Longitudinal trajectories of cognitive, functional, and neuropsychiatric decline in Alzheimer's disease during COVID-19 lockdown in South Korea.

The progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its interaction with COVID-19-induced social isolation remains poorly understood. This study investigated the longitudinal trajectories of AD severity on cognitive function, functional ability, and neuropsychiatric symptoms, and examined the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on AD patients in South Korea. In this retrospective longitudinal study, data from 253 adults (aged ≥ 55) diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD were analyzed, collected between 2018 and 2022.

Neuroanatomical and neurocognitive correlates of delusion in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.

Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms and delusions are highly prevalent among people with dementia. However, multiple roots of neurobiological bases and shared neural basis of delusion and cognitive function remain to be characterized. By utilizing a fine-grained multivariable approach, we investigated distinct neuroanatomical correlates of delusion symptoms across a large population of dementing illnesses.

Facial Expressions Track Depressive Symptoms in Old Age.

Facial expressions play a crucial role in the diagnosis of mental illnesses characterized by mood changes. The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) is a comprehensive framework that systematically categorizes and captures even subtle changes in facial appearance, enabling the examination of emotional expressions. In this study, we investigated the association between facial expressions and depressive symptoms in a sample of 59 older adults without cognitive impairment.

Changes in Computer-Analyzed Facial Expressions with Age.

Facial expressions are well known to change with age, but the quantitative properties of facial aging remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the differences in the intensity of facial expressions between older ( = 56) and younger adults ( = 113). In laboratory experiments, the posed facial expressions of the participants were obtained based on six basic emotions and neutral facial expression stimuli, and the intensities of their faces were analyzed using a computer vision tool, OpenFace software.

Development and validation of the Korean version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test.

The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) is one of the most widely used instruments for assessing the ability to recognize emotion. To examine the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the RMET and to explore the possible implications of poor performance on this task, 200 adults aged 19-32 years completed the RMET and the Korean version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K), the cognitive empathy domain of the Korean version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C), and the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory-Aggression (BDHI-A). In the present study, confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that the hypothesized three-factor solution based on three different emotional valences of the items (positive, negative, or neutral) had a good fit to the data.

Disguised Emotion in Alexithymia: Subjective Difficulties in Emotion Processing and Increased Empathic Distress.

Despite decades of speculation, many causal aspects that contribute to the heterogeneity of alexithymia still must be clarified. This study examined the extent of the alexithymia phenotype and its contribution to social function in the general population. In total, 200 participants (females = 111) completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), multiple self-reporting questionnaires measuring emotion intelligence, empathy, hostility and impulsivity, and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET).

Synthesis of monodisperse hollow carbon nanocapsules by using protective silica shells.

Monodisperse hollow carbon nanocapsules (<200 nm) with mesoporous shells were synthesized by coating their outer shells with silica to prevent aggregation during their high-temperature annealing. Monodispersed silica nanoparticles were used as starting materials and octadecyltrimethoxysilane (C18TMS) was used as a carbon source to create core-shell nanostructures. These core-shell nanoparticles were coated with silica on their outer shell to form a second shell layer.