EEG based Major Depressive disorder and Bipolar disorder detection using Neural Networks: A review

Mental disorders represent critical public health challenges as they are leading contributors to the global burden of disease and intensely influence social and financial welfare of individuals. The present comprehensive review concentrate on the two mental disorders: Major depressive Disorder (MDD) and Bipolar Disorder (BD) with noteworthy publications during the last ten years. There is a big need nowadays for phenotypic characterization of psychiatric disorders with biomarkers. Electroencephalography (EEG) signals could offer a rich signature for MDD and BD and then they could improve understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms underling these mental disorders. In this review, we focus on the literature works adopting neural networks fed by EEG signals. Among those studies using EEG and neural networks, we have discussed a variety of EEG based protocols, biomarkers and public datasets for depression and bipolar disorder detection. We conclude with a discussion and valuable recommendations that will help to improve the reliability of developed models and for more accurate and more deterministic computational intelligence based systems in psychiatry. This review will prove to be a structured and valuable initial point for the researchers working on depression and bipolar disorders recognition by using EEG signals.Comment: 29 pages,2 figures and 18 Table

Spiritually Oriented Cognitive Processing Therapy for Spiritual Struggle in Christian Sexual Assault Survivors with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

A Single Case Research Design (SCRD) with a multiple-baseline across participants was used to investigate the effects Spiritually Oriented Cognitive Processing Therapy-Cognitive (SOCPT-C) had on spiritual struggle, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scores and depression in four Christian sexual assault survivors with PTSD reporting spiritual struggle. A complex reciprocal relationship between spiritual struggle and PTSD is suggested in the literature as influencing posttraumatic adjustment and treatment for Christian trauma survivors. Many empirically supported treatments (EST) for PTSD lack spiritual interventions to directly target effects from this relationship. Individuals completed an online pre-screening evaluation and an assessment was scheduled with those meeting inclusion criteria. Staggered treatment occurred in the counseling setting and included either (1) Cognitive Processing Therapy-Cognitive (CPT-C) or (2) SOCPT-C, a spiritually modified version of CPT-C. Data was collected through continuous assessment with two sessions weekly for eight weeks. Visual analysis was conducted through examining data patterns related to (1) level, (2) trend, (3) variability, (4) immediacy of the effect, (5) overlap and (6) consistency of data patterns across similar phases. Results indicated change was often gradual with no rapid shift and mixed treatment effects. The study findings indicated SOCPT-C was an effective intervention for decreasing spiritual struggle and PTSD. For depression scores, results were mixed and inconclusive for both interventions and their influences. Future research that evaluates the effects an EST inclusive with spiritual interventions have on the identified reciprocal relationship remains are indicated

Healing Racial Trauma and Reframing the Miseducation of U.S. America: Altering Exclusionary Textbooks as a Therapeutic Experiential

This exploratory mixed-methods, arts-based research investigated the therapeutic impact of fusing art therapy, group therapy, altered book making and alternative therapeutic modalities on self-efficacy, self- awareness, community efficacy and awareness, and reduction of racial trauma symptomology. The intention of the study was to understand the experiences of mental health professional participants (n =5), consequent to four therapeutic group sessions. Participants disclosed experienced symptoms of race-based PTSD pre and post sessions via the University of Connecticut Racial/Ethnic Trauma Survey, in addition to qualitative data. Qualitative data consisted of artwork, written responses, and exit interviews confirming the hypothesis that this radical healing experiential would be cathartically empowering and renewing for participants, fostering a renewed perspective of their self and community efficacy and awareness. The findings determined intersectional implications for future research, art therapy psychology, and the field of education to facilitate research on new healing experientials to reduce symptomology of racial trauma, and to challenge and change the omissive and emotionally abusive status quo. Keywords: art-based research, art therapy psychology, altered book making, critical consciousness, intersectionality, narrative theory, racial trauma, race-based trauma, radical healing, self- efficacy, public educatio

Electrical Brain Activity and The Examinee\u27s Level of Effort During Performance Validity Tasks

