{"title":"Cardiovascular risk burden, dementia risk and brain structural imaging markers: a study from UK Biobank","authors":"Yaying Cao, Gaohong Zhu, Chengwu Feng, Jing Chen, Wei Gan, Yuan Ma, Yonghua Hu, Klodian Dhana, Trudy Voortman, Jie Shen, Ting Li, Yan Zheng, Changzheng Yuan, Geng Zong","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101209","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101209","url":null,"abstract":"Background Cardiovascular risk burden is associated with dementia risk and neurodegeneration-related brain structure, while the role of genetics and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear. Aims To examine the association of overall cardiovascular risk burden with the risk of major dementia subtypes and volumes of related brain regions in a large sample, and to explore the role of genetics and CVD onset. Methods A prospective study among 354 654 participants free of CVD and dementia (2006–2010, mean age 56.4 years) was conducted within the UK Biobank, with brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurement available for 15 104 participants since 2014. CVD risk burden was evaluated by the Framingham General Cardiovascular Risk Score (FGCRS). Dementia diagnosis was ascertained from inpatient and death register data. Results Over a median 12.0-year follow-up, 3998 all-cause dementia cases were identified. Higher FGCRS was associated with increased all-cause dementia risk after adjusting for demographic, major lifestyle, clinical factors and the polygenic risk score (PRS) of Alzheimer’s disease. Comparing the high versus low tertile of FGCRS, the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were 1.26 (1.12 to 1.41) for all-cause dementia, 1.67 (1.33 to 2.09) for Alzheimer’s disease and 1.53 (1.07 to 2.16) for vascular dementia (all ptrend<0.05). Incident stroke and coronary heart disease accounted for 14% (95% CI: 9% to 21%) of the association between FGCRS and all-cause dementia. Interactions were not detected for FGCRS and PRS on the risk of any dementia subtype. We observed an 83% (95% CI: 47% to 128%) higher all-cause dementia risk comparing the high–high versus low–low FGCRS–PRS category. For brain volumes, higher FGCRS was associated with greater log-transformed white matter hyperintensities, smaller cortical volume and smaller grey matter volume. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the positive association of cardiovascular risk burden with dementia risk also applies to major dementia subtypes. The association of cardiovascular risk burden with all-cause dementia is largely independent of CVD onset and genetic predisposition to dementia. Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Data access to the UK Biobank is available upon application.","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"154 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139583133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"High frequency strong current tACS:a new dawn of non-drug therapy for patients with major depressive disorder","authors":"Linling Hu, Xingxing Li, Dongsheng Zhou, Shaochang Wu","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101261","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101261","url":null,"abstract":"A commentary on: Transcranial alternating current stimulation for treating depression: a randomized controlled trial. By Wang H, Wang K, Xue Q, et al . Brain. 2022;1451:83-91.doi:10.1093/brain/awab252. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common severe mental illness with recurring episodes. The most commonly used treatment is drug therapy, which is associated with a series of side effects and has an efficacy rate below 50%.1 Non-invasive brain stimulation technique has been gradually applied in clinical practice. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), a form of non-invasive brain stimulation, is a light, wearable piece of equipment for cortical stimulation. It modulates cortical excitability and spontaneous brain activity by applying an electric current to the scalp, generating an alternating current that flows through the specified area between the stimulation electrodes. A recent study published in Brain proved the clinical potential of tACS stimulation for patients with MDD. The study investigated the clinical safety and efficacy of tACS in first-episode, drug-naive patients with MDD. The results showed that patients who received 20 daily 40 min, 77.5 Hz, 15 mA, one forehead and two mastoid sessions of active stimulation over four consecutive weeks achieved significantly higher remission rates than those who received sham stimulation. In addition, tACS treatment alleviated the depression state with lasting effects shown in 4 weeks of follow-up measurements; only some mild treatment-emergent adverse events were reported.2 This is consistent with previous reports that tACS is associated with fewer …","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138555856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wenhan Yang, Jungong Han, Jing Luo, Fei Tang, Li Fan, Yanyao Du, Longtao Yang, Jun Zhang, Huiting Zhang, Jun Liu
