The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic brought several worldwide health, social, and economic disturbances-particularly associated with the imposed confinement measures-that raised concerns about an ...emerging public mental health crisis. Studies investigating the early mental health impact of the pandemic on general population and vulnerable groups, such as healthcare workers, revealed a high prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms, among others, and found several risk and protective factors. Along with these findings, the risk of substance use, suicide, domestic violence, and complicated grief may increase. We further discuss interventions that can be applied at a governmental, institutional, and individual level to minimize the mental health consequences of the pandemic, such as using telehealth to provide remote support or practicing self-care. These interventions should be maintained after the initial outbreak, as current disturbances may impact long-term well-being. We encourage the development of longitudinal studies to assess long-term adaptive responses.
Emotion-regulation strategies are understood to influence food intake. This study examined the neurophysiological underpinnings of negative emotion processing and emotion regulation in individuals ...with excess weight compared to normal-weight controls. Fifteen participants with excess-weight (body mass index >25) and sixteen normal-weight controls (body mass index 18-25) performed an emotion-regulation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants were exposed to 24 negative affective or neutral pictures that they were instructed to Observe (neutral pictures), Maintain (sustain the emotion elicited by negative pictures) or Regulate (down-regulate the emotion provoked by negative pictures through previously trained reappraisal techniques). When instructed to regulate negative emotions by means of cognitive reappraisal, participants with excess weight displayed persistently heightened activation in the right anterior insula. Decreased responsivity was also found in right anterior insula, the orbitofrontal cortex and cerebellum during negative emotion experience in participants with excess weight. Psycho-physiological interaction analyses showed that excess-weight participants had decreased negative functional coupling between the right anterior insula and the right dlPFC, and the bilateral dmPFC during cognitive reappraisal. Our findings support contentions that excess weight is linked to an abnormal pattern of neural activation and connectivity during the experience and regulation of negative emotions, with the insula playing a key role in these alterations. We posit that ineffective regulation of emotional states contributes to the acquisition and preservation of excess weight.
Despite emotion regulation being altered in patients with obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD), no studies have investigated its relation to multimodal amygdala connectivity. We compared corticolimbic ...functional and structural connectivity between OCD patients and healthy controls (HCs), and correlated this with the dispositional use of emotion regulation strategies and with OCD severity.
OCD patients (n = 73) and HCs (n = 42) were assessed for suppression and reappraisal strategies using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and for OCD severity using the Yale‐Brown Obsessive‐Compulsive Scale. Resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fMRI) connectivity maps were generated using subject‐specific left amygdala (LA) and right amygdala (RA) masks. We identified between‐group differences in amygdala whole‐brain connectivity, and evaluated the moderating effect of ERQ strategies. Significant regions and amygdala seeds were used as targets in probabilistic tractography analysis.
Patients scored higher in suppression and lower in reappraisal. We observed higher rs‐fMRI RA–right postcentral gyrus (PCG) connectivity in HC, and in patients this was correlated with symptom severity. Reappraisal scores were associated with higher negative LA–left insula connectivity in HC, and suppression scores were negatively associated with LA–precuneus and angular gyri connectivity in OCD. Structurally, patients showed higher mean diffusivity in tracts connecting the amygdala with the other targets.
RA–PCG connectivity is diminished in patients, while disrupted emotion regulation is related to altered amygdala connectivity with the insula and posterior brain regions. Our results are the first showing, from a multimodal perspective, the association between amygdala connectivity and specific emotional processing domains, emphasizing the importance of amygdala connectivity in OCD pathophysiology.
