Since February 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 spread to several countries worldwide, including Italy. In this study, we aimed to assess the psychopathological impact of the pandemic across the ...general population of Lombardy, the most affected Italian region, and to compare the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms between the general public and healthcare workers.
Four hundred and thirty-two participants completed an online survey including: the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 items (DASS-21), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PQSI). Healthcare workers were also asked to complete the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).
At the DASS-21, 33.3% of the responders presented pathological levels of stress, 25.5% of anxiety, and 35.9% of depression. At the IES-R, 13.9% appeared at risk of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). At the PSQI, 57.6% presented sleep disturbances. Female gender and younger age predicted higher scores of distress. Healthcare workers presented higher levels of psychiatric symptoms than the general public. Moreover, working in contact with COVID-19 patients predicted higher scores at the IES-R subscale Intrusion.
Our results showed that about a third of our sample presented symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression during the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Lombardy; more than half of the responders presented sleep disturbances, and 13% appeared at risk of PTSD. Italian authorities should develop specific strategies to guarantee psychological support to the population of Lombardy, with particular attention to women, young people, and healthcare workers exposed to COVID-19 patients.
The pathophysiology of functional movement disorders Demartini, Benedetta; Nisticò, Veronica; Edwards, Mark J. ...
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews,
January 2021, 2021-01-00, 20210101, Letnik:
120
Journal Article
Recenzirano
•The pathophysiology of Functional movement disorder (FMD) is still unclear.•We critically reviewed neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies on FMD.•We propose amygdala hyperactivation as a ...possible biological marker for FMD.•Amygdala’s aberrant functional connectivity might account for FMD symptomatology.
Functional neurological disorder is characterized by neurological symptoms that cannot be explained by typical neurological diseases or other medical conditions. This review will critically discuss the literature on the pathophysiology of functional movement disorders (FMD), including functional neuroimaging studies, neurophysiological studies, studies on biomarkers and genetic studies. According to PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, we selected 39 studies. A complex scenario emerged, with the involvement of different areas of the brain in the pathophysiology of FMD. Our findings showed a hypoactivation of the contralateral primary motor cortex, a decreased activity in the parietal lobe, an aberrant activation of the amygdala, an increased temporo-parietal junction activity and a hyperactivation of insular regions in patients with FMD. Functional connectivity (FC) findings underlined aberrant connections between amygdala and motor areas, temporo-parietal junction and insula. We proposed amygdala hyperactivation as a possible biological marker for FMD and FC alterations between amygdala and other areas of the brain as consequent epiphenomena, accounting for the pathophysiological complexity of FMD. These conclusions might drive novel treatment hypotheses.
Purpose
To explore the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression, along with PTSD- and ED-related symptoms, across a sample of patients with Eating Disorders (EDs) compared to a group of ...healthy controls (HC) during the lockdown period in Italy; to assess whether patients’ reported aforementioned psychiatric symptoms improved, remained stable or worsened with the easing of the lockdown measures.
Methods
t0 assessment (during lockdown): 59 ED patients and 43 HC completed an online survey, including the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 items (DASS-21), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and specific ad-hoc questions extracted from the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire; t1 assessment (post-lockdown): 40 EDs patients, a subset of the t0 sample, completed the same assessment 2 months after t0.
Results
EDs patients scored higher than HC at the DASS-21, IES-R and PSS. At t1, levels of stress, anxiety and depression were not different than at t0, but symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), patients’ reported level of psychological wellbeing and specific EDs symptomatology improved.
Discussion
During the lockdown, EDs patients presented significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD- and ED-related symptoms than HC. With the easing of the lockdown, PTSD- and ED-related symptoms improved, but high levels of stress, anxiety and depression persisted.
Level of evidence
Level I, experimental study.
Aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between sensory sensitivity and autistic eating behaviours or Eating Disorders (EDs) symptomatology, in a group of 75 adults with Autism ...Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) without intellectual disabilities, through a series of self-report questionnaires. We found that, controlling for demographic and clinical features: (i) hypersensitivity in the vision domain predicted higher levels of both EDs symptoms and autistic eating behaviours; (ii) hyposensitivity in the taste domain predicted higher levels of EDs symptoms. This gives preliminary evidence that not only in children diagnosed with ASDs, but even in adult individuals, the threshold of sensory sensitivity is associated with dysfunctional eating behaviours.
