Psychological intervention measures during the COVID-19 pandemic

The health emergency we are experiencing due to the spread of the COVID-19 disease has strongly influenced the psychological and physical health of the general population, including the health care professionals. The aim of this brief article is a preliminary analysis of the psychological interventions following the infectious disease outbreak in order to 1) implement guidelines for the existing emerging psychological crisis for people directly and indirectly affected by COVID-19, and 2) establish adequate procedures and prompt responses

Gender differences on psychological factors in fibromyalgia: a systematic review on male’s experience

Objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) is highly prevalent in female gender. Scarce attention has been given to the exploration and description of this syndrome, from a psychological point of view, when occurring in males. The aim of the present study is to develop further knowledge, and to summarise the literature regarding subjective psychological experience, characteristics of symptoms presentation (both onset and development), and treatment options for FM in male patients, in order to highlight differences with FM in females. Methods: All studies published between January 1993 and February 2020 using PubMed and PsycInfo were included, provided that they met the following criteria: 1) written in English; 2) original articles on studies with a longitudinal design; 3) prospective or retrospective, observational (analytical or descriptive), experimental or quasi-experimental, controlled or noncontrolled studies. Reviews and nonoriginal articles (i.e, editorials, Letters to the Editor, and book chapters) were not included. We utilised the following keywords: (male), (female), (fibromyalgia), combined with Boolean operators 'AND' and 'NOT'. Results: We found an initial number of 55 papers. Duplicated records were excluded (n=13), as well as papers not focusing on male patients or not fulfilling inclusion criteria (n=25), narrowing the research to 17 papers. Conclusions: FM male patients consider their masculine identity as inefficiently re-negotiated after symptoms' onset. FM males tend to endure pain for longer periods of time than females before seeking for treatment; bodily symptoms are prevalent with a compromised exploration of feelings about FM. Unfortunately, there is still paucity of evidence on clinical characterisation and treatment options when FM occurs in males. Moreover, no studies addressed the issue of the psychopharmacological/non-pharmacological management of males with FM and comorbid psychiatric syndromes

Neurological complications of covid-19 and possible neuroinvasion pathways: A systematic review

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has shocked the whole world with its unexpected rapid spread. The virus responsible for the disease, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), enters host cells by means of the envelope spike protein, which binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors. These receptors are highly expressed in heart, lungs, respiratory tract epithelium, endothelial cells and brain. Since an increasing body of significant evidence is highlighting a possible neuroinvasion related to SARS-CoV-2, a state of the art on the neurological complications is needed. To identify suitable publications, our systematic review was carried out by searching relevant studies on PubMed and Scopus databases. We included studies investigating neurologic manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 in patients over 18. According to the analyzed studies, the most frequent disorders affecting central nervous system (CNS) seem to be the following: olfactory and taste disorders, ischemic/hemorrhagic stroke, meningoencephalitis and encephalopathy, including acute necrotizing encephalopathy, a rare type of encephalopathy. As regards the peripheral nervous system (PNS), Guillain-Barré and Miller Fisher syndromes are the most frequent manifestations reported in the literature. Important clinical information on the neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 would help clinicians raise awareness and simultaneously improve the prognosis of critically ill patients

A Psychometric Examination of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale and the Fear of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Scale in the Italian Population

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has caused not only significant physical health problems but also mental health disorders. Anxiety and fear appear to be the main psychological symptoms associated with COVID-19. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anxiety and fear related to COVID-19 are influenced by sociodemographics and whether specific conditions, such as positivity for COVID-19 or death among relatives and friends, can further enhance these symptoms. In this cross-sectional study, 697 Italians responded to an online survey assessing sociodemographic information, the presence/absence of positive cases, or deaths due to COVID-19 among relatives or acquaintances. The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCS-19S) were administered in order to assess the levels of anxiety and fear associated with COVID-19. The data were collected in November 2020. Anxiety and fear scores were positively correlated. Both male and female subjects with higher CAS scores also displayed higher FCS-19S scores. The CAS and FCS-19S scores tended to increase with age, with older subjects exhibiting higher scores than younger subjects. Additionally, respondents with lower educational levels demonstrated higher scores on both the CAS and FCS-19S. Similarly, respondents living with older people and/or experiencing the death of one or more relatives due to COVID-19 exhibited corresponding outcomes. This study demonstrates how the levels of anxiety and fear, measured by CAS and FCS-19S associated with COVID-19, are influenced by gender, age, cohabitation status, educational levels, and the presence of positive cases or deaths due to COVID-19

Defensive responses to stressful life events associated with cancer diagnosis

Objectives: Stressful life events (SLEs) are common in patients who developed both physical and psychological syndromes. Research shown the role of psychological defense mechanisms in cancer progression and survival probability. The present study analyzed recent SLEs and defense mechanisms as characteristic of cancer patients and tested their role as potential predisposing factors to cancer development. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 145 participants: 48 recently diagnosed cancer patients (CP), 43 recently diagnosed benign tumor patients (BT), and 54 healthy subjects (HC). Non-blinded raters assessed participants’ defense mechanisms using the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales Q-sort version (DMRS-Q). Groups were compared on the presence of SLEs and on the maturity of defensive functioning. Significant associations between SLE and defense mechanisms as related to cancer diagnosis were explored. Results: Higher overall defensive functioning was associated with good physical conditions. Recent SLEs, higher use of neurotic defenses and lower use of obsessional defenses characterized cancer patients. CP showed higher use of suppression, repression, dissociation, rationalization and passive aggression and lower use of affiliation, sublimation, undoing, and devaluation of self-image as compared to controls. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that recent SLEs and defense mechanisms of suppression, repression, dissociation, displacement and omnipotence were associated with cancer diagnosis. Discussion: Recent SLEs and repressive defensive functioning characterized the CP’s defensive response to stress. Despite the relevance of present findings, this study shows several limitations. Prospective and longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these results and to investigate the potential role played by SLEs and defense mechanisms in cancer development

