Anosognosia in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment is Related to Diminished Hippocampal Volume Comparable to Alzheimer's Disease Dementia:Preliminary MRI Findings

Although the presence of anosognosia in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) may be predictive of conversion to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), little is known about its neural correlates in AD and aMCI. Four different groups were compared using volumetric and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging metrics in regions of interest (hippocampus and cingulum cortex gray matter, cingulum bundle white matter): aMCI subjects with anosognosia (n = 6), aMCI subjects without anosognosia (n = 12), AD subjects with anosognosia (n = 6), and AD subjects without anosognosia (n = 9). aMCI subjects with anosognosia displayed a significantly lower gray matter density (GMD) in the bilateral hippocampus than aMCI subjects without anosognosia, which was accounted for by bilateral hippocampal differences. Furthermore, we identified that the mean hippocampal gray matter density of aMCI subjects with anosognosia was not statistically different than that of AD subjects. The groups of aMCI and AD subjects with anosognosia also displayed a lower GMD in the bilateral cingulum cortex compared to subjects without anosognosia, but these differences were not statistically significant. No statistically significant differences were found in the fractional anisotropy or mean diffusivity of the hippocampus or cingulum between subjects with and without anosognosia in aMCI or AD groups. While these findings are derived from a small population of subjects and are in need of replication, they suggest that anosognosia in aMCI might be a useful clinical marker to suspect brain changes associated with AD neuropathology

Evaluation of an anti-stigma intervention for Mexican psychiatric trainees

BACKGROUND: There is research evidence regarding the presence of stigmatising attitudes in psychiatrists towards people with mental illness, but a lack of studies and interventions focused on this issue in low and middle-income countries. AIMS: To assess the feasibility of implementing an anti-stigma intervention for Mexican psychiatric trainees, and its potential effects. METHODS: This study comprised a pre-post design with outcome measures compared between baseline and 3-month follow-up. Quantitative outcome measures were used to evaluate the potential effects of the intervention, whilst the process evaluation required the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. RESULTS: Twenty-nine trainees (25% of those invited) participated in the intervention, of whom 18 also participated in the follow-up assessment. Outcome measures showed the intervention had moderately large effects on reducing stereotypes and the influence of other co-workers on trainees’ own attitudes. The main mechanisms of impact identified were recognition of negative attitudes in oneself and colleagues, self-reflection about the impact of stigma, one’s own negative attitudes and recognition of one’s ability to make change. Participants accepted and were satisfied with the intervention, which many considered should be part of their routine training. However, trainees’ work overload and lack of support from the host organisation were identified as barriers to implement the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: A brief anti-stigma intervention for Mexican psychiatric trainees is feasible, potentially effective, well accepted and was considered necessary by participants. This study also suggests mechanisms of impact and mediators should be considered for developing further interventions, contributing to reducing the damaging effects that mental health-related stigma has on people’s lives

The Mexican dataset of an rTMS clinical trial on cocaine use disorder patients: SUDMEX TMS

<p>The SUDMEX_TMS dataset is the result of a longitudinal clinical trial of cocaine use disorder patients that were treated with rTMS at 5-Hz on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) for a 2 week double-blind acute phase and an open-label maintenance phase that included clinical, cognitive and MRI data acquisition. The design was a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized controlled trial with parallel groups (acute phase). The study was done at the National Institute of Psychiatry .</p> <p>Each patient had more than one clinical and MRI session or time point from baseline (T0), 2 weeks (T1), 3 months (T2), 6 months (T3) and some patients had 12 months (T4). The T14 time point was only for patients in the Sham group who decided to continue the clinical trial with open-label rTMS. The T14 refers to 2 weeks after T1 (4 weeks after T0).</p> <p>The MRI sequences were: 1) T1-weighted, 2) rsfMRI 10 min, 3) HARDI-DWI multishell (next release).</p> <p>The data set is curated and organized by test and item for each experimental phase and also has a dictionary to define the variables measured.</p> <p> </p> <p>If you require more information about data or scales, please contact us. </p> <p><em>LANIREM (</em><em>National MRI Laboratory)</em><em>, Institute of Neurobiology, </em></p> <p><em>Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), </em><em>Querétaro, México.</em></p> <p><strong>Diego Angeles Valdez, M. Sc. </strong></p> <ul> <li>[email protected]</li> <li>[email protected]</li> </ul> <p><br> <strong>Eduardo A. Garza-Villarreal, M.D., Ph.D.</strong></p> <ul> <li>[email protected]</li> <li>[email protected]</li> </ul&gt