Understanding the longitudinal associations between e-cigarette use and general mental health, social dysfunction and anhedonia, depression and anxiety, and loss of confidence in a sample from the UK: A linear mixed effect examination

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to the longitudinal associations between e-cigarette use and general mental health, social dysfunction & anhedonia, depression & anxiety, and loss of confidence in a sample from the UK.

METHODS

We analyzed data of 19,706 participants from Wave 9 (collected from 2017 to 2018) and Wave 10 (collected from 2018 to 2019) of the Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study using a confirmatory factor analysis, linear mixed effect model, and one-sample t-tests.

RESULTS

We found that there is a significant time by e-cigarette use status interaction on mental health issues (b = 0.32, p < 0.001, 95 % C.I. [0.15, 0.49]), social dysfunction & anhedonia (b = 0.36, p < 0.001, 95 % C.I. [0.18, 0.54]), and loss of confidence (b = 0.24, p < 0.01, 95 % C.I. [0.06, 0.41]). Indeed, participants who became e-cigarette smokers at Wave 10 had worse mental health (t(107) = 2.64, p < 0.01, 95 % C.I. [0.07, 0.48], Cohen's d = 0.28), social dysfunction & anhedonia (t(107) = 3.16, p < 0.01, 95 % C.I. [0.12, 0.52], Cohen's d = 0.32), and loss of confidence (t(107) = 2.08, p < 0.05, 95 % C.I. [0.01, 0.37], Cohen's d = 0.19) comparing to one year ago.

LIMITATION

Limitations of this study included its self-report measures, unclassified e-cigarette type, limited generalizability to other populations, and lack of experimental manipulations.

CONCLUSION

We revealed longitudinal associations between e-cigarette initiation and adverse general and dimensions of mental health except for depression and anxiety, which have significant implications for public health, specifically in terms of e-cigarette product regulation and advertising.

Acute amnestic syndrome in fornix lesions: a systematic review of reported cases with a focus on differential diagnosis

Introduction

Acute amnestic syndrome is an uncommon clinical presentation of neurological disease. Differential diagnosis encompasses several syndromes including Wernicke-Korsakoff and transient global amnesia (TGA). Structural lesions of the fornix account for a minority of cases of acute amnestic syndromes. Etiology varies from iatrogenic injury to ischemic, inflammatory, or neoplastic lesions. A prompt diagnosis of the underlying pathology is essential but challenging. The aim of this review is to systematically review the existing literature regarding cases of acute amnestic syndrome associated with non-iatrogenic lesions of the fornix.

Methods

We performed a systematic literature search on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science up to September 2023 to identify case reports and case series of patients with amnestic syndrome due to fornix lesions. The systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. The research was limited to articles written in English. Cases of fornix damage directly ascribable to a surgical procedure were excluded.

Results

A total of 52 publications reporting 55 cases were included in the review. Focusing on acute/subacute onset, vascular etiology was highly prevalent, being responsible for 78% of cases, 40/55 (74%) of which were due to acute ischemic stroke. The amnestic syndrome was characterized by anterograde amnesia in all patients, associated with retrograde amnesia in 27% of cases. Amnesia was an isolated presentation in most cases. Up to two thirds of patients had persistent memory deficits of any severity at follow-up.

Discussion

Acute amnestic syndrome can be rarely caused by fornix lesions. In most cases of acute/subacute presentation, the etiology is ischemic stroke, mainly caused by strokes involving the subcallosal artery territory. The differential diagnosis is challenging and a distinction from common mimics is often difficult on a clinical basis. A high index of suspicion should be maintained to avoid misdiagnosis and provide adequate acute treatment to patients with time-dependent disease, also employing advanced neuroimaging. More research is needed to better understand the outcome and identify prognostic factors in patients with amnestic syndrome due to fornix lesions.

