Sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (AD) derives from an interplay among environmental factors and genetic variants, while epigenetic modifications have been expected to affect the onset and progression of its complex etiopathology. Carriers of one copy of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) ε4 allele have a 4-fold increased AD risk, while APOE ε4/ε4-carriers have a 12-fold increased risk of developing AD in comparison with the APOE ε3-carriers. The main longevity factor is the homozygous APOE ε3/ε3 genotype. In the present narrative review article, we summarized and described the role of APOE epigenetics in aging and AD pathophysiology. It is not fully understood how APOE variants may increase or decrease AD risk, but this gene may affect tau- and amyloid-mediated neurodegeneration directly or indirectly, also by affecting lipid metabolism and inflammation. For sporadic AD, epigenetic regulatory mechanisms may control and influence APOE expression in response to external insults. Diet, a major environmental factor, has been significantly associated with physical exercise, cognitive function, and the methylation level of several cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) dinucleotide sites of APOE.

Bullying and violence are relevant issues in school settings and negatively impact students’ well-being and mental health. Psychoeducation and anti-bullying programs may prevent violence among students by addressing emotional expression and regulation, alexithymia, and anger. We describe the impact of a psychoeducational intervention delivered to 90 male and 101 female school youths (N = 191), aged 12–14 years old, and aimed to improve their emotional recognition and regulation, as well as to reduce alexithymia in order to prevent aggression and bullying episodes. A psychological assessment has been performed before (T0) and after (T1) the intervention including levels of alexithymia, measured with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), Empathy Quotient (EQ), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Females have shown higher levels of alexithymia at baseline whereas other characteristics (anger, empathy quotient and emotional regulation) did not differ among sex groups. The psychoeducational program significantly increased the empathy quotient (+10.2%), the emotional regulation reappraisal (+20.3%), and the assertive anger expression (+10.9%); alexithymia significantly decreased after the intervention in all the samples (−14.4%), above all among students scoring ≥61 at TAS-20 (−48.2%). Limitations include a small sample from a single school setting, the lack of a control group without psychoeducation, and an assessment based on self-reported measures. We may conclude that psychoeducation has significantly reduced levels of alexithymia and improved empathy and emotional regulation among adolescents.

Agomelatine (AGM) is one of the latest atypical antidepressants, prescribed exclusively for the treatment of depression in adults. AGM belongs to the pharmaceutical class of melatonin agonist and selective serotonin antagonist (“MASS”), as it acts both as a selective agonist of melatonin receptors MT1 and MT2, and as a selective antagonist of 5-HT2C/5-HT2B receptors. AGM is involved in the resynchronization of interrupted circadian rhythms, with beneficial effects on sleep patterns, while antagonism on serotonin receptors increases the availability of norepinephrine and dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, with an antidepressant and nootropic effect. The use of AGM in the pediatric population is limited by the scarcity of data. In addition, few studies and case reports have been published on the use of AGM in patients with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Considering this evidence, the purpose of this review is to report the potential role of AGM in neurological developmental disorders. AGM would increase the expression of the cytoskeleton-associated protein (ARC) in the prefrontal cortex, with optimization of learning, long-term memory consolidation, and improved survival of neurons. Another important feature of AGM is the ability to modulate glutamatergic neurotransmission in regions associated with mood and cognition. With its synergistic activity a melatoninergic agonist and an antagonist of 5-HT2C, AGM acts as an antidepressant, psychostimulant, and promoter of neuronal plasticity, regulating cognitive symptoms, resynchronizing circadian rhythms in patients with autism, ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Given its good tolerability and good compliance, it could potentially be administered to adolescents and children.

(1) Background: Family psychoeducation is a well-recognized intervention which aims to improve the outcomes of illness in patients affected by psychosis. It has benefits in treatment adherence and leads to a reduction in relapses, higher levels of patient insight, and lower levels of stress within the family and among caregivers. (2) Methods: Eight patients and their families were recruited and randomly assigned to a Falloon-based family psychoeducation (FPP) intervention, and nine patients and their families were randomized to a Gestalt-based family intervention (GT). We compared the outcomes of these two treatment groups at a baseline assessment (T0), at the end of the programs (T1), and 6 and 12 months after the end of the programs (T2 and T3). The assessments included examinations of cognition (The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and The Five Point Test (5 Point)), the psychopathology and severity of illness (The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and The Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI)), expressed emotion in families (Expressed Emotionality (Family Questionnaire-EE)), patient quality of life (The World Health Organization Quality of Life—BREF (WHOQOL-B)), social functioning (The Personal Social Performance (SPS)), aggression (Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS)), and treatment adherence (The Brief Medication Adherence Report Scale (BMARS)). The primary aim was to test whether the FFP vs. GT program was more effective in improving treatment adherence over time. (3) Results: treatment adherence improved much more in the FFP group over time at any follow-up: +43.1% at T1, +24.0% at T2, and +41.6% at T3. Other characteristics, including psychopathology and the clinical stability of the subject, did not change over time. (4) Discussion: Family psychoeducation based on the Falloon program was effective at improving treatment adherence and contributed to avoiding relapses in the long term. Further studies on larger samples should be conducted to confirm this evidence, and similar psychoeducational programs should be routinely promoted in the clinical setting.

(1) Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative autoimmune disease. Fatigue is a prevalent and debilitating symptom that significantly impacts the quality of life of these patients. A relationship between personality traits and fatigue in MS has been hypothesized but not clearly defined. (2) Methods: A literature search was carried out from databases up to April 2023 for studies correlating personality traits and fatigue in patients suffering from MS. (3) Results: A total of ten articles was included; most of the studies depict a neuroticism–fatigue correlation; however, they were not consistent in terms of the fatigue, personality, and covariate assessments. (4) Conclusions: The clinical and methodological heterogeneity of the included studies prevented us from drawing any firm conclusion on the link between personality traits and fatigue in MS. Several models of personality and different fatigue assessments have been found. Despite this, a common pathway shows that the neuroticism trait or similar personality patterns has a role in fatigue diagnosis. This may be a useful target to improve the quality of life and enhance the modification of the disease treatment results. Further homogeneous and longitudinal studies are needed.

Neurocognitive deficits and negative symptoms (NS) have a pivotal role in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZ) due to their impact on patients’ functioning in everyday life and their influence on goal-directed behavior and decision-making. P3b is considered an optimal electrophysiological candidate biomarker of neurocognitive impairment for its association with the allocation of attentional resources to task-relevant stimuli, an important factor for efficient decision-making, as well as for motivation-related processes. Furthermore, associations between P3b deficits and NS have been reported. The current research aims to fill the lack of studies investigating, in the same subjects, the associations of P3b with multiple cognitive domains and the expressive and motivation-related domains of NS, evaluated with state-of-the-art instruments. One hundred and fourteen SCZ and 63 healthy controls (HCs) were included in the study. P3b amplitude was significantly reduced and P3b latency prolonged in SCZ as compared to HCs. In SCZ, a positive correlation was found between P3b latency and age and between P3b amplitude and the Attention-vigilance domain, while no significant correlations were found between P3b and the two NS domains. Our results indicate that the effortful allocation of attention to task-relevant stimuli, an important component of decision-making, is compromised in SCZ, independently of motivation deficits or other NS.