Search results for "psyc"
showing 10 items of 27156 documents
Linoleic acid: Is this the key that unlocks the quantum brain? Insights linking broken symmetries in molecular biology, mood disorders and personalis…
2017
Abstract In this paper we present a mechanistic model that integrates subneuronal structures, namely ion channels, membrane fatty acids, lipid rafts, G proteins and the cytoskeleton in a dynamic system that is finely tuned in a healthy brain. We also argue that subtle changes in the composition of the membrane’s fatty acids may lead to down-stream effects causing dysregulation of the membrane, cytoskeleton and their interface. Such exquisite sensitivity to minor changes is known to occur in physical systems undergoing phase transitions, the simplest and most studied of them is the so-called Ising model, which exhibits a phase transition at a finite temperature between an ordered and disorde…
Patterns of Eating and Physical Activity Attitudes and Behaviors in Relation to Body Mass Index
2016
The aim of the study was to identify and characterize the patterns of the psychological and behavioral characteristics, in relation to body mass index. In addition, the study examined the associations between the patterns and demographic characteristics, exercise, eating habits, and healthrelated psychological variables. Participants were 361 Greek adults, randomly selected and completed self-reported questionnaires. The surveys examined demographic characteristics, healthrelated psychological variables (attitudes and intentions toward exercise and healthy eating, perceived behavioral control, health locus of control, general health, self-control, and body image) and the behaviors of exerci…
Hippocampal electrical stimulation disrupts associative learning when targeted at dentate spikes
2017
KEY POINTS Dentate spikes are fast fluctuations of hilar local-field potentials that take place during rest and are thought to reflect input arriving from the entorhinal cortex to the hippocampus. During dentate spikes, neuronal firing in hippocampal input (dentate gyrus) and output (CA1/CA3) regions is uncoupled. To date, the behavioural significance of dentate spikes is unknown. Here, we provide evidence that disrupting the dentate spike-related uncoupling of the dentate gyrus and the CA1/CA3 subregions for 1 h after training retards associative learning. We suggest dentate spikes play a significant role in memory consolidation. ABSTRACT Hippocampal electrophysiological oscillations, name…
Causal relationships between neurons of the nucleus incertus and the hippocampal theta activity in the rat
2017
In recent years, a body of evidence has shown that the nucleus incertus (NI), in the dorsal tegmental pons, is a key node of the brainstem circuitry involved in hippocampal theta rhythmicity. Ascending reticular brainstem system activation evokes hippocampal theta rhythm with coupled neuronal activity in the NI. In a recent paper, we showed three populations of neurons in the NI with differential firings during hippocampal theta activation. The objective of this work is to better evaluate the causal relationship between the activity of NI neurons and the hippocampus during theta activation in order to further understand the role of the NI in the theta network. A Granger causality analysis w…
Indomethacin blocks the increased conditioned rewarding effects of cocaine induced by repeated social defeat
2018
It is well established that repeated social defeat stress can induce negative long-term consequences such as increased anxiety-like behavior and enhances the reinforcing effect of psychostimulants in rodents. In the current study, we evaluated how the immune system may play a role in these long-term effects of stress. A total of 148 OF1 mice were divided into different experimental groups according to stress condition (exploration or social defeat) and pre-treatment (saline, 5 or 10 mg/kg of the anti-inflammatory indomethacin) before each social defeat or exploration episode. Three weeks after the last social defeat, anxiety was evaluated using an elevated plus maze paradigm. After this tes…
Oxidative Stress: A Unifying Mechanism for Cell Damage Induced by Noise, (Water-Pipe) Smoking, and Emotional Stress-Therapeutic Strategies Targeting …
2018
Modern technologies have eased our lives but these conveniences can impact our lifestyles in destructive ways. Noise pollution, mental stresses, and smoking (as a stress-relieving solution) are some environmental hazards that affect our well-being and healthcare budgets. Scrutinizing their pathophysiology could lead to solutions to reduce their harmful effects. Recent Advances: Oxidative stress plays an important role in initiating local and systemic inflammation after noise pollution, mental stress, and smoking. Lipid peroxidation and release of lysolipid by-products, disturbance in activation and function of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), induction of stress hormones …
Interactions between odorants and glutathione transferases in the human olfactory cleft
2020
AbstractXenobiotic metabolizing enzymes and other proteins, including odorant-binding proteins located in the nasal epithelium and mucus, participate in a series of processes modulating the concentration of odorants in the environment of olfactory receptors (ORs) and finely impact odor perception. These enzymes and transporters are thought to participate in odorant degradation or transport. Odorant biotransformation results in 1) changes in the odorant quantity up to their clearance and the termination of signaling and 2) the formation of new odorant stimuli (metabolites). Enzymes, such as cytochrome P450 and glutathione transferases (GSTs), have been proposed to participate in odorant clea…
Deviance sensitivity in the auditory cortex of freely moving rats.
2018
Deviance sensitivity is the specific response to a surprising stimulus, one that violates expectations set by the past stimulation stream. In audition, deviance sensitivity is often conflated with stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA), the decrease in responses to a common stimulus that only partially generalizes to other, rare stimuli. SSA is usually measured using oddball sequences, where a common (standard) tone and a rare (deviant) tone are randomly intermixed. However, the larger responses to a tone when deviant does not necessarily represent deviance sensitivity. Deviance sensitivity is commonly tested using a control sequence in which many different tones serve as the standard, eliminat…
The habitual nature of food purchases at the supermarket: Implications for policy making
2020
Abstract Supermarkets have become the most important provider of food products worldwide. However, empirical evidence about how consumers make their food purchase decisions in this environment is still scarce. The present field study aimed to: i) explore how people make their in-store food purchases, and ii) identify the information they search for when making those purchases. Consumers (n = 144) were intercepted when entering the facilities of three supermarkets in two Uruguayan cities. They were asked to wear a mobile eye-tracker while they made their purchases as they normally do. The great majority of the consumers bought at least one food product or beverage (92%) and, on average, exam…
Chemical probes to potently and selectively inhibit endocannabinoid cellular reuptake
2017
The extracellular effects of the endocannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol are terminated by enzymatic hydrolysis after crossing cellular membranes by facilitated diffusion. The lack of potent and selective inhibitors for endocannabinoid transport has prevented the molecular characterization of this process, thus hindering its biochemical investigation and pharmacological exploitation. Here, we report the design, chemical synthesis, and biological profiling of natural product-derived N-substituted 2,4-dodecadienamides as a selective endocannabinoid uptake inhibitor. The highly potent (IC50 = 10 nM) inhibitor N-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl amide (WOBE437) exerted pronounced canna…