Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning-Based Advanced Depression Detection System

Depression can be called a health issue that majorly affects the stability of the mind. Depression can also be called a mood disorder or mental illness that affects our mental state. Depression can affect a person mentally and physically. According to WHO, 264 million people in the world are affected because of depression. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide. About 8 million people commit suicide every year because of depression. It is not possible for one to live with depression, but if they get proper treatment at a right time, depression can be controlled and cured to help the person to live a quality life. To identify the level of depression of a person, we have to first identify the type of depression the patient is going through. The type of depression plays a very important role in determining the kind of treatment or help a depressed person needs by providing them various treatments. The authors propose a solution for detection of depression type and depression levels using advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms.

The ability to recognize odors in patients suffering from the schizophrenia spectrum disorders and depressive disorders

The works purpose was to study connection between smell malfunction that reduces level of smell recognition (anosmia) and current emotional condition of patients who suffer from schizophrenia spectrum disorders and patients with depressive disorders. Methods of research. Patients who suffer from schizophrenia spectrum disorders (F20, F21, F23, F25), depressive disorders (F32, F33), and healthy individuals were examined. Methods of evaluation of current emotional condition were Beck Depression Inventory and SnaithHamilton Pleasure Scale. To determine malfunction of smell function Professional olfactometric set of odorous substances RAMORA was used. Results. In patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, the level of smell recognition is significantly lower than in the group of patients suffering from depressive disorders and the group of healthy people. When comparing patients with depressive disorders with a group of healthy individuals, there is a slight decrease in the identification of odors, close to normal values. In patients with depressive disorders and patients with schizophrenia, an increase in the level of anhedonia and depression is detected in comparison with healthy subjects. The overall level of smell recognition is not related to the indicators of the current emotional state (depression and anhedonia) in both clinical groups. However, the relationships between the identification of individual odorants and the actual emotional state in the group of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were revealed. Conclusions. A decrease in the level of odor identification (anosmia) is observed in patients with schizophrenia spectrum. These disorders are not typical for patients with depressive disorders and people who do not suffer from mental illness. The obtained results require additional research. It can be assumed that the indicators of olfactory processes can be an additional diagnostic method of the emotional and personal sphere of patients with the schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Impact of Stress on Epilepsy: Focus on Neuroinflammation—A Mini Review

Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological disorders worldwide, is characterized by recurrent seizures and subsequent brain damage. Despite strong evidence supporting a deleterious impact on seizure occurrence and outcome severity, stress is an overlooked component in people with epilepsy. With regard to stressor duration and timing, acute stress can be protective in epileptogenesis, while chronic stress often promotes seizure occurrence in epilepsy patients. Preclinical research suggests that chronic stress promotes neuroinflammation and leads to a depressive state. Depression is the most common psychiatric comorbidity in people with epilepsy, resulting in a poor quality of life. Here, we summarize studies investigating acute and chronic stress as a seizure trigger and an important factor that worsens epilepsy outcomes and psychiatric comorbidities. Mechanistic insight into the impact of stress on epilepsy may create a window of opportunity for future interventions targeting neuroinflammation-related disorders.

IMPACT of distance learning on student mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic

Education is one of the industries significantly affected by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic. Whole countries and cities were isolated, public and private institutions ceased their activities, and the country's higher educational institutions were forced to stop full-time education and switch to distance learning. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the indicators of the mental state (depression, anxiety) of students during full-time and distance learning. The first study was carried out by us during the full-time study period (February 10-17, 2020, sample size n = 154), and the second study was conducted during the distance learning period (October 19-26, 2020, sample size n = 154). The study evaluated such indicators as satisfaction with academic performance, the severity of depressive symptoms and anxiety. The results obtained indicate that the prevalence of depressive symptoms and anxiety among students was significantly higher during the distance learning period compared to similar indicators obtained during the full-time study period. The results of this study indicate that a sudden shift from one learning regime to another was a causative factor in stressful stress, which led to a high prevalence of depressive symptoms and anxiety among undergraduate students.

