No correlations were found between the abnormal thalamo-cortical connectivity and clinical symptoms in either patient group. LIMITATION Most patients in our study were taking drugs at the time of scanning, which may confound our findings. CONCLUSION Our finding suggest that the thalamo-cortical hypofunction is a common neuro-substrate for BDD and MDD. Specifically, the hypoconnectivity between the thalamus and salience network including the insula, ACC and striatum may be a distinguished biomarker for MDD, which may help to differentiate these two emotional disorders. BACKGROUND Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a well-established treatment for severe depression but may result in adverse cognitive effects. Available cognitive screening instruments are nonspecific to the cognitive deficits associated with ECT. An ECT-cognitive assessment tool which can be easily administered was developed and validated in a clinical setting. METHODS One hundred and thirty-six participants were enrolled. The ElectroConvulsive therapy Cognitive Assessment (ECCA) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were administered prospectively to 55 participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) undergoing ECT at three time points pre-treatment, before the sixth treatment and one-week post-treatment. The psychometric properties of the total and domain scores were evaluated at all three time points.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Carboplatin.html  Forty demographically comparable participants with MDD who did not receive ECT, and 41 healthy, age-matched controls were evaluated at a single time point. RESULTS ECCA and MoCA scores were not statistically different at baseline. Prior to the sixth and final ECT session, total ECCA scores were significantly lower than the MoCA total scores. The ECCA domains of subjective memory, informant-assessed memory, attention, autobiographical memory and delayed verbal recall were significantly lower post-ECT compared to pre-ECT. LIMITATIONS The ECCA was compared only to the MoCA rather than to a more comprehensive neuropsychological testing. This limitation reflected the real-life clinical burden of performing full neuropsychological testing at three time points during the treatment course. CONCLUSIONS The ECCA is a brief, reliable, bedside cognitive screening assessment tool that may be useful to monitor cognitive function in patients treated with ECT. The test can be downloaded from fuquacenter.org/ecca. V.BACKGROUND Low vitamin D levels are associated with a dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and depression but a causal relationship has not been established. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of vitamin D supplementation on depression severity, serum 25(OH)D, and some neurotransmitters in patients with mild to moderate depression. METHODS An 8-week double-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted on 56 subjects with mild to moderate depression, aged 43.0 ± 1.15yrs. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups intervention (50,000 IU cholecalciferol/2wks) and control (placebo). Biochemical parameters (serum 25(OH)D, iPTH, oxytocin and platelet serotonin), and depression severity (Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II1)) were initially and finally assessed. RESULTS Following intervention, significant changes were observed in the intervention group compared to the controls 25(OH)D concentrations increased (+40.83±28.57 vs. +5.14±23.44 nmol/L, P less then 0.001) and BDI scores decreased (-11.75±6.40 vs. -3.61±10.40, P = 0.003). Oxytocin concentrations were significantly reduced in controls (-6.49±13.69 ng/mL, P = 0.01), but between -group differences were insignificant. Within- and between-group differences of platelet serotonin concentrations were not significant; however, the increment in controls was higher (+0.86±10.82 vs. +0.26±9.38 ng/mL, P = 0.83). LIMITATIONS Study duration may not reflect the long-term effects of vitamin D on depression. It seems necessary to assess tryptophan-hydroxylasetypes1&2 in relation to vitamin D in serotonin pathways. CONCLUSIONS Eight-week supplementation with 50,000 IU/2wks vitamin D, elevated 25(OH)D concentration of subjects with mild to moderate depression and significantly improved their depression severity. However, there was no evidence that the anti-depressive effect of vitamin D supplementation is mediated by the measured neurotransmitters. V.BACKGROUND Maternal use of benzodiazepines during pregnancy is common and has increased over the last decades. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we studied the literature to estimate the worldwide use of benzodiazepines before, during and after pregnancy, which could help to estimate benzodiazepine exposure and to prioritize and guide future investigations. METHODS We systematically searched Embase, Medline Ovid, Web of Science and Cochrane Central up until July 2019 for studies reporting on benzodiazepine use before (12 months), during and after pregnancy (12 months). Random effects meta-analysis was conducted to calculate pooled prevalence estimates, as well as stratified according to substantive variables. RESULTS We identified 32 studies reporting on 28 countries, together reporting on 7,343,571 pregnancies. The worldwide prevalence of benzodiazepine use/prescriptions during pregnancy was 1.9% (95%CI 1.6%-2.2%; I2 97.48%). Highest prevalence was found in the third trimester (3.1%; 95%CI 1.8%-4.5%; I2 99.83%). Lorazepam was the most frequently used/prescribed benzodiazepine (1.5%; 95%CI 0.5%-2.5%; I2 99.87%). Highest prevalence was found in Eastern Europe (14.0%; 95%CI 12.1%-15.9%; I2 0.00%). LIMITATIONS All analyses revealed considerable heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS Our meta-analysis confirmed that benzodiazepine use before, during and after pregnancy is prevalent. The relatively common use of benzodiazepines with possible risks for both mother and (unborn) child is worrying and calls for prescription guidelines for women, starting in the preconception period. Given the substantial proportion of children exposed to benzodiazepines in utero, future research should continue to study the short- and long-term safety of maternal benzodiazepine use during pregnancy and to explore non-pharmacological alternative treatments.