Disturbance of sleep maintenance, but not sleep duration, activates nuclear factor-κB and signal transducer and activator of transcription family proteins in older adults: sex differences.

Study Objectives: Disturbances of sleep maintenance and sleep duration are common in older adults and associated with an increased risk for age-related mortality and morbidity. Converging evidence implicates inflammation as an underlying mechanism, especially in females. However, it is unknown what specific aspects of sleep disturbance impact inflammatory mechanisms in older adults.

Sleep and Healthy Aging Research on Depression (SHARE-D) randomized controlled trial: Protocol overview of an experimental model of depression with insomnia, inflammation, and affect mechanisms in older adults.

Depression, one of the most common diseases in older adults, carries significant risk for morbidity and mortality. Because of the burgeoning population of older adults, the enormous burden of late-life depression, and the limited efficacy of current antidepressants in older adults, biologically plausible models that translate into selective depression prevention strategies are needed. Insomnia predicts depression recurrence and is a modifiable target to prevent incident and recurrent depression in older adults.

Sleep disturbance and activation of cellular and transcriptional mechanisms of inflammation in older adults.

Background: Sleep disturbance, including poor subjective sleep quality and insomnia disorder, is common in older adults and associated with increases in age-related morbidity risk. Accumulating evidence implicates inflammation as an underlying mechanism. In two complementary studies, we examined whether sleep disturbance is associated with activation of cellular and transcriptional mechanisms of inflammation in older adults.

No influence of mineralocorticoid and glutamatergic NMDA receptor stimulation on spatial learning and memory in individuals with major depression.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with impairments in spatial learning and memory and with altered functioning of central mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) and glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDA-R). Both receptors are highly expressed in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex - brain areas that are critical for spatial learning and memory. Here, we examined the effects of separate and combined MR and NMDA-R stimulation on spatial learning and memory in individuals with MDD and healthy controls.

Costs associated with treatment of insomnia in Alzheimer's disease caregivers: a comparison of mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.

Background: Among the over 5 million informal caregivers for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the United States (US), over 60% experience insomnia. Research on insomnia treatment efficacy in AD caregivers is limited. An ongoing randomized non-inferiority clinical trial, the Caregiver Sleep Research study, is evaluating whether mindfulness meditation is non-inferior to cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) in the treatment of insomnia in AD caregivers.

Interferon- moderation of poor sleep maintenance and depressed mood in community-dwelling older adults.

Background: Depressive symptoms, such as depressed mood, are common in older adults and associated with an increased risk for morbidity and mortality. Given the evidence that sleep disturbance and alterations in interferon (IFN)- biology are associated with depression risk, this study examines the separate and joint contributions of poor sleep maintenance and IFN- to depressed mood in older adults.

Methods: Community-dwelling, non-depressed older adults ( = 36, 72.

Reduced mitochondrial respiration in T cells of patients with major depressive disorder.

Converging evidence indicates that major depressive disorder (MDD) and metabolic disorders might be mediated by shared (patho)biological pathways. However, the converging cellular and molecular signatures remain unknown. Here, we investigated metabolic dysfunction on a systemic, cellular, and molecular level in unmedicated patients with MDD compared with matched healthy controls (HC).

The role of sleep disturbance and inflammation for spatial memory.

Spatial memory is a brain function involved in multiple behaviors such as planning a route or recalling an object's location. The formation of spatial memory relies on the homeostasis of various biological systems, including healthy sleep and a well-functioning immune system. While sleep is thought to promote the stabilization and storage of spatial memories, considerable evidence shows that the immune system modulates neuronal processes underlying spatial memory such as hippocampal neuroplasticity, long-term potentiation, and neurogenesis.

Selective attention to emotional stimuli and emotion recognition in patients with major depression: The role of mineralocorticoid and glutamatergic NMDA receptors.

Background: Mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) are highly expressed in limbic brain areas and prefrontal cortex, which are closely related to selective attention to emotional stimuli and emotion recognition. Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) show alterations in MR functioning and both cognitive processes. MR stimulation improves cognitive processes in MDD and leads to glutamate release that binds upon N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDA-R).

Simvastatin add-on to escitalopram in patients with comorbid obesity and major depression (SIMCODE): study protocol of a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Introduction: Major depressive disorder (MDD) and obesity are both common disorders associated with significant burden of disease worldwide. Importantly, MDD and obesity often co-occur, with each disorder increasing the risk for developing the other by about 50%-60%. Statins are among the most prescribed medications with well-established safety and efficacy.

Cognitive and emotional empathy after stimulation of brain mineralocorticoid and NMDA receptors in patients with major depression and healthy controls.

Mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) are predominantly expressed in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Both brain areas are associated with social cognition, which includes cognitive empathy (ability to understand others' emotions) and emotional empathy (ability to empathize with another person). MR stimulation improves memory and executive functioning in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy controls, and leads to glutamate-mediated N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA-R) signaling.