Microglial Senescence and Activation in Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Disease: Systematic Review and Neuropathological Scoring

The greatest risk factor for neurodegeneration is the aging of the multiple cell types of human CNS, among which microglia are important because they are the "sentinels" of internal and external perturbations and have long lifespans. We aim to emphasize microglial signatures in physiologic brain aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). A systematic literature search of all published articles about microglial senescence in human healthy aging and AD was performed, searching for PubMed and Scopus online databases. Among 1947 articles screened, a total of 289 articles were assessed for full-text eligibility. Microglial transcriptomic, phenotypic, and neuropathological profiles were analyzed comprising healthy aging and AD. Our review highlights that studies on animal models only partially clarify what happens in humans. Human and mice microglia are hugely heterogeneous. Like a two-sided coin, microglia can be protective or harmful, depending on the context. Brain health depends upon a balance between the actions and reactions of microglia maintaining brain homeostasis in cooperation with other cell types (especially astrocytes and oligodendrocytes). During aging, accumulating oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction weaken microglia leading to dystrophic/senescent, otherwise over-reactive, phenotype-enhancing neurodegenerative phenomena. Microglia are crucial for managing Aβ, pTAU, and damaged synapses, being pivotal in AD pathogenesis.

Abnormal Porphyrin Metabolism in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Therapeutic Implications

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a mosaic of neurodevelopmental conditions composed of early-onset social interaction and communication deficits, along with repetitive and/or restricted patterns of activities, behavior, and interests. ASD affects around 1% of children worldwide, with a male predominance. Energy, porphyrin, and neurotransmitter homeostasis are the key metabolic pathways affected by heavy metal exposure, potentially implicated in the pathogenesis of ASD. Exposure to heavy metals can lead to an altered porphyrin metabolism due to enzyme inhibition by heavy metals. Heavy metal exposure, inborn genetic susceptibility, and abnormal thiol and selenol metabolism may play a significant role in the urinary porphyrin profile anomalies observed in ASD. Altered porphyrin metabolism in ASD may also be associated with, vitamin B6 deficiency, hyperoxalemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, and hypomagnesemia. The present review considers the abnormal porphyrin metabolism in ASD in relation to the potential pathogenic mechanism and discusses the possible metabolic therapies such as vitamins, minerals, cofactors, and antioxidants that need to be explored in future research. Such targeted therapeutic therapies would bring about favorable outcomes such as improvements in core and co-occurring symptoms.

Asthma Moderates the Association between the Big Five Personality Traits and Life Satisfaction

The current study aimed to examine whether asthma moderates the association between the Big Five personality traits and life satisfaction. By analyzing data from 3934 people with asthma (40.09% males) with a mean age of 49.2 (S.D. = 16.94) years old and 22,914 people without asthma (42.9% males) with a mean age of 45.62 (S.D. = 17.25) years old using a hierarchical regression and multiple regressions, the current study found that asthma significantly moderates the link between Neuroticism and life satisfaction and Openness and life satisfaction after controlling for other covariates. Specifically, Neuroticism was negatively related to life satisfaction whereas Agreeableness, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion were positively associated with life satisfaction in people with and without asthma. However, the negative association between Neuroticism and life satisfaction and the positive association between Openness and life satisfaction were stronger in people with asthma compared to people without asthma.

Can the Big Five personality traits predict ever chance and 7-year risk of clinically diagnosed chronic bronchitis in middle-aged and older adults?

OBJECTIVE

Chronic bronchitis refers to a chronic condition that is characterized by long-term inflammation of the bronchi. It is of great importance to understand the contributing risk factors for chronic bronchitis because it is associated with adverse outcomes such as healthcare burden and mortality. We aimed to understand if the personality traits could predict ever and the 7-year risk of clinically diagnosed chronic bronchitis in a large cohort of participants from the UK.

METHODS

We analyzed data from Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study, which consists of 15,387 middle-aged or older participants for the cross-sectional analysis and 8783 middle-aged or older adults for the longitudinal analysis using two binary logistic regressions.

RESULTS

We found that Neuroticism (OR = 1.36, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [1.23, 1.51]), Conscientiousness (OR = 0.87, p = 0.014, 95% C.I. [0.78, 0.97]), and Extraversion (OR = 1.15, p = 0.009, 95% C.I. [1.04, 1.29]) are related to a higher chance of ever clinically diagnosed chronic bronchitis. However, Agreeableness and Openness were not related to the chance of ever clinically diagnosed chronic bronchitis. Moreover, Conscientiousness (OR = 0.72, p = 0.012, 95% C.I. [0.55, 0.93]) was related to a lower risk of future clinical diagnosis of chronic bronchitis whereas Extraversion (OR = 1.35, p = 0.024, 95% C.I. [1.04, 1.76]) was associated with a higher risk of future chronic bronchitis. However, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Openness were not related to change of ever clinically diagnosed chronic bronchitis.

