Time perception in mild cognitive impairment: interval length and subjective passage of time

Objectives Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may have difficulties in time perception, which in turn might contribute to some of their symptoms, especially memory deficits. The aim of this study was to evaluate perception of interval length and subjective passage of time in MCI patients as compared to healthy controls. Methods Fifty-five MCI patients and 57 healthy controls underwent an experimental protocol for time perception on interval length, a questionnaire for the subjective passage of time and a neuropsychological evaluation. Results MCI patients presented no changes in the perception of interval length. However, for MCI patients, time seemed to pass more slowly than it did for controls. This experience was significantly correlated with memory deficits but not with performance in executive tests, nor with complaints of depression or anxiety. Conclusions Memory deficits do not affect the perception of interval length, but are associated with alterations in the subjective passage of time

Dopamine D2 receptor occupancy and cognition in schizophrenia : analysis of the CATIE data

Introduction: Antipsychotic drugs exert antipsychotic effects by blocking dopamine D2 receptors in the treatment of schizophrenia. However, effects of D2 receptor blockade on neurocognitive function still remain to be elucidated. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate impacts of estimated dopamine D2 receptor occupancy with antipsychotic drugs on several domains of neurocognitive function in patients with schizophrenia in the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials in Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) trial. Methods: The dataset from the CATIE trial was used in the present analysis. Data were extracted from 410 subjects who were treated with risperidone, olanzapine, or ziprasidone, received assessments for neurocognitive functions (verbal memory, vigilance, processing speed, reasoning, and working memory) and psychopathology, and provided plasma samples for the measurement of plasma antipsychotic concentrations. D2 receptor occupancy levels on the day of neurocognitive assessment were estimated from plasma antipsychotic concentrations, using population pharmacokinetic analysis and our recently developed model. A multivariate general linear model was used to examine effects of clinical and demographic characteristics, including estimated D2 occupancy levels, on neurocognitive functions. Results: D2 occupancy levels showed significant associations with the vigilance and the summary scores. Neurocognitive functions, including vigilance, were especially impaired in subjects who showed D2 receptor occupancy level of >77%. Discussion: These findings suggest a nonlinear relationship between prescribed antipsychotic doses and overall neurocognitive function and vigilance. This study shows that D2 occupancy above approximately 80% not only increases the risk for extrapyramidal side effects as consistently reported in the literature but also increases the risk for cognitive impairment.peer-reviewe

Olfactory discrimination predicts cognitive decline among community-dwelling older adults

The presence of olfactory dysfunction in individuals at higher risk of Alzheimer's disease has significant diagnostic and screening implications for preventive and ameliorative drug trials. Olfactory threshold, discrimination and identification can be reliably recorded in the early stages of neurodegenerative diseases. The current study has examined the ability of various olfactory functions in predicting cognitive decline in a community-dwelling sample. A group of 308 participants, aged 46–86 years old, were recruited for this study. After 3 years of follow-up, participants were divided into cognitively declined and non-declined groups based on their performance on a neuropsychological battery. Assessment of olfactory functions using the Sniffin' Sticks battery indicated that, contrary to previous findings, olfactory discrimination, but not olfactory identification, significantly predicted subsequent cognitive decline (odds ratio=0.869; P<0.05; 95% confidence interval=0.764−0.988). The current study findings confirm previously reported associations between olfactory and cognitive functions, and indicate that impairment in olfactory discrimination can predict future cognitive decline. These findings further our current understanding of the association between cognition and olfaction, and support olfactory assessment in screening those at higher risk of dementia

Eine lexikaliſche Ordnung für die vergleichende Betrachtung von Melodien

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Az állati eredetű meticillin rezisztens Staphylococcus aureus nagyarányú előfordulása magyarországi sertéstelepeken és a telepeket ellátó állatorvosokban

A meticillin rezisztens Staphylococcus aureus jelentős probléma mind a köz-, mind pedig az állategészségügyben. Az állati eredetű (LA-) MRSA CC398 vonalat foglalkozási ártalomként tartják számon a sertésekkel kapcsolatba kerülő személyek esetében, és időnként a kórházakba is bekerülhet. A baktérium sertésekben és sertéstelepi dolgozókban történő első megjelenéséről szóló 2005-ös jelentéseket követően 2008-ban egy átfogó európai tanulmány készült az MRSA prevalenciájáról. A 26 országból több mint 5000 telep (tenyészutánpótlást előállító és árutermelő telepek) részvételével készült vizsgálat alapján az MRSA-pozitív árutermelő telepek előfordulási aránya 14%, míg a tenyészutánpótlást előállító telepek esetén ez az arány 26,9% volt. A felmérés alapján a magyarországi prevalencia a vizsgált 40 tenyészutánpótlást előállító és 141 árutermelő telep esetén 0%, illetve 2,1% volt. Az elmúlt 10 évben hasonló adatgyűjtésre nem került sor Magyarországon. 2019 április és augusztus között összevont pormintákat gyűjtöttünk magyarországi, véletlenszerűen kiválasztott nagyüzemi sertéstelepekről, amelyekben az MRSA jelenlétét vizsgáltuk. Továbbá a telepeken dolgozó állatorvosok orrtörletmintái is elemzésre kerültek. A telepek általános adataira és MRSA-státuszára vonatkozó kérdéseket is feltettünk. Minden MRSA-izolátumot molekuláris módszerekkel (spa-tipizálás, SCCmec-tipizálás) és fenotípusos antimikrobiális érzékenységvizsgálattal jellemeztünk. A humán-, és környezeti eredetű törzseket összehasonlítottuk az esetleges foglalkozási kockázat azonosítása céljából. Eredményeinket a kérdőívek alapján értékeltük