Neuroimaging studies of major depression have identified neurophysiologic abnormalities in multiple areas of the orbital and medial prefrontal cortex, the amygdala, and related parts of the striatum and thalamus. Some of these abnormalities appear mood state-dependent and are located in regions where cerebral blood flow increases during normal and other pathologic emotional states. These neurop...

Neurological status of chronic depressive states have not been resolved as yet. Recent classificatory systems ICD-X and DSM-III-R have included chronic depression under affective disorders and have done away with the category of neurotic depression. The present study was undertaken with the aims of (a) to study clinical variables associated with major subtypes of chronic depression (chronic maj...

BACKGROUND The authors sought to examine whether levels of dehydroepiandrosterone are abnormal in depression. METHODS Three groups of subjects aged 20-64 were studied: 44 major depressives, 35 subjects with partially or completely remitted depression, matched as far as possible for age and drug treatment, and 41 normal control subjects. Dehydroepiandrosterone and cortisol in saliva were deter...

The differences in the waveform of Cerebral EP (Evoked Potential)s ; SEP, VEP and AEP, among healthy subjects, schizophrenics, manic-depressives and epileptics were investigated. In 585 subjects of both sexes comprising these diagnostic groups, 6 channels of EPs, each 2 channels for each sensory modality, were recorded simultaneously/parallelly from each subject, without assigning a mental task...

INTRODUCTION Feelings that life is not worth living and thoughts of suicide are common in psychiatric patients, particularly in depressives (Beck, 1967).Very littleinformationis available, however, regarding the occurrence of suicidal feelings in the general population. In contrast, the epidemiology of completed suicide has received extensive study (Dublin, 1963), and therehave beensome epidemi...

In this article we attempt to distinguish empirically between psycho-social variables that are concomitants of depression, and variables that may serve as antecedents or sequelae of this disorder. We review studies that investigated the relationship between depression and any of six psychosocial variables after controlling for the effects of concurrent depression. The six variables examined are...

Individuals with depressive symptoms typically show deficits in decision-making. However, most work has emphasized decision-making under gain-maximization conditions. A gain-maximization framework may undermine decision-making when depressive symptoms are present because depressives are generally more sensitive to losses than gains. The present study examined decision making in a non-clinical s...

This article reports the recommendations of the Scientific Department of Cognitive Neurology and Aging of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Brazil, with special focus on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). It constitutes a revision and broadening of the 2005 guidelines based on a consensus involving researchers (physicians ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the factors predisposing to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in peers of adolescent suicide victims. METHOD One hundred forty-six adolescents who were the friends of 26 suicide victims were studied. Five percent (n = 8) developed PTSD after exposure to suicide. These 8 subjects with PTSD were compared to the remainder of the exposed subjects (n = 138). RESULTS Subje...

BACKGROUND There are no controlled studies investigating the response of patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) to a total sleep deprivation (SD). METHODS The clinical response to SD of patients with SAD in winter was investigated under the stringently controlled conditions of a 40-h constant routine protocol. RESULTS 52% of the SAD patients (N=11 women) improved, using a mean of a...