Complicated grief in patients with unipolar depression.

Background: The loss of a close family member (e.g. child or spouse) has been shown to be one of the most stressful life-events increasing the risk of affective disorders.

Psychological impact on women after second and third trimester termination of pregnancy due to fetal anomalies versus women after preterm birth--a 14-month follow up study.

The objective of this study was to compare psychiatric morbidity and the course of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety in two groups with severe complications during pregnancy, women after termination of late pregnancy (TOP) due to fetal anomalies and women after preterm birth (PRE). As control group women after the delivery of a healthy child were assessed. A consecutive sample of women who experienced a) termination of late pregnancy in the 2nd or 3rd-trimester (N = 62), or b) preterm birth (N = 43), or c) birth of a healthy child (N = 65) was investigated 14 days (T1), 6 months (T2), and 14 months (T3) after the event.

Working-memory fMRI reveals cingulate hyperactivation in euthymic major depression.

While cognitive impairments are well documented for the acute episode of major depressive disorder (MDD), less is known about cognitive functioning in the euthymic state. For working memory, dysfunctional activation of lateral prefrontal and cingulate cortex has been reported in the acute episode. This study investigates working-memory function and its neurobiological correlate in euthymic MDD patients, particularly whether dysfunctional activation persists when depressive symptoms improve.

The functional anatomy of semantic retrieval is influenced by gender, menstrual cycle, and sex hormones.

This study examines the neurobiology of semantic retrieval and describes the influence of gender, menstrual cycle, and sex hormones on semantic networks. Healthy right-handed subjects (12 men, 12 women) were investigated with 3T-fMRI during synonym generation. Behavioral performance and sex hormone levels were assessed.

Reduced amygdala-prefrontal coupling in major depression: association with MAOA genotype and illness severity.

The amygdala plays a pivotal role in a cortico-limbic circuitry implicated in emotion processing and regulation. In the present study, functional connectivity of the amygdala with prefrontal areas involved in emotion regulation was investigated during a facial expression processing task in a sample of 34 depressed inpatients and 31 healthy controls. All patients were genotyped for a common functional variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in the promoter region of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA u-VNTR) which has been previously associated with major depression as well as reduced cortico-limbic connectivity in healthy subjects.

Influence of the catechol-O-methyltransferase val158met genotype on amygdala and prefrontal cortex emotional processing in panic disorder.

Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder with an estimated heritability of up to 48%. The functional val158met polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene has been found to be associated with panic disorder and to influence limbic and prefrontal brain activation in response to unpleasant stimuli. In the present study, neuronal activation following emotional stimulation was used as an endophenotype and investigated for association with the COMT val158met polymorphism in panic disorder.

[Simple and complex post-traumatic stress disorders. Diagnostic and therapeutic approaches].

The prevalence rates of post-traumatic stress disorders are high in the general population (5-10%). The main diagnostic criteria include the experience of an event of extraordinary threat and the persistence of specific symptoms such as intrusion, avoidance, and physiological hyperarousal. Long-lasting traumata may lead to the development of complex syndromes or irreversible personality alterations.

Association of MAO-A variant with complicated grief in major depression.

Background/aims: It has been suggested that monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) activity is involved in the pathogenesis of major depression. Bereavement-related complicated grief significantly increases the risk of major depression and has been shown to be influenced by serotonergic tonus, possibly conferred by MAO-A activity. Complicated grief--whose inclusion in DSM-V as a separate mental disorder is under discussion--has been shown to be a distinct syndrome with symptoms not seen in depression.

Amygdala reactivity to masked negative faces is associated with automatic judgmental bias in major depression: a 3 T fMRI study.

Objective: In a previous study, we demonstrated that amygdala reactivity to masked negative facial emotions predicts negative judgmental bias in healthy subjects. In the present study, we extended the paradigm to a sample of 35 inpatients suffering from depression to investigate the effect of amygdala reactivity on automatic negative judgmental bias and clinical characteristics in depression.

Methods: Amygdala activity was recorded in response to masked displays of angry, sad and happy facial expressions by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T.

Functional anatomy of visuo-spatial working memory during mental rotation is influenced by sex, menstrual cycle, and sex steroid hormones.

Recent observations indicate that sex and level of steroid hormones may influence cortical networks associated with specific cognitive functions, in particular visuo-spatial abilities. The present study probed the influence of sex, menstrual cycle, and sex steroid hormones on 3D mental rotation and brain function using 3-T fMRI. Twelve healthy women and 12 men were investigated.

Complicated grief after traumatic loss: a 14-month follow up study.

The traumatic loss of an unborn child after TOP due to fetal malformation and/or severe chromosomal disorders in late pregnancy is a major life-event and a potential source of serious psychological problems for those women. To obtain information on the course of grief following a traumatic loss, 62 women who had undergone TOP between the 15th and 32nd gestational week were investigated in a longitudinal study design and compared with 65 women after spontaneous delivery of a full-term healthy child. Grief, posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety and psychiatric disorders were evaluated 14 days, 6 months and 14 months after the event, implementing validated self-report and clinician rated instruments.

