Sensory profiles in unipolar and bipolar affective disorders: Possible predictors of response to antidepressant medications? A prospective follow-up study

Auditory P50 Sensory Gating Alterations in Major Depressive Disorder and their Relationship to Clinical Symptoms

Cognitive deficits in depression are pervasive and include impairments in attention and higher-order functions but the degree to which low-level sensory processes are affected is unclear. The present work examined event-related potential (P50 and N100) features of auditory sensory gating (i.e., the ability to inhibit P50/N100 responses to redundant stimuli) and their relationship to depressive symptoms, including ruminations and dysfunctional attitudes. In 18 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 18 healthy volunteers, auditory sensory gating was measured using a paired-stimulus paradigm yielding ratio (rP50, rN100) and difference (dP50, dN100) gating indices, which reflected amplitude reductions from first (S1) to second (S2) stimulus. Patients with MDD exhibited diminished rP50 and dP50 gating scores and delayed S1-N100 latencies compared to healthy volunteers. These measures were positively associated with ruminative thoughts, negative attitudes and degree of depression. Study findings implicate aberrant sensory processing in depressed patients that is related to severity of maladaptive thinking.

Sensory Processing Preferences in an Adult Acute Mental Health Setting: A Retrospective Study

IMPORTANCE

Sensory processing patterns may inform mental health diagnosis-specific treatment plans.

OBJECTIVE

To compare sensory processing preferences of patients admitted with depression and substance use disorder diagnoses.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Acute inpatient mental health center.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients ages 18 to 64 yr with a primary diagnosis of depression or substance use disorder who completed the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP).

OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Comparison of AASP quadrant scores between subgroups.

RESULTS

Participants (n = 211; M age = 33.8 yr) had a primary diagnosis of depression (n = 121; 57%) or substance use disorder (n = 90; 43%). The depression and substance use disorder groups yielded the following AASP quadrant scores, respectively: low registration, Ms = 38.2 and 34.3 (SDs = 9.4 and 8.0), p = .002; sensation seeking, Ms = 46.8 and 50.6 (SDs = 8.1 and 9.1), p = .002; sensory sensitivity, Ms = 43.4 and 39.8 (SDs = 10.3 and 9.9), p = .013; and sensation avoiding, Ms = 45.6 and 40.1 (SDs = 9.5 and 10.3), p < .001. These differences persisted when scores were normalized against standard population scores. The majority with a primary diagnosis of depression ranked "more/much more than most" for low registration (69; 57.0%), sensory sensitivity (61; 50.4%), and sensation avoiding (79; 65.3%). Those with a primary diagnosis of SUD ranked most frequently as "similar to most" in all quadrants.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Sensory processing preferences differ by primary mental health diagnosis and may provide insight into treatment planning. What This Article Adds: This study identifies differences in sensory processing between patients with a primary diagnosis of depression and those with a primary diagnosis of substance use disorder, suggesting that clinical interventions should account for sensory preferences. Providing appropriate sensory experiences (sensory room, sensory boxes, etc.) may allow patients to function at an optimal level by improving their ability to self-regulate emotions and behaviors.

Sensation seeking correlates with increased white matter integrity of structures associated with visuospatial processing in healthy adults

Introduction

The ability to process sensory information is an essential adaptive function, and hyper- or hypo-sensitive maladaptive profiles of responses to environmental stimuli generate sensory processing disorders linked to cognitive, affective, and behavioral alterations. Consequently, assessing sensory processing profiles might help research the vulnerability and resilience to mental disorders. The research on neuroradiological correlates of the sensory processing profiles is mainly limited to the young-age population or neurodevelopmental disorders. So, this study aims to examine the structural MRI correlates of sensory profiles in a sample of typically developed adults.

Methods

We investigated structural cortical thickness (CT) and white matter integrity, through Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), correlates of Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP) questionnaire subscales in 57 typical developing subjects (34F; mean age: 32.7 ± 9.3).

Results

We found significant results only for the sensation seeking (STS) subscale. Positive and negative correlations emerged with fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD) in anterior thalamic radiation, optic radiation, superior longitudinal fasciculus, corpus callosum, and the cingulum bundle. No correlation between sensation seeking and whole brain cortical thickness was found.

Discussion

Overall, our results suggest a positive correlation between sensation seeking and higher white matter structural integrity in those tracts mainly involved in visuospatial processing but no correlation with gray matter structure. The enhanced structural integrity associated with sensation seeking may reflect a neurobiological substrate linked to active research of sensory stimuli and resilience to major psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression.

Construct Validity of the Sensory Profile Interoception Scale: Measuring Sensory Processing in Everyday Life

Scholars and providers are coming to realize that one’s ability to notice and respond to internal body sensations (i.e., interoception) contributes to an overall sense of wellbeing. Research has demonstrated a relationship between interoceptive awareness and anxiety, for example. Currently, however, tools for evaluating one’s interoception lack the conceptual foundation and clarity necessary to identify everyday behaviors that specifically reflect interoceptive awareness. Unlike existing interoceptive measures, the Sensory Profile Interoception (SPI) scale is participation-based and grounded in Dunn’s Sensory Processing framework. In this study we investigated concurrent validity by correlating the SPI with the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (A/ASP); we investigated construct validity by correlating the SPI with the Perth Alexithymia Scale (PAS), the Body Awareness Scale (BAS), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Using the REDCAP online platform, 74 college-aged participants completed the measures. Using Spearman rank order correlations there were statistically significant relationships between the corresponding sensory pattern subscales on SPI and A/ASP (r = 0.277 to r = 0.582). The PAS was only weakly related to the registration subscale of the SPI (r = 0.260). The BAS had significant relationships with seeking and avoiding on the SPI (r = 0.496 and r = 0.385). The STAI had significant relationships with sensitivity and registrations of the SPI (r = 0.266 and r = 0.361 for state; r = 0.403 and r = 0.321 for trait). Taken together, these findings provide evidence of construct validity of the SPI to identify participation patterns associated with both high and low interoception. With the more precise information the SPI provides, professionals can design tailored interventions to support everyday life goals and researchers can study interoception within authentic activities.

