Acute neural effects of the mood stabiliser lamotrigine on emotional processing in healthy volunteers: a randomised control trial.

Lamotrigine is an effective mood stabiliser, largely used for the management and prevention of depression in bipolar disorder. The neuropsychological mechanisms by which lamotrigine acts to relieve symptoms as well as its neural effects on emotional processing remain unclear. The primary objective of this current study was to investigate the impact of an acute dose of lamotrigine on the neural response to a well-characterised fMRI task probing implicit emotional processing relevant to negative bias. 31 healthy participants were administered either a single dose of lamotrigine (300 mg, n = 14) or placebo (n = 17) in a randomized, double-blind design. Inside the 3 T MRI scanner, participants completed a covert emotional faces gender discrimination task. Brain activations showing significant group differences were identified using voxel-wise general linear model (GLM) nonparametric permutation testing, with threshold free cluster enhancement (TFCE) and a family wise error (FWE)-corrected cluster significance threshold of p < 0.05. Participants receiving lamotrigine were more accurate at identifying the gender of fearful (but not happy or angry) faces. A network of regions associated with emotional processing, including amygdala, insula, and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), was significantly less activated in the lamotrigine group compared to the placebo group across emotional facial expressions. A single dose of lamotrigine reduced activation in limbic areas in response to faces with both positive and negative expressions, suggesting a valence-independent effect. However, at a behavioural level lamotrigine appeared to reduce the distracting effect of fear on face discrimination. Such effects may be relevant to the mood stabilisation effects of lamotrigine.

Decreasing Sedentary Time during Lessons Reduces Obesity in Primary School Children: The Active Movement Study.

INTRODUCTION: School-based exercise interventions targeted at reducing obesity are often successful in the short term, but they are resource-heavy and do not always lead to long-lasting behaviour changes. This study investigated the effect of reducing sedentary time, rather than increasing exercise, on physical activity (PA) behaviours and obesity in primary school children. METHODS: Thirty UK state primary schools participated in this cluster-controlled intervention study (IDACI score = 0.15 ± 0.07, free school meals = 26 ± 9%). Twenty-six intervention and 4 control schools (intervention = 3,529, control = 308 children) completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C) in terms 1 and 3. Three intervention and 3 control schools (intervention = 219, control = 152 children) also measured waist-to-height ratio (WTHR). The Active Movement Intervention is a school-based programme which integrates non-sedentary behaviours such as standing and walking in the classroom. Data were analysed via ANCOVAs and multiple linear regressions. RESULTS: WTHR was reduced by 8% in the intervention group only (F(2, 285) = 11.387, p < 0.001), and sport participation increased by 10% in the intervention group only (F(1, 232) = 6.982, p = 0.008). Other PAQ-C measures increased significantly in the intervention group, but there was no group*time interaction. Changes in PAQ-C did not predict reductions in WTHR. Instead, the amount of change in WTHR was predicted by intervention group and by baseline WTHR of the pupil, where children with higher baseline WTHR showed greater reductions (F(2, 365) = 77.21, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.30). Socio-economic status (SES), age, or gender did not mediate any of the changes in the PAQ-C or WTHR. CONCLUSION: Reducing sedentary behaviours during school time can be an effective obesity reduction strategy for primary school children who are overweight. The lack of demographic effects suggests that this method can be effective regardless of the school's SES, pupil age, or gender.

The Challenges of Visualisation During Delivery and Assessment of Clinical Teaching Under COVID-19: A Reflective Account of Problem Solving.

Whilst the in-person clinical immersion of students in their final years of medical programmes was relatively protected from the impact of COVID-19, the ability to deliver in-person clinical teaching was restricted or heavily altered for early-year students. Our challenge as a 3-year BSc (Hons) in Medicine programme at the University of St Andrew's School of Medicine was to continue to immerse and engage students in their clinical training when in-person access to the authentic environment was impossible, restricted, or completely altered from the original image held by students.In this chapter, we aim to discuss the problems faced, the solutions considered within the contextual restraints and then reflect on the successes and failures of the approaches we took in aiding students to visualise themselves in the clinical environment, or when using altered delivery modes that introduced radically different optics on the learning experience.Whilst there were some limits on what could be practically achieved (specifically remote learning of "hands-on" clinical skills requiring specialist models or equipment), either sole- or hybrid-use of virtual platforms to provide both real-time and student-led mixed-media visualisations provided effective means to ensure appropriate delivery and assessment throughout varying levels of restrictions. In some cases, this mirrored adaptations in the clinical environment (e.g. virtual consultations).Whilst online delivery of teaching and assessment provided some mitigation of COVID-19 impact upon teaching, given the nature of a medical curriculum these cannot offset the lack of hands-on practical experience students require. However, some adaptations made by necessity (e.g. teleconsultations) have mirrored the advances in patient care and have arguably better-equipped students. The full positive and negative impacts of the pandemic on medical education remain to be seen.

Empathy maps in communication skills training.

BACKGROUND: Empathy is a cornerstone of patient-centred care. However, empathy levels among health care professionals and medical students are currently suboptimal. An empathy map is a tool which aids in understanding another person's perspective. Empathy maps have up until now not been used in a medical education setting. OBJECTIVE: To assess the attitudes towards, applicability and usefulness of empathy maps as part of medical student's communication skills training. METHODS: Empathy map training was introduced to first-year medical student communication skills training at two UK-based medical schools. Twenty-eight participants in total agreed to be interviewed about their experiences using the empathy map, including sixteen students and twelve patient partners who assisted with communication skills training. RESULTS: Medical students and patient partners perceive value in empathy map training. Medical students stated that the empathy map training impacted on their views of empathy and patient-centredness by highlighting the importance of patient-centred care. Medical students and patient partners enjoyed the experience of completing the empathy map and had suggestions for how it could be improved in the future. CONCLUSIONS: Empathy maps could provide a cost-effective way to encourage empathic and patient-centred care in medical education. Furthermore, there is no reason why empathy maps would not aid in any caring profession. Further research is needed to confirm that empathy maps do increase empathy.

Evaluation of dyspnea of unknown etiology in HIV patients with cardiopulmonary exercise testing and cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.

AIM: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) patients commonly experience dyspnea for which an immediate cause may not be always apparent. In this prospective cohort study of HIV patients with exercise limitation, we use cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) coupled with exercise cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to elucidate etiologies of dyspnea. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-four HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy with dyspnea and exercise limitation (49.7 years, 65% male, mean absolute CD4 count 700) underwent comprehensive evaluation with combined rest and maximal exercise treadmill CMR and CPET. The overall mean oxygen consumption (VO2) peak was reduced at 23.2 ± 6.9 ml/kg/min with 20 patients (58.8% of overall cohort) achieving a respiratory exchange ratio > 1. The ventilatory efficiency (VE)/VCO2 slope was elevated at 36 ± 7.92, while ventilatory reserve (VE: maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV)) was within normal limits. The mean absolute right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) contractile reserves were preserved at 9.0% ± 11.2 and 9.4% ± 9.4, respectively. The average resting and post-exercise mean average pulmonary artery velocities were 12.2 ± 3.9 cm/s and 18.9 ± 8.3 respectively, which suggested lack of exercise induced pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). LV but not RV delayed enhancement were identified in five patients. Correlation analysis found no relationship between peak VO2 measures of contractile RV or LV reserve, but LV and RV stroke volume correlated with PET CO2 (p = 0.02, p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Well treated patients with HIV appear to have conserved RV and LV function, contractile reserve and no evidence of exercise induced PAH. However, we found evidence of impaired ventilation suggesting a non-cardiopulmonary etiology for dyspnea.