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Journal of Psychiatric Research Sep 2023To explore the factors influencing anhedonia at baseline and use them as confounding factors. To further investigate the correlation between overt aggression and...
OBJECTIVE
To explore the factors influencing anhedonia at baseline and use them as confounding factors. To further investigate the correlation between overt aggression and anhedonia during the acute phase of major depressive disorder.
METHODS
In this eight-week prospective study, 384 major depressive disorder patients were recruited from the outpatient section of Shanghai Mental Health Center from May 1, 2017, to October 30, 2018. Standard treatments were performed with escitalopram or venlafaxine for participants. Depressive symptoms, overt aggression, and anhedonia were assessed using the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Modified Overt Aggression Scale, and Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale at baseline, and in the 4th and 8th weeks.
RESULTS
Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and the duration of untreated psychosis were positively associated with aggression (P < 0.05). Patients with aggressive behaviour had worse cognitive impairment and severe anhedonia of pleasurable sensory experiences (P < 0.05). For anhedonia, being female (tau_b = -0.23, P = 0.012) was a protective factor, while number of recurrent, melancholic features, current obsessions, previous combination drug therapies, depressive symptoms, and aggressive behaviour were risk factors (P < 0.05). Social anhedonia related to interests/pastimes, and pleasurable sensory experiences were more severe in major depressive disorder patients with aggressive behaviour in the acute phase (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Anhedonia persisted in major depressive disorder patients with aggressive behaviour after standardized treatment during the acute phase. Being female protected the pleasures from social interaction and sensory experience. However, the number of depressive episodes, melancholic features, current obsessive symptoms, previous combination drug therapies, depressive symptoms, and aggressive behaviour was positively associated with anhedonia.
Topics: Humans; Female; Male; Depressive Disorder, Major; Anhedonia; Prospective Studies; China; Aggression
PubMed: 37459777
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.07.013 -
Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral... Feb 2024The phenomenon of aesthetic chills-shivers and goosebumps associated with either rewarding or threatening stimuli-offers a unique window into the brain basis of... (Review)
Review
The phenomenon of aesthetic chills-shivers and goosebumps associated with either rewarding or threatening stimuli-offers a unique window into the brain basis of conscious reward because of their universal nature and simultaneous subjective and physical counterparts. Elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying aesthetic chills can reveal fundamental insights about emotion, consciousness, and the embodied mind. What is the precise timing and mechanism of bodily feedback in emotional experience? How are conscious feelings and motivations generated from interoceptive predictions? What is the role of uncertainty and precision signaling in shaping emotions? How does the brain distinguish and balance processing of rewards versus threats? We review neuroimaging evidence and highlight key questions for understanding how bodily sensations shape conscious feelings. This research stands to advance models of brain-body interactions shaping affect and may lead to novel nonpharmacological interventions for disorders of motivation and pleasure.
PubMed: 38383913
DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01168-x -
Cognition Feb 2024Pleasure in music has been linked to predictive coding of melodic and rhythmic patterns, subserved by connectivity between regions in the brain's auditory and reward...
Pleasure in music has been linked to predictive coding of melodic and rhythmic patterns, subserved by connectivity between regions in the brain's auditory and reward networks. Specific musical anhedonics derive little pleasure from music and have altered auditory-reward connectivity, but no difficulties with music perception abilities and no generalized physical anhedonia. Recent research suggests that specific musical anhedonics experience pleasure in nonmusical sounds, suggesting that the implicated brain pathways may be specific to music reward. However, this work used sounds with clear real-world sources (e.g., babies laughing, crowds cheering), so positive hedonic responses could be based on the referents of these sounds rather than the sounds themselves. We presented specific musical anhedonics and matched controls with isolated short pleasing and displeasing synthesized sounds of varying timbres with no clear real-world referents. While the two groups found displeasing sounds equally displeasing, the musical anhedonics gave substantially lower pleasure ratings to the pleasing sounds, indicating that their sonic anhedonia is not limited to musical rhythms and melodies. Furthermore, across a large sample of participants, mean pleasure ratings for pleasing synthesized sounds predicted significant and similar variance in six dimensions of musical reward considered to be relatively independent, suggesting that pleasure in sonic timbres play a role in eliciting reward-related responses to music. We replicate the earlier findings of preserved pleasure ratings for semantically referential sounds in musical anhedonics and find that pleasure ratings of semantic referents, when presented without sounds, correlated with ratings for the sounds themselves. This association was stronger in musical anhedonics than in controls, suggesting the use of semantic knowledge as a compensatory mechanism for affective sound processing. Our results indicate that specific musical anhedonia is not entirely specific to melodic and rhythmic processing, and suggest that timbre merits further research as a source of pleasure in music.
Topics: Humans; Music; Anhedonia; Pleasure; Brain; Reward; Auditory Perception
PubMed: 38086279
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105672 -
Epilepsy & Behavior Reports 2024Anhedonia is clinically defined as difficulty or inability to feel pleasure or to be motivated to perform activities that were previously pleasurable. Anhedonia is a...
