Positive Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Visual Verbal Working Memory in Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Background: Working memory is an executive function that plays an important role in many aspects of daily life, and its impairment in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects quality of life. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been a good target site for transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) due to its intense involvement in working memory. In our 2018 study, tDCS improved visual-verbal working memory in healthy subjects. Objective: This study examines the effects of tDCS on ADHD patients, particularly on verbal working memory. Methods: We conducted an experiment involving verbal working memory of two modalities, visual and auditory, and a sustained attention task that could affect working memory in 9 ADHD patients. Active or sham tDCS was applied to the left DLPFC in a single-blind crossover design. Results: tDCS significantly improved the accuracy of visual-verbal working memory. In contrast, tDCS did not affect auditory-verbal working memory and sustained attention. Conclusion: tDCS to the left DLPFC improved visual-verbal working memory in ADHD patients, with important implications for potential ADHD treatments.

Gastric metastasis by primary lung adenocarcinoma

The diagnosis of gastric metastasis from lung cancer is relatively rare in living patients.We describe a case of Type 4 tumor-like metastasis due to primary lung cancer diagnosed with immunohistochemical staining while the patient was alive.A 68-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of epigastric pain.Gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a Type 4 tumor and the histological examination showed poorly differentiated adenocar-cinoma.His chest X-ray showed mass shadow in the right upper lung field.The resected specimens showed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma.,The diagnosis of gastric metastasis from lung cancer was made by immunohistochemical staining of the lung and gastric tumors which showed positive staining for Thyroid transcriptional factor-1.Diagnosis of gastric metastasis,especially Type 4 metastasis by lung cancer is diff icult.However,immunohistochemical staining is very helpful for diagnosis of primary lung cancer metastasis at sites such as the gastrointestinal tract which are not normally prone to metastatis.

A Transient Fear Reduction by Pair-Exposure with a Non-Fearful Partner during Fear Extinction Independent from Corticosterone Level in Mice

Social interaction is known to alter behavior and emotional responses to various events. It has been reported that when fear-conditioned animals are put in a fear extinction paradigm with non-fearful conspecifics (pair-exposure), freezing behavior decreases compared to a solitary situation. However, it remains unclear whether pair-exposure during fear extinction is persistently effective in reducing the freezing response. In this study, we examined whether the effect of pair-exposure could be persistently effective on cued and contextual fear extinction. The reduction of the fear compared to the solitary condition was transiently observed only in the cued fear extinction with no difference in the subsequent recall session. We also found that the correlation between corticosterone levels and freezing behavior during extinction was disrupted in the pair-exposure situation. These results suggest that pair-exposure reduces freezing behavior in cued fear extinction, although this fear response reduction is not persistent. The pair-exposure changed an association between corticosterone levels and freezing behavior during extinction.

Correlation of prefrontal activity measured by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) with mood, BDNF genotype and serum BDNF level in healthy individuals

Depression has been known to reduce the prefrontal activity associated with the execution of certain cognitive tasks, although whether a temporarily depressed or anxious mood in healthy individuals affects the prefrontal blood oxygen level during cognitive tasks is unknown. Combining the measurement of prefrontal activity with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and the two cognitive tasks, namely the letter version of the verbal fluency test (VFT-l) and the Stroop test, we measured the effect of a depressed or anxious mood and gender on the changes in the prefrontal oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) levels during those cognitive tests in healthy individuals. Depressed mood or anxious mood was assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Thereby we aimed to explore the possibility of NIRS measurement for detecting the early subclinical manifestation of major depression. Moreover, we examined the possible relationships between prefrontal activation and the functional Val66Met polymorphisms of the brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) gene and serum BDNF level. As a result, the increased prefrontal Oxy-Hb levels during cognitive tasks were significantly correlated with the severity of depressed mood in males. The course of the prefrontal Oxy-Hb increase was different depending on the cognitive tasks, i.e., the VFT-l or the Stroop test, in both genders. Correlations of BDNF genotype and serum BDNF level with the prefrontal Oxy-Hb levels during those cognitive tasks were negative. Our results suggest that the early subclinical manifestation of depressed mood in males might be detected by the NIRS measurement, which is not correlated with the individual properties of BDNF.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as the Basis for Preventive Intervention in a Sleep Health Program: A Quasi-Experimental Study of E-Mail Newsletters to College Students

Several reports suggest that college students often have atypical sleep patterns and experience poor sleep quality. We examined the effect of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based intervention program to improve sleep quality and overall mental health among college students. The intervention was delivered in the form of e-mail newsletters. Fifty-three students participated in the intervention group, and another 50 students participated in the control group. The intervention group received a lecture on sleep hygiene;once-weekly e-mail newsletters on sleep health topics (sleep hygiene, stimulus control, sleep restriction, sleep titration, and relapse prevention) and were asked to maintain a four-week sleep diary. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a measure of sleep quality, and the Kessler 6, a measure of psychological distress, were administered before the lecture (as the baseline measurement) and again 16 weeks later (follow-up measurement). PSQI and K6 scores were reduced in the intervention group compared with the control group. A CBT-based sleep health program utilizing e-mail newsletters may work to improve sleep quality and mental health. This program may represent a cost effective way for Japanese students to receive treatment for poor sleep and may also serve to prevent psychiatric problems.

Serum Levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in a Japanese Population

A role of lower brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) content in the pathogenesis of several mental illnesses has been suggested, especially in major depression. It is not known whether BDNF is involved in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Herein, we assessed the serum BDNF content and its correlation with symptom severity in a Japanese population with OCD. The serum BDNF levels of OCD patients (n = 39) and healthy controls (n = 37) were measured by ELISA. The severity of OCD symptoms was assessed by the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The OCD patients’ BDNF levels were significantly higher than those of the controls (17.5 ± 7.3 vs. 12.7 ± 4.7) (p < 0.01). No correlation was observed between the OCD patients’ BDNF levels and their OCD symptoms as scored by the Y-BOCS. For all 76 subjects, the BDI scores were significantly negatively correlated with the serum BDNF levels. Our findings revealed that contrary to previous reports, the serum BDNF content in OCD patients could be higher than that of healthy subjects.