The Predictive Potential of Heart Rate Variability for Depression.

Heart rate variability (HRV),a measure of the fluctuations in the intervals between consecutive heartbeats, is an indicator of changes in the autonomic nervous system. A chronic reduction in HRV has been repeatedly linked to clinical depression. However, the chronological and mechanistic aspects of this relationship, between the neural, physiological, and psychopathological levels, remain unclear.

Hope and self-efficacy are associated with better satisfaction with life in people with ALS.

The psychological phenotype in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is less negative than in other neurodegenerative diseases, manifested by a lower prevalence of psychopathology, such as anxiety and major depression, and a higher perceived quality of life by patients, irrespective of physical impairment. We hypothesized that positive psychological factors such as hope, optimism, and self-efficacy in people with ALS (PALS) were key determinants of satisfaction with life (SWL), despite physical impairment, and were protective against psychopathology. Forty PALS, at different functional levels, completed objective questionnaires to evaluate psychological factors of hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and SWL.