Browsing by Author "Bender, Stephan"

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the most frequent neuropsychiatric disorders in childhood. Transcranial magnetic stimulation studies based on muscle responses (motor-evoked potentials) suggested that reduced motor inhibition contributes to hyperactivity, a core symptom of the disease. Here we employed the N100 component of the electroencephalographic response to transcranial magnetic stimulation as a novel marker for a direct assessment of cortical inhibitory processes, which has not been examined in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder so far. We further investigated to what extent affected children were able to regulate motor cortical inhibition, and whether effects of age on the electroencephalographic response to transcranial magnetic stimulation were compatible with either a delay in brain maturation or a qualitatively different development. N100 amplitude evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation and its age-dependent development were assessed in 20 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 19 healthy control children (8-14 years) by 64-channel electroencephalography. Amplitude and latency of the N100 component were compared at rest, during response preparation in a forewarned motor reaction time task and during movement execution. The amplitude of the N100 component at rest was significantly lower and its latency tended to be shorter in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Only in controls, N100 amplitude to transcranial magnetic stimulation was reduced by response preparation. During movement execution, N100 amplitude decreased while motor evoked potential amplitudes showed facilitation, indicating that the electroencephalographic response to transcranial magnetic stimulation provides further information on cortical excitability independent of motor evoked potential amplitudes and spinal influences. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder showed a smaller N100 amplitude reduction during movement execution compared with control children. The N100 amplitude evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation decreased with increasing age in both groups. The N100 reduction in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at all ages suggests a qualitative difference rather than delayed development of cortical inhibition in this disease. Findings further suggest that top-down control of motor cortical inhibition is reduced in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. We conclude that evoked potentials in response to transcranial magnetic stimulation are a promising new marker of cortical inhibition in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder during childhood.

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund und Ziel Die im Rahmen der COVID-19-Pandemie erlassenen Maßnahmen zum Infektionsschutz führten zu tiefgreifenden Einschränkungen und Veränderungen im sozialen, (vor-)schulischen, familiären und Freizeitbereich. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht das Ausmaß an psychischer Belastung von Kindern, Jugendlichen und ihren Familien während der COVID-19-Pandemie. Mögliche Einflussfaktoren sollen identifiziert werden. Material und Methoden Die Untersuchungen erfolgten zwischen Herbst 2020 und Frühjahr 2021 in einer klinischen Inanspruchnahmestichprobe (n = 280 Patient:innen zwischen 4–17 Jahren) und einer Feldstichprobe (n = 1958 Kinder und Jugendliche zwischen 4–19 Jahren, über Schulen und vorschulische Einrichtungen rekrutiert). Dabei wurden Urteile der Eltern sowie Selbsturteile der Kinder und Jugendlichen mittels Fragebögen erfasst. Ergebnisse Die psychische Belastung der Kinder und Jugendlichen im Zusammenhang mit der Pandemie wird über beide Beurteilungsperspektiven und Stichproben hinweg als leicht bis moderat erhöht eingeschätzt. Rund 60–70 % der Eltern- und Selbsturteile beschreiben eine Zunahme dieser Belastung, während Entlastungen von bis zu 12 % sowohl im Eltern- als auch im Selbsturteil angegeben werden. Beim Vergleich der beiden Stichproben zeigt sich eine leicht höhere Belastung der Kinder und Jugendlichen nur im Selbsturteil der Klinikstichprobe. Die untersuchten soziodemografischen Faktoren haben keinen Einfluss auf die Belastung. Allerdings zeigen sich in beiden Stichproben leichte bis moderate Zusammenhänge zwischen der subjektiv erlebten Verschlechterung der familiären und sozialen Situation und einem erhöhten Belastungserleben. Diskussion Während einer Pandemie sollten gezielte Interventionen für belastete Subgruppen angeboten werden. Universelle Interventionen sind nicht indiziert.

Background: A noticeable proportion of adolescents with depression do not respond to guideline recommended treatment options. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of physical activity interventions as an alternative or complementary treatment for adolescents (12-18 years) with depression. The characteristics of the physical activity treatment that were most effective in reducing symptoms in adolescents with depression and the impact of methodological shortcomings in the existing research were also examined. Methods: Medline, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, ProQuest, and CENTRAL were searched for eligible records. Effect size estimates were pooled based on the application of a random-effects model. Potential moderation by physical activity characteristics (i.e., intensity, type, context, and time frame) and methodological features (i.e., type of control group and diagnostic tool to identify depression at baseline) was investigated by means of subgroup analyses and meta-regressions. The certainty of evidence was assessed by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. The primary outcome was the antidepressant effect of physical activity at postintervention measurement time point. As secondary outcomes, the sustainability of effects after the end of physical activity treatment and the acceptability of physical activity treatments were assessed. Overall, 10 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis and 9 studies involving 431 patients were included in the quantitative synthesis. Results: A moderate, significant antidepressant effect of physical activity was found (Hedges' g = -0.47, 95% CI = -0.71 to -0.24). Heterogeneity was small (T2 = 0.0313, I 2 = 27%, p = 0.18). However, the certainty of evidence was downgraded to low because the included studies contained serious methodological limitations. Moderator analyses revealed that session intensity significantly moderated the antidepressant effect of physical activity. Moreover, noticeably smaller effect sizes were found in studies that used non-physical activity sham treatments as control treatments (e.g., playing board games), compared to studies that used no control group treatments. Only three studies assessed the sustainability of effects after the end of physical activity treatment. The results suggest that the antidepressant effects further increase after the end of physical activity interventions. There was no significant difference in dropout risk between the physical activity and control groups. Conclusions: This review suggests that physical activity is effective in treating depression in adolescents. Physical activity sessions should be at least moderately intense [rate of perceived exertion (RPE) between 11 and 13] to be effective. Furthermore, our results suggest that physical activity treatments are well accepted. However, the low methodological quality in included studies might have led to effect overestimation. Therefore, more studies with higher methodological quality are needed to confirm the recommendation for physical activity treatments in adolescents with depression.