Cognition and gut microbiota in schizophrenia spectrum and mood disorders: A systematic review.

FRILEUX, M., BOLTRI M. and al. Cognition and Gut microbiota in schizophrenia spectrum and mood disorders: a Systematic Review. NEUROSCI BIOBEHAV REV (1) 2024 Schizophrenia spectrum disorders and major mood disorders are associated with cognitive impairments. Recent studies suggest a link between gut microbiota composition and cognitive functioning. Here, we review the relationship between gut microbiota and cognition in these disorders. To do this, we conducted a systematic review, searching Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EBSCOhost, Embase, Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Studies were included if they investigated the relationship between gut microbiota composition and cognitive function through neuropsychological assessments in patients with bipolar, depressive, schizophrenia spectrum, and other psychotic disorders. Ten studies were identified. Findings underscore a link between gut dysbiosis and cognitive impairment. This relationship identified specific taxa (Haemophilus, Bacteroides, and Alistipes) as potential contributors to bolstered cognitive performance. Conversely, Candida albicans, Toxoplasma gondii, Streptococcus and Deinococcus were associated with diminished performance on cognitive assessments. Prebiotics and probiotics interventions were associated with cognitive enhancements, particularly executive functions. These results emphasize the role of gut microbiota in cognition, prompting further exploration of the underlying mechanisms paving the way toward precision psychiatry.

Comparative analysis of anticholinergic burden scales to explain iatrogenic cognitive impairment and self-reported side effects in the euthymic phase of bipolar disorders: Results from the FACE-BD cohort.

Bipolar disorders (BD) are characterized by cognitive impairment during the euthymic phase, to which treatments can contribute. The anticholinergic properties of medications, i.e., the ability of a treatment to inhibit cholinergic receptors, are associated with cognitive impairment in elderly patients and people with schizophrenia but this association has not been well characterized in individuals with remitted BD. Moreover, the validity of only one anticholinergic burden scale designed to assess the anticholinergic load of medications has been tested in BD. In a literature review, we identified 31 existing scales. We first measured the associations between 27 out of the 31 scales and objective cognitive impairment in bivariable regressions. We then adjusted the bivariable models with covariates: the scales significantly associated with cognitive impairment in bivariable and multiple logistic regressions were defined as having good concurrent validity to assess cognitive impairment. In a sample of 2,031 individuals with euthymic BD evaluated with a neuropsychological battery, two scales had good concurrent validity to assess cognitive impairment, whereas chlorpromazine equivalents, lorazepam equivalents, the number of antipsychotics, or the number of treatments had not. Finally, similar analyses with subjective anticholinergic side-effects as outcome variables reported 14 scales with good concurrent validity to assess self-reported peripheral anticholinergic side-effects and 13 to assess self-reported central anticholinergic side-effects. Thus, we identified valid scales to monitor the anticholinergic burden in BD, which may be useful in estimating iatrogenic cognitive impairment in studies investigating cognition in BD.

[Belief updating and mood congruence in depressive disorder]. / Mise à jour des croyances et congruence à l'humeur dans le trouble dépressif.

Depressive disorder is characterized by a polymorphic symptomatology associating emotional, cognitive and behavioral disturbances. One of the most specific symptoms is negative beliefs, called congruent to mood. Despite the importance of these beliefs in the development, the maintenance, and the recurrence of depressive episodes, little is known about the processes underlying the generation of depressive beliefs. In this paper, we detail the link between belief updating mechanisms and the genesis of depressive beliefs. We show how depression alters information processing, generating cognitive immunization when processing positive information, affective updating bias related to the valence of belief and prediction error, and difficultie to disengage from negative information. We suggest that disruption of belief-updating mechanisms forms the basis of belief-mood congruence in depression.

Short-term impact of alcohol detoxification on facial emotions recognition.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with impaired social cognition, including the disturbance of facial emotion recognition (FER). Previous studies have focused on the assessment of basic emotions decoding among patients with AUD, but the evolution of these performances in the early phase of alcohol withdrawal remains unknown. METHODS: This study was based on evolution of social cognition over a period of 21 days in two groups of individuals: a group of 20 AUD patients and a control group of 25 healthy individuals. AUD patients were tested on admission in a detoxification ward and after a 3-week stay. We evaluated FER with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). We assessed empathy with a multidimensional questionnaire, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). We measured anxiety and depression through the self-rating scale Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD). We hypothesized that FER would be impaired in AUD patients on admission and improve after detoxification, while being stable in the control group. RESULTS: RMET scores on admission and at discharge were inferior in AUD patients to those observed in HC (P=2×10-6 and P=0.033, respectively). In the patient group, the RMET score improved over the stay (P=0.034). A time-by-group interaction for RMET score was observed (P=0.003). IRI scores on admission were superior in AUD patients (P=0.023) whichwas no longer observed at discharge (P=0.54). This suggests that RMET might be more accurate in measuring theory of mind evolution in AUD patients after withdrawal. HAD scores on admission and at discharge were inferior in AUD patients compared to controls (P=3×10-5 and P=0.007, respectively). After controlling for HAD initial score, a time-by-group interaction was still observed for RMET scores (P=0.026). CONCLUSION: FER is impaired in patients with Alcohol Use Disorder compared to controls. This alteration improves after alcohol detoxification. We suggest the RMET could be used to follow the improvement of FER during the first month of abstinence, especially as RMET performance has been associated with maintenance of alcohol withdrawal.

When is physician assisted suicide or euthanasia acceptable?

OBJECTIVES: To discover what factors affect lay people's judgments of the acceptability of physician assisted suicide and euthanasia and how these factors interact. DESIGN: Participants rated the acceptability of either physician assisted suicide or euthanasia for 72 patient vignettes with a five factor design--that is, all combinations of patient's age (three levels); curability of illness (two levels); degree of suffering (two levels); patient's mental status (two levels), and extent of patient's requests for the procedure (three levels). PARTICIPANTS: Convenience sample of 66 young adults, 62 middle aged adults, and 66 older adults living in western France. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: In accordance with the functional theory of cognition of N H Anderson, main effects, and interactions among patient factors and participants' characteristics were investigated by means of both graphs and ANOVA. RESULTS: Patient requests were the most potent determinant of acceptability. Euthanasia was generally less acceptable than physician assisted suicide, but this difference disappeared when requests were repetitive. As their own age increased, participants placed more weight on patient age as a criterion of acceptability. CONCLUSIONS: People's judgments concur with legislation to require a repetition of patients' requests for a life ending act. Younger people, who frequently are decision makers for elderly relatives, place less emphasis on patient's age itself than do older people.