{"title":"Connectome-based predictive modelling can predict follow-up craving after abstinence in individuals with opioid use disorders","authors":"Wenhan Yang, Jungong Han, Jing Luo, Fei Tang, Li Fan, Yanyao Du, Longtao Yang, Jun Zhang, Huiting Zhang, Jun Liu","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101304","url":null,"abstract":"Background Individual differences have been detected in individuals with opioid use disorders (OUD) in rehabilitation following protracted abstinence. Recent studies suggested that prediction models were effective for individual-level prognosis based on neuroimage data in substance use disorders (SUD). Aims This prospective cohort study aimed to assess neuroimaging biomarkers for individual response to protracted abstinence in opioid users using connectome-based predictive modelling (CPM). Methods One hundred and eight inpatients with OUD underwent structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans at baseline. The Heroin Craving Questionnaire (HCQ) was used to assess craving levels at baseline and at the 8-month follow-up of abstinence. CPM with leave-one-out cross-validation was used to identify baseline networks that could predict follow-up HCQ scores and changes in HCQ (HCQfollow-up−HCQbaseline). Then, the predictive ability of identified networks was tested in a separate, heterogeneous sample of methamphetamine individuals who underwent MRI scanning before abstinence for SUD. Results CPM could predict craving changes induced by long-term abstinence, as shown by a significant correlation between predicted and actual HCQfollow-up (r=0.417, p<0.001) and changes in HCQ (negative: r=0.334, p=0.002;positive: r=0.233, p=0.038). Identified craving-related prediction networks included the somato-motor network (SMN), salience network (SALN), default mode network (DMN), medial frontal network, visual network and auditory network. In addition, decreased connectivity of frontal-parietal network (FPN)-SMN, FPN-DMN and FPN-SALN and increased connectivity of subcortical network (SCN)-DMN, SCN-SALN and SCN-SMN were positively correlated with craving levels. Conclusions These findings highlight the potential applications of CPM to predict the craving level of individuals after protracted abstinence, as well as the generalisation ability; the identified brain networks might be the focus of innovative therapies in the future. Data are available on reasonable request.","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139061727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yanzhi Bi, Xu Liu, Xiangyue Zhao, Shiyu Wei, Jingwei Li, Faguang Wang, Wenbo Luo, Li Hu
{"title":"Enhancing pain modulation: the efficacy of synchronous combination of virtual reality and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation","authors":"Yanzhi Bi, Xu Liu, Xiangyue Zhao, Shiyu Wei, Jingwei Li, Faguang Wang, Wenbo Luo, Li Hu","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101164","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction Virtual reality (VR) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) have emerged as effective interventions for pain reduction. However, their standalone applications often yield limited analgesic effects, particularly in certain painful conditions. Aims Our hypothesis was that the combination of VR with TENS in a synchronous manner could produce the best analgesic effect among the four experimental conditions. Methods To address this challenge, we proposed a novel pain modulation strategy that synchronously combines VR and TENS, aiming to capitalise on both techniques’ complementary pain modulation mechanisms. Thirty-two healthy subjects participated in the study and underwent three types of interventions: VR alone, a combination of VR with conventional TENS, and a combination of VR with synchronous TENS. Additionally, a control condition with no intervention was included. Perceived pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, positive and negative affect scores, and electroencephalographic (EEG) data were collected before and after the interventions. To delve into the potential moderating role of pain intensity on the analgesic efficacy of VR combined with synchronous TENS, we incorporated two distinct levels of painful stimuli: one representing mild to moderate pain (ie, low pain) and the other representing moderate to severe pain (ie, high pain). Results Our findings revealed that both combination interventions exhibited superior analgesic effects compared with the VR-alone intervention when exposed to low and high pain stimuli. Notably, the combination of VR with synchronous TENS demonstrated greater analgesic efficacy than the combination of VR with conventional TENS. EEG data further supported these results, indicating that both combination interventions elicited a greater reduction in event-related potential magnitude compared with the VR-alone intervention during exposure to low and high pain stimuli. Moreover, the synchronous combination intervention induced a more significant reduction in N2 amplitude than the VR-alone intervention during exposure to low pain stimuli. No significant differences in EEG response changes were detected between the two combination interventions. Both combination interventions resulted in a greater reduction in negative affect compared with the VR-alone intervention. Conclusions Altogether, our study highlights the effectiveness of the synchronous combination of VR and TENS in enhancing pain modulation. These findings offer valuable insights for developing innovative pain treatments, emphasising the importance of tailored and multifaceted therapeutic approaches for various painful conditions. The data