Subregions of the fusiform gyrus are differentially involved in the attentional mechanism supporting visual mental imagery in depression.

BACKGROUND: Impaired visual mental imagery is an important symptom of depression and has gradually become an intervention target for cognitive behavioral therapy. METHODS: Our study involved a total of 25 healthy controls (HC) and 23 individuals with moderate depressive symptoms (MD). This study explored the attentional mechanism supporting visual mental imagery impairments in depression using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ), attentional network test (ANT), and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). The intrinsic activity of attention-related regions relative to those supporting visual mental imagery was identified in depression patients. In addition, a meta-analysis was used to describe the cognitive function related to this intrinsic activity. RESULTS: The global correlation (GCOR) of the right anterior fusiform gyrus (FG) was decreased in depression patients. Attention-related areas were concentrated in the right posterior FG; the anterior and posterior functional connectivity (FC) of the FG was decreased in depression patients. Graph theoretic analysis showed that the degree of the right anterior FG was decreased, the degree of the anterior insula was increased, and the negative connection between these two regions was strengthened in depression patients. In addition, the degree of the right anterior FG, the FC between the subregions of the right FG, and the FC between the right anterior FG and insula were correlated with VVIQ scores; however, this correlation was not significant in depression patients. The meta-analysis suggested that the changes in the anterior FG in depressed patients may stem from difficulties of semantic memory retrieval. CONCLUSION: The changed intrinsic activity of subregions of the FG relative to the semantic memory retrieval may be associated with visual mental imagery impairments in depression.

A Large Sample Survey of Suicide Risk among University Students in China.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide risk by examining a large sample of Chinese university students and identify the predictive factors, including depressive and anxiety symptoms, for suicide attempt and suicide risk. METHODS: We recruited 6,836 students (aged 18-30) based on all students enrolled in 2016 from one university using cluster sampling. They completed four questionnaires: the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation and the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised were used to measure suicide risk, and students' depressive/anxiety symptoms were estimated using Patient Health Questionnaire and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale. RESULTS: Four major findings emerged. First, 18% of the students showed high suicide ideation, 14.5% showed suicide risk, 18.8% had suicide plans, and 1% had attempted suicide. Second, a weak sense of life's value was common among university students, as 61.4% of students considered suicide as a way to end or evade problems. Third, the results of the binary logistic regression showed that education, suicide ideation, including the wish to die, attitude toward suicide, specificity/planning of suicide, and deception or concealment of contemplated suicide were predictive factors of suicide attempt and suicide risk. The variable "deterrents to active attempt" was also a predictive factor of suicide risk. Fourth, depressive and anxiety symptoms did not significantly predict suicide attempts or suicide risk. Only 10.8% and 5.6% of the students had self-reported scores above the clinical cut-off points for depression and anxiety, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted the prevalence of suicide risk among Chinese university students. The high risk of suicide may not only be due to affective disorders, but also a weak sense of life's value or other reasons. Suicide ideation that significantly predicts suicide risk can be used for suicide risk assessment. Universities should provide appropriate life education and suicide prevention and intervention such as teaching instructors gate-keeper skills.

[Abnormal processing characteristics to basic emotional faces in the early phase in children with autism spectrum disorder].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the recognition ability and abnormal processing characteristics to basic emotional faces in the early phase in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). METHODS: Photos of Chinese static faces with four basic emotions (fearful, happy, angry and sad) were used as stimulus. Twenty-five ASD children and twenty-two age- and gender-matched typical developed children (normal controls) were asked to match the emotional faces with words. Event-related potential (ERP) data were recorded concurrently. RESULTS: N170 latencies for total emotion and fearful face in the left temporal region were faster than in the right one in normal controls (P<0.05), but the results were not noted in ASD children. Further, N170 latencies in the left temporal region of ASD children were slower than normal controls for total emotion, fearful and happy faces (P<0.05), and their N170 latencies in the right temporal region were prone to slower than normal controls for angry and fearful faces. CONCLUSIONS: The holistic perception speed of emotional faces in the early cognitive processing phase in ASD children is slower than normal controls. The lateralized response in the early phase of recognizing emotional faces may be aberrant in children with ASD.