Adults with mood disorders have an increased risk profile for cardiovascular disease within the first 2 years of treatment.

OBJECTIVES: People with bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are at risk for premature death from various physical illnesses. A large component of this risk may be accounted for by an elevated risk of metabolic syndrome (MeS) and coronary heart disease (CHD). The objective of our study was to examine patients' physical health prior to first treatment and over 2 years of follow-up. METHODS: Ten-year risk for CHD and incidence of MeS were calculated for newly diagnosed patients with MDD (n = 30) and BD (n = 24) at baseline and over a 2-year follow-up. Age and sex-matched control subjects were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III dataset. RESULTS: At baseline, 11.2% of patients met diagnostic criteria for MeS and this increased to 16.8% at follow-up. Women had higher rates of MeS but rates were similar across diagnosis. There was a significant increase within all MeS criteria. The 10-year CHD risk was low for patients at baseline and follow-up but increased across the follow-up period. Changes in CHD and MeS risk were not associated with a specific type of pharmacotherapy, as all medication classes appeared to increase risk. CONCLUSION: Prior to treatment, MeS and CHD risk rates for patients were similar to the general population, but their risk of CHD increased appreciably.

Reduced substantia innominata volume mediates contributions of microvascular and macrovascular disease to cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease.

The relationships between cholinergic system damage and cerebrovascular disease are not entirely understood. Here, we investigate associations between atrophy of the substantia innominata (SI; the origin of cortical cholinergic projections) and measures of large and small vessel disease; specifically, elongation of the juxtaposed internal carotid artery termination and Cholinergic Pathways Hyperintensity scores (CHIPS). The study (n = 105) consisted of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and/or subcortical ischemic vasculopathy, and elderly controls. AD and subcortical ischemic vasculopathy groups showed greater impingement of the carotid termination on the SI and smaller SI volumes. Both carotid termination elongation and CHIPS were associated independently with smaller SI volumes in those with and without AD. Atrophy of the SI mediated effects of carotid termination elongation on language and memory functions and the effect of CHIPS on attention/working memory. In conclusion, SI atrophy was related to cerebrovascular disease of the large and small vessels and to cognitive deficits in people with and without AD.

Youth are more Vulnerable to False Memories than Middle-Aged Adults due to Liberal Response Bias.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies show changes in vulnerability to false memory formation across development and into senescence. No study, however, has compared false memory formation in the critical transition period spanning late adolescence to middle adulthood. METHOD: Using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, we explored the effects of age and of emotion on false memory formation in youth (16 to 23 years of age) and in middle-aged adults (29 to 58 years of age). RESULTS: We found that youth endorsed more false lure items than middle-aged adults. This increased vulnerability to false memory formation stemmed from a more liberal response bias in the younger group. CONCLUSIONS: Youth have a more liberal response criterion than middle-aged adults that contributes to an increased vulnerability to false memory formation. Subsequent age-related changes in response bias may reflect the maturation of frontal and temporal regions. In youth, a more liberal response bias may contribute to the heightened propensity for poor decision-making seen in this population.