Search Results (24)

Depressive spectrum disorders are considered among the most common in the general population. Major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder (or dysthymia) are the most recognized, but other depressive disorders exist with varying or no specificity. The main difference between major depressive disorder and dysthymia lies in the duration and intensity of symptoms. Improving our understanding of its etiology and pathogenesis must be a priority for health and safety. Given the complexity of the evidence in the literature, it was deemed useful to provide a comprehensive summary of the neuroanatomical dysfunctions currently identified, with particular attention to the anterior and medial cingulate cortex, dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, insula, amygdala, and hippocampus. Significant neural network alterations include hyperconnectivity of the default mode network (DMN), impairment of the executive control network (ECN), and dysfunction of the salience network (Salience Network). Neurophysiological markers reveal frontal alpha asymmetries and front-striatal metabolic alterations. Studying neural correlates is essential to deepen our understanding of the depressive spectrum and the development of personalized therapeutic interventions, including noninvasive neurostimulation techniques and target-specific pharmacological therapies, opening new avenues for translational research in neuropsychiatric settings. Full article

In American Hybrid (2009), Cole Swenson describes hybrid poetics as a reconciliation between the two dominant poetic traditions of the 20th century, which might be called lyric and experimental (xx–xxi). More recently, however, “hybrid” refers to any work blurring boundaries between poetry and other genres. This is most notable in the ever-increasing interest in the lyric essay but also in the constant revision of contemporary elegy as anti-elegy. In Poetry of Mourning, Jahan Ramazani defines anti-elegy in terms of its refusal of consolation and instead its seeking of more melancholic mourning. Subsequently, as noted by Bardazzi, Binetti, and Culler, “Elegy remains a poetic genre and yet, it has also developed a ‘mode of discourse’ that moves beyond its literary borders and finds its expressions in entangled intra-actions between the most diverse range of elegiac objects”. In the early 21st century, hybrid elegy represents the collision of two major changes in American culture: the changing nature of American death rituals and the increasingly intermedial literary landscape. Drawing on examples from Nox by Anne Carson and Ghost Of by Diane Khoi Nguyen, an elegiac version of the hyper-personalized American death ritual is inscribed in assemblages of images and text on the page. When read as a personalized American death ritual, the hybrid elegy materializes its own tradition and poetics, which are expressed in the poetic constraints of assemblage and recognizable in their reliance on elegiac repetition. Full article

Background/Objectives: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder affecting nearly 200 million people worldwide. While it has broad health effects, relatively little is known about how these vary across MDD ‘subtypes’, which reflect distinct symptom profiles. This systematic review examined the methods used to define several MDD subtypes and their associations with physical, cognitive, social, and functional health outcomes. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines to identify peer-reviewed studies published in English between 2014 and 2025. The final search was conducted on 21 January 2025. Studies were included if they examined adults with MDD subtypes and reported health-related outcomes. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. A narrative synthesis was conducted due to heterogeneity in the subtype definitions and outcome measures. Results: Sixteen studies were included. Atypical and melancholic depression were most consistently associated with metabolic dysfunction, higher BMI, and a greater waist circumference. Melancholic depression was frequently associated with cognitive deficits, though results varied. Cognitive impairments were also observed in DSM-defined atypical depression, particularly in attention, vigilance, and social cognition. Anxious and melancholic depression may be associated with more severe social and functional impairment compared to other subtypes. However, the findings were limited by inconsistent definitions and outcome measures. Conclusions: Some subtypes, particularly atypical, melancholic, and anxious depression, are differentially associated with specific patterns of impairment, though inconsistencies limit firm conclusions. Registration: This review was retrospectively registered with the Open Science Framework (OSF): No specific funding was received. Full article

According to recent appraisals, despite its pathological aspects, melancholy can be a psychological impetus for spiritual creativity and utopianism. Drawing on those appraisals, this article examines some religious implications of mourning and melancholy in novels of Yoon Dae-nyeong and Kim Hoon in the context of Korean society in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Firstly, Yoon Dae-nyeong’s early works depict an intense sense of loss arising from the compressed pace of Korean modernity, and, throughout religious imagery, they express an aspiration for spiritual renewal. However, in Yoon’s works, spiritual aspiration soon gives way to a sense of resignation. Next, this article explores melancholy in Kim Hoon’s novels. Although Kim’s first two novels share with Yoon’s works an intense sense of loss, the melancholic traits in their characters are sublimated thanks to the characters’ openness to others and patient utopianism. They thus avoid the spiritual trap induced by melancholy’s self-destructive aspect. Kim’s utopianism is expressed again in his more recent works, such as Black Mountain and Harbin, which illustrate the Korean people’s present aspiration toward a spiritual utopia. Full article