Motivation and sensitivity to monetary reward in late-life insomnia: moderating role of sex and the inflammatory marker CRP.

Insomnia is a well-established risk factor for late-life depression, yet the intermediary mechanisms are not known. One plausible mechanism is dysregulation of the reward system, a common feature of depression. The main objective of the current study was to determine whether late-life insomnia is associated with reduced motivation and reduced sensitivity for monetary reward.

Sleep, inflammation, and perception of sad facial emotion: A laboratory-based study in older adults.

Background: Facial emotion perception (FEP) is pivotal for discriminating salient emotional information. Accumulating data indicate that FEP responses, particularly to sad emotional stimuli, are impaired in depression. This study tests whether sleep disturbance and inflammation, two risk factors for depression, contribute to impaired FEP to sad emotional stimuli.

Steroid hormone secretion after stimulation of mineralocorticoid and NMDA receptors and cardiovascular risk in patients with depression.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with altered mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and glucocorticoid receptor function, and disturbed glutamatergic signaling. Both systems are closely intertwined and likely contribute not only to the pathophysiology of MDD, but also to the increased cardiovascular risk in MDD patients. Less is known about other steroid hormones, such as aldosterone and DHEA-S, and how they affect the glutamatergic system and cardiovascular disease risk in MDD.

Effects of glucocorticoid and noradrenergic activity on spatial learning and spatial memory in healthy young adults.

Background: Acute stress leads to a rapid release of noradrenaline and glucocorticoids, which in turn influence cognitive functions such as spatial learning and memory. However, few studies have investigated noradrenergic and glucocorticoid effects on spatial learning and memory in humans. Therefore, we examined the separate and combined effects of noradrenergic and glucocorticoid stimulation on spatial learning and memory.

Inflammaging: Age and Systemic, Cellular, and Nuclear Inflammatory Biology in Older Adults.

Systemic inflammation is associated with increasing age. Yet, there are limited data about the association between age and systemic inflammation within older adults, and whether older age is also associated with cellular and nuclear signaling markers of inflammation. In community-dwelling older adults (N = 262, 60-88 years), systemic levels of C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II; levels of toll-like receptor-4-stimulated monocytic production of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor α; and resting nuclear levels of activated nuclear factor kappa B and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT1, STAT3, STAT5) were evaluated.

Pro-inflammatory Monocyte Phenotype and Cell-Specific Steroid Signaling Alterations in Unmedicated Patients With Major Depressive Disorder.

Several lines of evidence have strongly implicated inflammatory processes in the pathobiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the cellular origin of inflammatory signals and their specificity remain unclear. We examined the phenotype and glucocorticoid signaling in key cell populations of the innate immune system (monocytes) vs.

Sex effects on spatial learning but not on spatial memory retrieval in healthy young adults.

Objectives: Sex differences have been found in spatial learning and spatial memory, with several studies indicating that males outperform females. We tested in the virtual Morris Water Maze (vMWM) task, whether sex differences in spatial cognitive processes are attributable to differences in spatial learning or spatial memory retrieval in a large student sample.

Methods: We tested 90 healthy students (45 women and 45 men) with a mean age of 23.

Effects of mineralocorticoid-receptor stimulation on risk taking behavior in young healthy men and women.

Risk taking is influenced by stress, with riskier decisions after exposure to an acute stressor and consecutively elevated cortisol levels. In the brain, cortisol acts on two receptors with different functional profiles: the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). In the current study we investigated the effect of MR stimulation on risk taking behavior in 80 young healthy participants (40 women, mean age=23.

Mineralocorticoid receptor stimulation effects on spatial memory in healthy young adults: A study using the virtual Morris Water Maze task.

Objectives: Stress hormones such as cortisol are known to influence a wide range of cognitive functions, including hippocampal based spatial memory. In the brain, cortisol acts via two different receptors: the glucocorticoid (GR) and the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). As the MR has a high density in the hippocampus, we examined the effects of pharmacological MR stimulation on spatial memory.

Cognitive function in older adults with major depression: Effects of mineralocorticoid receptor stimulation.

Memory and executive function are often impaired in older adults with major depression. Mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) are abundantly expressed in the hippocampus and in the prefrontal cortex, brain areas critical for memory and executive function. In both aging and depression, MR expression in the brain is reduced.

Depressive syndromes in neurological disorders.

Depressive syndromes represent a common and often characteristic feature in a number of neurological disorders. One prominent example is the development of post-stroke depression, which can be observed in more than one-third of stroke survivors in the aftermath of an ischemic stroke. Thus, post-stroke depression represents one of the most prevalent, disabling, and potentially devastating psychiatric post-stroke complications.

[Male-to-female transsexualism. Sex reassignment surgery from a biopsychosocial perspective].

Many man-to-female-transsexuals prefer sex reassignment surgery. Surgical complications are common, most frequently a stenosis of the vagina as well as the urethral ostium. In up to 24% of patients secondary corrective surgery is necessary.