Alexithymia and Sensory Processing Sensitivity: Areas of Overlap and Links to Sensory Processing Styles

Alexithymia is a dimensional trait characterized by difficulties identifying and describing feelings and an externally oriented thinking (EOT) style. Here, we explored interrelationships between alexithymia and measures assessing how individuals process and regulate their responses to environmental and body-based cues. Young adults (N = 201) completed self-report questionnaires assessing alexithymia, sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), interoceptive accuracy (IA), sensory processing styles, and current levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Whereas EOT was related to low orienting sensitivity, problems with emotional appraisal (difficulties identifying feelings/difficulties describing feelings) were related to heightened sensory sensitivity. In addition, features of SPS improved the prediction of alexithymia above and beyond that accounted for by IA. We suggest that EOT is linked to problems maintaining a representation of one’s emotions in working memory and that low IA and problems with emotional appraisal are linked to atypicalities in sensory processing that may impact embodiment. A latent profile analysis revealed five classes of individuals distinguished by the relative strength of different alexithymic traits and by differences in IA and sensory processing styles. The classes identified included two lexithymic, one modal, and two alexithymic groups, showing different susceptibilities to SPS. Overall, our findings lend support to the view that alexithymia is associated with atypicalities in both bottom–up and top–down processes that impact emotion processing and regulation. They also raise the possibility that individuals with different alexithymia subtypes may differ with regard to a range of factors, including not only SPS but also early life experiences, mental health outcomes, and susceptibility to various personality disorders.

Self-reported sensory responsiveness patterns in typically-developing and early-onset schizophrenia adolescents: Its relationship with schizotypal and autistic traits

Altered behavioural responses to sensory stimuli, including both hypo- and hyper-reactivity, have been found in individuals with schizophrenia. However, how specific sensory responsiveness patterns are associated with symptomatology of schizophrenia remains largely unknown. The present study aimed to examine sensory responsiveness in typically-developing (TD) adolescents (n = 98) and adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) (n = 29) and investigate the relationship between schizotypal traits and sensory responsiveness patterns. All participants completed the Adult/Adolescent Sensory Profile (AASP), the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Results showed that higher levels of hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity coexisted in EOS patients and were correlated with positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Atypical sensory experiences except for sensory seeking were found to be positively correlated with higher levels of schizotypal traits regardless of diagnostic status. Moreover, the strength and pattern of such correlations were comparable in both EOS and TD groups. This study also provided evidence that higher levels of autistic traits would intensify the positive correlation between schizotypal traits and sensory responsiveness abnormalities, suggesting an additive effect of co-occurring schizotypal and autistic traits on atypical sensory experiences. These findings extend previous research by depicting sensory responsiveness patterns in younger populations with schizophrenia, and may have implications for future development of sensory-related interventions in clinical settings.

The involvement of altered sensory modulation in neurological conditions and its relevance to neuro-rehabilitation: a narrative literature review

PURPOSE

Neurological conditions are frequently described and treated with emphasis on primarily body dysfunctions that appear in the diagnostic criteria. This perspective paper aims to provide knowledge about the involvement of secondary body dysfunctions - altered sensory modulation - in neurological conditions and their relevance to neuro-rehabilitation. This paper refers to children and adults, to provide a life span view. Health models and approaches are discussed to bring ideas for optimizing rehabilitation.

METHODS

Perspective based on narrative literature review.

RESULTS

Altered sensory modulation is prevalent in neurological conditions. It is related to clinical symptoms, comorbidities and severity level. Many studies focus on specific modalities and on laboratory/clinical measurements. However, information gathered from subjective measures reflects the alterations in various sensory modalities and their negative impacts on the individuals' daily activity performance, participation and quality of life (QOL).

CONCLUSIONS

Neuro-rehabilitation should consider altered sensory modulation in neurological conditions, apply health models with broad perspective, as the ICF, with multi-disciplinary team, objective and subjective measures to understand how pathogenic mechanisms in primary and secondary body dysfunctions impact the performance and participation in daily life. This approach may optimize the individuals' involvement in therapy, enhance daily function and QOL and elevate intervention success.Implications for rehabilitationSensory modulation should be evaluated in children and adults with neurologic conditions.The evaluation and intervention should refer to the involvement of altered sensory modulation in the conditions' clinical characteristics, severity and comorbidities.In case altered sensory modulation is found, the evaluation and intervention should incorporate a multi-disciplinary collaboration and health models such as the ICF model, to optimize neuro-rehabilitation efficiency.Objective measures should be applied to profile altered sensory modulation and its role in pathogenic mechanisms.Subjective measures should also be used to reflect the expressions of altered sensory modulation as experienced by the individual (and family members), in daily life scenarios.By bridging between the clinic and the individuals' real-life context, rehabilitation process and outcomes may be optimized, in terms of the individual's greater involvement in therapy, better function and quality of life.