Background/Objectives: Degenerative cerebellar ataxias (DCA) present a group of complex neurological disorders primarily affecting the cerebellum and its pathways. Classic manifestations include motor symptoms of cerebellar ataxia. However, emerging evidence suggests that the cerebellum also plays a crucial role in various cognitive and emotional processes. The objective was to assess the psychiatric profile of a heterogeneous group of patients with degenerative cerebellar ataxia. Methods: Our sample comprised 107 participants diagnosed with cerebellar degenerative ataxia. All patients were clinically evaluated using SARA, INAS, and different neuropsychiatric scales (ACE-R, HAMA, HAMD, AS, and GAF). Results: The majority of patients had autosomal dominant ataxia (38.3%) followed by sporadic ataxia (32.7%) with an average age at the moment of diagnosis of 35.3 ± 16.23 years, while the mean duration of disease at the study beginning was 12.1 ± 9.9 years. Psychiatric disorders were present in 40 patients (37.4%), with dysthymia (14.2%), major depressive disorder (9.4%), and MDD with melancholic features (7.6%). The presence of MDD with melancholic features was statistically significantly correlated with a lower ACE-R total score (r = −0.223; p = 0.022), while dysthymia was statistically significantly associated with a shorter duration of the disease (r = −0.226; p = 0.020) and older age (r = 0.197; p = 0.043). Statistically significant differences were observed between MSA-C patients and those with sporadic ataxia (HDRS p < 0.001, HARS p < 0.001, Apathy Scale p = 0.003, and GAF p = 0.004). Conclusions: Based on our findings, we can conclude that the degree of motor deficit has a significant impact on the development of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, and apathy. However, it is not the only factor, and the impact also depends on the type of DCA. Full article

The psychoanalytic explanation of religious sentiment is genetic, meaning that it probes the psychological processes behind the formation of such sentiment. Freud ascribed the genesis of religious sentiment to human infantile helplessness and ambivalence towards the father. This explanation encounters a dilemma when confronted with the sense of completeness and infinity in religious sentiment and fails to address components related to death, such as the transcendent and surmounting nature of the believer’s fear of death. Experience has shown that numerous religious sentiments occur through a process of emotional transformation, from a melancholic state of extreme mental anguish to a state of blissful, complete joy. This process, from a psychogenetic perspective, is essentially a defense of the self-preservation impulse. In this transformation, the ego removes chronic suffering by identifying itself with the superego. Therefore, the ego undergoes a symbolic death, through which it regains the energy of life. Full article

Research indicates that music can influence human cognitive functions. Diverse musical settings can affect alertness, orientation, and executive control of attention in various populations. Exploring the relationship between designers with highly creative thinking and music environments can provide new research perspectives for the cognitive field. A total of 94 students, consisting of 61 design majors and 33 non-design majors, completed the Attention Network Test (ANT) on a computer under three test environments: cheerful music, melancholic music, and silence. The study results indicated that the alerting network effect between the design professional group and the control group was marginally significant. However, there were no significant differences between the groups in the orienting subsystem and the executive control subsystem. Within the design professional group, the attentional network data indicated that participants showed improved performance in alerting and orienting attention in a music-free environment compared to cheerful and melancholic music environments (pa = 0.028, po = 0.008). Nevertheless, executive control attention did not show significant differences across the music environments. In conclusion, existing research confirms that designers are more susceptible to distraction from external stimuli; thus, music-free environments assist them in concentrating. Full article

Based on the seminal publications of Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke who established that aphasic syndromes (disorders of the verbal–linguistic aspects of communication) were predominantly the result of focal left-hemisphere lesions, “language” is traditionally viewed as a lateralized function of the left hemisphere. This, in turn, has diminished and delayed the acceptance that the right hemisphere also has a vital role in language, specifically in modulating affective prosody, which is essential for communication competency and psychosocial well-being. Focal lesions of the right hemisphere may result in disorders of affective prosody (aprosodic syndromes) that are functionally and anatomically analogous to the aphasic syndromes that occur following focal left-hemisphere lesions. This paper will review the deductive research published over the last four decades that has elucidated the neurology of affective prosody which, in turn, has led to a more complete and nuanced understanding of the neurology of language, depression, emotions and memory. In addition, the paper will also present the serendipitous clinical observations (inductive research) and fortuitous inter-disciplinary collaborations that were crucial in guiding and developing the deductive research processes that culminated in the concept that primary emotions and related display behaviors are a lateralized function of the right hemisphere and social emotions, and related display behaviors are a lateralized function of the left hemisphere. Full article

