Representationalism and the Intentionality of Moods

It seems hard to comprehend how, during mood experience, the ‘inner’ meets the ‘outer’. The objective of this paper is to show that a currently popular attempt at providing a neat solution to that problem fails. The attempt comes under the heading of representationalism, according to which the phenomenal aspects of mood are exhausted by its representational content. I examine three accounts of intentionality developed within the representationalist camp, and I show that they incur phenomenological and metaphysical costs. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Depression and apathy after transient ischemic attack or minor stroke: prevalence, evolution and predictors

Few previous studies have focused on affective impairment after transient ischemic attack (TIA) and/or minor stroke. The aim was to establish the prevalence, evolution and predictors of post-stroke depression (PSD) and post-stroke apathy (PSA) over a 12-month follow-up period. We prospectively included TIA and minor stroke patients (NIHSS ≤4) who had undergone magnetic resonance imaging <7 days. PSD was diagnosed according to DSM-5 criteria and PSA was defined based on an Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES-C) score of ≥37. Clinical and neuroimaging variables (presence and patterns of lesion, cerebral bleeds and white matter disease) were analysed in order to find potential predictors for PSD and PSA. Follow-up was performed at 10 days and after 2, 6, 9 and 12 months. 82 patients were included (mean 66.4 [standard deviation11.0] years) of whom 70 completed the follow-up. At 10 days, 36 (43.9%) and 28 (34.1%) patients respectively were diagnosed with PSD and PSA. At 12 months, 25 of 70 (35.7%) patients still had PSA, but only 6 of 70 (8.6%) had PSD. Beck Depression Inventory-II score, mini mental state examination (MMSE) and a previous history of depression or anxiety were predictors for PSD. While MMSE score, The Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale and having previously suffered a stroke were also risk factors for PSA. Acute basal ganglia lesion and periventricular leukoaraiosis were associated with PSA while deep leukorariosis with PSD. Despite the presence of few or only transient symptoms, PSD and PSA frequent appear early after TIA and minor stroke. Unlike PSD, apathy tends to persist during follow-up

D-dimer and reduced-dose apixaban for extended treatment after unprovoked venous thromboembolism: the Apidulcis study

D-dimer assay is used to stratify patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism (VTE) for the risk of recurrence. However, this approach was never evaluated since direct oral anticoagulants are available. With this multicenter, prospective cohort study, we aimed to assess the value of an algorithm incorporating serial D-dimer testing and administration of reduced-dose apixaban (2.5 mg twice daily) only to patients with a positive test. A total of 732 outpatients aged 18 to 74 years, anticoagulated for ≥12 months after a first unprovoked VTE, were included. Patients underwent D-dimer testing with commercial assays and preestablished cutoffs. If the baseline D-dimer during anticoagulation was negative, anticoagulation was stopped and testing repeated after 15, 30, and 60 days. Patients with serially negative results (286 [39.1%]) were left without anticoagulation. At the first positive result, the remaining 446 patients (60.9%) were given apixaban for 18 months. All patients underwent follow-up planned for 18 months. The study was interrupted after a planned interim analysis for the high rate of primary outcomes (7.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.5-11.2), including symptomatic proximal deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) recurrence, death for VTE, and major bleeding occurring in patients off anticoagulation vs that in those receiving apixaban (1.1%; 95% CI, 0.4-2.6; adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 8.2; 95% CI, 3.2-25.3). In conclusion, in patients anticoagulated for ≥1 year after a first unprovoked VTE, the decision to further extend anticoagulation should not be based on D-dimer testing. The results confirmed the high efficacy and safety of reduced-dose apixaban against recurrences. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT03678506

Tomada de decisão no IGT: estudo de caso pós-AVC de hemisfério direito versus esquerdo Toma de decisión en el IGT: estudio de caso post-AVC de hemisferio derecho versus isquierdo Decision making in IGT: a case study of post-CVA of left versus right hemisphere

Investigou comparativamente o processo de tomada de decisão de dois adultos pós-AVC unilateral e verificar o papel da lateralidade hemisférica na performance do Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Participaram um adulto com lesão de hemisfério direito (LHD) e outro com lesão de hemisfério esquerdo (LHE), ambos pós-AVC isquêmico subcortical. O IGT foi utilizado para avaliar a tomada de decisão. Os pacientes apresentaram um desempenho adequado no IGT, demonstrando ter uma boa capacidade de tomar decisão. No entanto, somente o paciente com LHD apresentou uma curva sugestiva de aprendizagem. Esses dados indicam que uma lesão subcortical independente do hemisfério pode não interferir no desempenho do IGT. Sugere-se que estudos de grupos sejam conduzidos buscando comparar pacientes com lesão frontal e não-frontal, auxiliando na caracterização do processo de tomada de decisão na população com lesão vascular unilateral.<br>Este estudio investiga comparativamente el proceso de toma de decisión de dos adultos post-AVC unilateral y verifica el papel de la lateralidad hemisférica en la performance del Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Participaron un adulto con lesión de hemisferio derecho (LHD) y otro con lesión de hemisferio izquierdo (LHE), ambos post-AVC isquémico subcortical. El IGT fue utilizado para evaluar la toma de decisión. Los pacientes presentaron un desempeño adecuado en el IGT, demostrando una buena capacidad de tomar decisiones. Sin embargo, solamente el paciente con LHD presentó una curva sugestiva de aprendizaje. Esos datos indican que una lesión subcortical independiente del hemisferio puede no interferir en el desempeño del IGT. Se sugiere que estudios comparativos de grupos sean conducidos buscando comparar pacientes con lesión frontal y no-frontal, auxiliando en la caracterización del proceso de toma de decisión en la población con lesión vascular unilateral.<br>This study aimed at conducting a comparative investigation of the decision-making process of two post-unilateral CVA adults as well as verifying the role of hemispheric laterality in the performance of Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). One adult with right hemisphere damage (RHD) and another with left hemisphere damage (LHD), both following a subcortical ischemic post-CVA. The IGT was used to evaluate the decision making. Patients had appropriate performance on the IGT suggesting a general good ability to make decisions. However, only the patient with LHD presented signs of ascendant learning curve. Conclusion: These data indicate that a subcortical lesion independent of the hemisphere may not influence on the IGT performance. It is suggested that comparative studies of groups should be conducted in order to compare patients with frontal and non-frontal lesions, helping to characterize the decision-making process in population with unilateral vascular damage