Biases in affective attention tasks in posttraumatic stress disorder patients: A systematic review of neuroimaging studies.

INTRODUCTION: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by alterations in emotional and cognitive processing. The current neurobiological model of PTSD posits that amygdala and prefrontal cortex functioning impairment underpins symptoms, such as altered emotional and cognitive processing. Additionally, these structures are key components of emotional and attention regulation. AIM: This review sought to evaluate studies comparing PTSD group to non-PTSD controls performance in affective attention tasks during neuroimaging. RESULTS: PTSD group behavioral performance when responding to affective stimuli differed from controls only in stroop-based tasks. However, neuroimaging techniques were able to identify brain activation differences even when behavioral differences were not present. Amygdala hyperactivation in PTSD patients was confirmed in most cases, but cortical networks results were not as consistent. More than a general reduction in activity, PTSD group data points out to impaired recruitment of ventral cortical structures and increased reliance on dorsal cortical structures during task performance. CONCLUSION: Stroop-based tasks seem to be better at identifying differences in behavioral performance of PTSD individuals. PTSD individuals seems to present an altered brain activation pattern in affective attention tasks when compared to controls, where PTSD individuals seem to present enhanced amygdala activation and rely more on dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and posterior insula activation during tasks. The PROSPERO ID for this study is CRD42022355471.

Antidepressant effects of a single dose of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: a preliminary report.

OBJECTIVES: Ayahuasca (AYA), a natural psychedelic brew prepared from Amazonian plants and rich in dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and harmine, causes effects of subjective well-being and may therefore have antidepressant actions. This study sought to evaluate the effects of a single dose of AYA in six volunteers with a current depressive episode. METHODS: Open-label trial conducted in an inpatient psychiatric unit. RESULTS: Statistically significant reductions of up to 82% in depressive scores were observed between baseline and 1, 7, and 21 days after AYA administration, as measured on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the Anxious-Depression subscale of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). AYA administration resulted in nonsignificant changes in Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) scores and in the thinking disorder subscale of the BPRS, suggesting that AYA does not induce episodes of mania and/or hypomania in patients with mood disorders and that modifications in thought content, which could indicate psychedelic effects, are not essential for mood improvement. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that AYA has fast-acting anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in patients with a depressive disorder.

Antidepressant effects of a single dose of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: a preliminary report

Objectives: Ayahuasca (AYA), a natural psychedelic brew prepared from Amazonian plants and rich in dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and harmine, causes effects of subjective well-being and may therefore have antidepressant actions. This study sought to evaluate the effects of a single dose of AYA in six volunteers with a current depressive episode. Methods: Open-label trial conducted in an inpatient psychiatric unit. Results: Statistically significant reductions of up to 82% in depressive scores were observed between baseline and 1, 7, and 21 days after AYA administration, as measured on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the Anxious-Depression subscale of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). AYA administration resulted in nonsignificant changes in Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) scores and in the thinking disorder subscale of the BPRS, suggesting that AYA does not induce episodes of mania and/or hypomania in patients with mood disorders and that modifications in thought content, which could indicate psychedelic effects, are not essential for mood improvement. Conclusions: These results suggest that AYA has fast-acting anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in patients with a depressive disorder. .

Assessment of referrals to an OT consultation-liaison service: a retrospective and comparative study.

The objective was to conduct a retrospective and comparative study of the requests for consultation-liaison (RCLs), during a period of six years, sent to the Occupational Therapy (OT) team that acts as the Consultation-liaison Service in Mental Health. During the studied period 709 RCLs were made and 633 patients received OT consultations. The comparison group was extended to 1 129 consecutive referrals to the psychiatric CL service, within the same period and that were also retrospectively reviewed. Regarding to RCLs to the OT team, most of the subjects were women with incomplete elementary schooling, with a mean age of 39.2 years, and were self-employed or retired. Internal Medicine was responsible for most of the RCLs. The mean length of hospitalization was 51 days and the mean rate of referral was 0.5%, with the most frequent reason for the request being related to the emotional aspects and the most frequent psychiatric diagnosis was mood disorder. It is concluded that there is a clear demand for the development of consultation-liaison in OT, particularly with regard to the promotion of mental health in general hospitals.