Brain Behavior and Immunity Integrative最新文献

Background and purpose

Rising anger issues among young individuals are becoming increasingly prevalent in contemporary society. Comprehensive examinations and literary investigations have illuminated the detrimental consequences of unregulated anger in adolescents. Consequently, it is imperative to investigate the efficacy of various anger management interventions in curbing the anger of adolescents. Behavioral change communication aids represent an effective and accessible method for anger management in juveniles. The researcher identified juvenile aid centers as optimal locations for conducting such intervention studies.

Materials and methods

In this study, we conducted research within a Juvenile Aid Center and evaluated the anger levels of the participants using a clinical anger scale. Following the initial assessment, only the experimental group received the Behavior Change Communication aid, and after a four-week period, we reevaluated the juveniles using the same measurement tool.

Results

The total sample size for this study comprised 73 adolescents. The experimental group received the Behavior Change Communication aid, and their anger levels were assessed using the Clinical Anger Scale, which showed improvements in all participants.

Conclusion

The findings of this study indicated a significant effectiveness of the Behavior Change Communication aid in managing anger among adolescents residing in juvenile aid centers.

Assessing quality of life in clinical practice and research via patient-reported outcomes is an emerging practice enabling the assessment of individual well-being across different populations and conditions, such as immune-mediated and inflammatory disorders. Standardized questionnaires have traditionally been used for this purpose, but they have several limitations inherent to one-time snapshots from recall-based self-reports. Ambulatory measures may provide an alternative approach to assessing quality of life that allows capturing an individual’s states and behaviours in the context of daily life. In this overview article, we define ambulatory measures, including ecological momentary self-reports, wearable sensors, biochemical sampling, and smartphone sensing, that may be used to estimate quality of life, and present examples of studies that have used these measures. Additionally, we highlight the benefits of integrating multi-method ambulatory measures and overview methods for combining and analyzing them, including data fusion techniques and machine learning. While there are still challenges and limitations to overcome, the integration and application of ambulatory measures in medical research and clinical practice have the potential to provide a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of the quality of (everyday) life.

Elevated perinatal depressive symptoms are more common among disadvantaged African American women, and they are almost four times as likely to have postpartum posttraumatic stress compared to white women. For new mothers, depressive symptoms and posttraumatic stress can lead to negative parenting, poor mother-infant bonding, and delayed infant development. For African American women, a culturally adapted mindfulness-based intervention offers great potential as an acceptable approach to reduce psycho-behavioral symptoms and improve mother-infant interactions (i.e., bonding). Additionally, it is critical that mindfulness interventions consider time constraints of new mothers, provide accessible intervention delivery, address parenting, and consider the challenges of caring for an infant. Given these considerations, we describe a pilot research protocol in which we evaluate a culturally adapted mindfulness program: Mindfulness for African Americans Postpartum (MAAP). The intervention is based upon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program, but is adapted to include culturally relevant concepts of spirituality, inter-dependence, self-empowerment, and storytelling, which are salient to African American culture. To accommodate the needs of new mothers, a certified mindfulness interventionist delivers each session virtually using Zoom. The investigation uses a randomized controlled design in which African American women within 12 months of giving birth are randomized either to the MAAP intervention or to an Education Program. The primary aim is to determine the extent to which the MAAP intervention decreases maternal psycho-behavioral symptoms (perceived stress, depressive symptoms, anxiety, poor sleep, posttraumatic stress, and fatigue) and improves mother-infant bonding. A secondary aim is to explore the effects of MAAP on proinflammatory cytokines and oxytocin. Culturally adapted mindfulness interventions delivered virtually will make mindfulness more accessible and meaningful to populations, like African American new mothers, who are at higher risk for postpartum mood disorders and poor infant outcomes.

Background

Distress is known to set off a variety of physiological dysfunctions. There have been previous investigations of central and peripheral (e.g., cardiac) correlates of distress and a burgeoning field examining immunological and inflammatory relationships to distress. However, despite a connection between gastrointestinal symptoms and distress at the clinical level, little research has connected this activity to other biological correlates of distress. Heightened negative emotions and dysregulation of emotions in the form of perseverative negative thinking (PNT, e.g., worry, rumination) are two components that underlie distress. Investigating the effect that these components have on gastric and related biological measures is crucial to better understanding the relationship between distress and health outcomes. We present results from two studies, which examined the impact of experimentally induced negative emotionality and PNT on gastric, autonomic nervous system, central nervous system, and inflammatory processes.