5-HTTLPR biases amygdala activity in response to masked facial expressions in major depression.

The amygdala is a key structure in a limbic circuit involved in the rapid and unconscious processing of facial emotions. Increased amygdala reactivity has been discussed in the context of major depression. Recent studies reported that amygdala activity during conscious emotion processing is modulated by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) in healthy subjects.

[Mourning after perinatal death--prevalence symptoms and treatment--a review of the literature].

Miscarriage and perinatal loss are associated with considerable psychosocial distress. A substantial proportion of women who suffered the loss of a child develop a psychological disorder. Depression, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and somatoform disorder all have been linked in various studies to grief reactions in response to perinatal loss.

Serotonergic genes modulate amygdala activity in major depression.

Serotonergic genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of depression probably via their influence on neural activity during emotion processing. This study used an imaging genomics approach to investigate amygdala activity in major depression as a function of common functional polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and the serotonin receptor 1A gene (5-HT(1A)-1019C/G). In 27 medicated patients with major depression, amygdala responses to happy, sad and angry faces were assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla.

Deployment of attention in clinical depression during symptom remission.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate deployment of attention in clinically depressed patients during the process of symptom remission. Previous research indicates a non-depressed protective bias in attention whereas depressed individuals evidence no bias. A deployment-of-attention task based on negative, positive, and neutral adjectives was administered twice to 15 inpatients with major depression and 15 normal controls, at about 6 weeks apart.

Cognitive impairment and in vivo metabolites in first-episode neuroleptic-naive and chronic medicated schizophrenic patients: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

Involvement of the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia has been implicated by neuropsychological, as well as neuropathological and imaging studies. Reductions of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), an in vivo marker of neuronal integrity, have repeatedly been detected in the frontal lobes of patients with schizophrenia by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). In chronic medicated patients, a positive correlation between NAA levels of the prefrontal cortex and cognitive functioning has been observed, but to date, there have been no studies in first-episode neuroleptic-naive patients.

Subliminal affective priming in clinical depression and comorbid anxiety: a longitudinal investigation.

In the present study, the sequential affective priming paradigm developed by Fazio et al. [Fazio, R.H.

Unimpaired automatic processing of verbal information in the course of clinical depression.

In this study automatic processing of verbal information was investigated in 22 clinically depressed inpatients and 22 healthy controls in a longitudinal design. A semantic priming task with word pronunciation was administered twice, about 7 weeks apart. Following brief presentations of prime words, subjects had to read target words aloud as quickly as possible.

Disengagement of attention from facial emotion in unipolar depression.

Abnormal processing of facial expressions is assumed to be an important factor mediating the course of depression. The aim of the present study was to investigate the ability to disengage attention from facial emotion in depressed patients in the course of an inpatient treatment program. It was hypothesized that in depression disengagement of visual attention from negative facial expression is delayed, while disengagement from positive facial expression is facilitated.

Association of the functional -1019C/G 5-HT1A polymorphism with prefrontal cortex and amygdala activation measured with 3 T fMRI in panic disorder.

Serotonergic genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of panic disorder and amygdala function in response to fearful stimuli. Regional brain activation on visual presentation of emotional facial stimuli was investigated in 20 patients with panic disorder by means of fMRI at 3 T. All patients were genotyped for the functional -1019C/G 5-HT1A and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms.

Masked facial affect priming is associated with therapy response in clinical depression.

In the present study, automatic processing of facial affect in clinical depression was investigated in the course of an inpatient treatment program. Patients suffering from clinical depression (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 21) completed the facial affective priming task developed by Murphy and Zajonc (1993) twice, about 7 weeks apart. Subjects were instructed to evaluate neutral Chinese ideographs primed by masked displays of sad, happy, and neutral facial affect, including a no-prime condition.

Trauma and grief 2-7 years after termination of pregnancy because of fetal anomalies--a pilot study.

The aim of the study was to obtain information on the long-term posttraumatic stress response and grief several years after termination of pregnancy due to fetal malformation. We investigated 83 women who had undergone termination of pregnancy between 1995 and 1999 and compared them with 60 women 14 days after termination of pregnancy and 65 women after the spontaneous delivery of a full-term healthy child. Women 2-7 years after termination of pregnancy were expected to show a significantly lower degree of traumatic experience and grief than women 14 days after termination of pregnancy.

Reduced awareness of others' emotions in unipolar depressed patients.

The present study was conducted to examine depressed patients' awareness of their own and other persons' emotions in the course of an inpatient psychotherapeutic treatment program. To this aim, the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) was administered twice, approximately 7 weeks apart, to 22 patients with a unipolar depression and 22 normal controls. From test 1 to test 2, severity of patients' depressive symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory improved significantly.

Incidental learning of food and emotional words in women with anorexia nervosa.

Prior research suggests that anorexic patients show a memory bias for fattening foods when they are processed in depth or with reference to the self. The present study examined whether anorexic subjects exhibit a bias for fattening foods when these are presented as task-irrelevant distractor stimuli. It also investigated whether anorexic patients pay less attention to emotion stimuli.