Many people who intend to obtain benefits from an assessment may resort to performing poorly on assessments. Previous literature has found that cognitive deficits and long-term symptomatic complaints are reported by individuals with mild Traumatic Brain Injuries. Limited studies have investigated how brain activity measured via Quantitative Electroencephalography (QEEG) relates to mental effort during cognitive tasks. The purpose of this study was to investigate electrical brain activity, as measured by Peak (PK) frequency, on frontal brain areas (i.e. locations F3-F4) in individuals giving poor mental effort. Measures of effort, in this study, include the Test of Memory Malingering, Rey 15-Item Test, and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure. A significant difference was found for the Rey-15 task in F4-F3 Beta PK Frequency asymmetry, indicating that groups differed in the asymmetry scores at the frontal areas. The results suggest that PK was only able to be related to effort when participants completed relatively easy tasks, and this was represented by asymmetry on PK Frequency for Beta on the Frontal Lobe

The neural basis of the sense of fatigue

Evidence suggests that the genesis and regulation of the sense of exertional fatigue is rooted within the same neural networks responsible for processing affective responses. One key mechanism proposed to be involved in the sense of exertional fatigue is the interaction between the cognitive inhibitory processes of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the interoceptive inputs to the amygdala. The primary purpose of this dissertation is to examine the development and progression of exertional fatigue during exercise by examining the interactions between the level of bodily perturbations evoked by the exercise, the activity of the DLPFC (Tissue Oxygenation Index [TOI] percentage), the amygdala (indexed by the acoustic startle eyeblink response [ASER] amplitude), and affective responses (Empirical Valence Scale [EVS] score). The secondary purpose is to modulate the interaction between the DLPFC TOI, the EVS scores, and the ASER amplitudes using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), to explore its potential as a treatment for attenuating the sense of fatigue during physical exertion. Individual differences were also examined. Thirty healthy university students—12 women and 18 men—exercised on a cycle ergometer for up to 20 minutes or until volitional termination at (1) heavy-intensity exercise while receiving sham tDCS on the right and left DLPFC (H-Sham), (2) heavy-intensity exercise while receiving active tDCS (H-Active), (3) severe-intensity exercise while receiving sham tDCS (S-Sham), and (4) severe-intensity exercise while receiving active tDCS (S-Active). The rate of decline in EVS scores was significantly greater during severe-intensity exercise compared to heavy-intensity exercise. The decline in the right and left DLPFC TOI percentages was significantly greater during severe-intensity exercise compared to heavy-intensity exercise, and this decline was larger in the right DLPFC compared to the left DLPFC. During both exercise intensities, the strength of the correlations between EVS scores and the right and left DLPFC TOI percentages increased as the interoceptive cues intensified. tDCS significantly increased DLPFC TOI percentages and the pattern of the ASER amplitudes. In conjunction with the decline in EVS scores, the drop in TOI was most prominent during severe-intensity exercise when, on average, the right DLPFC TOI dropped below baseline and, therefore, the DLPFC entered a hypometabolic state. Individuals with a higher level of tolerance demonstrated a greater activation of the right DLPFC during the heavy-intensity exercise compared to individuals with lower tolerance. The findings of this dissertation suggest that affective responses during exercise were a function of both the severity of homeostatic perturbations and the level of inhibitory control exerted by the right DLPFC. These results support the model for hemispheric specialization of the right PFC in the cognitive inhibition of displeasure. The regulation of the sense of exertional fatigue is, therefore, likely controlled by the right DLPFC. Exertional fatigue emerged at a defined threshold. Accordingly, the physiological response pattern entered a non-steady-state, accompanied by feelings of greater displeasure (or less pleasure) and high perceived activation. Proximal to the point of termination, the hypometabolic state of the DLPFC and the decline in affective responses were not reversed with active tDCS. As such, near one’s physiological limits, if the deactivation of the DLPFC and the corresponding displeasure serve to protect the body from reaching dangerous levels of perturbation, then this mechanism appears to be immutable. Future work should evaluate the potential of therapies that target the modulation of DLPFC inhibitory control (top–down) or interoceptive sensitivity (bottom–up) networks in relation to types of fatigue (e.g., clinical)

