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Appetite Sep 2021The current epidemic of COVID-19 has gained attention and highlighted the need for a better understanding of the population's mental health. Diet has been identified as...
The current epidemic of COVID-19 has gained attention and highlighted the need for a better understanding of the population's mental health. Diet has been identified as an environmental determinant of mental health. In this regard, it has been suggested that the consumption of palatable foods represents a strategy to mitigate negative emotions, such as anxiety. This study aimed to evaluate the association between symptoms of anxiety and/or anhedonia to food consumption patterns during the period of COVID-19 quarantine in Chile. We conducted a cross-sectional study with non-randomized sampling via an online survey. A total of 1725 responses were collected. Each person self-answered the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale for anhedonia, the Food Intake Questionnaire, and questions regarding type and duration of lockdown, as well as body weight and food serving variation. Significant correlations were observed between fried food consumption and self-reported body weight. The subjects who consumed fried food three times a week, had higher weight (63.5%) (χ = 48.5 and p < 0.001). Those who ate one and two or more pastries on a week had 1.41 and 1.49, respectively higher odds of reporting increased body weight. We found a relationship anxiety level and sugar-sweetened beverages level (χ = 25.5; p 0.013), fast food intake (χ = 63.4; p < 0.001), and pastry consumption (χ = 37.7; p < 0.001). In conclusion, it is important to monitor the evolution of these findings since they could represent a risk of increased health problems in the future post-lockdown period.
Topics: Anhedonia; Anxiety; COVID-19; Chile; Communicable Disease Control; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Quarantine; SARS-CoV-2
PubMed: 33857546
DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105259 -
Trials Jan 2024Anhedonia, which is defined as the inability to feel pleasure, is considered a core symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD). It can lead to several adverse outcomes...
Active versus sham DLPFC-NAc rTMS for depressed adolescents with anhedonia using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): a study protocol for a randomized placebo-controlled trial.
BACKGROUND
Anhedonia, which is defined as the inability to feel pleasure, is considered a core symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD). It can lead to several adverse outcomes in adolescents, including heightened disease severity, resistance to antidepressants, recurrence of MDD, and even suicide. Specifically, patients who suffer from anhedonia may exhibit a limited response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Previous researches have revealed a link between anhedonia and abnormalities within the reward circuitry, making the nucleus accumbens (NAc) a potential target for treatment. However, since the NAc is deep within the brain, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has the potential to modulate this specific region. Recent advances have enabled treatment technology to precisely target the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and modify the functional connectivity (FC) between DLPFC and NAc in adolescent patients with anhedonia. Therefore, we plan to conduct a study to explore the safety and effectiveness of using resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI)-guided rTMS to alleviate anhedonia in adolescents diagnosed with MDD.
METHODS
The aim of this article is to provide a study protocol for a parallel-group randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment. The study will involve 88 participants who will be randomly assigned to receive either active rTMS or sham rTMS. The primary object is to measure the percentage change in the severity of anhedonia, using the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS). The assessment will be conducted from the baseline to 8-week post-treatment period. The secondary outcome includes encompassing fMRI measurements, scores on the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-17), the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the Chinese Version of Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (CV-TEPS), and the Chinese Version of Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSI-CV). The Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scores will also be taken into account, and adverse events will be monitored. These evaluations will be conducted at baseline, as well as at 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks.
DISCUSSION
If the hypothesis of the current study is confirmed, (fcMRI)-guided rTMS could be a powerful tool to alleviate the core symptoms of MDD and provide essential data to explore the mechanism of anhedonia.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05544071. Registered on 16 September 2022.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex; Depressive Disorder, Major; Anhedonia; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Prefrontal Cortex; Treatment Outcome; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
PubMed: 38218932
DOI: 10.1186/s13063-023-07814-y -
European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2023Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the leading cause of death and...
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Epidemiological studies have revealed these illnesses to be highly comorbid, particularly among women. In the current study, we explored associations between indices of cardiovascular health, PTSD, and depression among a sample of trauma-exposed individuals assigned female at birth. Participants were = 49 individuals without CVD who reported lifetime Criterion A trauma exposure. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) were collected during a 5-minute resting period. Symptoms of CVD (e.g. extremity pain and swelling, shortness of breath), PTSD, and depression were assessed, along with an exploratory measure of anhedonia. Trauma exposure was positively correlated with systolic BP ( = .32, = .029) and diastolic BP ( = .30, = .040). The number of reported CVD symptoms was positively correlated with symptoms of PTSD ( = .41, = .004), depression ( = .40, = .005) and anhedonia ( = .38, = .007). CVD symptoms were also significantly associated with PTSD ( = .41, = 2.43, = .023), depression ( = .40, = 2.76, = .009), and anhedonia ( = .38, = 2.51, = .017) after controlling for age and trauma exposure. These associations were not moderated by HF-HRV in our sample. Our results support the association between PTSD and depressive symptoms and worse cardiovascular functioning among an often-overlooked population that is particularly vulnerable to these illnesses. Future studies should investigate residual impacts of PTSD and depression treatment on CVD risk among trauma-exposed individuals, particularly women.
