Prefrontal Cortex Activation During Verbal Fluency Task and Tower of London Task in Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder.

Background: Cognitive dysfunction is a common clinical feature of mental disorders. A number of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) studies have shown reduced prefrontal activation during the verbal fluency task (VFT) in schizophrenia (SZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, no studies have examined and compared the brain activation patterns during the Tower of London (TOL), which is another classic, high-sensitivity executive function testing tool, in these two serious mental disorders. This study aimed to assess the characteristics of brain activation during the two different cognitive tasks in SZ and MDD patients. Methods: This study recruited 30 patients with SZ, 30 patients with MDD, and 30 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs). The hemodynamic changes of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) were measured using 32-channel fNIRS during performance of the TOL task and VFT task. Results: SZ patients showed poorer VFT performance than MDD patients and HCs, and the two patient groups showed poorer TOL performance than HCs. Compared to HCs, both of the patient groups exhibited a significant decreased activation in the extensive PFC. Particularly in certain channels in the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), SZ patients exhibited significantly decreased hemodynamic changes than the MDD patients. Conclusions: Patients with SZ and MDD have different levels of impairment in different cognitive domains and different patterns of brain activation during the two cognitive tasks. Further research is needed to determine the use of fNIRS for clinical evaluation and diagnosis.

Anxiety and Depression in Patients With Physical Diseases and Associated Factors: A Large-Scale Field Survey in General Hospitals in China.

Introduction: To investigate the characteristic of anxiety and depression among patients in general hospitals, and explore the degree of the clinical symptoms and correlated social economic factors. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey of anxiety and depression in patients with physical diseases, who were suspected of depression and anxiety based on their clinical performance by their physicians and PHQ ≧ 8, from various clinical departments of 57 general hospitals in China. Data regarding demographic characteristics and clinical characteristics were collected. Social and psychological factors and the severity of anxiety or depression were collected through self-rating scales. Finally, we used multivariate logistic regression to identify the factors associated with anxiety and depression in patients with physical diseases. Results: A total of 2,105 (84.6%) valid and completed questionnaires were returned. The proportion of anxiety, depression, combined depression and anxiety, either anxiety or depression among the patients with physical diseases from all clinical departments was 63.3, 75.1, 57.1, and 81.2% respectively. Further regression analysis indicated that gender, monthly income, specific physical diseases, personality traits, social supports and life negative events were related factors of both anxiety and depression. Conclusions: Anxiety and depression were common in patients with physical diseases, with a high proportion of co-morbidity of anxiety and depression. Females, patients with cancer, poor social support and negative life events reported more severe anxiety and depression. The results may help to understand the present situation of anxiety and depression in general hospitals in china, and identify the patients with high risk of depression and anxiety.