Validation and internal consistency of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for major depression in Parkinson's disease.

Background: depression is common in Parkinson's disease (PD), although frequently under-recognised. Among the scales used to investigate depressive features in PD, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) has been largely used, but no specific cut-off scores for depression have been established thus far, which hinders the use of the PHQ-9 in clinical and research settings.

Objective: we assessed the discriminant validity of the PHQ-9 in order to establish the best cut-off score for the diagnosis of major depression in PD patients.

Social phobia in Brazilian university students: prevalence, under-recognition and academic impairment in women.

Background: Despite the fact that public speaking is a common academic activity and that social phobia has been associated with lower educational achievement and impaired academic performance, little research has examined the prevalence of social phobia in college students. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of social phobia in a large sample of Brazilian college students and to examine the academic impact of this disorder.

Methods: The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) and the MINI-SPIN, used as the indicator of social phobia in the screening phase, were applied to 2319 randomly selected students from two Brazilian universities.

Adhesio interthalamica alterations in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have reported a variety of brain abnormalities in association with schizophrenia. These include a higher prevalence of an absent adhesio interthalamica (AI; also known massa intermedia), a gray matter junction that is present between the two thalami in approximately 80% of healthy subjects. In this meta-analytic review, we describe and discuss the main AI MRI findings in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) to date.

Neural basis of anxiolytic effects of cannabidiol (CBD) in generalized social anxiety disorder: a preliminary report.

Animal and human studies indicate that cannabidiol (CBD), a major constituent of cannabis, has anxiolytic properties. However, no study to date has investigated the effects of this compound on human pathological anxiety and its underlying brain mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to investigate this in patients with generalized social anxiety disorder (SAD) using functional neuroimaging.

(1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging of the hippocampus in patients with panic disorder.

Recent theories of panic disorder propose an extensive involvement of limbic system structures, such as the hippocampus, in the pathophysiology of this condition. Despite this, no prior study has examined exclusively the hippocampal neurochemistry in this disorder. The current study used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging ((1)H-MRSI) to examine possible abnormalities in the hippocampus in panic disorder patients.

Neuroimaging in social anxiety disorder: a systematic review of the literature.

Brain imaging techniques allow the in vivo evaluation of the human brain, leading to a better understanding of its anatomical, functional and metabolic substrate. The aim of this current report is to present a systematic and critical review of neuroimaging findings in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). A literature review was performed in the PubMed Medline, Scielo and Web of Science databases using the following keywords: 'MRI', 'functional', 'tomography', 'PET', 'SPECT', 'spectroscopy', 'relaxometry', 'tractography' and 'voxel' crossed one by one with the terms 'social anxiety' and 'social phobic', with no limit of time.

Social anxiety disorder women easily recognize fearfull, sad and happy faces: the influence of gender.

Background: It has been suggested that individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) are exaggeratedly concerned about approval and disapproval by others. Therefore, we assessed the recognition of facial expressions by individuals with SAD, in an attempt to overcome the limitations of previous studies.

Methods: The sample was formed by 231 individuals (78 SAD patients and 153 healthy controls).

Validity of a Brazilian version of the Zung self-rating depression scale for screening of depression in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with prominent motor manifestations and many other non-motor symptoms that significantly decrease quality-of-life and are frequently under-recognized, for example depression.

Objective: To study the validity of a Brazilian version of the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) for the diagnosis of depression in patients with PD.

Methods: We evaluated 78 consecutive non demented patients over the age of 40 with diagnosis of PD at a Movement Disorders Outpatient Clinic, who could read and understand questionnaires.

Comparability between telephone and face-to-face structured clinical interview for DSM-IV in assessing social anxiety disorder.

Purpose: This article evaluates the comparability of the telephone and in-person Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) interviews in assessing patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) as an independent anxiety diagnosis.

Design And Methods: One hundred subjects were randomly selected and interviewed with the SCID, once by telephone and once in person (1-3 months later).

Findings: The prevalence of SAD assessed with the telephone interviews was 56%, whereas the in-person prevalence was 52%, with no statistically significant difference.

Does the association between mitral valve prolapse and panic disorder really exist?

Objective: Although the possible relationship between panic disorder and mitral valve prolapse (MVP) attracted considerable research interest in the 1980s and 1990s, the reported prevalence of MVP in these patients has been inconsistent and widely variable. Clinical and epidemiologic studies have produced controversial data on possible association or definite causal relationship between these 2 entities. The primary objective of the present review was to summarize the current state of knowledge on the association between panic disorder and MVP, including the influence of diagnostic criteria for MVP on the controversial results.