma. We emphasize that pathological laughter and gelastic syncope could represent unique and sole features of a cerebellar disorder.

A case of atypical psychosis associated with alexithymia and a left fronto-temporal lesion: possible correlations.

The case history is presented of a man with an atypical psychosis and classical clinical features of alexithymia. On his last admission, the patient presented with starvation and hypernatremic coma. A CT scan, which was done because of the coma, revealed a large left fronto-temporal arachnoid cyst. The significance of this finding is reviewed in the light of previously suggested organic bases for alexithymia and related syndromes. Although the symptom of alexithymia is present, the patient's other symptoms do not fit readily into existing diagnostic categories and the resulting diagnostic dilemma is discussed.

[Role of structures in the left temporal lobe of the brain in the etiology of emotiono-affective disorders in epileptics]. / Znachenie struktur levoi visochnoi doli mozga v geneze émotsional'no-affektivnykh rasstroistv u bol'nykh épilepsiei.

The characteristics of the constant emotional background and of paroxysmal affective disorders were studied in a series of 226 patients with temporal epilepsy, including 131 who had undergone either open or sterotaxic surgery. According to the nature of the emotional pathology, all the patients were divided into four groups. Noticeable dependence was ascertained between the intensity of emotional changes and the extension of the epileptogenic zone. The emotional-affective pathological manifestations noted in patients with the right-side versus left-side localization of the epileptogenic focus are compared. A conclusion is drawn that the localization of the epileptogenic focus (foci) in the mediobasal temporal formations of the left hemisphere causes more frequent and pronounced disorders of the emotional behaviour in patients suffering from different epileptic paroxysms.