Purpose
The relationship between autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and eating disorders (EDs) has been widely studied in the last decades. We aimed to directly compare patients with EDs, individuals ...with high-functioning ASDs (HF-ASDs) and healthy controls (HC) at measures detecting: (1) symptoms of eating disorders, (2) eating disturbances known to be characteristic of autism.
Methods
Thirty-four patients with EDs, 34 individuals with HF-ASDs and 35 HC, all females, completed the eating attitude test (EAT-26) and the Swedish eating assessment for autism spectrum disorders (SWEAA), two self-report questionnaires assessing, respectively, symptoms and concerns characteristic of eating disorders and ASD-related eating disturbances.
Results
At the EAT-26, patients with EDs scored significantly higher than individuals with HF-ASDs, and both of them scored higher than HC (
p
< 0.05,
η
p
2
= 0.283). Conversely, at the SWEAA, no differences between individuals with HF-ASDs and patients with EDs emerged (
p
= 901), but they both scored higher than HC (
p
< 0.05,
η
p
2
= 0.247).
Conclusion
Individuals with HF-ASDs did not seem to reach the same level of EDs symptomatology as patients with EDs. Patients with EDs did not seem to present a different amount of autistic-eating behaviours than subjects with HF-ASDs. Patients with EDs and individuals with HF-ASDs scored higher than HC at both scales. Our results give further preliminary evidence of the overlap between autistic traits and EDs symptomatology, and should be taken into account in the definition of a shared model between EDs and ASDs.
Level of evidence
Level II; Evidence obtained from controlled trial without randomization.
•Levels of stress, anxiety and depression increased due to COVID-19-related lockdown.•We tested adult with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HF-ASDs).•HF-ASDs presented more depression, ...anxiety and PTSD symptoms than neurotypical adults.•HF-ASDs felt more comfortable and less tired thanks to social distancing.
Since February 2020, many governments of the world ordered strict social distancing rules to try to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, with a reported consequent increase in levels of stress, anxiety and depression in the general population. Aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of the aforementioned psychiatric symptoms across a sample of individuals with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (HF-ASDs) with respect to a group of neurotypical adults (NA), during the first two months of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.
45 adults with HF-ASDs and 45NA completed a structured online questionnaire, including; the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 items (DASS-21); the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R); the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). We also explored some specific aspects of participants’ psychological well-being through an ad-hoc questionnaire.
Subjects with HF-ASDs scored significantly higher than NA at the DASS-21, the IES-R Total Score and the PSS; NA reported a higher perceived change of their lifestyle during the lockdown than individuals with HF-ASDs, and subjects with HF-ASDs reported to feel more comfortable and less tired during the lockdown period, in relation to the social distancing measures adopted by Italian authorities.
Adults with HF-ASDs presented higher rates of depression, anxiety, stress and PTSD-related symptoms than NA during the first two months of COVID-19 pandemic. However, they also reported to feel subjectively more comfortable and less tired during the lockdown than before, in relation to the social distancing measures.
The observation that people with schizophrenia misattribute the source of their own actions has led to the hypothesis that they suffer from altered sensorimotor processes underlying sense of agency. ...Furthermore, rubber hand studies suggest an abnormal experience of embodiment in schizophrenia. However, this latter finding is based on a procedure that elicits ownership sensations for a fake hand by visuo-tactile stimulation, leaving the agency subcomponent of embodiment relatively untouched. By using a visuo-motor version of the embodiment illusion able to actively elicit also sense of agency for an alien hand, we tested whether the putative sensorimotor deficits are also involved in altering embodiment sensations in schizophrenia. Subjective (questionnaire) and perceptual (forearm bisection performance) indexes of the embodiment illusion were collected. Differently from controls, both the explicit agency component and the implicit body metrics update were not modulated by the extent of visuo-motor congruency in participants with schizophrenia. We conclude that motor prediction and/or temporal binding window impairments may alter the feeling of embodiment and body representation in schizophrenia.
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