The psychological impact of the COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and lockdown measures on the Italian population are unknown. The current study assesses rates of mental health outcomes in ...the Italian general population three to 4 weeks into lockdown measures and explores the impact of COVID-19 related potential risk factors.
A web-based survey spread throughout the internet between March 27
and April 6
2020. Eighteen thousand one hundred forty-seven individuals completed the questionnaire, 79.6% women. Selected outcomes were post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), depression, anxiety, insomnia, perceived stress, and adjustment disorder symptoms (ADS). Seemingly unrelated logistic regression analysis was performed to identify COVID-19 related risk factors.
Endorsement rates for PTSS were 6,604 (37%), 3,084 (17.3%) for depression, 3,700 (20.8%) for anxiety, 1,301 (7.3%) for insomnia, 3,895 (21.8%) for high perceived stress and 4,092 (22.9%) for adjustment disorder. Being woman and younger age were associated with all of the selected outcomes. Quarantine was associated with PTSS, anxiety and ADS. Any recent COVID-related stressful life event was associated with all the selected outcomes. Discontinued working activity due to the COVID-19 was associated with all the selected outcomes, except for ADS; working more than usual was associated with PTSS, Perceived stress and ADS. Having a loved one deceased by COVID-19 was associated with PTSS, depression, perceived stress, and insomnia.
We found high rates of negative mental health outcomes in the Italian general population 3 weeks into the COVID-19 lockdown measures and different COVID-19 related risk factors. These findings warrant further monitoring on the Italian population's mental health.
This cross-sectional study reports on symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and insomnia among health care workers in Italy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ...pandemic.
Health emergencies, such as epidemics, have detrimental and long-lasting consequences on people's mental health, which are higher during the implementation of strict lockdown measures. Despite ...several recent psychological researches on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlighting that young adults represent a high risk category, no studies specifically focused on young adults' mental health status have been carried out yet. This study aimed to assess and monitor Italian young adults' mental health status during the first 4 weeks of lockdown through the use of a longitudinal panel design.
Participants (
= 97) provided self-reports in four time intervals (1-week intervals) in 1 month. The Syndromic Scales of Adult Self-Report 18-59 were used to assess the internalizing problems (anxiety/depression, withdrawn, and somatic complaints), externalizing problems (aggressive, rule-breaking, and intrusive behavior), and personal strengths. To determine the time-varying effects of prolonged quarantine, a growth curve modeling will be performed.
The results showed an increase in anxiety/depression, withdrawal, somatic complaints, aggressive behavior, rule-breaking behavior, and internalizing and externalizing problems and a decrease in intrusive behavior and personal strengths from T1 to T4.
The results contributed to the ongoing debate concerning the psychological impact of the COVID-19 emergency, helping to plan and develop efficient intervention projects able to take care of young adults' mental health in the long term.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) disease has spread worldwide, generating intense fear of infection and death that may lead to enduring anxiety. At the same time, quarantine and physical isolation can ...intensify feelings of dispositional loneliness that, by focusing on thoughts of disconnection from others, can trigger intense anxiety. Anxiety, generated by both fear of COVID-19 and dispositional loneliness, can activate negative expectations and thoughts of death, potentially generating alarming depressive symptoms. However, the
suggests that self-esteem acts as a shield (buffer) against mental health threats - fear and loneliness - thus hampering anxiety and depressive symptoms.
This study aims to test the process - triggered by COVID-19 fear and loneliness - in which self-esteem should buffer the path leading to anxiety symptoms, then to depression.
An observational research design with structural equation models was used. A sample of 1200 participants enrolled from the general population answered an online survey comprising: the fear of COVID-19 scale, the UCLA loneliness scale, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and the anxiety and depression scales of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised.
Structural equation models showed the link between anxiety symptoms (
) with both the fear of COVID-19 and dispositional loneliness (
), as well as its association with consequent depressive symptomatology (
). In line with the anxiety-buffer hypothesis, self-esteem mediated the relationship between the predictors and their adverse psychological consequences.
Self-esteem represents a protective factor from the antecedents of depression. Targeted psychological interventions should be implemented to minimize the psychological burden of the disease whilst promoting adaptation and positive psychological health outcomes.
