Most would use genetic depression test results to reduce risky behavior, survey shows

ScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2011) — Eight out of ten Australians would radically change their risky behaviour if tests showed they had a genetic susceptibility to depression, a national study has found.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and published online in the Journal of Affective Disorders, is the first population-wide analysis of Australian attitudes towards genetic testing for risk of mental illness.

There was overwhelming support for the use of genetic tests to help people take steps to prevent depression before it occurs, especially among those who believe they or their children have a higher than average risk, a randomised phone survey of 1,046 adults found.

The preventive strategies that received support included helping children to be resilient to stress (92%), modifying their own stress (84%), starting therapies (80%) and reducing excessive drug and alcohol use (74%).

The widespread interest in prevention strategies was based on the understanding that while there may be a genetic predisposition to mental illness, environmental factors also played a major role.

The findings suggest there would be widespread community support for genetic screening as a valuable clinical tool for early intervention in high-risk groups.

"There is no certainty depression will manifest in someone with a higher-than-average genetic risk whether they are exposed to stressful life events or not," said study lead-author Dr Alex Wilde, from UNSW's School of Psychiatry.

"Yet most people were still overwhelming prepared to attempt to reduce the possibility of developing a depressive illness by modifying risky behaviours," Dr Wilde said.

Dr Wilde said people could try to change unhealthy aspects of their lives even without a genetic test, but the findings suggest that having test results at hand may act as a powerful motivator for change.

In general, Australians are very interested in knowing their genetic susceptibility to mental illness.

A linked study by the same research team, published this month in the UK-based journal Psychological Medicine, showed there was significant interest in genetic testing for depression, despite ongoing concerns about the tests' validity and that the results could potentially increase social stigma and discrimination.

"The scientific validity is not yet clear for most of the direct-to-consumer genetic tests currently marketed online, including tests for some mental illnesses, which could expose early users to discrimination, stigma and potentially misleading health risks," Dr Wilde said.

This was reflected in the survey result, with those questioned far more likely to support genetic tests carried out by their doctor (63%) than those undertaken through internet-based direct-to-consumer services (40%), Dr Wilde said.

Other study authors were Professor Philip Mitchell and Dusan Hadzi-Pavlovic from UNSW's School of Psychiatry, Associate Professor Bettina Meiser, from the Prince of Wales Clinical School, and Professor Peter Schofield, from Neuroscience Research Australia.

Funding for this study was provided by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of New South Wales.

Journal Reference:

Alex Wilde, Bettina Meiser, Philip B. Mitchell, Peter R. Schofield. Community attitudes to genetic susceptibility-based mental health interventions for healthy people in a large national sample. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2011; DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.06.023

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REM sleep behavior disorder is a risk factor for Parkinson's disease

ScienceDaily (July 29, 2011) — Patients suffering REM sleep behaviour disorders dream nightmares in which they are attacked and pursued, with the particularity that they express them by screaming, crying, punching and kicking while sleeping. Lancet Neurology has published the third consecutive work in five years about the relationship between this disorder and Parkinson's disease.

The first work showed in 2006 that 45% of patients who suffer this sleep disorder develop Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain. The second article discovered that neuroimaging tests that measure dopamine in the brain, such as the brain SPECT, are useful to identify patients with REM sleep disorders with increased risk of developing a neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

The new study applied brain SPECT to conclude that the levels of dopamine in the brain are quickly lowering over the years in patients with REM sleep behaviour disorder. This neuroimaging technique becomes the first tool to detect the disease progression at an early stage. The first author of the three articles is Dr. Àlex Iranzo, doctor from the Neurology Service at the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, researcher at the Biomedical Research Institute of August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and member of the Multidisciplinary Sleep Disorders Unit , and the senior authors were to Dr. Joan Santamaria and Dr. Eduard Tolosa, from the same institution.