in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"248 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139018031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Electroencephalography microstates as novel functional biomarkers for insomnia disorder","authors":"Yongjian Guo, Xumeng Zhao, Xiaoyang Liu, Jiayi Liu, Yan Li, Lirong Yue, Fulai Yuan, Yifei Zhu, Xiaona Sheng, Dahua Yu, Kai Yuan","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101171","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101171","url":null,"abstract":"Insomnia disorder (ID) is one of the most common mental disorders. Research on ID focuses on exploring its mechanism of disease, novel treatments and treatment outcome prediction. An emerging technique in this field is the use of electroencephalography (EEG) microstates, which offer a new method of EEG feature extraction that incorporates information from both temporal and spatial dimensions.To explore the electrophysiological mechanisms of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for ID treatment and use baseline microstate metrics for the prediction of its efficacy.This study included 60 patients with ID and 40 age-matched and gender-matched good sleep controls (GSC). Their resting-state EEG microstates were analysed, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and polysomnography (PSG) were collected to assess sleep quality. The 60 patients with ID were equally divided into active and sham groups to receive rTMS for 20 days to test whether rTMS had a moderating effect on abnormal microstates in patients with ID. Furthermore, in an independent group of 90 patients with ID who received rTMS treatment, patients were divided into optimal and suboptimal groups based on their median PSQI reduction rate. Baseline EEG microstates were used to build a machine-learning predictive model for the effects of rTMS treatment.The class D microstate was less frequent and contribute in patients with ID, and these abnormalities were associated with sleep onset latency as measured by PSG. Additionally, the abnormalities were partially reversed to the levels observed in the GSC group following rTMS treatment. The baseline microstate characteristics could predict the therapeutic effect of ID after 20 days of rTMS, with an accuracy of 80.13%.Our study highlights the value of EEG microstates as functional biomarkers of ID and provides a new perspective for studying the neurophysiological mechanisms of ID. In addition, we predicted the therapeutic effect of rTMS on ID based on the baseline microstates of patients with ID. This finding carries great practical significance for the selection of therapeutic options for patients with ID.","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"385 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139021654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yannis Yan Liang, Yilin Chen, Hongliang Feng, Huachen Xue, Yu Nie, Qi-Yong H Ai, Jiacheng Ma, Lulu Yang, Jihui Zhang, Sizhi Ai
{"title":"Social isolation, loneliness and subsequent risk of major adverse cardiovascular events among individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus","authors":"Yannis Yan Liang, Yilin Chen, Hongliang Feng, Huachen Xue, Yu Nie, Qi-Yong H Ai, Jiacheng Ma, Lulu Yang, Jihui Zhang, Sizhi Ai","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101153","url":null,"abstract":"Background Individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are more vulnerable to social disconnection compared with the general population; however, there are few relevant studies investigating this issue. Aims To investigate whether social isolation or loneliness may be associated with subsequent risk of developing major adverse cardiovascular events, whether these associations vary according to fatal and non-fatal outcomes and how behavioural, psychological and physiological factors mediate these associations. Methods This longitudinal analysis included data from 19 360 individuals with T2DM at baseline (2006–2010) from the UK Biobank. Social isolation and loneliness were measured using self-report questionnaires. The study outcomes included the first events of myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke (n=2273) and all-cause (n=2820) or cardiovascular disease-related mortality through linked hospital data or death registries. Results Over a median follow-up of 12.4 years (interquartile range (IQR): 11.6–13.3 years), participants who were more socially isolated (most social isolation vs least social isolation) experienced increased risks for all-cause (hazard ratio (HR) : 1.33, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19 to 1.47) and cardiovascular disease (HR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.17 to 1.59) mortality but not first MI or stroke. Loneliness (yes vs no) was associated with a greater risk for a composite of incident MI or stroke (HR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.19 to 1.57) but not mortality. Social isolation was associated with fatal MI and stroke, whereas loneliness was associated with non-fatal MI and stroke. The significant associations of social isolation and loneliness with outcomes were mainly mediated by behavioural factors (mediating proportion: 17.8%–28.2% and 17.6%–17.8%, respectively). Conclusions Among individuals with T2DM, social isolation and loneliness are associated with a greater risk of developing major adverse cardiovascular events, with differences in both risks stratified according to fatal and non-fatal events and underlying mediating factors. Data are available upon reasonable request. Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Individual-level data from the UK Biobank are not publicly available due to their policy, but the data will be made available after the application to the UK Biobank (<https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/>).","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139055859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Longtao Yang, Lijie Zhang, Wenhan Yang, Fei Tang, Yanyao Du, Jun Liu