Topics: Infant, Newborn; Humans; Female; Cardiovascular Diseases; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Depression; Anhedonia; Comorbidity
PubMed: 37470387
DOI: 10.1080/20008066.2023.2234810 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2023Benzodiazepine (BZD) misuse is a significant public health problem, particularly in conjunction with opioid use, due to increased risks of overdose and death. One...
BACKGROUND
Benzodiazepine (BZD) misuse is a significant public health problem, particularly in conjunction with opioid use, due to increased risks of overdose and death. One putative mechanism underlying BZD misuse is affective dysregulation, exaggerated negative affect (e.g., anxiety, depression, stress-reactivity) and/or impaired positive affect (anhedonia). Similar to other misused substances, BZD consumption is sensitive to price and individual differences. Although purchase tasks and demand curve analysis can shed light on determinants of substance use, few studies have examined BZD demand, nor factors related to demand.
METHODS
This ongoing study is examining simulated economic demand for alprazolam (among BZD lifetime misusers based on self-report and DSM-5 diagnosis; = 23 total; 14 male, 9 female) and each participant's preferred-opioid/route using hypothetical purchase tasks among patients with opioid use disorder ( = 59 total; 38 male, 21 female) who are not clinically stable, i.e., defined as being early in treatment or in treatment longer but with recent substance use. Aims are to determine whether: (1) BZD misusers differ from never-misusers on preferred-opioid economic demand, affective dysregulation (using questionnaire and performance measures), insomnia/behavioral alertness, psychiatric diagnoses or medications, or urinalysis results; and (2) alprazolam demand among BZD misusers is related to affective dysregulation or other measures.
RESULTS
Lifetime BZD misuse is significantly ( < 0.05) related to current major depressive disorder diagnosis, opioid-negative and methadone-negative urinalysis, higher trait anxiety, greater self-reported affective dysregulation, and younger age, but not preferred-opioid demand or insomnia/behavioral alertness. Alprazolam and opioid demand are each significantly positively related to higher anhedonia and, to a lesser extent, depression symptoms but no other measures of negative-affective dysregulation, psychiatric conditions or medications (including opioid agonist therapy or inpatient/outpatient treatment modality), or sleep-related problems.
CONCLUSION
Anhedonia (positive-affective deficit) robustly predicted increased BZD and opioid demand; these factors could modulate treatment response. Routine assessment and effective treatment of anhedonia in populations with concurrent opioid and sedative use disorder may improve treatment outcomes.
CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03696017, identifier NCT03696017.
PubMed: 36741122
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1103739 -
Brain Sciences Feb 2023Anhedonia, a central depression symptom, is associated with impairments in reward processing. However, it is not well understood which sub-components of reward...
Anhedonia, a central depression symptom, is associated with impairments in reward processing. However, it is not well understood which sub-components of reward processing (anticipation, motivation, consummation, and learning) are impaired in association with anhedonia in depression. In particular, it is unclear how learning about different rewards and the effort needed to obtain them might be associated with anhedonia and depression symptoms. Therefore, we examined learning in young people (N = 132, mean age 20, range 17-25 yrs.) with a range of depression and anhedonia symptoms using a probabilistic instrumental learning task. The task required participants to learn which options to choose to maximize their reward outcomes across three conditions (chocolate taste, puppy images, or money) and to minimize the physical effort required to obtain the rewards. Additionally, we collected questionnaire measures of anticipatory and consummatory anhedonia, as well as subjective reports of "liking", "wanting" and "willingness to exert effort" for the rewards used in the task. We found that as anticipatory anhedonia increased, subjective liking and wanting of rewards decreased. Moreover, higher anticipatory anhedonia was significantly associated with lower reward learning accuracy, and participants demonstrated significantly higher reward learning than effort learning accuracy. To our knowledge, this is the first study observing an association of anhedonia with reward liking, wanting, and learning when reward and effort learning are measured simultaneously. Our findings suggest an impaired ability to learn from rewarding outcomes could contribute to anhedonia in young people. Future longitudinal research is needed to confirm this and reveal the specific aspects of reward learning that predict anhedonia. These aspects could then be targeted by novel anhedonia interventions.
