European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists
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Empathy is crucial for maintaining effective social interactions. Research has identified both an early-emotional sharing and a late-cognitive component of empathy. Although considered a functionally vital social cognition process, empathy has scarcely been studied in schizophrenia (SZ). ⋯ The magnitude of these late responses was inversely associated with reported levels of personal distress in both patients and controls. Additionally, regulatory deficits in cognitive empathy were highly related with deficits in functioning. Decreased ability to regulate one's own emotional engagement and response to emotions of others may be an important source of distress and dysfunction in social situations for patients with schizophrenia.
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Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may suffer marked impairment in early adulthood, increasing their risk for serious self-harmful behaviors. Deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) is the most common form of deliberate self-harm. An association may exist between ADHD diagnosis and subsequent DSP events. The purpose of study was to determine whether children and adolescents with ADHD are at a greater risk for DSP than are age-matched controls. ⋯ Children with ADHD are at greater risk of developing DSP. Identifying risk factors of DSP is crucial efforts to implement prevention strategies. The identification of the underlying cause of increased DSP among ADHD patients warrants further investigation.
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Ketamine exerts fast acting, robust, and lasting antidepressant effects in a sub-anesthetic dose, however, the underlying mechanisms are still not fully elucidated. Recent studies have suggested that ketamine's antidepressant effects are probably attributed to the activation of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors. The present study aimed to observe the effects of AMPA receptor modulators on mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression during the procedure of ketamine exerting antidepressant effects. ⋯ NBQX pretreatment significantly increased the immobility time and decreased the levels of mTOR and BDNF when compared with vehicle 1 (DMSO) pretreatment. CX546 pretreatment significantly decreased the immobility time and increased the levels of mTOR and BDNF when compared with vehicle 2 (DMSO+ethanol) pretreatment. Our results suggest ketamine-induced antidepressant effects are associated with AMPA receptors-mediated upregulation of mTOR and BDNF in rat hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.
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The COMT Val158Met polymorphism has been associated with anxiety and affective disorders, but its effect on anxiety-related personality traits varies between studies. Our purpose was to investigate the effect of COMT Val158Met on personality traits from adolescence to young adulthood in a population representative Caucasian birth cohort. Also its association with educational attainment and anxiety and mood disorders by the age 25 were examined. ⋯ By the age 25, males with the Val/Met genotype had mainly secondary or vocational education, whereas female heterozygotes mostly had obtained or were obtaining university education. COMT Val158Met was not associated with anxiety or mood disorders in either gender. These results suggest that genes affecting dopamine system are involved in the development of personality traits and contribute to educational attainment.
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To analyze the interface between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolarity in depressed patients comorbid with BPD. ⋯ The hypothesis which fitted at best our findings was to consider BPD as a contributory factor in the development of BP disorder, which could have favoured the progression from unipolar major depression to BP disorder. We could not however exclude that some features of BP disorder may have contributed to the development of BPD.