Disrupted structural brain connectome underlying the cognitive deficits in remitted late-onset depression.

Cognitive deficit is a key feature of late-onset depression (LOD) and remains after clinical recovery. LOD has been associated with widespread neurobiological difficulties, including atrophy in gray and white matter (WM) tissue in areas distributed throughout the brain. However, little is known about the topological pattern changes of WM structural networks in LOD in the remitted state and its relationship to cognitive deficits.

Association Between the Apolipoprotein E Gene Polymorphism and Atherosclerotic Middle Cerebral Artery Stenosis.

Objectives: Stenosis of the intracranial large arteries, especially the middle cerebral artery (MCA), is common in the Chinese population. We conducted a case-control study to investigate clinical and apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene polymorphism of MCA atherosclerosis in the Chinese population.

Materials And Methods: Polymerase chain reaction-based protocols were used to identify the genotypes of polymorphisms in ApoE genes.

Cerebral blood flow changes in remitted early- and late-onset depression patients.

Abnormal cerebral blood flow (CBF) is reportedly associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). We have investigated CBF changes in early-onset depression (EOD) and late-onset depression (LOD), and their impact on cognitive function. Thirty-two remitted EOD patients, 32 remitted LOD patients, and 43 age-matched healthy controls were recruited, and the pulsed arterial spin labeling data were scanned under 3.

Genetic variation in angiotensin converting-enzyme affects the white matter integrity and cognitive function of amnestic mild cognitive impairment patients.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene has been implicated in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Most human genetic studies have focused on ACE insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism and yielded conflicting results. In this work, we evaluated the relationships between cognitive function, serum ACE level, brain white matter (WM) integrity, and ACE I/D polymorphism in 48 patients with aMCI and 36 well matched control subjects from south China.

The combination of plasma glutamate and physical impairment after acute stroke as a potential indicator for the early-onset post-stroke depression.

Objects: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship of plasma glutamate levels with the early-onset of post-stroke depression (PSD) and to further explore the prognostic value of plasma glutamate combined with clinical characteristics for the early-onset PSD in the acute ischemic stroke patients.

Methods: Seventy-four patients who admitted to the hospital within 24h of acute ischemic stroke were consecutively recruited and followed up for 2weeks. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) were used to screen for depressive symptoms 14days after stroke.

The characteristic of cognitive dysfunction in remitted late life depression and amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Remitted late life depression exhibits persistent cognitive impairments and enhances the risk of dementia. This study aimed to examine the characteristics of cognitive dysfunction in remitted late life depression and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Remitted late life depression (n=61), amnestic MCI (n=61) and age-education-matched controls (n=65) were evaluated with a battery of neuropsychological tests grouped into executive function, memory, processing speed, attention and visuospatial domains.

Enriched environment improves post-stroke cognitive impairment in mice by potential regulation of acetylation homeostasis in cholinergic circuits.

Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI), commonly seen in the clinical practice, is a major factor impeding patient rehabilitation. Enriched environment (EE) intervention is a simple and effective way to improve cognitive impairment, partially due to the rebalancing of the basal forebrain-hippocampus cholinergic signaling pathway. Epigenetic changes have been identified in many cognitive disorders.

Staging Alzheimer's Disease Risk by Sequencing Brain Function and Structure, Cerebrospinal Fluid, and Cognition Biomarkers.

This study aims to develop a composite biomarker that can accurately measure the sequential biological stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) on an individual level. We selected 144 subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 2 datasets. Ten biomarkers, from brain function and structure, cerebrospinal fluid, and cognitive performance, were integrated using the event-based probabilistic model to estimate their optimal temporal sequence (Soptimal).

Altered topological patterns of brain networks in remitted late-onset depression: a resting-state fMRI study.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the topological organization of whole-brain networks in patients with remitted late-onset depression (rLOD) and to examine the relationship between topological aberrations and performances on neuropsychological tests.

Method: A total of 33 patients with DSM-IV-diagnosed rLOD and 31 healthy control subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. The whole-brain functional networks were constructed by thresholding Pearson correlation matrices of 90 brain regions, and their topological properties (ie, small-worldness, network efficiency, and nodal efficiency) were analyzed using graph theory-based approaches.

Changed Synaptic Plasticity in Neural Circuits of Depressive-Like and Escitalopram-Treated Rats.

Background: Although progress has been made in the detection and characterization of neural plasticity in depression, it has not been fully understood in individual synaptic changes in the neural circuits under chronic stress and antidepressant treatment.

