Dementia causes a significant decrease in survival, and the diagnosis of dementia is rarely reported on death certificates in Brazil.

Presenile Dementia or Early Onset Dementia (EOD) is a public health problem, it differs from Senile Dementia, and encloses a significant number of cases; nevertheless, it is still poorly understood and underdiagnosed. This study aims to review the prevalence and etiology of EOD, comparing EOD with Senile Dementia, as well as to show the main causes of EOD and their prevalence in population and non-population based studies. The computer-supported search used the following databases: Pubmed/Medline, ISI Web of Knowledge and Scielo. The search terms were alcohol-associated dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Creutzfeldt-jakob disease, dementia with lewy bodies, early onset dementia, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, Huntington’s disease, mixed dementia, neurodegenerative disorders, Parkinson’s disease dementia, presenile dementia, traumatic brain injury, vascular dementia. Only papers published in English and conducted from 1985 up to 2012 were preferentially reviewed. Neurodegenerative diseases are the most common etiologies seen in EOD. Among the general population, the prevalence of EOD was found to range between 0 to 700 per 100.000 habitants in groups of 25-64 years old, with an increasing incidence with age. The progression of EOD was found to range between 8.3 to 22.8 new cases per 100.000 in those aged under 65 years. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the major etiology, followed by Vascular Dementia (VaD) and Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD). A larger number of epidemiological studies to elucidate how environmental issues contribute to EOD are necessary, thus, we can collaborate in the planning and prevention of services toward dementia patients.

Despite increasing interest in pathological and non-pathological dissociation, few researchers have focused on the spiritual experiences involving dissociative states such as mediumship, in which an individual (the medium) claims to be in communication with, or under the control of, the mind of a deceased person. Our preliminary study investigated psychography – in which allegedly “the spirit writes through the medium's hand” – for potential associations with specific alterations in cerebral activity. We examined ten healthy psychographers – five less expert mediums and five with substantial experience, ranging from 15 to 47 years of automatic writing and 2 to 18 psychographies per month – using single photon emission computed tomography to scan activity as subjects were writing, in both dissociative trance and non-trance states. The complexity of the original written content they produced was analyzed for each individual and for the sample as a whole. The experienced psychographers showed lower levels of activity in the left culmen, left hippocampus, left inferior occipital gyrus, left anterior cingulate, right superior temporal gyrus and right precentral gyrus during psychography compared to their normal (non-trance) writing. The average complexity scores for psychographed content were higher than those for control writing, for both the whole sample and for experienced mediums. The fact that subjects produced complex content in a trance dissociative state suggests they were not merely relaxed, and relaxation seems an unlikely explanation for the underactivation of brain areas specifically related to the cognitive processing being carried out. This finding deserves further investigation both in terms of replication and explanatory hypotheses.

Objectives:This study aims to identify the prevalence of burnout and associated factors in Brazilian medical students.Methods:In the largest medical school from Central Brazil, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey and a socio-demographic questionnaire were adopted in this cross-sectional study. Correlations among the three dimensions of burnout were verified.Results:The evaluation of 399 students revealed a frequency of 12.0% of burnout. Women had a higher rate of burnout (8.0%) than men (4.0%). The fifth period had the higher frequency of burnout (27.1%), while the seventh grade had the lower frequency (2.1%). The students showed high scores only in emotional exhaustion (63.2%). Between the dimensions “emotional exhaustion” and “disbelief” found a significant correlation.Conclusion:The fifth period of the Medicine course and the female gender are the most affected by burnout syndrome and therefore, the preventive actions to reduce stress among medical students should be directed mainly at these higher risk categories. The low burnout rate found in our study can attest that the PBL methodology and medical schools strategically located to meet regional demand may represent strategies for the prevention of burnout among medical students.

Previous studies suggest that the complexity of fiber connections in the brain plays a key role in the evolutionary process of the primate brain and behaviors. The patterns of brain fiber systems have been studied in detail in many nonhuman primates, but not in Sapajus sp. Behavioral studies indicated that Sapajus sp. (bearded capuchins) show highly cognitive behaviors such as tool use comparable to those in other nonhuman primates. To compare the brain fiber systems in capuchins with those in other nonhuman primates and humans, the intrahemispheric fibers systems in 24 cerebral hemispheres of Sapajus were dissected by a freezing-thawing procedure. Dissection of the hemispheres in lateral view indicated short arcuate fibers, uncinate fasciculus, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus, while that in a medial view indicated short arcuate fibers, the cingulum united with the superior longitudinal fasciculus, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus. The results showed that the fiber systems in Sapajus are comparable to those in rhesus and humans, except for a lack of independent superior longitudinal fasciculus and cingulum in Sapajus.

Neurological and psychiatric disorders are characterized by several disabling symptoms for which effective, mechanism-based treatments remain elusive. Consequently, more advanced non-invasive therapeutic methods are required. A method that may modulate brain activity and be viable for use in clinical practice is repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). It is a non-invasive procedure whereby a pulsed magnetic field stimulates electrical activity in the brain. Here, we focus on the basic foundation of rTMS, the main stimulation parametters, the factors that influence individual responses to rTMS and the experimental advances of rTMS that may become a viable clinical application to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. The findings showed that rTMS can improve some symptoms associated with these conditions and might be useful for promoting cortical plasticity in patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, these changes are transient and it is premature to propose these applications as realistic therapeutic options, even though the rTMS technique has been evidenced as a potential modulator of sensorimotor integration and neuroplasticity. Functional imaging of the region of interest could highlight the capacity of rTMS to bring about plastic changes of the cortical circuitry and hint at future novel clinical interventions. Thus, we recommend that further studies clearly determine the role of rTMS in the treatment of these conditions. Finally, we must remember that however exciting the neurobiological mechanisms might be, the clinical usefulness of rTMS will be determined by its ability to provide patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders with safe, long-lasting and substantial improvements in quality of life.

