The results of the third survey of the Swiss Corona Stress Study refer to the period from November 11-19, 2020, during which 11,612 people from all over Switzerland participated. Stress levels have increased significantly compared to the first survey during lockdown in April 2020. While the proportion of people reporting maximum stress levels was around 11% during the April lockdown, it rose to 20% in the second pandemic wave in November. The increase in stress was accompanied by an increase in depressive symptoms. The main drivers of psychological stress and depressive symptoms included burden due to a Covid-19-related change in work, school, or education, Covid-19-related financial losses, and fears about the future. These stressors have increased significantly, compared to the time of the April lockdown. Further factors were the fear that someone in the closest circle would become seriously ill or die from COVID-19, as well as the burden of social restrictions and burden from an increase in conflicts at home. While the proportion of respondents with moderately severe or severe (PHQ-9 ≥15) depressive symptoms was 3% before the pandemic, 9% during the April lockdown, and 12% during May, it increased to 18% in November. The risk for moderately severe or severe depressive symptoms was associated with age (with younger people showing the highest risk) and was increased in people experiencing financial losses due to the pandemic. In addition, people from the French-speaking part of Switzerland, which was most affected by the pandemic during the second wave, were at higher risk than people from the rest of Switzerland.

In the last decade there has been an exponential increase in knowledge about the genetic basis of complex human traits, including neuropsychiatric disorders. It is not clear, however, to what extent this knowledge can be used as a starting point for drug identification, one of the central hopes of the human genome project. The aim of the present study was to identify memory-modulating compounds through the use of human genetic information. We performed a multinational collaborative study, which included assessment of aversive memory-a trait central to posttraumatic stress disorder-and a gene-set analysis in healthy individuals. We identified 20 potential drug target genes in two genomewide-corrected gene sets: the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction and the long-term depression gene set. In a subsequent double-blind, placebo-controlled study in healthy volunteers, we aimed at providing a proof of concept for the genome-guided identification of memory modulating compounds. Pharmacological intervention at the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction gene set led to significant reduction of aversive memory. The findings demonstrate that genome information, along with appropriate data mining methodology, can be used as a starting point for the identification of memory-modulating compounds.emotional memory | pharmacology | PTSD

While much is known about immediate brain activity changes induced by the confrontation with emotional stimuli, the subsequent temporal unfolding of emotions has yet to be explored. To investigate whether exposure to emotionally aversive pictures affects subsequent resting-state networks differently from exposure to neutral pictures, a resting-state fMRI study implementing a two-group repeated-measures design in healthy young adults (N = 34) was conducted. We focused on investigating (i) patterns of amygdala whole-brain and hippocampus connectivity in both a seed-to-voxel and seed-to-seed approach, (ii) whole-brain resting-state networks with an independent component analysis coupled with dual regression, and (iii) the amygdala's fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations, all while EEG recording potential fluctuations in vigilance. In spite of the successful emotion induction, as demonstrated by stimuli rating and a memory-facilitating effect of negative emotionality, none of the resting-state measures was differentially affected by picture valence. In conclusion, resting-state networks connectivity as well as the amygdala's low frequency oscillations appear to be unaffected by preceding exposure to widely used emotionally aversive visual stimuli in healthy young adults.

The last survey of the Swiss Corona Stress Study in November 2020 has shown that the proportion of respondents with moderately severe to severe depressive symptoms was 18%, with the youngest group of 14-24 year olds being the most affected at 29%. Between 8 and 24 March 2021, an additional survey was conducted in the German speaking part of Northwestern Switzerland among 393 high school students with the majority being between 16 and 19 years old. The anonymous survey was completed by 97.5% of the students. The proportion of respondents with moderately severe to severe depressive symptoms was 27%. In this survey, additional questions were asked about school, social life and vaccination. The most significant stressor associated with depressive symptoms was perceived school pressure. 46% of the respondents indicated they were very or extremely stressed because of the pressure of school. Furthermore, the perception that school pressure has increased due to the pandemic (missed material due to closures, quarantine) was strongly correlated with depressive symptoms. Other factors included worries about poorer education or job opportunities and worries about damage to the social network. An additional factor analysis confirmed that stressors related to school build up the factor with the strongest correlation with depressive symptoms (with a large effect size).Other results- 69% of respondents would get vaccinated if the vaccine were available to them.- 41% of respondents would see the change to distance learning as a relief, 46% as a burden and 13% neither.- Only 4% of respondents said they were not at all afraid of infecting their parents/grandparents or another close person belonging to a risk group.- 29% of respondents have at least a moderate to severe fear of suffering from Long-COVID in case of infection.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic and governmental counter measurements, confinement in particular, have changed the routines of everyday life of people all over the world. To assess the psychological consequences of daily life changes during COVID-19 pandemic in the Iranian population.Method: We performed an anonymous online survey in the first 3 weeks of March 2020. Participants had to rate their stress levels and depressive symptoms during the last two weeks and before the pandemic retrospectively. The changes in psychological measurements and its association with socio-demographic factors and burdens due to confinement were assessed.Results: Overall, among the 3210 subjects who participated in our study, we observed an increase in both stress levels and average depression score. However, about 23% of subjects reported a decrease in their stress levels during the pandemic. The burden of childcare at home, restrictions in private life, and the burden of thoughts about the future were positively correlated with changes in stress levels and depression scores. On the other hand, feeling relieved in the pandemic condition, and enjoying more family time associated with less change in stress levels and depression scores. Being religious and older age were identified as resilience factors, whereas being a student, seeking a job, and having a psychiatric disorder history were identified as risk factors for depression.Conclusion: Stress levels and depressive symptoms have increased during COVID-19 pandemic and this increase is in relation to different social and personal burdens due to confinement strategy.