CONCLUSION

We showed that personality can identify people who are at greater risk of chronic bronchitis, which has translational utility for healthcare of middle-aged and older adults.

Understanding the Role of Cancer Diagnosis in the Associations between Personality and Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction refers to the degree a person enjoys their life. An integrated account of life satisfaction is discussed in the literature, which proposes that life satisfaction is made up of personality traits and areas of life satisfaction (e.g., satisfaction with health, job, and social life). In addition, disruptions in one domain (e.g., health) may disrupt the association between personality traits and life satisfaction. The current research was interested in if clinically diagnosed cancer could influence the association between the Big Five personality traits and life satisfaction. The current study analyzed data from 1214 people with a diagnosis of cancer (38.55% males) with an average age of 59.70 (S.D. = 15.53) years and 13,319 people without a cancer diagnosis (38.13% males) with an average age of 59.97 (S.D. = 11.10) years who participated in Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). For the first time, our study revealed that cancer markedly influences the relationship between Agreeableness and life satisfaction, after accounting for demographic variables. Neuroticism was negatively associated with life satisfaction in people with and without clinically diagnosed cancer, whereas Agreeableness and Extraversion were positively associated with life satisfaction in people with and without clinically diagnosed cancer. Openness and Conscientiousness were positively related to life satisfaction in people without cancer but were not significant predictors in people with cancer. Health professionals should develop strategies and interventions by fostering personality traits, including Agreeableness, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion, while reducing Neuroticism.

Self-rated health (SRH) partially mediates and associations between personality traits and life satisfaction in older adults

It is established that personality traits contribute to life satisfaction but why they are connected are far less understood. This research report tested if self-rated health (SRH) which is one's subjective ratings of their health and has a high predictivity of actual health mediates the associations between the Big Five model of personality and life satisfaction in a cohort (N = 5,845) of older adults from the UK. By using Pearson's correlation analysis and mediation analysis, the current research reported positive correlations between Agreeableness, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion, SRH, and life satisfaction. However, Neuroticism was negatively correlated with SRH and life satisfaction. The main findings were that SRH partially mediates the associations between all traits in the Big Five and life satisfaction in older adults. This study began novel exploration on if SRH could explain the connections between the Big Five and life satisfaction. Results revealed SRH could partially explain these associations in all traits. These results may offer additional support to recently developed integrated account of life satisfaction, which argues that there are no single determinants of life satisfaction. Rather, life satisfaction is made up by many factors including but not limited to personality and health.

Personality Traits Predict Self-Rated Health (SRH) in Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) Patients and Healthy Controls

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the present study is to examine the association between Big Five personality traits and self-rated health (SRH) among individuals with coronary heart disease (CHD), and to compare this relationship with that of healthy control participants, which is of importance as SRH can be a determinant of outcomes.

METHODS

The current study used data from 566 participants with CHD with a mean age of 63.00 (S.D. = 15.23) years old (61.13% males) and 8608 age- and sex-matched healthy controls with a mean age of 63.87 (S.D.= 9.60) years old (61.93% males) from the UKHLS. The current study used predictive normative modelling approaches, one-sample t tests, a hierarchical regression, and two multiple regressions.

RESULTS

The current study found that CHD patients have significantly lower Conscientiousness (t(565) = -3.84, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [-0.28, -0.09], Cohen's d = -0.16) and SRH (t(565) = -13.83, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [-0.68, -0.51], and Cohen's d = -0.58) scores compared to age and sex-matched healthy controls. Moreover, health status (controls vs. CHD patients) moderated the links between Neuroticism, Extraversion and SRH. Specifically, Neuroticism (b = -0.03, p < 0.01, 95% C.I. [-0.04, -0.01]), Openness (b = 0.04, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [0.02, 0.06]), and Conscientiousness (b = 0.08, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [0.06, 0.10]) were significant predictors of SRH in healthy controls, whereas Conscientiousness (b = 0.08, p < 0.05, 95% C.I. [0.01, 0.16]) and Extraversion (b = -0.09, p < 0.01, 95% C.I. [-0.15, -0.02]) were significant predictors of SRH in CHD patients.

