The importance of the gut-brain axis in maintaining homeostasis has long been appreciated. However, the past 15 yr have seen the emergence of the microbiota (the trillions of microorganisms within ...

The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis

Additional co-authors: Endre Czeiter, Marek Czosnyka, Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, Jens P Dreier, Ann-Christine Duhaime, Ari Ercole, Thomas A van Essen, Valery L Feigin, Guoyi Gao, Joseph Giacino, Laura E Gonzalez-Lara, Russell L Gruen, Deepak Gupta, Jed A Hartings, Sean Hill, Ji-yao Jiang, Naomi Ketharanathan, Erwin J O Kompanje, Linda Lanyon, Steven Laureys, Fiona Lecky, Harvey Levin, Hester F Lingsma, Marc Maegele, Marek Majdan, Geoffrey Manley, Jill Marsteller, Luciana Mascia, Charles McFadyen, Stefania Mondello, Virginia Newcombe, Aarno Palotie, Paul M Parizel, Wilco Peul, James Piercy, Suzanne Polinder, Louis Puybasset, Todd E Rasmussen, Rolf Rossaint, Peter Smielewski, Jeannette Soderberg, Simon J Stanworth, Murray B Stein, Nicole von Steinbuchel, William Stewart, Ewout W Steyerberg, Nino Stocchetti, Anneliese Synnot, Braden Te Ao, Olli Tenovuo, Alice Theadom, Dick Tibboel, Walter Videtta, Kevin K W Wang, W Huw Williams, Kristine Yaffe for the InTBIR Participants and Investigators

/pdf/traumatic-brain-injury-integrated-approaches-to-improve-29obvlh2iu.pdf

Traumatic brain injury: integrated approaches to improve prevention, clinical care, and research

Sleep plays a vital role in brain function and systemic physiology across many body systems Problems with sleep are widely prevalent and include deficits in quantity and quality of sleep; sleep problems that impact the continuity of sleep are collectively referred to as sleep disruptions Numerous factors contribute to sleep disruption, ranging from lifestyle and environmental factors to sleep disorders and other medical conditions Sleep disruptions have substantial adverse short- and long-term health consequences A literature search was conducted to provide a nonsystematic review of these health consequences (this review was designed to be nonsystematic to better focus on the topics of interest due to the myriad parameters affected by sleep) Sleep disruption is associated with increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, metabolic effects, changes in circadian rhythms, and proinflammatory responses In otherwise healthy adults, short-term consequences of sleep disruption include increased stress responsivity, somatic pain, reduced quality of life, emotional distress and mood disorders, and cognitive, memory, and performance deficits For adolescents, psychosocial health, school performance, and risk-taking behaviors are impacted by sleep disruption Behavioral problems and cognitive functioning are associated with sleep disruption in children Long-term consequences of sleep disruption in otherwise healthy individuals include hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, weight-related issues, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and colorectal cancer All-cause mortality is also increased in men with sleep disturbances For those with underlying medical conditions, sleep disruption may diminish the health-related quality of life of children and adolescents and may worsen the severity of common gastrointestinal disorders As a result of the potential consequences of sleep disruption, health care professionals should be cognizant of how managing underlying medical conditions may help to optimize sleep continuity and consider prescribing interventions that minimize sleep disruption

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Short- and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption.

https://schererstefan.net/assets/files/papers/1-s2.0-S0167639315000369-main.pdf

A review of depression and suicide risk assessment using speech analysis

Migraine is a collection of perplexing neurological conditions in which the brain and its associated tissues have been implicated as major players during an attack. Once considered exclusively a disorder of blood vessels, compelling evidence has led to the realization that migraine represents a highly choreographed interaction between major inputs from both the peripheral and central nervous systems, with the trigeminovascular system and the cerebral cortex among the main players. Advances in in vivo and in vitro technologies have informed us about the significance to migraine of events such as cortical spreading depression and activation of the trigeminovascular system and its constituent neuropeptides, as well as about the importance of neuronal and glial ion channels and transporters that contribute to the putative cortical excitatory/inhibitory imbalance that renders migraineurs susceptible to an attack. This review focuses on emerging concepts that drive the science of migraine in both a mechanistic direction and a therapeutic direction.

Pathophysiology of Migraine

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In 2005, we presented for the first time overall estimates of annual costs for brain disorders (mental and neurologic disorders) in Europe. This new report presents updated, ...

/pdf/the-economic-cost-of-brain-disorders-in-europe-15vu9f5qgq.pdf

The economic cost of brain disorders in Europe

Aims. Provision and need for mental health services among military personnel are a major concern across nations. Two recent comparisons suggest higher rates of mental disorders in US and UK military personnel compared with civilians. However, these findings may not apply to other nations. Previous studies have focused on the overall effects of military service rather than the separate effects of military service and deployment. This study compared German military personnel with and without a history of deployment to sociodemographically matched civilians regarding prevalence and severity of 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders. Method. 1439 deployed soldiers (DS), 779 never deployed soldiers (NS) and 1023 civilians were assessed with an adapted version of the Munich Composite International Diagnostic interview across the same timeframe. Data were weighted using propensity score methodology to assure comparability of the three samples. Results. Compared with adjusted civilians, the prevalence of any 12-month disorder was lower in NS (OR: 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5–0.99) and did not differ in DS. Significant differences between military personnel and civilians regarding prevalence and severity of individual diagnoses were only apparent for alcohol (DS: OR: 0.3, 95% CI: 0.1–0.6; NS: OR: 0.2, 95% CI: 0.1–0.6) and nicotine dependence (DS: OR: 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3–0.6; NS: OR: 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3–0.7) with lower values in both military samples. Elevated rates of panic/agoraphobia (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.4–5.3) and posttraumatic stress disorder (OR: 3.2, 95% CI: 1.3–8.0) were observed in DS with high combat exposure compared with civilians. Conclusions. Rates and severity of mental disorders in the German military are comparable with civilians for internalising and lower for substance use disorders. A higher risk of some disorders is reduced to DS with high combat exposure. This finding has implications for mental health service provision and the need for targeted interventions. Differences to previous US and UK studies that suggest an overall higher prevalence in military personnel might result from divergent study methods, deployment characteristics, military structures and occupational factors. Some of these factors might yield valuable targets to improve military mental health.

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H-U Wittchen

Papers

The economic cost of brain disorders in Europe

Prevalence and severity of mental disorders in military personnel: a standardised comparison with civilians.