Anhedonia is clinically defined as difficulty or inability to feel pleasure or to be motivated to perform activities that were previously pleasurable. Anhedonia is a core feature of depressive disorders but can be present in other conditions such as substance use and anxiety disorders. Herein we report the case of a 34-year-old female who developed marked anhedonia after left cortico-amygdalohippocampectomy. Despite optimal seizure control, the person struggled with anhedonia and other depressive symptoms. After ruling out medico-neurologic complications, she was prescribed with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Anhedonia can be a challenging neuropsychiatric presentation that requires ruling out the effects of antiseizure medications, neurosurgery, and other drugs before prescribing antidepressants.
PubMed: 38495401
DOI: 10.1016/j.ebr.2024.100658 -
Foods (Basel, Switzerland) Feb 2024The development of scales and questionnaires to assess pleasure perception has gained prominence, particularly for evaluating anhedonia in mental disorders. The Food...
The development of scales and questionnaires to assess pleasure perception has gained prominence, particularly for evaluating anhedonia in mental disorders. The Food Pleasure Scale is a comprehensive tool exclusively dedicated to measuring pleasure perception from food and food-related experiences. This study aimed to evaluate the face validity and consistency reliability of the Food Pleasure Scale using a mixed methods approach. Twenty-two participants completed the Food Pleasure Scale questionnaire and participated in in-depth interviews to understand their interpretation of the scale items. The interview data underwent thematic analysis, and the quantitative survey data was compared to the qualitative interview responses. Results indicated a high level of understanding of all items in the Food Pleasure Scale, confirming its face validity and applicability. The mixed methods approach supported the consistency reliability, showing consistency between quantitative measures and participants' explicit and implicit expressions of food pleasure. Furthermore, the study revealed a novel aspect related to food pleasure: the concept of "making an effort". Overall, this study highlights the comprehensibility, validity, and potential of the Food Pleasure Scale in consumer studies. It effectively captures the subjective experience of pleasure derived from food and food-related encounters, making it a valuable tool for further research in this domain.
PubMed: 38338612
DOI: 10.3390/foods13030477 -
Journal of Affective Disorders Mar 2024The association between physical activity (PA) and depression is well-established, but the details that explain this association remain elusive. We examined whether PA... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
The association between physical activity (PA) and depression is well-established, but the details that explain this association remain elusive. We examined whether PA is differentially associated with specific symptoms of depression (e.g., cognitive vs somatic symptoms), and whether these associations follow a dose-response pattern with respect to intensity or frequency of PA.
METHODS
Cross-sectional analyses were based on 6 samples of the continuous U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) carried out between 2007 and 2018 (n = 28,520). Depressive symptoms were assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). Information about PA (vigorous, moderate, and daily commuting by foot or bike) and covariates was self-reported.
RESULTS
After adjusting for education, health behaviors, body-mass index, physical functioning, and all the other depressive symptoms, lower PA was specifically associated with four depressive symptoms: loss of interest/pleasure, feeling down/hopeless, fatigue, and changes in appetite (odds ratios from 0.94 to 0.59). A monotonic dose-response pattern on PA amount was observed only for interest/pleasure and fatigue, and these associations were independent of PA intensity.
LIMITATIONS
Cross-sectional data did not allow us to assess temporal ordering. Both depressive symptoms and PA were self-reported, which may induce bias.
CONCLUSION
Low PA may be linked to depressive symptoms particularly through the symptoms of anhedonia and fatigue. Given that their association with PA amount follows a dose-response pattern and is independent of PA intensity, we hypothesize that behavioral activation and exposure to rewarding experiences might help to explain why PA alleviates depression.
Topics: Humans; Depression; Nutrition Surveys; Cross-Sectional Studies; Exercise; Cohort Studies; Fatigue
PubMed: 38128736
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.12.039 -
Scandinavian Journal of Occupational... Aug 2023This study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new tool, the Occupational Experience Profile (OEP). The OEP was designed to be used to evaluate...
BACKGROUND
This study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new tool, the Occupational Experience Profile (OEP). The OEP was designed to be used to evaluate people's levels of experiences of pleasure, productivity, restoration, and social connection during their occupational performances.
AIM
To evaluate aspects of validity and reliability of the OEP Pleasure, Productivity, Restoration and Social connection scales.
METHODS
Fifty-eight occupational therapy students each completed three OEPs. Many-faceted Rasch analyses were then used to examine rating scale structure, dimensionality, and reliability of each OEP scale. Pearson product moment correlations were used to evaluate the strength of the relationships among the four scales.
RESULTS
Each of the four OEP rating scales demonstrated effective rating scale functioning. The OEP items on each scale demonstrated acceptable levels of item goodness of fit and worked together to define a unidimensional scale of occupational experiences. The four scales appear to measure different but interrelated constructs.
CONCLUSION
The results provide preliminary evidence to support the validity and reliability of the OEP scales, but further research on larger and more diverse samples is recommended.
SIGNIFICANCE
The OEP has the potential to be used in occupational therapy practice and research to evaluate how people experience their occupational performances.