The clinical constructs of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been described in several cultures worldwide. Yet this symptomatic presentation still remains to be assessed in remote population groups. Objective: To explore the possibility of the existence of ADHD symptoms among settlement-dwelling indigenous children of the Karajá ethnic group in the Brazilian Amazon and to estimate the rate of ADHD symptoms among 7-16-year-olds. Method: All parents/caretakers of 7-16-year olds from all (N=5) most populated indigenous groups were invited to participate, if they were worried about their children emotional/behavioural problems. Fifty three parents spontaneously came for a psychiatric interview (DSM-IV criteria applied), individually conducted at the settlement's health post by a child psychiatrist. results: The estimated rate of ADHD symptoms in problematic indigenous children aged 7-16 years was 24.5% (95% CI: 13.6-35.4) since 13 out of 53 parents/caretakers reported the classical triad of ADHD symptoms (inattentiveness, hyperactivity, impulsiveness). conclusion: ADHD is a clinically relevant construct in the Karajá indigenous population, representing a major concern among parents/caretakers of children and adolescents from this ethnic group. Key words: attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, mental health, child psychiatry, indigenous health. sintomas do transtorno de déficit de atenção e hiperatividade em crianças indígenas da Amazônia brasileira resuMO Os construtos clínicos do transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividade (TDAH) têm sido descritos em várias culturas ao redor do mundo, entretanto esta apresentação sintomatológica ainda tem sido pouco investigada em grupos populacionais mais isolados. Objetivo: Explorar a possibilidade da existência de sintomas do TDAH entre crianças índias da etnia Karajá na Amazônia Legal Brasileira e estimar a prevalência dos sintomas do TDAH entre aquelas com 7-16 anos de idade. Método: Todos os pais-cuidadores das crianças entre os 7-16 anos de idade, das cinco aldeias mais populosas foram convidados a participar se houvesse qualquer preocupação acerca de problemas de comportamento e emocionais com suas crianças. Cinqüenta e três pais compareceram espontaneamente para a entrevista psiquiátrica (aplicando-se os critérios do DSM-IV), individualmente conduzida no posto de saúde da aldeia por um psiquiatra infantil. resultados: A taxa de

Segundo Delay e Pichot no seu Manual de Psicologia (1982, p. 30), a Psicologia Médica é a psicologia aplicada aos problemas apresentados pela medicina. Neste sentido, ainda segundo estes autores, constitui uma psicologia aplicada, relacionada ao domínio da psicologia patológica e, nesta qualidade, sempre esteve tradicionalmente ligada à parte da medicina que se dedica às doenças mentais. Nesta mesma linha de raciocínio, Marchais (1970) Resumo:Um constructo nascido da psicologia cognitiva e que se refere à capacidade de atribuir estados mentais para si mesmo e para os outros, denominado Teoria da Mente, tem sido exportado para outros campos do saber e tem sido mais recentemente incorporado pela psicologia médica com a pretensão de explicar determinadas alterações de comportamento que constituem o cerne de distúrbios como o Autismo Infantil, Esquizofrenia e Psicoses afins. Esta incorporação trouxe a necessidade de desenhar metodologias que possam mensurar e definir a Teoria da Mente em termos neurobiológicos. Nos objetivamos a descrever os mecanismos pelos quais a Teoria da Mente tem contribuído para o esclarecimento de alguns fenômenos mentais, bem como arrolar as dificuldades metodológicas associadas a tal empreedimento. Antes disto, uma revisão geral da Teoria da Mente é proporcionada enfocando os aspectos mais relevantes do constructo. Existem poucos trabalhos nesta área no Brasil, razão pela qual justificamos a reflexão conduzida. Palavras-chave: Teoria da mente; Autismo; Esquizofrenia. Theory of Mind: A Review with Focus on its Incorporation into Medical PsychologyAbstract: A concept derived from cognitive psychology which refers to the ability to impute mental states to the self and others, termed Theory of Mind, has been disseminated to others fields of knowledge and has been more recently incorporated by medical psychology with the intention of explaining behavior disturbances that constitute the core features of disorders such as Infantile Autism, Schizophrenia and related Psychosis. Such incorporation has given rise to the necessity of designing a methodological approach to measure and define Theory of Mind in neurobiological terms. The aim of this work is related to describe the mechanisms by which Theory of Mind has been contributed to the elucidation of some mental phenomena, as well as enroll the methodological difficulties related to this attitude. Before that, a review of the field of Theory of Mind is done, focusing on the more relevant aspects of this concept. There are a few articles in Brazil about this theme, thats why the present work is justified. Keywords: Theory of mind; autism; schizophrenia.1 Endereço para correspondência: Rua J 62, quadra 115, lote 5, Setor Jaó, Goiânia-GO, 74674-280. p. 971), classifica a Psicologia Médica como uma disciplina composta, que se nutre da psicologia para jogar luz em vários aspectos das ciências médicas. Os progressos da psicologia em seus diferentes ramos têm seu reflexo no domínio médico e isto se faz sentir especialmente na Psicologia Médica.Diante d...