Functional Connectivity and Quantitative EEG in Women with Alcohol Use Disorders: A Resting-State Study.

This study was aimed at exploring the electroencephalographic features associated with alcohol use disorders (AUD) during a resting-state condition, by using quantitative EEG and Functional Connectivity analyses. In addition, we explored whether EEG functional connectivity is associated with trait impulsivity. Absolute and relative powers and Synchronization Likelihood (SL) as a measure of functional connectivity were analyzed in 15 AUD women and fifteen controls matched in age, gender and education. Correlation analysis between self-report impulsivity as measured by the Barratt impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and SL values of AUD patients were performed. Our results showed increased absolute and relative beta power in AUD patients compared to matched controls, and reduced functional connectivity in AUD patients predominantly in the beta and alpha bands. Impaired connectivity was distributed at fronto-central and occipito-parietal regions in the alpha band, and over the entire scalp in the beta band. We also found that impaired functional connectivity particularly in alpha band at fronto-central areas was negative correlated with non-planning dimension of impulsivity. These findings suggest that functional brain abnormalities are present in AUD patients and a disruption of resting-state EEG functional connectivity is associated with psychopathological traits of addictive behavior.

The determinants of COVID-induced brain dysfunctions after SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized patients.

The severity of the pandemic and its consequences on health and social care systems were quite diverse and devastating. COVID-19 was associated with an increased risk of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders after SARS-CoV-2 infection. We did a cross-sectional study of 3 months post-COVID consequences of 178 Cuban subjects. Our study has a unique CUBAN COVID-19 cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and healthy subjects. We constructed a latent variable for pre-health conditions (PHC) through Item Response Theory (IRT) and for post-COVID neuropsychiatric symptoms (Post-COVID-NPS) through Factor Analysis (FA). There seems to be a potential causal relationship between determinants of CIBD and post-COVID-NPS in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The causal relationships accessed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that PHC (p < 0.001) and pre-COVID cognitive impairments (p < 0.001) affect the severity of COVID-19 patients. The severity of COVID-19 eventually results in enhanced post-COVID-NPS (p < 0.001), even after adjusting for confounders (age, sex, and pre-COVID-NPS). The highest loadings in PHC were for cardiovascular diseases, immunological disorders, high blood pressure, and diabetes. On the other hand, sex (p < 0.001) and pre-COVID-NPS including neuroticism (p < 0.001), psychosis (p = 0.005), cognition (p = 0.036), and addiction (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with post-COVID-NPS. The most common neuropsychiatric symptom with the highest loadings includes pain, fatigue syndrome, autonomic dysfunctionalities, cardiovascular disorders, and neurological symptoms. Compared to healthy people, COVID-19 patients with pre-health comorbidities or pre-neuropsychiatric conditions will have a high risk of getting severe COVID-19 and long-term post-COVID neuropsychiatric consequences. Our study provides substantial evidence to highlight the need for a complete neuropsychiatric follow-up on COVID-19 patients (with severe illness) and survivors (asymptomatic patients who recovered).

Consideraciones históricas de la rehabilitación comunitaria en psiquiatría / Historical considerations of community rehabilitation in psychiatry

La psiquiatría comunitaria está llamada a convertirse en la opción fundamental para prevenir y tratar los trastornos mentales a partir de sus recursos asistenciales, así como las acciones de rehabilitación e incorporación de los pacientes a la comunidad sobre la base de la utilización de técnicas, métodos, teorías de la psiquiatría social y otras ciencias sociales para investigación, y satisfacer las necesidades de salud mental de una comunidad. Esta necesidad se ha enfrentado a múltiples obstáculos que son los que se analizan en este trabajo. Su factibilidad se destaca a partir de múltiples avances que incluye el desarrollo científico-técnico en la psiquiatría y ha creado las bases para la reinserción de los enfermos mentales a la sociedad, teniendo que superar la mentalidad existente que relaciona a estos enfermos con la violencia, la impredictibilidad de la conducta , lo polimorfo de las manifestaciones psicopatológicas y conductuales. Se hace un análisis en distintos países, incluso dentro de un mismo país, de modelos y experiencias particulares. Se concluye que la psiquiatría comunitaria está llamada a convertirse en los próximos años, en la alternativa a seguir en el tratamiento de enfermos psiquiátricos, por lo que su implementación práctica debe constituir una meta de la psiquiatría actual

Estudio neuroquímico en pacientes neurasténicos / Biochemical studies amoung neurastenic patients

Se realiza un estudio neuroquímico en 30 pacientes neurasténicos y en 30 sujetos supuestamente sanos. Se hacen análisis estadísticos mediante el test de distribución entre 2 medias y el de 2 muestras de Kolmogorov-Smirnov. Se encuentran alteraciones significativas en los sistemas serotoninérgico, noradrenérgico y dopaminérgico, y alteraciones plasmáticas de algunos aminoácidos. Se concluye que existe una hiperactividad serotoninérgica en el 86 por ciento de los pacientes estudiados y una estrecha relación entre los sistemas noradrenérgicos y dopaminérgicos