Coffee is the most widely consumed source of caffeine worldwide, partly due to the psychoactive effects of this methylxanthine. Interestingly, the effects of its chronic consumption on the brain's ...intrinsic functional networks are still largely unknown. This study provides the first extended characterization of the effects of chronic coffee consumption on human brain networks. Subjects were recruited and divided into two groups: habitual coffee drinkers (CD) and non-coffee drinkers (NCD). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was acquired in these volunteers who were also assessed regarding stress, anxiety, and depression scores. In the neuroimaging evaluation, the CD group showed decreased functional connectivity in the somatosensory and limbic networks during resting state as assessed with independent component analysis. The CD group also showed decreased functional connectivity in a network comprising subcortical and posterior brain regions associated with somatosensory, motor, and emotional processing as assessed with network-based statistics; moreover, CD displayed longer lifetime of a functional network involving subcortical regions, the visual network and the cerebellum. Importantly, all these differences were dependent on the frequency of caffeine consumption, and were reproduced after NCD drank coffee. CD showed higher stress levels than NCD, and although no other group effects were observed in this psychological assessment, increased frequency of caffeine consumption was also associated with increased anxiety in males. In conclusion, higher consumption of coffee and caffeinated products has an impact in brain functional connectivity at rest with implications in emotionality, alertness, and readiness to action.
Daily routines are getting increasingly stressful. Interestingly, associations between stress perception and amygdala volume, a brain region implicated in emotional behaviour, have been observed in ...both younger and older adults. Life stress, on the other hand, has become pervasive and is no longer restricted to a specific age group or life stage. As a result, it is vital to consider stress as a continuum across the lifespan. In this study, we investigated the relationship between perceived stress and amygdala size in 272 healthy participants with a broad age range. Participants were submitted to a structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to extract amygdala volume, and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) scores were used as the independent variable in volumetric regressions. We found that perceived stress is positively associated with the right amygdala volume throughout life.
Previous studies have shown associations between stress perception and amygdala volume in narrow age‐ranged cohorts. Life stress, on the other hand, has become pervasive and is no longer restricted to a specific age group or life stage. Herein, using a sizeable healthy cohort, we show that perceived stress is positively associated with the right amygdala volume across lifespan.
•Putamen volume increases in OCD overlap with functional alterations.•Putamen subregions of alteration depend on the psychological domain evaluated.•Left postero-dorsal hyperactivations were observed ...during executive tasks.•Emotional tasks were related to predominantly right antero-ventral hyperactivations.•Right putamen volume increases were correlated with age.
Neuroimaging research has shown that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may present brain structural and functional alterations, but the results across imaging modalities and task paradigms are difficult to reconcile. Are the same brain systems that are structurally different in OCD patients also involved in executive function and emotional processing? To answer this, we conducted separate meta-analyses of voxel-based morphometry studies, executive function functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, and emotional processing fMRI studies. Next, with a multimodal approach (conjunction analysis), we identified the common alterations across meta-analyses. Patients presented increased gray matter volume and hyperactivation in the putamen, but the putamen subregions affected differed depending on the psychological process. Left posterior/dorsal putamen showed hyperactivation during executive processing tasks, while predominantly right anterior/ventral putamen showed hyperactivation during emotional processing tasks. Interestingly, age was significantly associated with increased right putamen volume. Finally, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was hyperactive in both functional domains. Our findings highlight task-specific correlates of brain structure and function in OCD and help integrate a growing literature.
•Changes in mental health during the state of emergency in Portugal were explored.•Depression, anxiety and stress symptoms improved as the weeks passed.•On the other hand, the perception of quality ...of life and sleep got worse.•Being female, younger, working and extroverted were beneficial factors.•Having a psychiatric or physical disorder and higher neuroticism were risk factors.
The outbreak of COVID-19 and the physical isolation measures taken by the governments to reduce its propagation might have negative psychological consequences on the population. In this study, we aimed to explore, for the first time, how mental health status fluctuated along the weeks of the emergency state in Portugal, and to identify which factors may shape these changes in mental health outcomes.
To this end, we conducted an online survey to evaluate demographic, lifestyle and mental health variables (DASS-21 and quality of life) in the Portuguese population at three different time-points. 748 participants (mean age = 39.52, % females = 79.95) provided data at all time-points.
We observed that depression, anxiety and stress symptoms seemed to improve as the weeks passed during the state of emergency, while the perception of quality of life and sleep got worse. In particular, being female, younger, actively working, and extroverted appear to be protective factors of mental health adaptability during this particular period. On the contrary, having a psychiatric diagnosis or physical illness, and higher neuroticism seem to be risk factors for mental health worsening.