PubMed: 36831884
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13020341 -
Behavioural Brain Research Jun 2021Anhedonia, marked by deficits in reward processing, is a prominent symptom of several psychiatric conditions and has been shown to influence functional connectivity...
Anhedonia, marked by deficits in reward processing, is a prominent symptom of several psychiatric conditions and has been shown to influence functional connectivity between reward-related regions. However, the unique influence of anhedonia severity on reward circuit connectivity in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains unclear. To address this, we examined resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the ventral striatum as a function of anhedonia for individuals with PTSD. Resting-state functional MRI scans and behavioral assessments were collected for 71 women diagnosed with PTSD. Seed-based voxelwise rsFC analyses for left and right nucleus accumbens (NAcc) seed regions of interest were performed. Voxelwise regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between anhedonia severity and rsFC of left and right NAcc. Results indicated that greater anhedonia severity was associated with reduced rsFC between the left NAcc and a cluster in the left caudate extending to the thalamus. This relationship between anhedonia and rsFC remained significant after controlling for PTSD symptom severity or depression severity. Our findings suggest that reward circuit dysfunction at rest is associated with anhedonia in PTSD. These results further contribute to our understanding of the neural correlates of anhedonia in psychiatric conditions.
Topics: Adult; Anhedonia; Connectome; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Nerve Net; Nucleus Accumbens; Patient Acuity; Prosencephalon; Reward; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
PubMed: 33775774
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113258 -
NeuroImage. Clinical 2022A significant proportion of patients with major depressive disorder are resistant to antidepressant medication and psychological treatments. A core symptom of...
BACKGROUND
A significant proportion of patients with major depressive disorder are resistant to antidepressant medication and psychological treatments. A core symptom of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is anhedonia, or the inability to feel pleasure, which has been attributed to disrupted habenula function - a component of the reward network. This study aimed to map detailed neural circuitry architecture related to the habenula to identify neural mechanisms of TRD.
METHODS
35 TRD patients, 35 patients with treatment-sensitive depression (TSD), and 38 healthy controls (HC) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Functional connectivity analyses were performed using the left and right habenula as seed regions of interest, and the three groups were compared using whole-brain voxel-wise comparisons.
RESULTS
The TRD group demonstrated hyperconnectivity of the left habenula to the left precuneus cortex and the right precentral gyrus, compared to the TSD group, and to the right precuneus cortex, compared to the TSD and HC groups. In contrast, TSD demonstrated hypoconnectivity than HC for both connectivity measures. These connectivity values were significantly higher in patients with a history of suicidal ideation.
CONCLUSIONS
This study provides evidence that, unlike TSD, TRD is characterized by hyperconnectivity of the left habenula particularly with regions of the default mode network. An increased interplay between reward and default mode networks is linked to suicidality and could be a possible mechanism for anhedonia in hard to treat depression.
Topics: Anhedonia; Case-Control Studies; Depressive Disorder, Major; Depressive Disorder, Treatment-Resistant; Habenula; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Suicidal Ideation
PubMed: 35305499
DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.102990 -
Translational Psychiatry Jun 2023To assess the inter-relationships between residual depressive symptoms (RDS) and Internet addiction (IA) using network analysis among clinically stable adolescents with...
Internet addiction and residual depressive symptoms among clinically stable adolescents with major psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: a network analysis perspective.
To assess the inter-relationships between residual depressive symptoms (RDS) and Internet addiction (IA) using network analysis among clinically stable adolescents with major psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. RDS and IA were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), respectively. Central symptoms and bridge symptoms in the network model were examined. A total of 1,454 adolescents met the study criteria and were included in the analyses. The prevalence of IA was 31.2% (95% CI: 28.8%-33.6%). In the network analysis, the nodes IAT15 ("Preoccupation with the Internet"), PHQ2 ("Sad mood"), and PHQ1 ("Anhedonia") were the most central symptoms in the IA-RDS network model. Bridge symptoms included IAT10 ("Sooth disturbing about your Internet use"), PHQ9 ("Suicide ideation"), and IAT3 ("Prefer the excitement online to the time with others"). Additionally, PHQ2 ("Sad mood") was the main node linking "Anhedonia" to other IA clusters. Internet addiction was common among clinically stable adolescents with major psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Core and bridge symptoms identified in this study could be prioritized as targets for the prevention and treatment of IA in this population.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Depression; Internet Addiction Disorder; Pandemics; Behavior, Addictive; COVID-19; Mental Disorders; Anhedonia; Internet
PubMed: 37270593
DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02468-5 -
JAMA Network Open Aug 2020Anhedonia, a reduced capacity for pleasure, is described for many psychiatric and neurologic conditions. However, a decade after the Research Domain Criteria launch,... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
IMPORTANCE
Anhedonia, a reduced capacity for pleasure, is described for many psychiatric and neurologic conditions. However, a decade after the Research Domain Criteria launch, whether anhedonia severity differs between diagnoses is still unclear. Reference values for hedonic capacity in healthy humans are also needed.
