Background. During the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), people are under the dual pressure of interpersonal isolation and concerns about infection. An evaluation of people’s psychological status and risk factors is needed to conduct target interventions. Methods. This was a nationwide, multicenter, cross-sectional study using quota and snowball sampling methods during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Participants’ characteristics and experiences were obtained by an online questionnaire and telephone review. Psychological distress and sleep problems were measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Insomnia Severity Index. Results. A total of 23,500 participants were recruited, and 19,372 valid questionnaires were received from 11 centers. Overall, 11.0–13.3% of the participants had anxiety, depression, or insomnia symptoms, and 1.9–2.7% had severe symptoms. The prevalence of psychological and sleep problems has increased. Working as frontline medical staff (Odds Ratio OR = 3.406), living in Hubei Province (OR = 2.237), close contacts with COVID-19 (OR = 1.808), and age 35–49 years (OR = 1.310) were risk factors for anxiety symptoms; no outside activity for 2 weeks (OR = 2.167) and age 35–49 years (OR = 1.198) were risk factors for depression symptoms; and living in Hubei Province (OR = 2.376), no outside activity for 2 weeks (OR = 1.927), and age 35–49 years (OR = 1.262) were risk factors for insomnia symptoms. Only 1.9% of participants received counseling during the epidemic. Conclusions. Psychological and sleep problems increased during interpersonal isolation due to COVID-19. Current psychological interventions are far from sufficient.

Purpose To determine whether there are in vivo differences of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in frontal and parietal regions of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients, compared with healthy controls using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Materials and Methods Fifteen AD patients and fifteen age- and gender-matched healthy controls underwent 1H-MRS of the frontal and parietal lobes using the “MEGA-Point Resolved Spectroscopy Sequence” (MEGA-PRESS) technique, and cognitive levels of subjects were evaluated using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) tests. MRS data were processed using the Gannet program. Because the signal detected by MEGA-PRESS includes contributions from GABA, macromolecules and homocarnosine, it is labeled as “GABA+” rather than GABA. Differences of GABA+/Cr ratios between AD patients and controls were tested using covariance analysis, adjusting for gray matter fraction. The relationship between GABA+/Cr and MMSE scores was also analyzed. Results Significant lower GABA+/Cr ratios were found in the parietal region of AD patients compared with controls (P = 0.041). In AD patients, no significant correlations between GABA+/Cr and MMSE scores were found in either the frontal (r = −0.164; P = 0.558) or parietal regions (r = 0.025; P = 0.929). Conclusion Decreased GABA+/Cr levels were present in the parietal region of patients with AD in vivo, suggesting that abnormalities of the GABAergic system may be present in the pathogenesis of AD.

Introduction: Subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment (svMCI) is the predemen-