The lack of a more diverse sample could limit the generalizability of our results, and other factors that were not considered in our analysis might also have a significant impact on mental health.
Our results provide relevant and novel insights about the course of mental health changes and its predictors during the outbreak of COVID-19, which may help identify potential vulnerability groups.
Preliminary evidence suggests that hoarding disorder (HD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may show distinct patterns of brain activation during executive performance, although results have ...been inconclusive regarding the specific neural correlates of their differential executive dysfunction. In the current study, we aim to evaluate differences in brain activation between patients with HD, OCD and healthy controls (HCs) during response inhibition, response switching and error processing.
We assessed 17 patients with HD, 18 patients with OCD and 19 HCs. Executive processing was assessed inside a magnetic resonance scanner by means of two variants of a cognitive control protocol (i.e. stop- and switch-signal tasks), which allowed for the assessment of the aforementioned executive domains.
OCD patients performed similar to the HCs, differing only in the number of successful go trials in the switch-signal task. However, they showed an anomalous hyperactivation of the right rostral anterior cingulate cortex during error processing in the switch-signal task. Conversely, HD patients performed worse than OCD and HC participants in both tasks, showing an impulsive-like pattern of response (i.e. shorter reaction time and more commission errors). They also exhibited hyperactivation of the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex during successful response switching and abnormal deactivation of frontal regions during error processing in both tasks.
Our results support that patients with HD and OCD present dissimilar cognitive profiles, supported by distinct neural mechanisms. Specifically, while alterations in HD resemble an impulsive pattern of response, patients with OCD present increased error processing during response conflict protocols.
Neuroimaging research has shown that patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) present brain structural and functional alterations, but the results across imaging modalities and task paradigms are difficult ...to reconcile. Specifically, no meta-analyses have tested whether the same brain systems that are structurally different in SCZ patients are also involved in neurocognitive and social cognitive tasks. To answer this, we conducted separate meta-analyses of voxel-based morphometry, neurocognitive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and social cognitive fMRI studies. Next, with a multimodal approach, we identified the common alterations across meta-analyses. Further exploratory meta-analyses were performed taking into account several clinical variables (illness duration, medication status, and symptom severity). A cluster covering the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and the supplementary motor area (SMA), and the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), presented shared structural and neurocognitive-related activation decreases, while the right angular gyrus presented shared decreases between structural and social cognitive-related activation. The exploratory meta-analyses replicated to some extent these findings, while new regions of alterations appeared in patient subgroups with specific clinical features. In conclusion, we found task-specific correlates of brain structure and function in SCZ, which help summarize and integrate a growing literature.
Identifying and integrating the neural correlates of suicidal ideation and behaviors is crucial to expand the knowledge and develop targeted strategies to prevent suicide. This review aimed to ...describe the neural correlates of suicidal ideation, behavior and the transition between them, using different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities, providing an up-to-date overview of the literature. To be included, the observational, experimental, or quasi-experimental studies must include adult patients currently diagnosed with major depressive disorder and investigate the neural correlates of suicidal ideation, behavior and/or the transition using MRI. The searches were conducted on PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge and Scopus. Fifty articles were included in this review: 22 on suicidal ideation, 26 on suicide behaviors and two on the transition between them. The qualitative analysis of the included studies suggested alterations in the frontal, limbic and temporal lobes in suicidal ideation associated with deficits in emotional processing and regulation, and in the frontal, limbic, parietal lobes, and basal ganglia in suicide behaviors associated with impairments in decision-making. Gaps in the literature and methodological concerns were identified and might be addressed in future studies.
•Suicidal ideation and attempts have common and distinct neural correlates in MDD•Frontal and limbic lobes are altered in suicidal ideation and attempts in MDD•Temporal lobe alterations are more associated with suicidal ideation in MDD•Suicidal attempts are associated with parietal lobe and basal ganglia alterations•Few studies investigated the transition from suicidal ideation to action•There is a relevant heterogeneity in the suicidality measures and MRI analyses
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