Abstract

Patients with stress-related Exhaustion Disorder (ED) have problems with memory and executive function. These problems have been associated with deviant activity in prefrontal cortex (PFC). We investigated cognitive performance and functional activity in the PFC during prolonged mental activity in patients with ED (n = 20, 16 women) with a mean duration since diagnosis of 46 ± 23 months in comparison to healthy individuals (n = 20, 12 women). A block of six neuropsychological tests was performed in a sequence that was repeated once. The brain imaging technique, functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used for all tests. There were no differences between the groups in terms of changes over time, i.e. difference between first and second test block. In the Stroop–Simon test, the controls showedhigher functional activity in the frontal cortex. In the left ventrolateral PFC, we observed an increased activity in controls in the incongruent compared to the congruent trials, whereas no changes were detected in the ED patient group. During processing speed tasks, only ED patients showed higher functional activity in right dorsolateral PFC. The ED patients reported lower subjective energy level and they also performed less well on a mental control task compared to healthy individuals. In conclusion, ED patients showed altered functional activity compared to controls, indicating that ED patients process information differently in the prefrontal cortex, but the functional activity did not change during the 2½ hr procedure, as revealed by the test-retest design.

Lay summary

In this paper we show that patient with exhaustion disorder have a reduced functional activity in the prefrontal cortex. This functional activity was not affected by 2.5 hours mental activity.

摘要

患有与压力有关的精疲力竭（ED）的患者在记忆和执行功能方面存在问题。这些问题与前额叶皮层（PFC）的异常活动有关。我们调查了ED患者（n  = 20、16名妇女）在长期精神活动期间自诊断以来平均持续时间为46±23个月的PFC的认知表现和功能活动，与健康个体相比（n = 20，12位女性）。按一次重复的顺序执行了六个神经心理学测试。脑成像技术，功能性近红外光谱（fNIRS）用于所有测试。两组之间随时间的变化没有差异，即第一和第二测试块之间的差异。在Stroop–Simon测试中，对照组的额叶皮层具有较高的功能活动。在左心室PFC中，与同等试验相比，我们发现在不相符试验中对照组的活动增加，而在ED患者组中未发现变化。在处理速度任务期间，仅ED患者在右背外侧PFC中表现出较高的功能活动。ED患者报告的主观能量水平较低，与健康个体相比，他们在心理控制任务上的表现也较差。总之，与对照组相比，ED患者的功能活动发生了改变，这表明ED患者在前额叶皮层中处理信息的方式有所不同，但是在测试的2½小时内，该功能活动并未发生改变，如重新测试设计所揭示的那样。

放置摘要

在本文中，我们显示患有精疲力竭的患者的前额叶皮层功能活动减少。该功能活动不受2.5小时智力活动的影响。