Pesticide exposure, tobacco use, poor self-perceived health and presence of chronic disease are determinants of depressive symptoms among coffee growers from Southeast Brazil.

The lifestyle and other factors associated with the appearance of several health conditions that affect quality of life in rural zone is an issue that has been increasingly explored. Brazil is the largest coffee-producing nation in the world and has been a considerable consumer of pesticides since 2008. The aim of the present study was to investigate factors that could be contributing to the appearance of depressive symptoms in rural workers. Two hundred twenty male volunteers from nine cities in Southeast Brazil completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) questionnaire about depressive symptoms and provided other information about socio-demographic characteristics and additional confounding factors. The adjusted multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that pesticide exposure, tobacco use, poor self-perceived health and the presence of chronic disease contribute as risk factors for the appearance of depressive symptoms at a level above ups and downs considered normal in the BDI-II. This survey contributes to the search for solutions to improve quality of life and mental health in the rural living to the extent that social determinants of depression are being investigated.

Bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex changes the drug-cued reactivity in the anterior cingulate cortex of crack-cocaine addicts.

BACKGROUND: Patients addicted to crack-cocaine routinely have difficulty sustaining treatment, which could be related to dysfunctional cerebral activity that occurs in addiction. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the indirect electrophysiological effects of single transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on cocaine-addicted brains. METHODS: The patients received either left cathodal/right anodal or sham stimulation over the DLPFC. The region of interest was the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during the N2 time window (200-350 ms). Event-related potentials in the ACC were measured during visual presentation of crack-related cues or neutral cues. RESULTS: Low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) indicated that exposure to crack-related images led to increased activity in the ACC in the sham group, while the tDCS group showed decreased ACC activity after visualization of drug cues. CONCLUSION: Prefrontal tDCS specifically modulated the ACC response during exposure to visual drug cues in crack-cocaine users.