Liikunnan ja valon vaikutus mielialaan

The aim of the study was to compare the effect physical exercise and bright light has on mood in healthy, working-age subjects with varying degrees of depressive symptoms. Previous research suggests that exercise may have beneficial effects on mood at least in subjects with depression. Bright light exposure is an effective treatment of winter depression, and possibly of non-seasonal depression as well. Limited data exist on the effect of exercise and bright light on mood in non-clinical populations, and no research has been done on the combination of these interventions. Working-age subjects were recruited through occupational health centres and 244 subjects were randomized into intervention groups: exercise, either in bright light or normal lighting, and relaxation / stretching sessions, either in bright light or normal gym lighting. During the eight-week intervention in midwinter, subjects rated their mood using a self-rating version of the Hamilton Depression Scale with additional questions for atypical depressive symptoms. The main finding of the study was that both exercise and bright-light exposure were effective in treating depressive symptoms. When the interventions were combined, the relative reduction in the Hamilton Depression Scale was 40 to 66%, and in atypical depressive symptoms even higher, 45 to 85%. Bright light exposure was more effective than exercise in treating atypical depressive symptoms. No single factor could be found that would predict a good response to these interventions. In conclusion, aerobic physical exercise twice a week during wintertime was effective in treating depressive symptoms. Adding bright light exposure to exercise increased the benefit, especially by reducing atypical depressive symptoms. Since this is so, this treatment could prevent subsequent major depressive episodes among the population generally.Säännöllinen liikunta vaikuttaa väestötutkimusten perusteella olevan yhteydessä parempaan mielialaan. Masennuspotilailla liikuntahoidolla on saatu myönteisiä tuloksia. Kirkasvalo on tehokas hoito talvimasennuspotilailla, ja helpottaa myös lievempää, säännöllisesti talvisin toistuvaa kaamosoireilua. Tätä tutkimusta varten kerättiin vapaaehtoisia työterveyshuoltojen kautta, ja 244 tutkittavaa arvottiin osallistumaan joko liikuntaryhmiin, kirkasvalossa tai normaalissa valaistuksessa, tai rentoutus-venytysryhmiin, joko kirkasvalossa tai normaalissa valaistuksessa. Tutkimus kesti kahdeksan viikkoa ja tutkimusjakso oli sijoitettu keskelle talvea. Tutkittavat arvioivat mielialaansa tutkimuksen aikana käyttäen Hamiltonin masennusasteikon itsetäytettävää versiota. Tutkimuksen keskeinen löydös oli, että sekä liikunta että kirkasvalo paransivat tutkittavien mielialaa ja vähensivät masennusoireita. Kirkasvalo oli liikuntaa tehokkaampi ns. epätyypillisten masennusoireiden hoitamisessa. Epätyypillisiä masennusoireita ovat ruokahalun kasvu, erityisesti "hiilihydraattinälkä", painon nousu ja unen tarpeen ja määrän kasvu. Näitä oireita on useammin talvimasennuksesta kärsivillä kuin ihmisillä, joiden masennus ei ole vuodenaikariippuvaista. Fyysinen harjoittelu vähintään kaksi kertaa viikossa on tehokas masennusoireiden lievittäjä pimeimpänä vuodenaikana. Kirkasvalohoidolla on liikuntaa enemmän vaikutusta epätyypillisiin masennusoireisiin, jotka usein liittyvät talvisin toistuvaan vuodenaikaoireiluun

Actigraphic Recording of Manic Symptoms Induced by Methylphenidate

Objective. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder characterized by a long-standing pattern of impulsive behavior, hyperkinesia, and inattention. Psychostimulants, for example, methylphenidate, are the treatment of choice for ADHD both in children, adolescents, and adults. Method. The effect of methylphenidate on sleep structure is not well known. We studied the effect of long-acting methylphenidate on sleep in adult ADHD patients, in a naturalistic treatment setting, using actigraphic and polysomnographic recordings. Results. One of our patients experienced manic episode after starting methylphenidate. A wrist-worn accelerometer recording demonstrated a decrease in the duration and quality of sleep. After discontinuation of methylphenidate treatment, the patient's symptoms subsided and there was no need for hospital admission. Actigraphic recording showed a decrease in the amount and quality of the patient's sleep as triggering factor for the manic symptoms. Conclusions. Disruptions of the sleep-wake cycle are probably important etiologic factors in mood disorders, especially bipolar disorder. The changes in length and quality of sleep described in this case report bear close resemblance to those of patients with a manic episode, although these symptoms were induced by methylphenidate

Transitions into and out of daylight saving time compromise sleep and the rest-activity cycles

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of transition out of and into daylight saving time on the rest-activity cycles and sleep. Rest-activity cycles of nine healthy participants aged 20 to 40 years were measured around transitions out of and into daylight saving time on fall 2005 and spring 2006 respectively. Rest-activity cycles were measured using wrist-worn accelerometers. The participants filled in the Morningness-Eveningness and Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaires before starting the study and kept a sleep diary during the study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fall transition was more disturbing for the more morning type and spring transition for the more evening type of persons. Individuals having a higher global seasonality score suffered more from the transitions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Transitions out of and into daylight saving time enhanced night-time restlessness and thereby compromised the quality of sleep.</p

ADHD desynchronizes brain activity during watching a distracted multi-talker conversation

Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties navigating dynamic everyday situations that contain multiple sensory inputs that need to either be attended to or ignored. As conventional experimental tasks lack this type of everyday complexity, we administered a film-based multi-talker condition with auditory distractors in the background. ADHD-related aberrant brain responses to this naturalistic stimulus were identified using intersubject correlations (ISCs) in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected from 51 adults with ADHD and 29 healthy controls. A novel permutation-based approach introducing studentized statistics and subject-wise voxel-level null-distributions revealed that several areas in cerebral attention networks and sensory cortices were desynchronized in participants with ADHD (n = 20) relative to healthy controls (n = 20). Specifically, desynchronization of the posterior parietal cortex occurred when irrelevant speech or music was presented in the background, but not when irrelevant white noise was presented, or when there were no distractors. We also show regionally distinct ISC signatures for inattention and impulsivity. Finally, post-scan recall of the film contents was associated with stronger ISCs in the default-mode network for the ADHD and in the dorsal attention network for healthy controls. The present study shows that ISCs can further our understanding of how a complex environment influences brain states in ADHD.Peer reviewe

Transition into daylight saving time influences the fragmentation of the rest-activity cycle

BACKGROUND: Daylight saving time is widely adopted. Little is known about its influence on the daily rest-activity cycles. We decided to explore the effects of transition into daylight saving time on the circadian rhythm of activity. METHODS: We monitored the rest-activity cycles with the use of wrist-worn accelerometer on a sample of ten healthy adults for ten days around the transition into summer time. Identical protocols were carried out on the same individuals in two consecutive years, yielding data on 200 person-days for analysis in this study. RESULTS: There was no significant effect on the rest-activity cycle in the sample as a whole. Fragmentation of the rest-activity cycle was enhanced in a subgroup of persons having sleep for eight hours or less (P = 0.04) but reduced in those who preferred to sleep for more than eight hours per night (P = 0.05). The average level of motor activity was increased in persons having the morning preference for daily activity patterns (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Transition into daylight saving time may have a disruptive effect on the rest-activity cycle in those healthy adults who are short-sleepers or more of the evening type