Working memory (WM) refers to a set of cognitive processes that allows for the temporary storage and manipulation of information, crucial for everyday life skills. WM deficits are present in several ...neurological, psychiatric, and neurodevelopmental disorders, thus making the full understanding of its neural correlates a key aspect for the implementation of cognitive training interventions. Here, we present a quantitative meta‐analysis focusing on the underlying neural substrates upon which the n‐back, one of the most commonly used tasks for WM assessment, is believed to rely on, as highlighted by functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography findings. Relevant published work was scrutinized through the activation likelihood estimate (ALE) statistical framework in order to generate a set of task‐specific activation maps, according to n‐back difficulty. Our results confirm the known involvement of frontoparietal areas across different types of n‐back tasks, as well as the recruitment of subcortical structures, cerebellum and precuneus. Specific activations maps for four stimuli types, six presentation modalities, three WM loads and their combination are provided and discussed. Moreover, functional overlap with resting‐state networks highlighted a strong similarity between n‐back nodes and the Dorsal Attention Network, with less overlap with other networks like Salience, Language, and Sensorimotor ones. Additionally, neural deactivations during n‐back tasks and their functional connectivity profile were examined. Clinical and functional implications are discussed in the context of potential noninvasive brain stimulation and cognitive enhancement/rehabilitation programs.
Imperceptible transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) changes the endogenous cortical oscillatory activity in a frequency-specific manner. In the human motor system, tACS coincident with ...the idling beta rhythm of the quiescent motor cortex increased the corticospinal output. We reasoned that changing the initial state of the brain (i.e., from quiescence to a motor imagery task that desynchronizes the local beta rhythm) might also change the susceptibility of the corticospinal system to resonance effects induced by beta-tACS. We tested this hypothesis by delivering tACS at different frequencies (theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) on the primary motor cortex at rest and during motor imagery. Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were obtained by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on the primary motor cortex with an online-navigated TMS-tACS setting. During motor imagery, the increase of corticospinal excitability was maximal with theta-tACS, likely reflecting a reinforcement of working memory processes required to mentally process and "execute" the cognitive task. As expected, the maximal MEPs increase with subjects at rest was instead obtained with beta-tACS, substantiating previous evidence. This dissociation provides new evidence of state and frequency dependency of tACS effects on the motor system and helps discern the functional role of different oscillatory frequencies of this brain region. These findings may be relevant for rehabilitative neuromodulatory interventions.
Different corticothalamic brain modules intrinsically oscillate at a "natural frequency" in a topographically organized manner. In "quiescent" human sensorimotor regions, the main detectable ...oscillatory activity peaks at ∼20 Hz, and partly contributes to determine the state of corticospinal excitability. Here, we showed that the transcranial application of an imperceptible, short-lasting (90 s) electric field oscillating at a physiological range increases corticospinal excitability online, with well defined frequency dependence and regional specificity. Indeed, the size of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) induced by navigated single-pulse TMS over the motor cortex significantly increased only during the local application of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at 20 Hz (β range). Other tACS frequencies (5, 10, and 40 Hz) applied on the motor cortex did not impact MEPs' size. Moreover, tACS applied on a control site (parietal cortex) and on a peripheral site (ulnar nerve) also failed to modulate MEPs. These results help clarifying the functional significance of the 20 Hz idling β rhythm of sensorimotor regions and suggest potential clinical applications of this approach.
Electron spins in silicon quantum dots provide a promising route towards realizing the large number of coupled qubits required for a useful quantum processor
. For the implementation of quantum ...algorithms and error detection
, qubit measurements are ideally performed in a single shot, which is presently achieved using on-chip charge sensors, capacitively coupled to the quantum dots
. However, as the number of qubits is increased, this approach becomes impractical due to the footprint and complexity of the charge sensors, combined with the required proximity to the quantum dots
. Alternatively, the spin state can be measured directly by detecting the complex impedance of spin-dependent electron tunnelling between quantum dots
. This can be achieved using radiofrequency reflectometry on a single gate electrode defining the quantum dot itself
, significantly reducing the gate count and architectural complexity, but thus far it has not been possible to achieve single-shot spin readout using this technique. Here, we detect single electron tunnelling in a double quantum dot and demonstrate that gate-based sensing can be used to read out the electron spin state in a single shot, with an average readout fidelity of 73%. The result demonstrates a key step towards the readout of many spin qubits in parallel, using a compact gate design that will be needed for a large-scale semiconductor quantum processor.
Highlights • NiBS techniques seem able to enhance cognitive abilities in the elderly. • Major concerns derive from the variability and volatility of tES-induced effects. • Protocols based on imaging ...and electrophysiology are needed to control for individual variability.
PDF