Breadwinner Mothers of School-Aged Children during COVID-19: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Working mothers have long faced myriad challenges to optimal work-life balance, with evidence of negative consequences to their physical and mental wellbeing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, working mothers reported unprecedented difficulties, though inquiry into breadwinner mothers’ experiences remained lacking. This research focused specifically on the experiences of breadwinner mothers of elementary school-aged children who navigated remote working and remote schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. A diverse sample of 12 breadwinner mothers across the United States completed semi-structured interviews focusing on the impact of the pandemic on their daily lives, as well as how they understood their experiences in light of dominant cultural norms regarding motherhood, work, breadwinning, and identity areas. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), intersectionality, and gender theories informed the research design and analysis. Data analyses yielded four overarching themes: (1) Intensification of an Already Non-Stop and Exhausting “Juggling Act” (2), Left to One’s Own Devices, Figuratively and Sometimes Literally (3), Merging of Work and Home Life as a Double-Edged Sword; and (4) Ambivalence about Breadwinner Status. Findings lend support to research indicating breadwinner mothers commonly fulfill a role of outsized responsibility in caretaking and decision-making in ways often invisible, resulting in role strain, cognitive overload, and decreased self-care. Discussion of findings consider limitations, further research, and implications for counseling practice and advocacy to better support breadwinner mothers in the aftermath of the pandemic and beyond

Determining Criteria for Distinguishing States of Consciousness

Even though there are many views on consciousness theory in the pertinent literature, there remains a need for a unifying framework for specifying the features of specific states of consciousness. In order to know what kinds of experiences conscious states have in common, researchers need to elicit testimony that is more direct and finer-grained than has been previously available. This dissertation endeavors to fill a gap in current research by addressing concepts and methods for making requisite distinctions. This research illuminates the question of whether specific states of consciousness can be reliably and validly distinguished from each other. In order to do this, 41 individuals, who had experienced significant peak or ecstatic states from a variety of induction methods (most prominently by ingestion of psychedelic substances), were invited to be interviewed. The interview was designed as a conversational-type synthesis of 5 well-known questionnaires pertinent to states of consciousness, but without their explicit and implicit assumptions; that is, the volunteers\u27 responses would not conform to predetermined questions. Encoding their responses allowed me to develop a model that helped to answer the research question ( Are there identifiable features that can reliably and validly distinguish among states of consciousness thought to be distinct from each other? ) by formulating a model in which any given conscious state can be catalogued in terms of its component factors (background, resistances, setting, induction, tradition, energies, and breakthrough events). The results of this study provide much-needed insights into people\u27s internal experiences of their various states, thus forming a basis for improved treatments and analyses. Better understanding of these states can be an impetus for social change by allowing for more incisive analyses and treatments, and also enabling more understanding of other people\u27s inner perspectives

Comparing the effect of task-oriented intervention program vs. strength training program in improving motor proficiency in children aged 8-12 years with developmental coordination disorder (DCD): A randomized controlled pilot study

Abstract Background: Despite the fairly high prevalence of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) among children (5-6% of school population), existing research and therapeutic practice lack rigorously conducted, randomised controlled studies that could be instrumental in finding the most effective intervention programs as judged by improvements of various facets of patients’ motor proficiency, their physiological status, and adherence rates. Purpose: This study sought to compare the outcomes of task-oriented and strength training exercise intervention programs in terms of improving motor proficiency as well as the levels of enjoyment and compliancy to treatment among children with DCD. Design: Randomized controlled pilot trial. Methods: Eighteen children aged 8-12 years diagnosed with DCD were randomly assigned to the task-oriented exercise program (n=9) or strength training program (n=9). Children were assessed using the Developmental Coordination Questionnaire and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, as well as a battery of self-reported measures of enjoyment and the level of parental encouragement needed. Intervention consisted of 8-week exercise physiologist-led individual or group exercise sessions held once a week plus a series of home exercise program. Analysis: A series of one-way ANOVAs and paired t-tests were used to investigate the within-group and between-group effects of the two programs. Multiple linear regressions were run to test whether and which contextual and child-related characteristics affected the treatment success. Results: Both programs have led to statistically significant improvements in terms of children’s motor proficiency as measured by total score (p<.001 for both groups), manual dexterity (p=.004 and p=.001 in the task-oriented and strength-training groups, respectively), ball skills (p<.001 in the in the task-oriented group), and balance (p<.001 and p<.01). The group allocation did not influence the post-treatment results. No statistically significant differences were found between the two programs in terms of enjoyment and encouragement levels