{"title":"Exploring the potential of the metaverse medical paradigm in drug addiction treatment: a preliminary discussion and future prospects","authors":"Longtao Yang, Lijie Zhang, Wenhan Yang, Fei Tang, Yanyao Du, Jun Liu","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101258","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101258","url":null,"abstract":"Drug addiction is a chronic and recurrent encephalopathy characterised by impulsive behaviour, spiritual cravings, psychological distortion and physical damage.1 According to the role of molecular biology mechanisms on the central nervous system, addictive substances can be classified as inhibitors (eg, opioids, etc), stimulants (eg, methamphetamine (MA), nicotine, cocaine, etc) and hallucinogens (eg, cannabis, etc).1 As published by the World Drug Report 2022, over 284 million individuals aged 15–64 worldwide have reportedly abused drugs in the past 12 months, emphasising the international challenge of effective detox treatment. The detoxification process consists of three phases: physiological recovery for the remission of withdrawal symptoms, psychological rehabilitation for the elimination of mental dependence, and social function restoration for the return to life, with the second phase being the most significant challenge. A sustained high level of drug craving often leads to unsuccessful psychological rehabilitation. Current methods of psychological intervention generally include compulsory detention management, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS).2 However, often drug cravings are not effectively controlled.3 For example, the relapse rate of individuals addicted to opioid drugs like heroin could exceed 95% within 6 months post-detox treatment.4 Therefore, there is an urgent need to consider treatment effects during psychological rehabilitation. The integration of multiple schemes and novel interventions for drug treatment is emerging as a key research topic in this field. In recent years, digital health has rapidly advanced, with a focus on improving the efficiency and quality of healthcare services, including diagnosis, monitoring, treatment and data management, through digital information communication. Metaverse, also known as the three-dimensional internet, is a broader concept involving virtual multidimensional spaces that foster social interactions, user-generated content and a persistent environment across various domains, such as economy, ecology and the medical industry. Metaverse is a …","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vanessa K Tassone, Shakila Meshkat, Hilary Pang, Michelle Wu, Sophie F Duffy, Hyejung Jung, Wendy Lou, Venkat Bhat
{"title":"Increased odds of high body mass index in depression with self-reported antidepressant use","authors":"Vanessa K Tassone, Shakila Meshkat, Hilary Pang, Michelle Wu, Sophie F Duffy, Hyejung Jung, Wendy Lou, Venkat Bhat","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101204","url":null,"abstract":"To the editor: The incidence of depression and obesity is on the rise, posing significant public health concerns. While the literature largely supports a positive correlation between depression and body mass index (BMI),1 2 earlier studies have suggested an inverse relationship3 or indicated a lack of association between depression and obesity.4 Monoaminergic antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), are the first-line treatment options for major depression. Research strongly supports a correlation between antidepressant use and weight gain, particularly in the case of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).5 6 However, there is limited evidence regarding the association between antidepressant use and BMI, with existing studies primarily focused on how obesity influences treatment outcomes. Several mechanisms, including antidepressant use, have been proposed to explain the relationship between mood disorders and obesity.7 Previous research demonstrated that depressive symptoms and antidepressant use were independently associated with BMI in postmenopausal women.8 However, there were no subset analyses comparing individuals with depression who were taking antidepressants with those with depression who were not. Findings from another study showed that women with depression who had never used antidepressants had reduced odds of having an obese BMI.9 Moreover, the positive relationship between antidepressant use and an obese BMI only became significant when analyses were limited to those with a history of depression.9 A large, population-level analysis is warranted to clarify the associations between depression, antidepressant use and BMI. This study investigated the independent associations of depression and self-reported antidepressant use (yes/no, antidepressant class and duration of use) with BMI. In a secondary analysis, the relationship between antidepressant use and BMI was investigated in a subset of participants with depression. ### Study population This study used data from the 2007–2018 National Health and Nutrition …","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138560351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yuxin Chen, Haoyu Yang, Faguang Wang, Xuejing Lu, Li Hu