Method

In Study 1 (N = 95), we examined changes in electrogastrogram (EGG), respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA), and alpha- and beta-band electroencephalogram (EEG) power at baseline and during experimental inductions of fear and sadness in a diverse sample of undergraduate students. In Study 2 (N = 30), we examined changes in EGG, RSA, and EEG at baseline and during worry and rumination inductions. We also collected inflammatory markers post-inductions in Study 2.

Results

In Study 1, normal gastric activity, vagal tone, and alpha- and beta-band power decreased, whereas EGG cycle length and variability increased during fear and sadness compared to baseline. We also observed significant relationships among EGG, RSA, and EEG during fear and sadness. In Study 2, normal gastric activity and RSA decreased, whereas EGG cycle length and variability increased during rumination compared to baseline. We also observed increases in frontal alpha-band power during worry and rumination compared to baseline. Regarding relationships among EGG, RSA, EEG, and inflammation, greater EGG cycle variability was associated with higher vagal tone during worry; additionally, EGG cycle length and variability during rumination were positively related to CRP and TNF-α inflammation composite scores post-inductions.

Conclusions

These findings offer insight into how negative emotionality and PNT might relate to gastric, ANS, CNS, and inflammatory processes.

Background

Sleep disorders are prevalent in the elderly and tend to have a substantial influence on their daytime functioning as well as their quality of life. Pursuant to the latest studies, yoga may have benefits for enhancing a variety of aspects of sleep in this demographic. This meta-analysis and systematic review aim to give an up-to-date and complete assessment of the effects of yoga on sleep quality in the elderly.

Methods

We conducted a thorough search of electronic databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Science Direct) for English-language articles. We focused on randomized control trials and experimental studies; for evaluating yoga interventions aimed at improving sleep quality in the elderly. After assessing the risk of bias, we meta-analyzed the extracted data using a random-effects model to assess various sleep outcome parameters.

Results

Five studies with a total of 467 participants that met our inclusion criteria were included in this study. The meta-analysis demonstrated that yoga has a significant positive effect on sleep quality. Specifically, yoga interventions were associated with improvements in sleep disturbance (standardized mean difference [SMD]: −0.63; 95 % CI −1.01 to −0.25), sleep duration (SMD: −0.96; 95 % CI −1.89 to −0.02), sleep efficiency (SMD: −0.63; 95 % CI −1.01 to −0.25), and the PSQI-Global score of sleep quality (SMD: −0.96; 95 % CI −1.63 to −0.28). These results were statistically significant.

Conclusions

Our meta-analysis indicates that yoga practices can lead to improvements in sleep quality among the elderly, demonstrating meaningful progress based on the results of conducted studies. To enhance the significance and generalizability of these findings, future studies should consider larger sample sizes and a higher number of RCTs, which can contribute to minimizing bias.

Background

Depression is a common mental disorder with increasing prevalence in India, which involves cognitive impairment as well. Pharmacological management of depression has many adverse effects, which provides symptomatic relief to the patients, with little to no improvement in cognitive impairment or cerebral hemodynamics. This necessitates the exploration of complementary and alternative treatment modalities. Yoga, in particular Bhastrika pranyama, has been utilized as a complementary practice for various conditions, but evidence of its impact on depression and cerebral hemodynamics is limited.

Case details

A 66-year-old male, previously diagnosed with depression, was admitted to our inpatient hospital for a holistic approach to his condition, combining yoga and naturopathy as part of his treatment. During his stay, he participated in a ten-minute Bhastrika pranayama intervention, conducted under supervision. To evaluate cerebral hemodynamics, a 16-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device was used and changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb), deoxygenated hemoglobin (deoxyHb), and total hemoglobin (Total Hb) was recorded.