CONCLUSION

Based on the close associations between personality traits and SRH, and the subsequent impact on patient outcomes, the results of this study should be taken into consideration by clinicians and health professionals when developing tailored treatment and intervention programs for their patients.

Associations between Personality Traits and Areas of Job Satisfaction: Pay, Work Itself, Security, and Hours Worked

Although studies have widely explored the connections between personality traits and job satisfaction, less is known about how personality relates to aspects of job satisfaction. The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between personality traits and various areas of job satisfaction, including pay, work, security, and hours worked. This study used ordinal regressions to analyze data from 6962 working individuals from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). The results showed that Neuroticism consistently has a negative association with all aspects of job satisfaction, whereas Agreeableness and Conscientiousness have positive associations with job satisfaction. Extraversion had a weak negative association with satisfaction with total pay. These findings imply that personality may play a crucial role in shaping areas of job satisfaction.

People with Diabetes Have Poorer Self-Rated Health (SRH) and Diabetes Moderates the Association between Age and SRH

Diabetes is a severe chronic condition that is related to decreased physical functioning. Recently, there has been growing interest in understanding how a brief report on health such as self-rated health (SRH) could be used to track changes in health status and service needs in people with diabetes. The current research aims to investigate how SRH is affected by diabetes and how diabetes could moderate the association between age and SRH. By analyzing data from 47,507 participants, with 2869 of them clinically diagnosed with diabetes, the current study found that people with diabetes had significantly poorer SRH than people without diabetes after controlling for demographic covariates (t(2868) = -45.73, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. (-0.92, -0.85), Cohen's d = -0.85). In addition, diabetes was a significant moderator of the relationship between age and SRH (b = 0.01, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. (0.01, 0.01)). Specifically, age was more strongly related to SRH in people without diabetes (b = -0.015, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. (-0.016, -0.015)) than in people with diabetes (b = -0.007, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. (-0.010, -0.004)). Health professionals should aim to improve SRH in people with diabetes given that SRH is related to various outcomes.

Mental Health in Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) Patients: Findings from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS)

OBJECTIVES

Mental health conditions in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) are closely related to clinical outcomes. Thus, this study's goal is to investigate how CHD affects general and specific aspects of mental health.

METHODS

We analyzed data from Wave 10 Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), which were collected between 2018 and 2019. After removing people who had missing data, there were 450 participants who indicated that they have CHD, and 6138 age- and sex-matched healthy participants indicated that they were not clinically diagnosed with CHD.

RESULTS

The main findings were that participants with CHD had more mental health problems, as shown by the GHQ-12 summary score (t (449) = 6.00, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [0.20, 0.40], Cohen's d = 0.30), social dysfunction and anhedonia, (t (449) = 5.79, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [0.20, 0.40], Cohen's d = 0.30), depression and anxiety (t (449) = 5.04, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [0.15, 0.33], Cohen's d = 0.24), and loss of confidence (t (449) = 4.46, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [0.11, 0.30], Cohen's d = 0.21).

CONCLUSION

This study implies that GHQ-12 is a valid assessment of mental health problems in CHD patients, and there is a need to consider how different aspects of mental health are affected by CHD rather than solely focusing on depression or anxiety problems alone in patients with CHD.

Understanding Cognitive Deficits in People with Arthritis

Cognitive deficits are commonly seen in people with arthritis. However, previous studies focused primarily on small-sized clinical samples. There is a need for cohort-based studies, which are characterized by high generalizability. In addition, these studies mainly focused on attention, memory, and executive function. However, cognition is not a single concept, but includes other cognitive domains, such as verbal fluency and arithmetic abilities. Thus, we aim to explore how arthritis can affect cognitive abilities, including episodic memory, semantic verbal fluency, fluid reasoning, and numerical ability by using a large cohort from the United Kingdom. The main findings were that people with arthritis have significantly lower immediate word recall (t(2257) = -6.40, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = -0.12, 95% C.I. = [-0.16, -0.08]), delayed word recall (t(2257) = -5.60, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = -0.11, 95% C.I. = [-0.14, -0.07]), semantic verbal fluency (t(2257) = -3.03, p < 0.01, Cohen's d = -0.06, 95% C.I. = [-0.10, -0.02]), fluid reasoning (t(2257) = -3.96, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = -0.07, 95% C.I. = [-0.11, -0.04]), and numerical ability (t(2257) = -3.85, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = -0.07, 95% C.I. = [-0.10, -0.03]) compared to what they would expect given their demographics. Interventions are needed to improve cognitive abilities in people with arthritis.

