Childhood adversity and diagnosis of major depression: Association with memory and executive function?

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Michael Kaczmarczyk ◽  
Katja Wingenfeld ◽  
Linn Kuehl ◽  
Christian Otte ◽  
Kim Hinkelmann
2018 ◽  
Vol 270 ◽  
pp. 880-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kaczmarczyk ◽  
Katja Wingenfeld ◽  
Linn K. Kuehl ◽  
Christian Otte ◽  
Kim Hinkelmann

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 1219-1229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Cotton ◽  
Joe Verghese ◽  
Helena M Blumen

Abstract Objective We examined the neural substrates of social support in older adults. Social support is associated with better outcomes in many facets of aging—including cognitive and functional health—but the underlying neural substrates remain largely unexplored. Methods Voxel-based morphometry and multivariate statistics were used to identify gray matter volume covariance networks associated with social support in 112 older adults without dementia (M age = 74.6 years, 50% female), using the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey. Results A gray matter network associated with overall social support was identified and included prefrontal, hippocampal, amygdala, cingulate, and thalamic regions. A gray matter network specifically associated with tangible social support (e.g., someone to help you if you were confined to bed) was also identified, included prefrontal, hippocampal, cingulate, insular, and thalamic regions, and correlated with memory and executive function. Discussion Gray matter networks associated with overall and tangible social support in this study were composed of regions previously associated with memory, executive function, aging, and dementia. Longitudinal research of the interrelationships between social support, brain structure, and cognition is needed, but strengthening social support may represent a new path toward improving cognition in aging that should be explored.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (42) ◽  
pp. E6535-E6544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuming Zhang ◽  
Elizabeth C. Mormino ◽  
Nanbo Sun ◽  
Reisa A. Sperling ◽  
Mert R. Sabuncu ◽  
...  

We used a data-driven Bayesian model to automatically identify distinct latent factors of overlapping atrophy patterns from voxelwise structural MRIs of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia patients. Our approach estimated the extent to which multiple distinct atrophy patterns were expressed within each participant rather than assuming that each participant expressed a single atrophy factor. The model revealed a temporal atrophy factor (medial temporal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala), a subcortical atrophy factor (striatum, thalamus, and cerebellum), and a cortical atrophy factor (frontal, parietal, lateral temporal, and lateral occipital cortices). To explore the influence of each factor in early AD, atrophy factor compositions were inferred in beta-amyloid–positive (Aβ+) mild cognitively impaired (MCI) and cognitively normal (CN) participants. All three factors were associated with memory decline across the entire clinical spectrum, whereas the cortical factor was associated with executive function decline in Aβ+ MCI participants and AD dementia patients. Direct comparison between factors revealed that the temporal factor showed the strongest association with memory, whereas the cortical factor showed the strongest association with executive function. The subcortical factor was associated with the slowest decline for both memory and executive function compared with temporal and cortical factors. These results suggest that distinct patterns of atrophy influence decline across different cognitive domains. Quantification of this heterogeneity may enable the computation of individual-level predictions relevant for disease monitoring and customized therapies. Factor compositions of participants and code used in this article are publicly available for future research.


2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 1465-1474 ◽  
Author(s):  
RENEE D. GOODWIN ◽  
DAVID M. FERGUSSON ◽  
L. JOHN HORWOOD

Background. The objectives of the study were to examine linkages between asthma and depressive and anxiety disorders in a birth cohort of over 1000 young persons studied to the age of 21 years. Specifically, the study aimed to ascertain the extent to which associations between asthma and depressive and anxiety disorders could be explained by non-observed fixed confounding factors.Method. Asthma and depressive and anxiety disorders were measured prospectively over the course of a 21-year longitudinal study. Fixed effects logistic regression models were used to determine the relationship between asthma and depressive and anxiety disorders, adjusting for potentially confounding factors.Results. Asthma in adolescence and young adulthood was associated with increased likelihood of major depression (OR 1·7, 95% CI 1·3–2·3), panic attacks (OR 1·9, 95% CI 1·3–2·8), and any anxiety disorder (OR 1·6, 95% CI 1·2–2·2). Associations between asthma and depressive and anxiety disorders were adjusted for confounding factors using a fixed effects regression model which showed that, after control for fixed confounding factors, asthma was no longer significantly related to major depression (OR 1·1), panic attacks (OR 1·1), or any anxiety disorder (OR 1·2). Additional post hoc analyses suggested that exposure to childhood adversity or unexamined familial factors may account for some of the co-morbidity of asthma and depressive and anxiety disorders.Conclusions. These results confirm and extend previous findings by documenting elevated rates of depressive and anxiety disorders among young adults with asthma, compared with their counterparts without asthma, in the community. The weight of the evidence from this study suggests that associations between asthma and depressive and anxiety symptoms may reflect effects of common factors associated with both asthma and depressive and anxiety disorders, rather than a direct causal link. Future research is needed to identify the specific factors underlying these associations.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Williams ◽  
Prasiddha Parthasarathy ◽  
Monika Molnar

