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Background: Internet addiction (IA) among university engineering students and its association with psychological distress can impact their educational progress, academic competence, and long-term career goals. Thus, there is a need to investigate the IA among engineering students. Objectives: This study was a first such attempt to explore internet use behaviors, IA, among a large group of engineering students from India, and its association with psychological distress primarily depressive symptoms. Methods: One thousand eighty six engineering students aged 18–21 years pursuing bachelors in engineering from the south Indian city of Mangalore participated in the study. The socio-educational and internet use behaviors data sheet was used to gather demographic information and patterns of internet use, Internet Addiction Test (IAT) was utilized to assess IA, and Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20) assessed psychological distress primarily depressive symptoms. Results: Among the total N = 1086, 27.1% of engineering students met criterion for mild addictive internet use, 9.7% for moderate addictive internet use, and 0.4% for severe addiction to internet. IA was higher among engineering students who were male, staying in rented accommodations, accessed internet several times a day, spent more than 3 h per day on internet, and had psychological distress. Gender, duration of use, time spent per day, frequency of internet use, and psychological distress (depressive symptoms) predicted IA. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of engineering students have IA which can be detrimental for their educational progress in university studies and long-term career goals. Early identification and management of IA and psychological distress among engineering students is crucial.

We report the clinical and postmortem neuropathological findings in a case of long-standing giant axonal neuropathy. The patient, a caucasian male with kinky hair, was first seen at 4 years of age because of increasing unsteadiness of gait. Clinical examination showed nystagmus, cerebellar ataxia, distal sensory loss, and weakness. A sural nerve biopsy at 8 years of age revealed giant axonal neuropathy. The patient became increasingly demented and was incapacitated by weakness and ataxia; he died at 18 years of age. Histological examination of the brain and spinal cord showed numerous Rosenthal fibers, a distal axonopathy that most severely affected the corticospinal tracts, middle cerebellar peduncles, and posterior columns, and olivocerebellar degeneration.

Neurons have been considered the major functional entities of the nervous system that are responsible for most of the functions even though glial cells largely outnumber them. However, recent reports have proved that glial cells do not function just like glue in the nervous system but also substantially affect neuronal function and activities, and are significantly involved in the underlying pathobiology of various psychiatric disorders. Dysfunctional astrocytes and degeneration of glial cells are postulated to be critical factors contributing to the aggravation of depressive-like symptoms in humans, which was proved using animal models. Alteration in glial cell function predominantly targets three main brain regions – the prefrontal cortex, limbic areas including the hippocampus, and the amygdala, which have been extensively studied by various researchers across the globe. These studies have postulated that failure in adopting to the changing neurophysiology due to stress will lead to regressive plasticity in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, but to progressive plasticity in the amygdala. In this present review, an effort has been made to understand the different alterations in chronic stress models in correlation with clinical conditions, providing evidence on the defective maintenance of glial function and its potential role in the precipitation of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Background:Excessive internet use, psychological distress, and its inter-relationship among university students can impact their academic progress, scholastic competence, career goals, and extracurricular interests. Thus, a need exists to evaluate the addictive internet use among university students.Objectives:This study was set up to examine the internet use behaviors, internet addiction (IA), and its association with psychological distress primarily depression among a large group of university students from South India.Methods:Totally 2776 university students aged 18–21 years; pursuing undergraduate studies from a recognized university in South India participated in the study. The patterns of internet use and socioeducational data were collected through the internet use behaviors and demographic data sheet, IA test (IAT) was utilized to assess IA and psychological distress primarily depressive symptoms were evaluated with Self-Report Questionnaire-20.Results:Among the total n = 2776, 29.9% (n = 831) of university students met criterion on IAT for mild IA, 16.4% (n = 455) for moderate addictive use, and 0.5% (n = 13) for severe IA. IA was higher among university students who were male, staying in rented accommodations, accessed internet several times a day, spent more than 3 h per day on the Internet and had psychological distress. Male gender, duration of use, time spent per day, frequency of internet use, and psychological distress (depressive symptoms) predicted IA.Conclusions:IA was present among a substantial proportion of university students which can inhibit their academic progress and impact their psychological health. Early identification of risk factors of IA can facilitate the effective prevention and timely initiation of treatment strategies for IA and psychological distress among university students.

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Progressive loss of functional neurons is typically characterized as neurodegeneration. This is particularly pronounced during aging and results in debilitating conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Symptoms appear typically after 70–80% neuronal loss, resulting in irreversible damage. Several drugs have been clinically approved but they only alleviate symptoms and additionally lead to undesirable side effects. Hence there is a dire need for drugs and/or supplements which address this lacuna. Functional foods are known to offer health benefits beyond their attributed nutritional values. Unlike dietary supplements which are made from foods or food-like substances with enriched nutritional value, functional foods are foods that are modified for greater nutritional value. Conceptually, as an expansion of dietary supplements, functional foods are known to be neuroprotective. Here we discuss functional foods which can potentially be used as adjunctive therapy, with a note on the regulatory compliance.

BACKGROUND There is paucity of data related excessive or problematic internet use among young adults in India. METHOD The sample consisted of 1763 undergraduate students of various faculties across the city of Mangalore, Karnataka. The study was approved by Nitte University Institutional Ethics Committee and permission was sought from the concerned colleges. Students were cross-sectionally assessed with a specially constructed semi-structured proforma, SRQ-20 (WHO) and The Internet Addiction Test (IAT; Young, 1998), which was self-administered by the students after giving them brief instructions. Subjects were classified into mild users, moderate users, and addicts for comparison. RESULTS Of the 1763 participants who took part in the study, 64.4% (n=1136) were female and 35.6% (n=627) were males. The mean age of participants was 19.73±1.4 years. About 54.56% of total participants were using internet for more than 4 years. As per the Young's original criteria, about 10.4% were moderate problematic user and 0.8% was found to severe problematic user. However, 35.5% of participant felt that they are addicted to internet. 54.8% used it for multiple times in a day. 63.8% were using mobile phone internet. Significant correlation between IAT scores and SRQ scores indicates that higher the internet use higher is the physical and psychological problems. CONCLUSION Our result shows that problematic internet user among young adults is prevalent and this population might be at risk of addiction. It indicates that there higher need to design an intervention and treatments for this susceptible group.