Personality traits and dimensions of mental health

Individuals are different in a relatively constant pattern of thoughts, feeling, and behaviors, which are called personality traits. Mental health is a condition of well-being in which people may reach their full potential and deal effectively with stress, work efficiently, and contribute to their communities. Indeed, the link between personality and mental health as indicated by the 12-item version of the general health questionnaires (GHQ-12) has been well-established according to evidence found by decades of research. However, the GHQ-12 comprises many questions asking about different dimensions of mental health. It is unclear how personality traits relate to these dimensions of mental health. In this paper, we try to address this question. We analyzed data from 12,007 participants from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and generalized linear models. We replicated the factor structure of GHQ-12 labeled as GHQ-12A (social dysfunction & anhedonia; 6 items), GHQ-12B (depression & anxiety; 4 items), and GHQ-12C (loss of confidence; 2 items). Moreover, Neuroticism was positively related to all dimensions of mental health issues, Extraversion was negatively related to GHQ-12A (social dysfunction & anhedonia) and GHQ-12B (depression & anxiety), Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were negatively related to GHQ-12A (social dysfunction & anhedonia) and GHQ-12C (loss of confidence), and Openness was negatively related to GHQ-12B (depression & anxiety). These results contribute to theories including the predisposition/vulnerability model, complication/scar model, pathoplasty/exacerbation model, and the spectrum model, which propose that personality traits are linked to mental health and explained possible reasons. Psychologists may use results from this study to identify individuals who may be at high risk of developing various non-psychiatric mental health issues and intervene to avoid negative outcomes.

Big Five personality traits in the workplace: Investigating personality differences between employees, supervisors, managers, and entrepreneurs

Personality relates to employment status. Previous studies have mainly compared the difference between entrepreneurs and managers. It remains unknown how personalities differ in entrepreneurs, managers, supervisors, and employees. In this research, we answer the questions by analyzing data from Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) that consisted of 2,415 entrepreneurs, 3,822 managers, 2,446 supervisors, and 10,897 employees. By using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and ANOVA, we found that employment status has a significant multivariate effect on personality traits (F(5, 17,159) = 172.51, p < 0.001) after taking account into demographics. Moreover, there were also significant univariate effects for Neuroticism (F(3,19502) = 16.61, P < 0.001), Openness (F(3,19502) = 3.53, P < 0.05), Agreeableness (F(3,19502) = 66.57, P < 0.001), Conscientiousness (F(3,19502) = 16.39, P < 0.001), and Extraversion (F(3,19502) = 31.61, P < 0.001) after controlling for demographics. Multiple comparisons revealed that entrepreneurs are characterized by low Neuroticism, high Openness, high Conscientiousness, and high Extraversion while managers had low Neuroticism, low Agreeableness, high Openness, high Conscientiousness, and high Extraversion. Finally, supervisors are associated with high Conscientiousness. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Final Study Report of Andexanet Alfa for Major Bleeding With Factor Xa Inhibitors

BACKGROUND

Andexanet alfa is a modified recombinant inactive factor Xa (FXa) designed to reverse FXa inhibitors. ANNEXA-4 (Andexanet Alfa, a Novel Antidote to the Anticoagulation Effects of Factor Xa Inhibitors) was a multicenter, prospective, phase-3b/4, single-group cohort study that evaluated andexanet alfa in patients with acute major bleeding. The results of the final analyses are presented.