Methods: Using electron microscopy and Western-blot analyses, the present study quantitatively examined the changes in the Gray's Type I synaptic ultrastructures and the expression of synapse-associated proteins in the key brain regions of rats' depressive-related neural circuit after chronic unpredicted mild stress and/or escitalopram administration. Meanwhile, their depressive behaviors were also determined by several tests.

The Role of the Two-Pore Domain Potassium Channel TREK-1 in the Therapeutic Effects of Escitalopram in a Rat Model of Poststroke Depression.

Aim: Poststroke depression (PSD) is one of the most common neuropsychiatric complications after stroke. TREK-1, a two-pore-domain potassium channel, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of stroke and depression. The aim of this study was to investigate whether TREK-1 plays a role in the therapeutic effects of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) escitalopram in a rat PSD model.

Neurocognitive impairment on motor imagery associated with positive symptoms in patients with first-episode schizophrenia: evidence from event-related brain potentials.

Motor imagery provides direct insight into an anatomically interconnected system involved in the integration of sensory information with motor actions, a process that is associated with positive symptoms in schizophrenia (SCZ). However, very little is known about the electrophysiological processing of motor imagery in first episode SCZ. In the current study, we used a visual hand mental rotation (MR) paradigm to manipulate the processing of motor imagery while event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 42 SCZ participants and 40 healthy controls (HC).

Can multi-modal neuroimaging evidence from hippocampus provide biomarkers for the progression of amnestic mild cognitive impairment?

Impaired structure and function of the hippocampus is a valuable predictor of progression from amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) to Alzheimer's disease (AD). As a part of the medial temporal lobe memory system, the hippocampus is one of the brain regions affected earliest by AD neuropathology, and shows progressive degeneration as aMCI progresses to AD. Currently, no validated biomarkers can precisely predict the conversion from aMCI to AD.

Altered functional connectivity networks of hippocampal subregions in remitted late-onset depression: a longitudinal resting-state study.

The regional specificity of hippocampal abnormalities in late-life depression (LLD) has been demonstrated in previous studies. In this study, we sought to examine the functional connectivity (FC) patterns of hippocampal subregions in remitted late-onset depression (rLOD), a special subtype of LLD. Fourteen rLOD patients and 18 healthy controls underwent clinical and cognitive evaluations as well as resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans at baseline and at ∼21 months of follow-up.

Neurophysiological handover from MMN to P3a in first-episode and recurrent major depression.

Background: Mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a components are sequential and co-occur. MMN represents the pre-attentive index of deviance detection and P3a represents the attention orienting response. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by impaired pre-attentive information processing.

Opposite Neural Trajectories of Apolipoprotein E ϵ4 and ϵ2 Alleles with Aging Associated with Different Risks of Alzheimer's Disease.

The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ϵ4 allele is a confirmed genetic risk factor and the APOE ϵ2 allele is a protective factor related to late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). Intriguingly, recent studies demonstrated similar brain function alterations between APOE ϵ2 and ϵ4 alleles, despite their opposite susceptibilities to AD. To address this apparent discrepancy, we recruited 129 cognitively normal elderly subjects, including 36 ϵ2 carriers, 44 ϵ3 homozygotes, and 49 ϵ4 carriers.

The interaction of APOE genotype by age in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: a voxel-based morphometric study.

The apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene has been confirmed as the major genetic risk factor for the conversion of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) to Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study was to assess whether there was a specific interaction of APOE by the aging process on brain morphology in aMCI. The analysis of gray matter (GM) voxel-based morphometry was performed in 85 aMCI and 100 healthy controls (HC).

Neurocognitive impairment of mental rotation in major depressive disorder: evidence from event-related brain potentials.

Mental rotation performance may be used as an index of mental slowing or bradyphrenia and may reflect speed of motor preparation. Previous studies suggest that major depressive disorder (MDD) presents correlates of impaired behavioral performance for mental rotation and psychomotor disturbance. Very little is known about the electrophysiological mechanism underlying this deficit.

Imbalanced hippocampal functional networks associated with remitted geriatric depression and apolipoprotein E ε4 allele in nondemented elderly: a preliminary study.

Background: Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele and a history of geriatric depression are confirmed risk factors of Alzheimer׳s disease (AD). Coexistence of both factors could notably enhance the risk of cognitive impairment in nondemented elderly. However, neural basis of the association remains unclear.