The study involved comparing for three years the evolution of brain SPECT in 20 patients with REM disorder and 20 healthy controls. The neuroimaging technique measures the presence of dopamine in the substantia nigra, a part of the brain associated with learning and harmony of body movements. In Parkinson's disease a deficiency of dopamine in the substantia nigra causes tremor, stiffness and movement slowness in patients. Results show that after 3 years of monitoring the production of dopamine in the control group was reduced by 8% due to age, while the group of REM sleep disorder patients experienced a reduction of 20%. Once the 3 year follow-up ended, 3 of 20 patients in the REM sleep disorder group had developed Parkinson's disease and their dopamine reduction was around 30%.

The three works led by the IDIBAPS -- Hospital Clínic of Barcelona team conclude that more efforts are needed to create neuroprotective drugs that prevent the progression from REM sleep behavior disorders to Parkinson's disease. For the first time scientists have a technique, brain SPECT, to evaluate whether these drugs are effective. Authors of the study suggest that, to be considered effective, a neuroprotective drug should significantly prevent the dopamine concentration from dropping in these patients.

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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by IDIBAPS - Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer.

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The role of relaxation in consumer behavior

ScienceDaily (July 28, 2011) — A forthcoming paper in the American Marketing Association's Journal of Marketing Research by Professor Michel Tuan Pham, Kravis Professor of Business, Marketing, Columbia Business School; Iris W. Hung, Assistant Professor of Marketing, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore; and Gerald J. Gorn, Wang Seng Liang Professor of Business, Marketing Area Chair Professor at the School of Business, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Hong Kong, finds that states of relaxation consistently increase the monetary valuations of products, actually inflating these valuations by about 10 percent.

This phenomenon is demonstrated in six experiments involving two different methods of inducing relaxation, a large number of products of different types, and various methods of assessing monetary valuation. In all six experiments, participants who were put into a relaxed affective state reported higher monetary valuations than participants who were put into an equally pleasant but less relaxed state.

In order to isolate the specific effects of relaxation rather than the more general effects of pleasant states, the researchers used carefully pretested videos and pieces of music to experimentally manipulate participants' state of relaxation while holding constant the pleasantness of their affective state. The procedure ensured that in one condition, participants were more relaxed, whereas in the other condition, participants were less relaxed -- though not stressed -- and feeling equally pleasant. After being put in either of these two states, participants were asked to assess the monetary value of a variety products through various methods. In six studies involving more than 670 participants, relaxed individuals were consistently found to value the products more highly than their less relaxed counterparts.

For example, in one simulated bidding study, relaxed participants bid about 11 percent higher for a digital camera than less-relaxed participants. Whereas the less-relaxed participants' bids were close to the product's estimated market price on online auction sites, relaxed participants' bids were about 15 percent higher than the estimated market price. The same effect was observed across a large variety of products in other studies. Not only did relaxed participants think that relaxing products and services such as a spa treatment or a cruise were worth more, they also thought that exciting products and services (e.g., bungee jumping sessions) and indulgent products and services (e.g., an ice cream sundae) were worth more as well. The influence of relaxation on monetary valuation thus appears to apply to a wide range of products.

The research indicates why bargain-hunters should be aware about their state of mind when making purchases. Professor Pham explains, "The study reveals a psychological reaction to the biology of being relaxed: Your system thinks there is no threat in the environment. As a result, you tend to perceive various things as more desirable. Shoppers should be aware of how this impacts their decision-making."

According to the researchers, relaxed consumers think products are worth more than less-relaxed consumers because relaxed individuals tend to think about the value of products at a more abstract level. For example, when bidding for the camera, relaxed participants focused more on what the camera would enable them to do (e.g., collect memories) and how desirable and advantageous it was to own it, whereas the less-relaxed participants focused more on the concrete features of the camera itself (e.g., the number of megapixels it had, the shutter speed).

The study helps explain why luxury products and services, such as high-end boutiques and luxury hotels, are often sold or provided in relaxing environments. Everything else being equal, consumers will be willing to pay higher prices if marketers are able to relax them first, which has important implications for marketers.

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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Columbia Business School, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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