Topics: Humans; Reproducibility of Results; Surveys and Questionnaires; Occupational Therapy; Psychometrics
PubMed: 35038283
DOI: 10.1080/11038128.2022.2027009 -
Yearbook of Medical Informatics Aug 2023To provide guidance on the future development and role of medical informatics, or biomedical and health informatics, in form of reflections.
OBJECTIVE
To provide guidance on the future development and role of medical informatics, or biomedical and health informatics, in form of reflections.
METHOD
To report on the author's previous activities as a medical informatician, which spans almost half a century. It began in 1973 when he started to study medical informatics. In 1978, more than four decades ago, his professional work started. He retired at the end of summer semester 2021. This was the occasion to prepare this farewell lecture.
RESULTS
In twenty reflections, thoughts are presented on professional careers (R1 - 'places'), on medical informatics as discipline (R2 - 'interdisciplinarity', R3 - 'focuses', R4 - 'affiliations'), on research (R5 - 'duality', R6 - 'confluences', R7 - 'correlations', R8 - 'collaboration'), on education (R9 - 'community', R10 - 'competencies', R11 - 'approaches'), on academic self-governance (R12 - 'autonomy'), on engagement (R13 - 'Sisyphos', R14 - 'professional societies', R15 - 'respect', R16 - 'tightrope walk'), and on good scientific practice (R17 - 'time invariants', R18 - 'Zeitgeist', R19 - 'knowledge gain', R20 - 'exercising').
CONCLUSIONS
It has been a pleasure for me to participate in medical informatics activities for almost fifty years. During that time, there have been significant advances, including in medicine and in informatics, and also in medical informatics itself. And now it is the turn of others. While keeping in mind that tradition is not preserving the ashes, but passing on the fire, this report with its reflections may be of some help.
Topics: Humans; Medical Informatics
PubMed: 37414026
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1768716 -
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary... Dec 2023To find sexual dysfunction in acute-phase bipolar depression patients and subsequently characterize the gender-wise differences in sexual functioning.
OBJECTIVE
To find sexual dysfunction in acute-phase bipolar depression patients and subsequently characterize the gender-wise differences in sexual functioning.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A cross-sectional, descriptive, observational, purposeful, and hospital-based study was done with 45 patients (age range: 18-59 years) with moderate to severe acute phase bipolar depression (HAM-D scores >18). The domain-wise (Pleasure, Desire/Frequency Desire/Interest, Arousal/Excitement, and Orgasm/Completion) sexual functioning was assessed by the Change in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (CSFQ-14) (≤41 for females, ≤47 for males as a cut-off for dysfunction). This study is registered in the CTRI (Clinical Trials Registry India, Number: CTRI-2021-07-035182).
RESULTS
The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was 91% of bipolar disorder patients with more male participants (53.3%) compared to females (46.7%). The mean HAM-D score for the study sample was 27.93 ± 8.035. The female gender had more dysfunctional scores in desire/frequency (t = 2.229, = 0.031), desire/interest (t = 2.448, = 0.019), orgasm/completion (t = 2.974, = 0.005), and overall total CSFQ (t = 2.946, = 0.005). The odds of sexual dysfunction were significant given a one-unit increase in suicidal ideation in the index episode (adjusted OR = 1.222, 95% CI: 1.004-1.488, = .049).
CONCLUSION
Acute-phase bipolar patients have very high sexual dysfunction rates. Females have both global and specific sexual response cycle deficits in comparison to acute phase bipolar depressed males. Future trials shall amuse neurobiology grounded, more individualistic sexual rehabilitation-based interventional paradigms, and longitudinal research models in acute phase bipolar depression.
PubMed: 38361839
DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_957_23 -
Psychology of Sport and Exercise Nov 2023Virtual Reality (VR) provides an enjoyable addition to stationary physical exercise and can improve performance while exercising. The aim of this study is to explore the...
Virtual Reality (VR) provides an enjoyable addition to stationary physical exercise and can improve performance while exercising. The aim of this study is to explore the effectiveness of three interactive virtual environments (i.e., social, relaxing, stressful) on enjoyment and persistence during strength-based exercises. In a within-subjects experiment, 97 healthy young adults completed four consecutive sets of two strength-based exercises. Participants completed one set as baseline and then each participant completed three more sets in three different interactive environments, experienced through a VR headset. Results showed that both the stressful virtual environment, where participants were hanging suspended over a city, and the social virtual environment where participants were audibly encouraged in a stadium, increased participants' persistence in both exercises, when compared to the relaxing virtual environment. Specifically, the relaxing sunny beach environment caused poorer performances in a dead hang exercise among men (n = 30), and poorer performances in a core exercise among women (n = 66). Somewhat paradoxically, this relaxing virtual beach environment was considered the most enjoyable environment among both male and female participants. The potential of VR in exercise lies in its ability to provide pleasurable and performance-enhancing immersive environments that may be too expensive or dangerous in reality.
Topics: Young Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Pleasure; Happiness; Exercise; Exercise Therapy; Nutritional Status
PubMed: 37665929
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102494