The present study examined music-induced dopamine release, as measured by a proxy measure of spontaneous eye blinks. Specifically, we explored the effects of uplifting and sombre tones in different sections of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to investigate the affective content of musical pieces within one composition. Seventeen participants listened to four concertos (Major modes: “Spring” and “Autumn”, Minor modes: “Summer” and “Winter”) and a silence condition while completing a three-stimulus odd-ball attention task. Electrooculograms were recorded from electrodes placed above and under the left eye. Self-reported arousal and music preference measures were also gathered during the testing session. In addition, the P3a Event-Related Potential (ERP) component was analysed as another potential index of dopamine function. Results revealed significant differences in the blink rates during music listening and silence, with the largest effect observed for the sad, melancholic “Winter” concerto. However, no significant correlation was found between blink rate and music preference or arousal. Furthermore, no reliable association was found between blink rate and the P3a ERP component, suggesting that these measures tap into different aspects of dopamine function. These findings contribute to understanding the link between dopamine and blink rate, particularly in response to classical music. Crucially, the study’s discovery that the “Winter” concerto, with its sorrowful tone, significantly increased the blink rate highlights the significance of sad music and perhaps the programmatic qualities of this concerto to induce a strong emotional response. Full article

The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) assesses the functionality of the HPA axis and can be regarded as the first potential biomarker in psychiatry. In 1981, a group of researchers at the University of Michigan published a groundbreaking paper regarding its use for diagnosing melancholic depression, reporting a diagnostic sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 95%. While this study generated much enthusiasm and high expectations in the field of biological psychiatry, subsequent studies produced equivocal results, leading to the test being rejected by the American Psychiatric Association. The scientific reasons leading to the rise and fall of the DST are assessed in this review, suggestions are provided as to how the original test can be improved, and its potential applications in clinical psychiatry are discussed. An improved, standardized, and validated version of the DST would be a biologically meaningful and useful biomarker in psychiatry, providing a tool for clinicians caring for depressed patients in the areas of diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, and predicting the risk of suicide. Additionally, such a test could be a crucial part in the generation of biologically homogenous patient cohorts, necessary for the successful development of new psychotropic medications. Full article

If gentrification is a violent form of “un-homing” (Elliot-Cooper et al., p. 494), then it is no surprise to witness an intensification of photographic practice in gentrifying areas; photography is, after all, fundamentally a place-making practice. Taking “home” to include the wider neighborhood and urban environment (Blunt and Sheringham 2019), this paper argues that the concept of anticipatory nostalgia is a useful way of understanding the recent wave of black and white photography in gentrifying areas. As well as signifying a sense of loss, anticipatory nostalgia, defined as missing the present before it has gone (Batcho and Shikh 2016), can also be seen as an aesthetic strategy of documenting places before they are lost to gentrification. Using the works of Colby Deal (Beautiful, Still), Jules Renault (Suspended in Time), and Lorenzo Grifantini (W10) as case studies, this paper argues that this type of photography, which explicitly utilizes an archival aesthetic, invites spectators to interrogate the intimate ties between home, memory, and identity. While melancholic, these images serve as a call to action and a form of speculation about the future—rejecting the shiny, computer-generated aesthetics of gentrification for a humanized, often gritty, and authentic version of home. Full article

Acute epiglottitis (AE) is a potential emergency of the respiratory tract caused mainly by bacterial infection. However, nonbacterial infection causes, such as corrosive injuries, may result in death due to gastrointestinal perforation if a timely diagnosis is not available. We report the case of an elderly patient with an acute melancholic episode who encountered corrosive epiglottitis (CE) caused by accidental ingestion of hydrochloric acid and compare the features of CE and AE, including the immediate onset of symptoms, normal findings on blood tests, and endoscopy revealing pale swollen epiglottitis. This case can prove to be an important reference for clinicians for differential diagnosis, especially when treating epiglottitis in patients with psychiatric disorders and unclear expression. Full article

