Cognitive inhibition and attentional biases in the affective go/no-go performance of depressed, suicidal populations.

BACKGROUND: Although cognitive inhibition deficits and attentional biases have been associated with suicidality, these findings have not been consistently reported across samples. The aim of the current study was to further investigate these variables among participants with differing suicidal risk. METHODS: We compared affective go/no-go performance in 100 depressed individuals with both current suicidal ideation and a prior history of attempted suicide, 100 depressed individuals with current suicidal ideation, but no history of attempted suicide, 100 suicide attempters without current depression or suicidal ideation, and 100 healthy controls. RESULTS: Suicide ideators with a history of attempted suicide committed more commission errors during negative word trials than any other group. Additionally, suicide ideators with no attempt history made more commission errors than did controls and previous attempters. An interaction for group status and emotional word valence revealed that suicide ideators with a history of attempted suicide responded fastest to negative words and slowest to positive words. Suicide ideators without an attempt history displayed a similar, but less pronounced pattern. Whereas, controls and previous attempters responded more quickly to positively valenced words. LIMITATIONS: The use of cross-sectional self-report data and inclusion of only female participants limits generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive dysfunctions were apparent in all suicide vulnerable subjects, but significantly greater in suicide ideators with a history of attempted suicide. Suicidal ideation may be associated with a processing bias and inhibitory deficit for negative, mood-congruent information. These findings increase our knowledge of cognitive impairment in suicidality and may potentially help improve intervention strategies.

Exercise and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults: A Systematic Meta-Analytic Review.

Depressive symptoms are common in older adults, but antidepressant medications may be contraindicated or poorly tolerated in this population. Intervention studies demonstrate that exercise may be an effective alternative. This meta-analysis included 41 randomized controlled trials of aerobic and nonaerobic exercise interventions investigating the effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adults aged 60 or older. A random effects model demonstrated that exercise was associated with significantly lower depression severity (SMD = 0.57, 95% CI 0.36-0.78). This effect was not significantly different for different ages of participants, types of control groups, or types of exercise interventions. Studies requiring a diagnosis of depression had significantly greater mean effect sizes than studies that did not require a depression diagnosis (Qbet = 6.843, df = 1, p = .009). These findings suggest that exercise is an effective treatment option for older individuals with depressive symptoms.

A combined measure of vascular risk for white matter lesions.

BACKGROUND: Though hypertension is a commonly studied risk factor for white matter lesions (WMLs), measures of blood pressure may fluctuate depending on external conditions resulting in measurement error. Indicators of arterial stiffening and reduced elasticity may be more sensitive indicators of risk for WMLs in aging; however the interdependent nature of vascular indicators creates statistical complications. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to determine whether a factor score comprised of multiple vascular indicators would be a stronger predictor of WMLs than traditional measures of blood pressure. METHODS: In a sample of well-characterized nondemented older adults, we used a factor analytic approach to account for variance common across multiple vascular measures while reducing measurement error. The result was a single factor score reflecting arterial stiffness and reduced elasticity. We used this factor score to predict white matter lesion volumes acquired via fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: The combined vascular factor score was a stronger predictor of deep WML (ß = 0.42, p < 0.001) and periventricular WML volumes (ß = 0.49, p < 0.001). After accounting for the vascular factor, systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements were not significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that a combined measure of arterial elasticity and stiffening may be a stronger predictor of WMLs than systolic and diastolic blood pressure accounting for the multicollinearity associated with a variety of interrelated vascular measures.