OBJECTIVE
To generate and compare reference values for anhedonia levels in adults with and without mental illness.
DATA SOURCES
Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar were used to list all articles from January 1, 1995 to July 2, 2019, citing the scale development report of a widely used anhedonia questionnaire, the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS). Searches were conducted from April 5 to 11, 2018, and on July 2, 2019.
STUDY SELECTION
Studies including healthy patients and those with a verified diagnosis, assessed at baseline or in a no-treatment condition with the complete 14-item SHAPS, were included in this preregistered meta-analysis.
DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS
Random-effects models were used to calculate mean SHAPS scores and 95% CIs separately for healthy participants and patients with current major depressive disorder (MDD), past/remitted MDD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, substance use disorders, Parkinson disease, and chronic pain. SHAPS scores were compared between groups using meta-regression, and traditional effect size meta-analyses were conducted to estimate differences in SHAPS scores between healthy and patient samples. This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Self-reported anhedonia as measured by 2 different formats of the SHAPS (possible ranges, 0-14 and 14-56 points), with higher values on both scales indicating greater anhedonia symptoms.
RESULTS
In the available literature (168 articles; 16 494 participants; 8058 [49%] female participants; aged 13-72 years), patients with current MDD, schizophrenia, substance use disorder, Parkinson disease, and chronic pain scored higher on the SHAPS than healthy participants. Within the patient groups, those with current MDD scored considerably higher than all other groups. Patients with remitted MDD scored within the healthy range (g = 0.1). This pattern replicated across SHAPS scoring methods and was consistent across point estimate and effect size analyses.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that the severity of anhedonia may differ across disorders associated with anhedonia. Whereas anhedonia in MDD affects multiple pleasure domains, patients with other conditions may experience decreased enjoyment of only a minority of life's many rewards. These findings have implications for psychiatric taxonomy development, where dimensional approaches are gaining attention. Moreover, the SHAPS reference values presented herein may be useful for researchers and clinicians assessing the efficacy of anhedonia treatments.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Anhedonia; Chronic Pain; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders; Middle Aged; Parkinson Disease; Self Report; Young Adult
PubMed: 32789515
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.13233 -
BMC Psychiatry Nov 2022Anhedonia is a core feature of major depressive disorder (MDD), and as a subtype of depression, MDD with anhedonia may have exceptional neurobiological mechanisms....
OBJECTIVE
Anhedonia is a core feature of major depressive disorder (MDD), and as a subtype of depression, MDD with anhedonia may have exceptional neurobiological mechanisms. However, the neuropathology of anhedonia in MDD remains unclear. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the brain functional differences between MDD with and without anhedonia.
METHODS
A total of 62 individuals including 22 MDD patients with anhedonia, 20 MDD patients without anhedonia, and 20 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited for this study. All participants underwent 3.0-T functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) was employed to quantitatively describe bilateral functional connectivity. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed to obtain brain regions with significant differences among three groups and then post hoc tests were calculated for inter-group comparisons.
RESULTS
The ANOVA revealed significant VMHC differences among three groups in the bilateral middle temporal gyrus (MTG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) (F = 10.47 ~ 15.09, p < 0.05, AlphaSim corrected). Relative to HCs, MDD with anhedonia showed significantly decreased VMHC in the bilateral MTG (t = -5.368, p < 0.05, AlphaSim corrected), as well as increased VMHC in the bilateral SFG (t = -4.696, p < 0.05, AlphaSim corrected). Compared to MDD without anhedonia, MDD with anhedonia showed significantly decreased VMHC in the bilateral MTG and IPL (t = -5.629 ~ -4.330, p < 0.05, AlphaSim corrected), while increased VMHC in the bilateral SFG (t = 3.926, p < 0.05, AlphaSim corrected). However, no significant difference was found between MDD without anhedonia and HCs.
CONCLUSION
The present findings suggest that MDD with and without anhedonia exhibit different patterns of interhemispheric connectivity. Anhedonia in MDD is related to aberrant interhemispheric connectivity within brain regions involved in the frontal-temporal-parietal circuit.
Topics: Humans; Depressive Disorder, Major; Anhedonia; Brain; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Brain Mapping
PubMed: 36348342
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-04343-x