Sooner than you think: A very early affective reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine in Argentina.

The unique circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic pose serious challenges to mood stability and emotional regulation at all ages. Although many people tend to react resiliently to stress, others appear to display emotional anxiety and depression-related symptoms. In this study, we carried out a survey (N = 10,053) during the first week of the general lockdown (quarantine) in Argentina to measure early affective reactions in Argentine adults. Respondents showed substantial anxious and depressive symptoms, with 33% and 23% of participants reporting possible depressive and anxious syndromes, respectively, with the youngest group (18 to 25 y.o.) showing the highest prevalence of symptoms. Even if prior mental health problems predisposed or aggravated the reaction, participants without prior complaints showed signs of psychological impact. Using linear regression, the most important independent variables related to depressive symptoms were the feeling of loneliness followed by daily stress. In the case of anxious states, the strongest variables were negative repetitive thinking and feeling of loneliness. Other psychological, economic, and social factors are discussed. This study is in line with previous literature that highlight the importance of the psychological impact of pandemics, but additionally demonstrates that these reactions are present at a large scale immediately after the start of quarantine with very low infectious rates as an early anticipatory adaptive reaction leading to potential negative outcomes from adjustment disorders to major disorders. In addition, the present results provide potentially relevant information about sudden environmental impacts on affective states and specific pathways for anxiety and depression to be expressed. We end by discussing implications for public policy based on considering the most vulnerable groups.

The inner world of overactive monitoring: neural markers of interoception in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients typically overmonitor their own behavior, as shown by symptoms of excessive doubt and checking. Although this is well established for the patients' relationship with external stimuli in the environment, no study has explored their monitoring of internal body signals, a process known to be affected in anxiety-related syndromes. Here, we explored this issue through a cardiac interoception task that measures sensing of heartbeats. Our aim was to explore key behavioral and electrophysiological aspects of internal-cue monitoring in OCD, while examining their potential distinctiveness in this condition. METHOD: We administered a heartbeat detection (HBD) task (with related interoceptive confidence and awareness measures) to three matched groups (OCD patients, panic disorder patients, healthy controls) and recorded ongoing modulations of two task-relevant electrophysiological markers: the heart evoked potential (HEP) and the motor potential (MP). RESULTS: Behaviorally, OCD patients outperformed controls and panic patients in the HBD task. Moreover, they exhibited greater amplitude modulation of both the HEP and the MP during cardiac interoception. However, they evinced poorer confidence and awareness of their interoceptive skills. CONCLUSIONS: Convergent behavioral and electrophysiological data showed that overactive monitoring in OCD extends to the sensing of internal bodily signals. Moreover, this pattern discriminated OCD from panic patients, suggesting a condition-distinctive alteration. Our results highlight the potential of exploring interoceptive processes in the OCD spectrum to better characterize the population's cognitive profile. Finally, these findings may lay new bridges between somatic theories of emotion and cognitive models of OCD.

[Differentiating early dementia from major depression with the Spanish version of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination]. / Diferenciación entre demencias en estadio inicialy depresión utilizando la versión españoladel Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination.

INTRODUCTION: In clinical practice it is often difficult to establish whether cognitive impairment is secondary to an affective disorder or a dementing process. AIM: To describe the cognitive performance on the Spanish version of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE) of patients with early dementia and depression. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 77 patients with early dementia (53 Alzheimer disease; 24 frontotemporal dementia), 17 patients with major depression and 54 healthy volunteers were tested with the Spanish version of the ACE. RESULTS: Alzheimer disease and frontotemporal dementia groups were significantly lower than the control group and the major depression group. When the major depression group was compared with the control group no significant differences were found. CONCLUSIONS: The cognitive performance in the ACE is different in patients with early dementia and patient with depression.

Diferenciación entre demencias en estadio inicial y depresión utilizando la versión española del Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination / Differentiating early dementia from major depression with the Spanish version of the addenbrooke’s cognitive examination

La diferenciación entre cuadros demenciales iniciales y la expresión cognitiva de los trastornos anímicoses fundamental en la práctica clínica, tanto de especialistas en trastornos cognitivos como en la de médicos generalistas. Objetivo. Investigar el perfil cognitivo en la versión en español del test de cribado cognitivo Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE) en pacientes con demencias incipientes y depresión mayor. Sujetos y métodos. Se evaluó con el ACE a 77 pacientes con demencias en estadios iniciales (53 con demencia tipo Alzheimer y 24 con demencia frontotemporal), 17 pacientes con criterios de depresión mayor y 54 controles normales. Resultados. Los grupos de demencias incipientes registraron una diferencia estadísticamente significativa, no sólo en relación con el grupo control, sino también con el grupo de trastorno depresivo. Cuando el grupo de depresión se comparó con el grupo control, no se observaron diferencias significativas. Conclusiones. La versión en español del ACE es capaz de diferenciar los cambios cognitivos observados en trastornos anímicos de los que se encuentran en las demencias incipientes

In clinical practice it is often difficult to establish whether cognitive impairment is secondary to anaffective disorder or a dementing process. Aim. To describe the cognitive performance on the Spanish version of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE) of patients with early dementia and depression. Subjects and methods. 77 patients with early dementia (53 Alzheimer disease; 24 frontotemporal dementia), 17 patients with major depression and 54 healthy volunteers were tested with the Spanish version of the ACE. Results. Alzheimer disease and frontotemporal dementia groups were significantly lower than the control group and the major depression group. When the major depression group was compared with the control group no significant differences were found. Conclusions. The cognitive performance in the ACE isdifferent in patients with early dementia and patient with depression