Self-criticism and self-reassurance as mediators between mental health attitudes and symptoms: Attitudes towards mental health problems in Japanese workers.

Japanese workers suffer high rates of mental health symptoms, recognised recently by the Japanese government, which has enacted workplace well-being initiatives. One reason for poor mental health concerns negative attitudes about mental health problems such as shame, which may be mediated by self-reassurance and self-criticism. This study aimed to evaluate shame-based attitudes towards mental health problems, and explore the relationship between mental health attitudes, self-criticism, self-reassurance and mental health symptoms. Japanese workers (n=131) completed three measures; attitudes towards mental health problems, mental health symptoms, and self-criticism/reassurance. A high proportion of workers reported negative attitudes about mental health problems. There were strong relationships between mental health attitudes, mental health symptoms, self-criticism, and self-reassurance. Path analyses revealed that the total and indirect effects (through self-criticism and self- reassurance) of mental health attitudes on mental health were larger than the direct effect alone. Hated-self and family-reflected shame were identified as predictors for mental health symptoms. The findings suggest the importance of self-criticism and self-reassurance in mental health and mental health attitudes. Implications for help-seeking behaviours are also discussed. Interventions aimed at reducing self-criticism and enhancing self-reassurance are recommended to improve mental health attitudes and increase help-seeking in Japanese workers.N/

Neurovascular unit dysfunction with blood-brain barrier hyperpermeability contributes to major depressive disorder: a review of clinical and experimental evidence

About one-third of people with major depressive disorder (MDD) fail at least two antidepressant drug trials at 1 year. Together with clinical and experimental evidence indicating that the pathophysiology of MDD is multifactorial, this observation underscores the importance of elucidating mechanisms beyond monoaminergic dysregulation that can contribute to the genesis and persistence of MDD. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are mechanistically linked to the presence of neurovascular dysfunction with blood-brain barrier (BBB) hyperpermeability in selected neurological disorders, such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast to other major psychiatric disorders, MDD is frequently comorbid with such neurological disorders and constitutes an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in disorders characterized by vascular endothelial dysfunction (cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus). Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are implicated in the neurobiology of MDD. More recent evidence links neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to MDD without neurological comorbidity. We review this emerging literature and present a theoretical integration between these abnormalities to those involving oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in MDD. We discuss our hypothesis that alterations in endothelial nitric oxide levels and endothelial nitric oxide synthase uncoupling are central mechanistic links in this regard. Understanding the contribution of neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to the pathophysiology of MDD may help to identify novel therapeutic and preventative approaches

High accuracy spectroscopy of 3- and 4-body Λ hypernuclei at Jefferson Lab

JLab E12-19-002 Experiment is planned to measure the Λ-binding energies of 3ΛH [Jπ = 1/2+ or 3/2+(T = 0)] and 4ΛH (1+) at JLab Hall C. The expected accuracy for the binding-energy measurement is |ΔBtotal Λ | ≃ 70 keV. The accurate spectroscopy for these light hypernuclei would shed light on the puzzle of the small binding energy and short lifetime of 3ΛH, and the chargesymmetry breaking in the ΛN interaction. We aim to perform the experiment in 2025

SPECT and PET in Late-Life Depression

Late-life late onset depression (i.e., depression with an age of onset above 60yrs) appears to differ from depression with early onset in its association withcerebral small vessel disease, beta-amyloid and tau deposition, and neurodegenerative processes. Multimodality imaging (SPECT, PET, MRI) supports this concept and the notion that late-life depression relies on dysfunctioning of the frontal lobe, but also highlights that mechanisms underlying late-onset depression are heterogeneous and diverse. The future of PET and SPECT imaging in depression research relies on progress in data analysis, the development of novel molecular probes for specifi c cerebral targets, and combination of different imaging modalities (e.g., PET and MRI). Relatively unexplored areas for future research are gender differences, longitudinal changes of brain function associated with subclinical and clinical depression, and analysis of the default network activity