Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction in Pregnancy: an App-Based Programme to Improve the Health of Mothers and Children (MINDFUL/PMI Study).

Unfavourable intrauterine environmental factors increase the risk of delivery complications as well as postpartum developmental and behavioural problems in children and adolescents with ongoing effects into older age. Biomarker studies show that maternal stress and the use of alcohol and tobacco during pregnancy are associated with a higher intrauterine testosterone exposure of the child. The antenatal testosterone load, in turn, is a risk factor for lasting adverse health effects which extend into adulthood. A 15-week, mindfulness-oriented, app-based programme for the reduction of stress as well as for the reduction of alcohol and tobacco use in pregnant women is established. In the monocentre, prospective, controlled, and investigator-blinded MINDFUL/PMI (Maternal Health and Infant Development in the Follow-up after Pregnancy and a Mindfulness Intervention) study, pregnant women carry out the programme. Its effect on antenatal testosterone exposure of the child is examined by assessing the index/ring finger length ratio and other biomarkers in the 1-year-old children. In addition, the programme's effects on self-regulation, the developmental status and the mental health of the children at the age of one year will be investigated. Additional aspects of the course of the pregnancy and delivery represent exploratory study objectives. This longitudinal study project is intended to improve the understanding of the impact of intrauterine environmental factors on early childhood development and health. Maternal stress as well as alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy are modifiable factors and represent potential preventive targets.

Physical activity and energy expenditure during depressive episodes of major depression.

BACKGROUND: Recent data suggest a substantial association between physical activity and depressive symptoms, but there is a lack of research evaluating the physical activity levels in patients suffering from unipolar depression across different stages of disease in an objective way. The aim of the present pilot study was to objectively examine physical activity levels of this patient group compared to healthy controls. METHODS: Physical activity performance of 19 patients with major depressive episode and 19 healthy controls was assessed at three different time points using a multisensory armband device (SenseWear® Pro3 Armband) and was reported as total energy expenditure (TEE), active energy expenditure (EE), metabolic equivalents (METs), physical activity (PA) and time of lying down (LD), in each case over 24h. RESULTS: Over all measurements, depressive patients presented a significantly lower mean TEE and EE over 24h. Moreover, the patient group showed significantly shorter duration of PA and lower average MET over 24h. When depressive symptoms abated, physical activity parameters significantly increased in the patient group. Correlation analyses demonstrated a significant relation between depressive status/anhedonia and parameters of physical activity, especially in healthy subjects. LIMITATIONS: Results represented valid data for inpatients only. CONCLUSION: Acute unipolar depression was associated with a significantly lower level of physical activity and showed a significant increase in parallel to clinical improvement. Electronic monitoring of physical activity may be an additional tool for evaluating and controlling therapeutic effects.

The psychophysical assessment of odor valence: does an anchor stimulus influence the hedonic evaluation of odors?

Olfactory stimuli are experienced primarily in terms of their hedonic tone and the assessment of olfactory hedonic estimates is a prevalent task in scientific and industrial contexts. However, measuring conditions are poorly standardized. Our study aims to fill this gap, focusing on the influence of anchor stimuli on olfactory hedonic evaluations, frequency of anchor presentation, and temporal stability of results. In n = 31 subjects, hedonic estimates for the 16 odors of the Sniffin' Sticks identification task were assessed on a visual analog rating scale under 4 measuring conditions (nonanchor, pleasant anchor, neutral anchor, unpleasant anchor). To test for stability over time, n = 10 subjects were reassessed 2, 4, and 6 months after original testing. To analyze for possible effects of single versus repeated anchor presentation, n = 15 subjects were retested 2 months after the original session in a multiple anchor presentation format. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between the 4 anchor conditions, thus highlighting the necessity of specifying assessment methods in scientific research. No significant differences between timepoints were observed, indicating a high temporal stability of olfactory hedonic evaluations, especially from timepoint T2 onward. No overall significant effects of single versus multiple anchor presentation were detected. Findings might help to further standardize testing procedures.

[Relationship between Copenhagen and Göttingen regarding earth magnetism]. / Die Beziehungen zwischen Kopenhagen und Göttingen auf dem Gebiete des Erdmagnetismus: Ergebnisse einer Analyse der Briefe, die Hans Christian Oersted mit Carl Friedrich Gauss und Wilhelm Weber wechselte.

Hans Christian Oersted is mostly known as the discoverer of electromagnetism and for being one of the physicists who were deeply influenced and fascinated by the romantic natural philosophy. In this article another side of Oersted is presented. What is underestimated until now is Oersted's contribution to the research of geomagnetism. Oersted stood in close contact with Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber, whom he visited in 1834 in Göttingen. Oersted's aim was to learn the new developments in geomagnetism. Afterwards he was crucial in the building of a new magnetic observatory in Copenhagen as well as a second one with better equipment. Oersted formed a huge team for magnetic observations and the gathered data were sent to Gauss and Weber who published them. The correspondence between Oersted, Gauss and Weber was mostly dedicated to the transmission of these data, details about instruments and the best way of building a magnetic observatory. Unfortunately, Gauss and Weber had to stop their very successful collaboration in 1843, because Weber belonged to the Göttingen Seven and later on Oersted stopped his observations, because he had lost his partners in this research project.