The aim of the study was to explore in depression the relationship between recent suicidal ideation and the different anhedonias taking into account the severity of depression. Recent studies have suggested that recent change of anhedonia and not state or trait anhedonia is associated with recent suicidal ideations even when the level of depression is controlled. Three samples were used (74 severe major depressives, 43 outpatients with somatic disorders presenting mild or moderate depression and 36 mild or moderate depressives hospitalized in the intensive coronary unit). Recent change of anhedonia was rated by the anhedonia subscale of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), state anhedonia by the Snaith–Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), trait anhedonia by the TEPS (Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale), musical anhedonia by the BMRQ (Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire), social recent change of anhedonia by the SLIPS (Specific Loss of Interest and Pleasure Scale), the severity of depression by the BDI-II and the distinction between melancholic and non-melancholic was found using a subscale of the BDI-II. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed in each sample. In severe major depressives and, notably, in melancholia, recent suicidal ideation was associated with trait anhedonia; however, in mild or moderate depression, recent suicidal ideation was associated with recent change of anhedonia. Musical anhedonia and social recent change of anhedonia were not associated with recent suicidal ideation. Trait anhedonia could be, in severe depression, a strong predictor of recent suicidal ideation. Full article

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) with melancholia and psychotic features and suicidal behaviors are accompanied by activated immune-inflammatory and oxidative pathways, which may stimulate indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), the first and rate-limiting enzyme of the tryptophan catabolite (TRYCAT) pathway resulting in increased tryptophan degradation and elevated tryptophan catabolites (TRYCTAs). The purpose of the current study is to systematically review and meta-analyze levels of TRP, its competing amino acids (CAAs) and TRYCATs in patients with severe affective disorders. Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar and SciFinder were searched in the present study and we recruited 35 studies to examine 4647 participants including 2332 unipolar (MDD) and bipolar (BD) depressed patients and 2315 healthy controls. Severe patients showed significant lower (p < 0.0001) TRP (standardized mean difference, SMD = −0.517, 95% confidence interval, CI: −0.735; −0.299) and TRP/CAAs (SMD = −0.617, CI: −0.957; −0.277) levels with moderate effect sizes, while no significant difference in CAAs were found. Kynurenine (KYN) levels were unaltered in severe MDD/BD phenotypes, while the KYN/TRP ratio showed a significant increase only in patients with psychotic features (SMD = 0.224, CI: 0.012; 0.436). Quinolinic acid (QA) was significantly increased (SMD = 0.358, CI: 0.015; 0.701) and kynurenic acid (KA) significantly decreased (SMD = −0.260, CI: −0.487; −0.034) in severe MDD/BD. Patients with affective disorders with melancholic and psychotic features and suicidal behaviors showed normal IDO enzyme activity but a lowered availability of plasma/serum TRP to the brain, which is probably due to other processes such as low albumin levels. Full article

Background and objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients tend to present peculiar personality traits that highly impact their quality of life. Our study aimed to determine which personality traits are more common in MS patients compared to a sex- and age-matched control group. Methods and materials: Patients with relapsing–remitting MS along with a sex- and age-matched control group were included. All subjects completed the DECAS Personality Inventory and an additional form including demographic characteristics. Data (including descriptive statistics and univariate and multivariate analysis) were analyzed using SPSS. Results: 122 subjects were included, out of which 61 were in the patient group, mostly females (71.31%) with a mean age of 42.06 ± 10.46 years. Mean duration of disease was 10.18 ± 5.53 years and mean EDSS score was 2.09; 36% of patients were treated with Interferon-beta 1a. Subjects in the patient group presented significantly lower scores for extraversion (p = 0.036), specifically those with higher EDSS score, even after adjusting for possible confounders (age, sex, marital status, early retirement, alcohol, and tobacco consumption). Additionally, regarding orientation in life, MS patients were more often philosophers (p = 0.001), especially young males, whereas the dominant emotional feeling was less common, the actor profile (p = 0.022). Regarding task involvement, MS patients were often passive and compassionate concerning other people. Higher EDSS score also correlated with avoidant (p = 0.006) and melancholic (p = 0.043) personality traits. Subjects with higher education associated more often pragmatic, experimenter, popular, and optimist traits, whereas the elderly had actor, authoritarian, and experimenter profiles. Conclusions: Some MS patients may have reduced levels of extraversion and specific personality traits compared to age- and sex-matched subjects. Determining the exact personality profile might help the neurologist to establish a better therapeutic alliance and to apply specific interventions. Full article