Results

Following the practice of Bhastrika Pranayama, the results indicated a rise in bilateral oxygenated hemoglobin (OxyHb) levels during and immediately after the practice, particularly in the prefrontal cortex region. Simultaneously, a decrease in deoxygenated hemoglobin (DeoxyHb) was observed during the practice, with a slight subsequent increase after the Bhastrika Pranayama session.

Conclusion

These preliminary findings indicate that Bhastrika pranayama may have an immediate positive impact on cerebral hemodynamics in patients with depression. Further research with larger sample sizes and controlled studies is needed to confirm and generalize these observations.

There is robust evidence that inflammation is closely associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). The antidepressant effect of acupuncture has been associated with favorable changes in peripheral levels of inflammatory cytokines. However, the findings of these studies were not consistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to explore the peripheral inflammatory cytokines of acupuncture in treating MDD. The study protocol was registered at PROSPERO, CRD42021289207. We conducted a systematic search for eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that reported acupuncture as an intervention for patients with MDD. The outcome of interest was changes in inflammatory cytokine levels measured before and after the intervention. We searched electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, SinoMed, Wanfang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Chongqing VIP (CQVIP). Nine studies including 848 patients were eligible and included. The findings from two studies suggest that acupuncture may lead to changes in inflammatory cytokine levels, irrespective of comparisons with sham acupuncture or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and Selective Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs). While the small sample size, no firm conclusions can be drawn yet. Compared with SSRIs/SNRIs alone, the pooled effect estimation indicates acupuncture combined with SSRIs/SNRIs decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-γ, and elevated levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10. This study demonstrates that acupuncture appears to have an efficacy in producing anti-inflammatory effects in individuals with MDD.

Humans have successfully used traditional botanicals as medicines for thousands of years. Many of these continue to be used today. Indeed, one of today’s most used medicinal drugs, salicylic acid (Aspirin), was in common use in ancient Egypt, more than 3000 years ago. Aspirin inhibits pro-inflammatory COX-1 and promotes the anti-inflammatory activity of COX-2 to reduce inflammation, a mechanism useful in curbing pain and reducing fever. Another example is artemisinin, a compound extracted from a Chinese medicinal herb known as artemisia, which has been widely used to treat against malaria. Across the world similar compounds are being used in traditional medicine with crucial relevance to modern psychoneuroimmunology. This Special Issue highlights outstanding mechanistic and reproducible research on traditional medicines that will inform modern psychoneuroimmunology and related study. This Special Issue showcases traditional medicines from across the globe, from the Himalayas to Africa and many places in between. The Special Issue describes important anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties of a variety of botanicals with clinical and pre-clinical outcomes. It also describes some equally important “negative” data on some popular candidates including green tea and cannabis. Together these studies reveal candidate traditional medicines with real-world effects at least as good as current pharmaceuticals.

The olfactory system participates in the reception, integration, and interpretation of olfactory signals. This chemical sense is essential for survival since it is involved in basic behaviors and physiological processes. Olfactory function decreases with age; however, olfactory impairments are also observed in several neurodegenerative and psychiatric pathologies. It is widely described that olfactory dysfunction is an early symptom in Parkinson (PD) and Alzheimer (AD) diseases, furthermore, olfactory brain areas are affected by the pathological hallmarks of these diseases before the brain areas involved in the motor and cognitive impairments, respectively. This information suggests a key role of olfactory system damage in the beginning of a neurodegenerative process. Not only does the early injury of the olfactory system occur in AD and PD, but also in other pathologies since increasing evidence indicate the presence of olfactory impairments in other neurogenerative and psychiatric diseases namely, depression, schizophrenia, and autism among others. In addition, people with systemic chronic diseases that promote central nervous system damage such as type 2 diabetes and obesity also show olfactory dysfunction, which also suggests that olfactory alterations in these individuals could be an early manifestation of a neurodegenerative process. Then, the aim of the manuscript is to describe the information which supports that olfactory system impairment is a prodromal factor for the development of several neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, to recognize it as a shared mechanism of degeneration among diverse neuropathologies, and discuss the relevance of the assessment of the olfactory function in the diagnosis and improvement of neurodegeneration.