The Stroop task is sometimes used in psychiatric research to elicit prefrontal activity, which presumably reflects cognitive functioning. Although there are two Stroop tasks (Kana script and Kanji script) in Japan, it is unclear whether these tasks elicit the same hemoglobin changes. Moreover, it is unclear whether psychological conditions or characteristics influence hemoglobin changes in the Japanese Stroop task. The aim of this study was to clarify whether hemoglobin changes elicited by the two Japanese Stroop tasks accurately reflected cognitive functioning. Hemoglobin changes were measured with multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in 100 healthy Japanese participants performing two Japanese Stroop tasks. The Beck-Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) were administered to participants to identify psychological conditions or personality characteristics. Compared with the Kanji task, the Kana task produced a greater Stroop effect and a larger increase in oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration. Moreover there were no significant correlations between oxy-Hb concentration and BDI, STAI-trait, STAI-state, or MOCI scores. Therefore we found that a participant's psychological conditions or characteristics did not influence the hemodynamic changes during either task. These data suggest the Kana Stroop task is more useful than the Kanji Stroop task for NIRS studies in psychiatric research. J. Med. Invest. 62: 51-55, February, 2015
Aim: The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether individuals with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) show differential activation during an emotional activation task compared with age‐ and sex‐matched controls, by measuring changes in the concentration of oxygenated (oxyHb) and deoxygenated (deoxyHb) hemoglobin, using near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Methods: Fourteen patients with PDD and 14 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls participated in the study. The relative changes of concentrations of oxyHb and deoxyHb were measured on NIRS during an implicit processing task of fearful expression using Japanese standard faces. Results: PDD patients had significantly reduced oxyHb changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to healthy controls. Conclusion: PFC dysfunction may exist in PDD.
No previous reports have described a case in which deep brain stimulation elicited an acute mood swing from a depressive to manic state simply by switching one side of the bilateral deep brain stimulation electrode on and off. The patient was a 68-year-old woman with a 10-year history of Parkinson's disease. She underwent bilateral subthalamic deep brain stimulation surgery. After undergoing surgery, the patient exhibited hyperthymia. She was scheduled for admission. On the first day of admission, it was clear that resting tremors in the right limbs had relapsed and her hyperthymia had reverted to depression. It was discovered that the left-side electrode of the deep brain stimulation device was found to be accidentally turned off. As soon as the electrode was turned on, motor impairment improved and her mood switched from depression to mania. The authors speculate that the lateral balance of stimulation plays an important role in mood regulation. The current report provides an intriguing insight into possible mechanisms of mood swing in mood disorders.
Purpose: Recently, cognitive variables such as negative and positive self-belief and thoughts have attracted much attention because they are associated with functional outcomes and quality of life (QOL).However, it is unclear how cognitive variables affect subjective and objective QOL.This study aimed to investigate the relationship of negative and positive self-belief and thoughts with subjective and objective QOL.Participants and methods: Thirty-six people with schizophrenia participated in this study.Subjective and objective QOL were assessed with the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS) and Quality of Life Scale (QLS), respectively.Neurocognitive function was assessed with the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS).Clinical symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia.Side effects were assessed with the Drug-induced Extrapyramidal Symptoms Scale (DIEPSS).Negative and positive self-belief and thoughts were assessed with the Defeatist Performance Belief Scale and Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Revised.A generalized linear model was tested, with subjective and objective QOL as the response variable and symptoms, neurocognitive function, and cognitive variables that were significantly correlated with subjective and objective QOL as explanatory variables.Results: In the schizophrenia group, the common objects score on the QLS was predicted by the composite BACS score, and the total QLS score was predicted by the DIEPSS score.Motivation and Energy, Psychosocial, and Symptoms and Side effects scores on the SQLS were predicted by depression and by negative automatic thought (NAT) and positive automatic thought (PAT).Conclusion: Our results indicated that key targets for improving objective and subjective QOL in people with schizophrenia are side effects, neurocognitive function, depression, and NAT and PAT.
To investigate brain activation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during emotional
experiences, we examined blood oxygenation changes of healthy female volunteers by
using multi-channel Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). Results directly confirmed
that the PFC was activated during emotional tasks suggesting that the levels of oxy-Hb
increased significantly larger in negative periods compared with positive or neutral in
the bilateral dorsolateral PFC. There is a possibility that this brain area is associated
with the regulation of negative emotion. Our results suggest that it may be possible to
evaluate emotional changes using NIRS sensitively.
'%3e%3cpath fill='%23012169' d='M0 0v30h60V0z'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='6' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='4' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30' clip-path='url(%23b)'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='10' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='6' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)
'%3e%3cg id='b'%3e%3cpath id='a' stroke='%23000' stroke-width='2' d='M-6-25H6m-12 3H6m-12 3H6'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' y='44'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' d='M0 17v10'/%3e%3ccircle r='12' fill='%23cd2e3a'/%3e%3cpath fill='%230047a0' d='M0-12A6 6 0 0 0 0 0a6 6 0 0 1 0 12 12 12 0 0 1 0-24z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg transform='rotate(-123.69)'%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23b'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' d='M0-23.5v3M0 17v3.5m0 3v3'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)