Alexithymia and Psychological Distress in Patients With Fibromyalgia and Rheumatic Disease

BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic rheumatologic disease characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and other psychopathological symptoms which have a negative impact on patients' quality of life. FMS is frequently associated with alexithymia, a multidimensional construct characterized by difficulty in identifying feelings (DIF) and verbally communicating them difficulty describing feelings (DDF) and an externally oriented cognitive thinking style (EOT). The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between alexithymia, anxious and depressive symptoms and pain perception, in patients with FMS and other rheumatic diseases (RD). METHODS: The sample consisted of 127 participants (M = 25, F = 102; mean age: 51.97; SD: 11.14), of which 48 with FMS, 41 with RD and 38 healthy control group (HC). All groups underwent to a test battery investigating anxiety and depressive symptoms (HADS), pain (VAS; QUID-S/-A) and alexithymia (TAS-20). RESULTS: A high prevalence of alexithymia (TAS ≥ 61) was found in FMS (47.9%) and RD (41.5%) patients, compared to the HC group (2.6%). FMS patients showed significant higher scores than HC on DIF, DDF, EOT, anxiety and depression. The clinical sample, FMS and RD groups combined (n = 89), alexithymic patients (AL, n = 40) exhibited higher scores in pain and psychological distress compared to non-alexithymic patients (N-AL, n = 34). Regression analysis found no relationship between alexithymia and pain in AL, meanwhile pain intensity was predicted by anxiety in N-AL. CONCLUSION: While increasing clinical symptoms (pain intensity and experience, alexithymia, anxiety, and depression) in patients with fibromyalgia or rheumatic diseases, correlations were found on the one side, between alexithymia and psychological distress, on the other side, between pain experience and intensity. Meanwhile, when symptoms of psychological distress and alexithymia were subthreshold, correlations with pain experience and intensity became stronger

Intervento MBSR nel paziente fibromialgico come trattamento integrativo alla farmacoterapia

Questa ricerca indaga le conseguenze di un trattamento mindfulness based (tale MBSR) su di un gruppo di soggetti affetti da fibromialgia

What do we know about Music Interventions for Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a complex chronic disease, characterized by a widespread chronic pain condition in pressure points located at specific muscle and tendon sites and frequently associated with a variety of dysfunctions such as persistent fatigue, sleep disorders, different types of headache, anxiety and mood disorders. To address clinical symptoms, various treatments have been proposed: pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention based on an individualized treatment program. As for non-pharmacological intervention it is possible to find many researches evaluating music therapy or music interventions on FM patients. Therefore, the aim of this review was to observe the findings of the available music therapy interventions in FM and to portrait a state-of-the-art on the subject. To identify suitable publications, an online search of PubMed database was conducted with the following keywords: “Music therapy”, “Music”, “Music intervention” and “Fibromyalgia”. We therefore selected only the experimental studies containing music therapy for FM patients. Amongst the twelve analyzed studies the majority of them have successfully applied music therapy, showing a positive improvement of quality of life and pain reduction. Moreover, as far as instruments uniformity between the studies is concerned, measurement of pain is fairly uniform; on the contrary, we detect heterogeneity concerning other measures. Furthermore, future studies, including in the intervention protocol a music preference questionnaire, are needed to personalize the participants experience and increase adherence to the intervention. For future research, we highlight the relevance of a defined music therapy protocol, also in the form of passive listening, possibly in agreement with the World Federation of Music Therapy guidelines on music therapy interventions

A brief overview on the contribution of machine learning in systems neuroscience

Background: The use of Machine Learning (ML) is witnessing an exponential growth in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and neuroscience, in particular in subdisciplines such as Systems Neuroscience (SN), as a viable alternative to the use of classical statistical techniques. The combination of this interconnection allows a more detailed study of algorithms and neural circuits that emulate core cognitive processes. ML toolbox includes algorithms that are suited to solving problems of classification, regression, clustering and anomaly detection. Objective: The aim of the present opinion was to exemplify the contribution of ML in the field of SN in three different fields: 1) cognitive modelling; 2) neuroimaging; 3) analysis of clinical datasets. Method: We gathered evidence from the relevant literature related to the interaction between neuroscience and AI and the impact of ML in SN. Results: ML is specifically suited to the analysis of large clinical neuroscience datasets. Experimental results in neuroscience are hard to replicate for a number of reasons and ML may contribute to attenuating these replicability issues via the ubiquitous use of cross-validation procedures. While ML modelling is primarily focused on prediction accuracy, one of the drawbacks in ML is the opacity of various algorithms that resist to intuitive understanding. Conclusions: Future avenues of research have already been traced and include increased interpretability of currently opaque ML models functioning and causal analysis. Causal analysis is intended to distinguish between spurious associations and cause-effect relationship and is a primary interest in both clinical medicine and basic neuroscience