METHODS

Patients with acute major bleeding within 18 hours of FXa inhibitor administration were enrolled. Co-primary end points were anti-FXa activity change from baseline during andexanet alfa treatment and excellent or good hemostatic efficacy, defined by a scale used in previous reversal studies, at 12 hours. The efficacy population included patients with baseline anti-FXa activity levels above predefined thresholds (≥75 ng/mL for apixaban and rivaroxaban, ≥40 ng/mL for edoxaban, and ≥0.25 IU/mL for enoxaparin; reported in the same units used for calibrators) who were adjudicated as meeting major bleeding criteria (modified International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis definition). The safety population included all patients. Major bleeding criteria, hemostatic efficacy, thrombotic events (stratified by occurring before or after restart of either prophylactic [ie, a lower dose, for prevention rather than treatment] or full-dose oral anticoagulation), and deaths were assessed by an independent adjudication committee. Median endogenous thrombin potential at baseline and across the follow-up period was a secondary outcome.

RESULTS

There were 479 patients enrolled (mean age, 78 years; 54% male, 86% White; 81% anticoagulated for atrial fibrillation at a median time of 11.4 hours since last dose, with 245 (51%) on apixaban, 176 (37%) on rivaroxaban, 36 (8%) on edoxaban, and 22 (5%) on enoxaparin. Bleeding was predominantly intracranial (n=331 [69%]) or gastrointestinal (n=109 [23%]). In evaluable apixaban patients (n=172), median anti-FXa activity decreased from 146.9 ng/mL to 10.0 ng/mL (reduction, 93% [95% CI, 94-93]); in rivaroxaban patients (n=132), it decreased from 214.6 ng/mL to 10.8 ng/mL (94% [95% CI, 95-93]); in edoxaban patients (n=28), it decreased from 121.1 ng/mL to 24.4 ng/mL (71% [95% CI, 82-65); and in enoxaparin patients (n=17), it decreased from 0.48 IU/mL to 0.11 IU/mL (75% [95% CI, 79-67]). Excellent or good hemostasis occurred in 274 of 342 evaluable patients (80% [95% CI, 75-84]). In the safety population, thrombotic events occurred in 50 patients (10%); in 16 patients, this occurred during treatment with prophylactic anticoagulation that began after the bleeding event. No thrombotic episodes occurred after oral anticoagulation restart. Specific to certain populations, reduction of anti-FXa activity from baseline to nadir significantly predicted hemostatic efficacy in patients with intracranial hemorrhage (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.54-0.70]) and correlated with lower mortality in patients <75 years of age (adjusted P=0.022; unadjusted P=0.003). Median endogenous thrombin potential was within the normal range by the end of andexanet alfa bolus through 24 hours for all FXa inhibitors.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with major bleeding associated with the use of FXa inhibitors, treatment with andexanet alfa reduced anti-FXa activity and was associated with good or excellent hemostatic efficacy in 80% of patients.

REGISTRATION

URL: https://www.

CLINICALTRIALS

gov; Unique identifier: NCT02329327.

Inhibitory Control Development: A Network Neuroscience Perspective

As one of the core executive functions, inhibition plays an important role in human life through development. Inhibitory control is defined as the ability to suppress actions when they are unlikely to accomplish valuable results. Contemporary neuroscience has investigated the underlying neural mechanisms of inhibitory control. The controversy started to arise, which resulted in two schools of thought: a modulatory and a network account of inhibitory control. In this systematic review, we survey developmental mechanisms in inhibitory control as well as neurodevelopmental diseases related to inhibitory dysfunctions. This evidence stands against the modulatory perspective of inhibitory control: the development of inhibitory control does not depend on a dedicated region such as the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) but relies on a more broadly distributed network.

The relationship between areas of life satisfaction, personality, and overall life satisfaction: An integrated account

A substantial amount of research has been conducted using a variety of methodological approaches to determine what influences life satisfaction. The bottom-up theory considers overall life satisfaction as a function of various areas of life satisfaction, whereas the top-down theory considers the areas of life satisfaction as a function of dispositional factors such as personality. We examined these models in a large-scale United Kingdom survey. Consistent with other studies, we found that both the bottom-up and top-down models of life satisfaction are supported in the United Kingdom by demonstrating that demographics, areas of life satsifaction, and personality traits can explain a significant portion of variances in overall areas of life satisfaction. We propose that future studies in life satisfaction research should consider the integrated account of life satisfaction rather than a unitary bottom-up or top-down perspective.