{"title":"Modulatory effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on attentional processes","authors":"Yuxin Chen, Haoyu Yang, Faguang Wang, Xuejing Lu, Li Hu","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101176","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101176","url":null,"abstract":"Background The modulatory effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on attention has varied in previous studies. This inconsistency might be attributed to the combined influence of the modulation effect on the different attentional functions, including alerting, orienting and executive control. Aims We aimed to preliminarily examine the modulatory effects of taVNS on different attentional functions. Methods Fifty-nine healthy participants were recruited and were randomly assigned to taVNS (receiving taVNS for 20 minutes) or control (receiving taVNS for 30 seconds) groups. All participants underwent a dot-probe task before and after the taVNS/control intervention. Their behavioural performance and electroencephalographic signals during pre- and post-tests were recorded, and different observed variables were extracted and analysed to characterise different attentional systems. Results We observed that active taVNS applied at the left ear significantly improved the overall behavioural performance, that is, shorter reaction time (RT) and lower intra-individual reaction time variability (IIRTV) for right-hand responses when compared with the control condition. In addition, active taVNS resulted in larger P3 and movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) amplitudes associated with right-hand reactions than the control condition. Active taVNS also decreased the difference between the pre- and post-tests in the power spectral density of spontaneous high-α band oscillations at C4 electrode. Importantly, parallel mediation models for right-hand responses showed that the change of P3 amplitude mediated the effects of taVNS on RT and IIRTV. In contrast, the change of MRCP amplitude suppressed the effect of taVNS on the IIRTV. Conclusions Our results provided behavioural and brain evidence supporting the effects of taVNS on different attentional systems, and their interaction further shaped behavioural performance, suggesting a promising role of taVNS in cognitive enhancement. Data are available upon reasonable request.","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"11 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138512737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M Swathi Shenoy, Ashish Wasudeo Khobragade, Muthathal Subramanian
{"title":"Suicide trends among patients with cancer in India over the past 24 years","authors":"M Swathi Shenoy, Ashish Wasudeo Khobragade, Muthathal Subramanian","doi":"10.1136/gpsych-2023-101190","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101190","url":null,"abstract":"Suicide is a significant global public health concern, claiming over 0.7 million lives annually. It is seen in all age groups and is the fourth leading cause of mortality in the 15–29 year old age group. Three-quarters of suicides are reported in low-income and middle-income countries.1 Notably, India significantly contributes to this global burden, reporting 164 000 suicides in 2021.2 Cancer is one of the factors leading to suicide. In India, new cancer cases are estimated to increase by 58.3% by 2040 compared with 2020. The most common cancer among males in India is oral cancer, while breast cancer ranks as the most common type of cancer among females.3 A cancer diagnosis can lead to severe mental and physical distress, raising the likelihood of suicide. Patients with cancer commonly face depression, anxiety, social stigma, lack of moral support, the chronic nature of the illness, financial burden and painful treatment, all of which significantly impact their mental health and can lead to suicidal tendencies. Research indicates that the risk of suicide is significantly greater among those affected by cancer compared with the general population.4 However, the psychosocial challenges of patients with cancer remain insufficiently explored.5 6 In particular, there is limited research on recent suicide trends among patients with cancer in India. Studying these trends will provide insights into the complexities of suicide risk in this specific population. The aim of the study was to find trends of suicidal deaths among individuals with cancer in the Indian population based on secondary data. The number of suicides among patients with cancer from 1997 to 2020 was extracted from the National Crime Records Bureau, along with state-specific and gender-specific suicide data. National population estimates for the same years were collected from World Bank data. The yearly estimate of nationwide cancer …","PeriodicalId":12549,"journal":{"name":"General Psychiatry","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138555740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}