Molecular Characterization of Depression Trait and State

ABSTRACTMajor Depressive disorder (MDD) is a chronic and recurrent brain disorder characterized by episode and remission phases, and poor therapeutic responses. The molecular correlates of MDD have been investigated in case-control settings, but the biological changes associated with trait (regardless of episode/remission) or state (illness phases) remains largely unknown, hence preventing therapeutic opportunities. To address this gap, we generated transcriptome profiles in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex of MDD subjects who died during a single or recurrent episode or when in remission. We show that biological changes associated with MDD trait (inflammation, immune activation, reduced bioenergetics) are distinct from those associated with MDD phases or state (neuronal structure and function, neurotransmission). On the cell-type level, gene variability in subsets of GABAergic interneurons positive for corticotropin-releasing hormone, somatostatin or vasoactive-intestinal peptide was associated with MDD phases. Applying a probabilistic Bayesian network approach, we next show that gene modules enriched for immune system activation, cytokine response and oxidative stress, may exert causal roles across MDD phases. Finally, using a database of drug-induced transcriptome perturbations, we show that MDD-induced changes in putative causal pathways are antagonized by families of drugs associated with clinical response, including dopaminergic and monoaminergic ligands, and uncover potential novel therapeutic targets. Collectively, these integrative transcriptome analyses provide novel insight into cellular and molecular pathologies associated with trait and state MDD, and a method of drug discovery focused on disease-causing pathways.One Sentence SummaryIntegrating transcriptomic with various in-silico analyses identified cellular, molecular and putative biological causal pathways in trait and state depression

Bariátriai műtétekre való pszichológiai alkalmasság felmérése

Nowadays, the number of bariatric surgery for treating morbid obesity is significant. There is strong evidence about the influence of mental state (depression, anxiety, eating disorder, etc.) on patient’s cooperation with the medical team and the outcome, and on the short or long-term effectiveness of surgery. However, no protocol or recommendation exist for screening patients before bariatric procedures in Hungary. Thus, even if the surgeon or the hospital requires psychological expertise, neither doctors are familiar with the expectable results of such an expertise, nor psychologists know exactly what the most important areas are to talk through with patients. This article shortly reviews the mostly used bariatric surgery procedures and presents a protocol that was developed by the Ochsner Clinic, New Orleans in detail. Based on the protocol, the core parts of the psychological interview are the following: reasons for seeking surgery (I.), weight and diet history (II.), current eating behaviors (III.), understanding of the surgery and its associated lifestyle changes (IV.), social supports (V.), and history and psychiatric symptoms (current and past) (VI.). The original protocol was completed with newer, more recent studies, statements, and with examples by the authors. Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(12): 448–455.

Work Experience and Emotional State in Caregivers of Elderly Relatives

This study aims to investigate the influence of work experience variables on the emotional state of worker-caregivers based on stress process model. The emotional state (depression, negative and positive affect and worry-strain), caregiver and care recipient features, caregiving stressors and appraisal, and role strains/work-related variables were assessed in 83 worker-caregivers of elderly dependent relatives. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were performed for each of the four emotional outcome variables. Caregiving overload and positive job experience were the best predictors of depression and positive affect. The predictors of negative affect were reaction to memory and behavior problems, overload and role captivity. The predictors of worry and strain were daily hours of caregiving worries, reaction to memory and behavior problems, overload, role captivity and job-caregiving conflicts. The explained variances for the four models were 58.8%, 40.2%, 62.9% and 78.8%, respectively; the role strain contributions were 8.2%, 13.2%, 7.2% and 6%. The results indicate that the effect of perceived job experiences on caregivers’ emotional status is more relevant than objective job conflicts. In addition, caregivers’ emotional state is primarily related to the subjective indicators of caregiving stressors, with a lower contribution of work-related variables.

Nonequivalent release sites govern synaptic depression

Synaptic depression is prominent among synapses, but the underlying mechanisms remain uncertain. Here, we use paired patch clamp recording to study neuromuscular transmission between the caudal primary motor neuron and target skeletal muscle in zebrafish. This synapse has an unusually low number of release sites, all with high probabilities of release in response to low-frequency stimulation. During high-frequency stimulation, the synapse undergoes short-term depression and reaches steady-state levels of transmission that sustain the swimming behavior. To determine the release parameters underlying this steady state, we applied variance analysis. Our analysis revealed two functionally distinct subclasses of release sites differing by over 60-fold in rates of vesicle reloading. A slow reloading class requires seconds to recover and contributes to depression onset but not the steady-state transmission. By contrast, a fast reloading class recovers within tens of milliseconds and is solely responsible for steady-state transmission. Thus, in contrast to most current models that assign levels of steady-state depression to vesicle availability, our findings instead assign this function to nonuniform release site kinetics. The duality of active-site properties accounts for the highly nonlinear dependence of steady-state depression levels on frequency.