Inhibitory Control in Aging: The Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis

As one of the core executive functions, inhibitory control plays an important role in human life. Inhibitory control refers to the ability to suppress task irrelevant information both internally and externally. Modern cognitive neuroscience has extensively investigated the neural basis of inhibitory control, less is known about the inhibitory control mechanisms in aging. Growing interests in cognitive declines of aging have given raise to the compensation-related utilization of neural circuits hypothesis (CRUNCH). In this review, we survey both behavioral, functional, and structural changes relevant to inhibitory control in aging. In line with CRUNCH, we found that older adults engage additional brain regions than younger adults when performing the same cognitive task, to compensate for declining brain structures and functions. Moreover, we propose CRUNCH could well take functional inhibitory deficits in older adults into account. Finally, we provide three sensible future research directions.

The longitudinal association between Perceived Stress, PTSD Symptoms, and Post-Traumatic Growth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: the role of coping strategies and psychological inflexibility

The present study investigates the mediating roles of psychological inflexibility and differential coping strategies on perceived stress and post-traumatic symptoms and growth in the context of COVID-19. Study one recruited 662 participants (54.8% women; Mage = 40.64 years, SD = 13.04) who completed a cross-sectional questionnaire. It was proposed that orientation to the problem, avoidance strategies, psychological inflexibility, and positive attitude were mediators for the positive association between perceived stress and PTSD symptoms. The fit indices for the path model were excellent: CFI = 0.977, TLI = 0.950, RMSEA = 0.057 [90%CI = 0.043-0.081], and SRMS = 0.042. Gender and stressful events encountered had indirect effects on the endogenous variables. In study two, 128 participants (57.8% women; Mage = 42.30, SD = 12.08) were assessed for post-traumatic growth one year later. Psychological inflexibility and orientation acted as mediators between perceived stress and PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, a novel path model was constructed in which psychological inflexibility and orientation to the problem as mediators for perceived stress and PTSD symptoms. The indices for the path model were excellent: CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.055 [90%CI = 0.001-0.144], and SRMS = 0.49. Furthermore, PTSD symptoms, psychological inflexibility, and orientation to the problem predicted post-traumatic growth. Specifically, both orientation to the problem (β = .06 [90%CI: .01;.13]) and psychological inflexibility (β = .14 [90%CI: .08;.26]) had an indirect effect on post-traumatic growth. Overall, these results significantly contribute to the literature as orientation to the problem positively predicted PTSD symptoms and post-traumatic growth one year later while psychological inflexibility predicted PTSD symptoms and less post-traumatic growth one year later. These results underline the importance of assessing both symptomology and psychological growth to determine adaptive coping strategies in specific contexts.

COVID-19 vaccine uptake among family caregivers of people with dementia: The role of attitudes toward vaccination, perceived social support and personality traits

People with dementia have an increased risk of contracting severe forms of COVID-19. Although in worldwide vaccination programs priority has been given to older people, having taken the vaccine does not totally eliminate the risk of contracting COVID-19 when one is in close contact with unvaccinated people. Thus, family caregivers’ choices to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 could have potentially lethal consequences for their relatives. To our knowledge, this study represents the first attempt within the international literature to analyze COVID-19 vaccine uptake among family caregivers of people with dementia and to identify some of the psychological factors, related to COVID-19 and vaccination behavior, that could facilitate or hinder vaccine uptake. Contact information for family caregivers was obtained from five different centers and associations throughout the Italian territory. Data were collected from 179 respondents during July-September 2021 using a cross-sectional web-based survey design. More than 75% of the respondents indicated that had been vaccinated against COVID-19 and reported receiving vaccine information mainly from print or electronic newspapers (86%), followed by TV (81%) and families (64.2%). In multivariable logistic regression analyses, worries about unforeseen future effects was significantly related to COVID-19 vaccine uptake, indicating that family caregivers concerned about potential side effects of vaccines were less likely to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 (OR = 0.60, CI = 0.40-0.89). Openness to experience was also related to COVID-19 vaccine uptake, with family caregivers higher on this trait being less likely to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 (OR = 0.83, CI = 0.71-0.98). Implications for targeting of vaccine-related messages are discussed.