An extensive literature exists regarding the effect of bilingualism on cognition in developing populations. However, the term ‘cognition’ is vague and applies to a large number of different abilities. We reviewed 57 publications examining cognition in simultaneous bilingual children to understand what aspects of cognition have been studied in this population and what tasks have been used, in addition to qualitatively assessing the results of bilingual/monolingual comparisons. Executive function was the most frequently assessed cognitive ability across all age groups, paralleling the adult bilingual literature, with memory flexibility and theory of mind also emerging as common targets within infant and preschool age groups. Results are discussed in light of developmental trajectories and assessment methodologies currently available for the cognitive abilities represented in this literature.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam M. Youssef ◽  
Mark D. Underwood ◽  
Yung-Yu Huang ◽  
Shu-chi Hsiung ◽  
Yan Liu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is implicated in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicide. Both are partly caused by early life adversity (ELA) and ELA reduces both BDNF protein and gene expression. This study examines the association of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and brain BDNF levels with depression and suicide. We hypothesized that both MDD and ELA would be associated with the Met allele and lower brain BDNF levels. Such an association would be consistent with low BDNF mediating the effect of ELA on adulthood suicide and MDD. BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was genotyped in postmortem brains of 37 suicide decedents and 53 non-suicides. Additionally, BDNF protein levels were determined by Western blot in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 9; BA9), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; BA24), caudal brainstem and rostral brainstem. The relationships between these measures and major depression, death by suicide and reported childhood adversity were examined. Depressed subjects had an excess of the Met allele and lower BDNF levels in ACC and caudal brainstem compared with non-depressed subjects. No effect of history of suicide death or early life adversity was observed with genotype, but lower BDNF levels in ACC were found in subjects who had been exposed to early life adversity and/or died by suicide compared to nonsuicide decedents and no reported childhood adversity. This study provides further evidence for low BDNF in major depression related to the BDNF met risk allele. Future studies should seek to determine how altered BDNF expression contributes to MDD and suicide.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditi Gupta ◽  
Rebecca J. Lepping ◽  
Alan S.L. Yu ◽  
Rodrigo D. Perea ◽  
Robyn A. Honea ◽  
...  

Background: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a disease with an aging population and a high prevalence of cognitive impairment affecting quality of life, health care costs and mortality. Structural changes in the brain with decreased white matter integrity have been observed in ESRD. Understanding the changes in cognition and associated changes in brain structure after renal transplantation can help define the mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment in ESRD. Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational cohort study in ESRD patients listed for renal transplantation and followed them post-transplantation. We assessed their cognitive function with a battery of neuropsychological tests and brain white matter integrity with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) both before transplant and 3 months after transplant. Results: Eleven patients, aged 56.5 ± 10.7 years, completed the study. Cognitive measures of memory and executive function improved after the transplant, specifically on tests of logical memory I (p = 0.004), logical memory II (p = 0.003) and digit symbol (p < 0.0001). DTI metrics also improved post the transplant with an increase in fractional anisotropy (p = 0.01) and decrease in mean diffusivity (p = 0.004). These changes were more prominent in tracts associated with memory and executive function. Conclusions: Cognitive function, particularly memory and executive function, improve post the transplant with concurrent improvements in white matter integrity in tracts associated with memory and executive function. These data suggest that abnormalities in cognition and brain structure seen in the ESRD population are at least partially reversible.


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