Depressive symptomatology in adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Depression entails changes in the mental health of individuals worldwide. Episodes of depression lead to mood swings and changes in the motivational dimension. Our research focused on the prevalence of depression in the adult population and on how it affected the social and affective dimensions. Owing to the current pandemic, we deemed it necessary to explore how protective measures against COVID-19 infection, such as quarantines, could be related to mental health. Moreover, we found it important to determine the prevalence of depressive and anxious symptomatology in adults from the Valle del Cauca region in Colombia during the social isolation connected to COVID-19. Our study was descriptive, analytical and cross-sectional, and involved 1248 subjects. As tools, we used the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. The data demonstrated that women were more likely to display symptoms of depression and that individuals aged between 24 and 29 were less likely to reveal symptoms of anxiety than those aged between 18 and 23. Moreover, childless or economically dependent individuals proved to be more likely to display symptoms of depression during the pandemic.

Religiosidad y cerebro: Las funciones neuropsicológicas en personas creyentes / Religiosity and Brain: Neuropsychological Functions in Believers

Resumen La neuropsicología de la religión permite una apertura científica a la explicación del fenómeno religioso y su impacto en el psiquismo, el presente documento intenta una reflexión que da cuenta de esa estrecha relación e influencia que ejerce la práctica religiosa en la salud mental y en el desarrollo de funciones neuropsicológicas en las personas. Dicha relación, se fortalece con los descubrimientos contemporáneos de la neurociencia cognitiva y la antropobiología.

Abstract Neuropsychology of religion allows a scientific openness to the explanation of the religious phenomenon, and its impact on psychism. This document attempts a re flection, which gives an account of this close relationship, and influence exerted by religious practice on mental health and the development of neuropsychological functions in people. This relationship is strengthened by contemporary discoveries of cognitive neuroscience and anthropology.

Desempeño neuropsicológico ejecutivo de adultos mayores con riesgo cardiovascular: evidencia desde el departamento del Quindío, Colombia / Executive neuropsychological performance of older adults with cardiovascular risk: evidence from Quindío, Colombia

El presente artículo introduce un estudio cuantitativo en el que se compararon los desempeños neuropsicológicos ejecutivos en 20 adultos mayores con antecedentes de riesgo cardiovascular o ACV y sus pares sin dicha condición. Para dicho objetivo se empleó el tamizaje mini mental como criterio de inclusión en la muestra. Igualmente, la investigación indagó la correlación entre el nivel de rendimiento ejecutivo ante la batería neuropsicológica de funciones ejecutivas BANFE 2 y los factores de riesgo cardiovascular. Finalmente, los resultados indicaron que sujetos con historial de ACV presentaron un desempeño más bajo en las funciones ejecutivas orbito frontales y frontal anterior.

The following article introduces a quantitative study in which executive neuropsychological performances were compared in 20 older adults with a history of cardiovascular risk or stroke and their peers without such condition. Mini-mental screening was used as a criterion for inclusion in the sample. The research investigated the correlation between the level of executive performance in the neuropsychological battery of executive functions BANFE 2 and cardiovascular risk factors. Finally, the results indicated that subjects with a history of stroke presented a lower performance in executive functions at the orbitofrontal and frontal lobe.

Filogenia y desarrollo de funciones ejecutivas * / Phylogeny and executive functions development

Resumen El presente documento reflexiona acerca del valor filogenético que tiene para la especie humana el desarrollo de la corteza prefrontal y las funciones ejecutivas. Dicho análisis parte de la revisión de estudios empíricos sobre la génesis de estas en la infancia y la patología de las mismas durante el desarrollo, así como de las evidencias etológicas y paleoantropológicas del proceso de hominización. Igualmente, se discute en el artículo la forma como estas funciones neuropsicológicas le permiten al homo sapiens compensar su carácter biológico de inmadurez y falta de especialidades anatómicas.

Abstract This paper aims to reflect on the phylogenetic value that the development of the pre-frontal cor tex and its executive functions represent for human beings. This analysis is based on the review of empirical studies related to genesis and pathology during childhood, as well as ethological evidence and the process of paleo-anthropological hominization. This paper also analyzes the way these neuropsychological functions allow Homo sapiens to compensate for their biological charac ter of immaturity and lack of anatomical specialties.