Biomedical subjects

Joost G E Janzing

Publications and source records attributed to Joost G E Janzing.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Post-stroke dementia and depression: frontosubcortical dysfunction as missing link?

OBJECTIVE: Testing the hypothesis that depressive symptoms in dementia reflect dysfunction in fronto-subcortical pathways. BACKGROUND: Both depression and dementia can be the result of vascular damage of the brain. The nature of the depressive symptomatology seems to be related to concommittant cognitive disturbances in that subjects show more so-called motivational symptoms of depression. These symptoms can be the result of frontal-subcortical dysfunction. It could be very helpful for clinical practice if these subjects could be identified by simple diagnostic procedures. METHODS: Associations were computed between measures of depressive symptoms and a set of neuropsychological tests in a sample of 54 subjects with a post-stroke dementia. RESULTS: Although we used an extensive set of neuropsychological tests, most subjects were able to participate only in a small part of them, because of disease severity. Our hypothesis was supported by a negative correlation between scores on the verbal semantic fluency task and the total numbers of motivational depressive symptoms. None of the neuropsychological tests was significantly related to the number of mood symptoms neither did they correlate with the total number of depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: This study gives further evidence for the assumption that motivational-based depressive symptoms partially originate from fronto-subcortical dysfunction.

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PubMed2005

Depressive symptom quality and neuropsychological performance in dementia.

BACKGROUND: It is unknown to what extent depression and cognitive dysfunction are related in subjects with dementia. A limitation of earlier studies is that only general measures of depression have been studied. METHODS: In a sample of 60 subjects with dementia according to DSM-III-R criteria depressive symptoms were divided into factors of mood and motivation disturbance according to a principal components analysis. Correlations were computed between the factor scores and the performance on a number of specific neuropsychological tests. As the symptom content of motivation disturbance suggests subcorticofrontal dysfunction it was hypothesized that this factor is related to impaired executive functions. RESULTS: 77% of the depressive symptoms contributed to the dimension of motivation disturbance and most of these symptoms occurred outside the context of a major depressive episode. Our hypothesis was supported by a significant negative correlation between motivation symptoms and semantic verbal fluency. This relationship seems to have specificity, as both the dimensions of mood symptoms and of general depressive symptoms did not correlate significantly with specific neuropsychological test scores. CONCLUSIONS: The division of depressive symptoms in factors of mood and motivation disturbance contributes to insight into the relationship between depression and cognitive dysfunction in dementia. An advantage of the motivation disturbance factor compared to the regular apathy scales is that it consists of depressive symptoms. Therefore, it becomes evident that apathy or impaired motivation may occur in patients with dementia both in and outside the context of a depressive syndrome.

Affective Symptoms↗

PubMed2005

A study on symptom profiles of late-life depression: the influence of vascular, degenerative and inflammatory risk-indicators.

BACKGROUND: If specific symptom profiles of depressive disorders in the elderly are related to a specific etiology, this could have implications for everyday clinical practice. We hypothesized that a "motivational" profile, with symptoms such as psychomotor change, loss of interest and loss of energy, could clinically separate patients with predominantly vascular or degenerative risk indicators from patients with inflammatory risk indicators. METHODS: A total of 4051 subjects participated in a study on mental health problems in community-dwelling elderly. Information on psychiatric symptoms, demographic and medical status, previous history and family history was obtained. We distinguished three subgroups according to predominant somatic risk-indicators; vascular, degenerative and inflammatory groups. RESULTS: Motivational symptoms were associated with vascular or degenerative risk-indicators for depression; psychomotor change with both indicators; loss of energy with vascular, though also with the inflammatory indicator, and thinking/concentration disturbance with the degenerative indicator. The so-called mood symptoms of depression, especially thoughts of death, were more strongly related with the inflammatory risk-indicator. Melancholic symptoms like appetite and sleep disturbances were more strongly associated with the inflammatory risk-indicator. LIMITATIONS: Etiological classification was not confirmed by additional investigations such as laboratory findings or MRI brain scans. CONCLUSION: This study showed that in patients with a late-life depression specific symptoms of the depressive disorder may reflect the predominant underlying pathogenic mechanism.

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PubMed2003

Depression in vascular dementia.

OBJECTIVE: To study the presence of different dimensions of depression in subjects with vascular dementia. BACKGROUND: After a stroke, cognitive, affective and behavioural disturbances are common. It has been suggested that the nature of affective symptomatology can help to differentiate organic from psychological depression. METHODS: Cognitive and affective symptoms were assessed in 78 stroke patients and a principal component analysis was performed on these symptoms. Also, a discriminant analysis was carried out to establish the contribution of different symptoms on the diagnosis 'depressive disorder' and 'dementia'. RESULTS: (1) Principal component analysis revealed three distinct sub-syndromes: one with predominantly mood symptoms, one with essentially psychomotor symptoms, and one with vegetative symptoms; (2) mood, psychomotor and vegetative symptoms were all independently and strongly related to a diagnosis of major depressive disorder according to DSM-III-R criteria; (3) the psychomotor factor was also firmly associated with dementia; and (4) discriminant analysis gave further support for our conclusion that some of the depressive features, in particular the psychomotor factor, are at least partly related to the organic brain damage from stroke. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that different dimensions of depression could be discerned in a group of stroke patients and that the symptom profile of depression in these patients can be affected by the presence of dementia.

Affect↗

PubMed2002

Depression in subjects with and without dementia: a comparison using GMS-AGECAT.

OBJECTIVE: To compare depression in subjects with and without dementia, adjusting for possible confounders. BACKGROUND: The results of comparisons of depression between subjects with and without dementia are inconclusive. Probably confounders play a role. METHODS: Ninety-one subjects with DSM-III-R dementia and 110 controls without dementia were recruited from homes for the elderly using an identical procedure. The prevalences of AGECAT depressive syndromes, subsyndromes and factors of depressive symptoms were compared adjusting for possible confounders. RESULTS: (1) Both groups had similar prevalences of AGECAT depressive syndromes, subsyndromes and overall rates of depressive symptoms; (2) subjects with dementia had significantly more 'motivation symptoms'; and (3) there was a trend to a lower prevalence of 'mood symptoms' in subjects with dementia. These results refer to a sample of institutionalised elderly subjects. It is not clear to what extent they can be generalised to subjects living in the community. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that it is not AGECAT (sub)syndrome measures of depression but the profile of depressive symptomatology which is affected by dementia.

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