The intention to get COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine uptake among cancer patients: An extension of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB)

The psychosocial impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on human life is well-known. Although vaccine protection represents an effective way to control the spread of the virus, vaccination hesitancy may decrease individuals’ willingness to get vaccinated, including among cancer patients. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to examine the predictors of cancer patients’ intentions to receive COVID-19 vaccinations and vaccine uptake, using and integrating the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the health belief model (HBM). A sample of 276 Italian cancer patients (54% female and 46% male) ranging from 19 to 85 years (M = 49.64, SD = 11.53) was recruited by administering an online questionnaire. The current study results showed that cancer patients with higher trust in health authorities tended to have vaccine-positive subjective norms, perceived that vaccination was under their control, and viewed COVID-19 vaccines positively. On the other hand, the perceived risk of COVID-19 was related to subjective norms but not to perceived behavioural control or attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination. The current study reveals that TPB variables can function effectively as mediators between perceived risk, trust, and intention to vaccinate but at different levels. Together, these findings suggest that effective interventions (both public health messaging and personal medical communications) should focus on enhancing trust in health authorities, while at the same time endeavouring to highlight subjective norms that are vaccine-positive.

Neuropsychiatric or Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD): Focus on Prevalence and Natural History in Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia

Neuropsychiatric or behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) represent a heterogeneous group of non-cognitive symptoms that are virtually present in all patients during the course of their disease. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence and natural history of BPSD in a large cohort of patients with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in three stages: (i) pre-T0 (before the onset of the disease); (ii) T0 or manifested disease (from the onset to 5 years); (iii) T1 or advanced (from 5 years onwards). Six hundred seventy-four clinical records of patients with bvFTD and 1925 with AD, from 2006 to 2018, were studied. Symptoms have been extracted from Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and from a checklist of BPSD for all periods observed. In our population, BPSD affect up to 90% of all dementia subjects over the course of their illness. BPSD profiles of the two dementia groups were similar but not identical. The most represented symptoms were apathy, irritability/affective lability, and agitation/aggression. Considering the order of appearance of neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD and bvFTD, mood disorders (depression, anxiety) come first than the other BPSD, with the same prevalence. This means that they could be an important “red flag” in detection of dementia. With the increase of disease severity, aberrant motor behavior and wandering were significantly more present in both groups. Differences between BPSD in AD and bvFTD resulted only in prevalence: Systematically, in bvFTD, all the symptoms were more represented than in AD, except for hallucinations, depression, anxiety, and irritability. Given their high frequency and impact on management and overall health care resources, BPSD should not be underestimated and considered as an additional important diagnostic and therapeutic target both in patients with AD and bvFTD.

Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease: Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) represents the most frequent type of dementia in elderly people. There are two major forms of the disease: sporadic (SAD)—whose causes are not completely understood—and familial (FAD)—with clear autosomal dominant inheritance. The two main hallmarks of AD are extracellular deposits of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide and intracellular deposits of the hyperphosphorylated form of the tau protein (P-tau). An ever-growing body of research supports the infectious hypothesis of sporadic forms of AD. Indeed, it has been documented that some pathogens, such as herpesviruses and certain bacterial species, are commonly present in AD patients, prompting recent clinical research to focus on the characterization of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in this pathology. The literature also demonstrates that Aβ can be considered itself as an AMP; thus, representing a type of innate immune defense peptide that protects the host against a variety of pathogens. Beyond Aβ, other proteins with antimicrobial activity, such as lactoferrin, defensins, cystatins, thymosin β4, LL37, histatin 1, and statherin have been shown to be involved in AD. Here, we summarized and discussed these findings and explored the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of AMPs in AD.

Instruction-based learning: A review

Humans are able to learn to implement novel rules from instructions rapidly, which is termed "instruction-based learning" (IBL). This remarkable ability is very important in our daily life in both learning individually or working as a team, and almost every psychology experiment starts with instructing participants. Many recent progresses have been made in IBL research both psychologically and neuroscientifically. In this review, we discuss the role of language in IBL, the importance of the first trial performance in IBL, why IBL should be considered as a goal-directed behavior, intelligence and IBL, cognitive flexibility and IBL, how behaviorally relevant information is processed in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), how the lateral frontal cortex (LFC) networks work as a functional hierarchy during IBL, and the cortical and subcortical contributions to IBL. Finally, we develop a neural working model for IBL and provide some sensible directions for future research.