Tag: Cognitive dedifferentiation

On iCBT for Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression After Myocardial Infarction, and Cognitive Dedifferentiation in Abnormal Cognitive Decline

This week, John Wallert published not one but two articles! 🎉

1. Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Patients Reporting Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression After Myocardial Infarction: U-CARE Heart Randomized Controlled Trial Twelve-Month Follow-up
   
   The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy on self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients 12 months after a myocardial infarction and to explore subsequent occurrences of cardiovascular disease events. Shortly after acute myocardial infarction, 239 patients reporting mild-to-moderate symptoms of anxiety or depression were randomized to 14 weeks of therapist-guided internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (n=117) or treatment as usual (n=122). 
   
   The study’s conclusions was that internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy was not superior in reducing self-reported symptoms of depression or anxiety compared to treatment as usual at the 1-year follow-up after myocardial infarction. A reduction in cardiac-related anxiety was observed but was not significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. There was no difference in risk of cardiovascular events between the treatment groups. Low treatment adherence, which might have affected treatment engagement and outcomes, should be considered when interpreting these results.
   
   
2. Cognitive dedifferentiation as a function of cognitive impairment in the ADNI and MemClin cohorts
   
   The cause of cognitive dedifferentiation has been suggested as specific to late-life abnormal cognitive decline rather than a general feature of aging. This hypothesis was tested in two large cohorts with different characteristics. The subjects came from two research databases in North America and Sweden. Dedifferentiation was explained by cognitive impairment when controlling for age, sex, and education. This finding replicated across two separate, large cohorts of older individuals. Knowledge that the structure of human cognition becomes less diversified and more dependent on general intelligence as a function of cognitive impairment should inform clinical assessment and care for these patients as their neurodegeneration progresses.