Olfactory perception in schizophrenia: the rating range for hedonic judgements is increased during acute episodes.

Deficits in olfactory performance have been reported in schizophrenia but results on subjective odour ratings remain unclear. Compared to controls (N=34), schizophrenia inpatients (N=34) expressed deficits concerning odour threshold, discrimination and identification but intact intensity ratings. Most interestingly, patients showed an increased rating range concerning olfactory hedonic judgements.

Catatonic dilemma in a 33-year-old woman: a discussion.

Case. We report a case of catatonia with elevated CK, elevated temperature, and hypoferritinemia after abrupt discontinuation of clozapine in a patient with known proneness to catatonic symptoms. Reinstatement of clozapine therapy was contraindicated due to leukopenia. Neuroleptic malign syndrome could not be ruled out by the administration of quetiapine; this prevented the quick use of other potent D2 antagonists. Some improvement was achieved through supportive therapy, high dose of lorazepam, and a series of 10 ECT sessions. Returning to baseline condition was achieved by a very careful increase of olanzapine. Discussion. Catatonic symptoms in schizophrenia as well as in NMS might be caused by a lack of striatal dopamine (CS) or dopamine D2 antagonism (NMS). CS might be a "special" kind of schizophrenia featuring both hypo- and hyperactivity of dopaminergic transmission. ECT has been described as a "psychic rectifier" or a "reset for the system." The desirable effect of ECT in cases of CS might be dopaminergic stimulation in the striatum and decrease of both the dopaminergic activity in the limbic system and the serotonergic activity on 5-HT2 receptors. The desirable effect of ECT in NMS would be explained by activation of dopaminergic transmission and/or liberation of dopaminergic receptors from the causative neuroleptics.

Olfactory abnormalities in anxiety disorders.

The olfactory system plays an important role in both animal and human anxiety reactions. However, results on olfactory performance during the course of clinical anxiety disorders remain scarce. Therefore, we conducted an exploratory pilot study in 17 patients currently diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Patients participated in olfactory and psychological testing and were compared to 17 healthy controls. Statistical analyses revealed significant deficits concerning olfactory discrimination in patients, while no changes in threshold and identification ability occurred. Most interestingly, patients showed higher intensity estimates and an increased rating range concerning olfactory hedonic judgements. Results are discussed in light of prior findings and related to neural correlates of olfactory perception and anxiety reactions.

NACP-Rep1 relates to Beck Depression Inventory scores in healthy humans.

Alpha-synuclein (SNCA) is associated with a range of psychiatric diseases including neurodegeneration, alcohol craving, and depression. It regulates cellular homeostasis by virtue of its ability to interfere in dopaminergic, serotonergic, and noradrenergic pathways. To date, it is unclear whether the previously described association between SNCA and depressive symptomatology is limited to females with eating disorders or whether it could be extended to include healthy individuals. We included 105 women and 108 men. Genetic data and mRNA expression analyses were drawn from peripheral blood and the severity of depressive symptoms was quantified by the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI). We found a significant association between the NACP-Rep1 length polymorphism and the BDI score (p = 0.004). Moreover, there was a significant gender dimorphism regarding mRNA expression of SNCA (p = 0.011). Our analysis revealed no further association between the In4 polymorphism or between the mRNA expression of SNCA and the BDI score. Since this investigation was limited to healthy individuals, conclusions concerning depression according to ICD-10 or DSM-IV cannot be drawn. The reported results may contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms linked to depressive symptoms.

The relation between depression, anhedonia and olfactory hedonic estimates--a pilot study in major depression.

Several studies investigating olfactory hedonics in major depression have brought conflicting results and an analysis of the relation between severity of depression, anhedonia and olfactory hedonics is still lacking. In order to investigate olfactory perception in different depressive states, we carried out olfactory testing during a depressive episode (n=37) and in a remitted state (n=17). As expected, patients were significantly less depressed (p<0.001) and less anhedonic (p=0.001) in the remitted state. A comparison of olfactory perception between age- and gender-matched patients and healthy volunteers (n=37) controlled for intrinsic olfactory deficits in major depression. In the depressive episode, we applied regression analyses to investigate the relation of olfactory hedonics, severity of depression and anhedonia. The Sniffin' Sticks Test extended by analogue rating scales for intensity and hedonic estimates was employed for olfactory testing. Depression severity was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), anhedonia with the Snaith-Hamilton-Pleasure-Scale (SHAPS). Odour identification ability was significantly reduced during the depressive state. In contrast, no significant differences in hedonic and intensity estimates could be found between the depressive and the remitted state and healthy controls. During the depressive episode, we found a significant relation only between anhedonia and olfactory hedonics. We concluded that anhedonia has potential impact on olfactory hedonics in major depression. Our results indicate the need for (1) confirmatory studies in severe melancholic depression and (2) investigation of the impact of anhedonia on olfactory hedonics in psychiatric diseases other than major depression.