Physiology & behavior
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Physiology & behavior · May 2013
WITHDRAWN: Having your cake and eating it too: A habit of comfort food may link chronic social stress exposure and acute stress-induced cortisol hyporesponsiveness.
This article has been withdrawn at the request of the Publisher due to a production error that led to a duplicate version being created. The full text of the accepted version of this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2013.02.018. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause to authors and readers. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy.
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Physiology & behavior · Mar 2013
Anxiety correlates with somatic symptoms and sleep status at high altitudes.
High altitude exposure results in many physical and psychological discomforts, with anxiety and sleep disturbances being the most common ones. This cross-sectional study was performed to explore the relationship between anxiety, somatic symptoms, and sleep status at high altitude. A sample of 426 young males between 18 and 24 years old ascended from low-level land to 3600 m, where they acclimated for 40 days, before ascending to 4400 m. ⋯ Overall, these data indicate that after 40 days acclimatization in 3600 m, anxious persons have more severe somatic symptoms. When ascending to higher altitudes, these individuals are more likely to develop AMS, show more severe symptoms, and are prone to insomnia and more serious daytime sleepiness. Insomnia and elevated HR are indicators of anxiety severity.
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Physiology & behavior · Jan 2013
Involvement of nitrergic system of CA1in harmane induced learning and memory deficits.
Harmane (HA) is a β-carboline alkaloid derived from the Peganum harmala plant which induces memory impairment. On the other hand some of the investigations showed that β-carboline alkaloids inhibit NO production. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the role of nitrergic system of the dorsal hippocampus (CA1) in HA-induced amnesia in male adult mice. ⋯ Furthermore, neither sole pre-training nor pre-testing administration of l-arginine, a NO precursor (3, 6 and 9 μg/mice, intra-CA1), altered memory retrieval. In addition, pre-testing (6 and 9 μg/mice, intra-CA1), but not pre-training, injection of l-arginine increased HA-induced amnesia (16 mg/kg, i.p.). These results suggest that the nitrergic system of CA1 is involved in HA-induced amnesia.
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Physiology & behavior · Dec 2012
Post-weaning social isolation attenuates c-Fos expression in GABAergic interneurons in the basolateral amygdala of adult female rats.
Previous studies have found that adolescent social isolation of rats can lead to an increased anxiety state during adulthood, while chronic anxiety states are associated with dysregulated local GABAergic inhibition within the basolateral amygdala (BL). Therefore, we investigated the effects of post-weaning social isolation of female rats, in combination with a challenge with the anxiogenic drug, N-methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxamide (FG-7142), on a subset of GABAergic interneurons in the BL in adulthood using dual immunohistochemical staining for c-Fos and parvalbumin. Juvenile female rats were reared in isolation or in groups of three for a 3-week period from weaning to mid-adolescence, after which all rats were group-housed for an additional 2 weeks. ⋯ Isolation rearing had a main effect to decrease c-Fos expression in GABAergic interneurons in the anterior part of the BL compared to group-reared rats. These data suggest that post-weaning social isolation of female rats leads to dysregulation of a parvalbumin-containing subset of local GABAergic interneurons in the anterior part of the BL, which have previously been implicated in the pathophysiology of chronic anxiety states. These cellular changes may lead to an increased vulnerability to stress- and anxiety-related responses in adulthood.
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Physiology & behavior · Oct 2012
Acute psychosocial stress differentially influences salivary endocrine and immune measures in undergraduate students.
Undergraduate students routinely experience acute psychosocial stress when interviewing for post-collegiate employment. While numerous studies have demonstrated that acute stress can increase release of immune-relevant molecules in blood, fewer studies have examined if acute stress also increases immune-relevant molecules into saliva. Saliva, and the biomolecules found in saliva often serve important immune defense roles and can be used to non-invasively screen for many systemic diseases. ⋯ These results suggest that acute stress experienced by undergraduates when interviewing for a job activates the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and that cortisol levels increase in saliva. Stress-induced elevations in cortisol might be responsible for the decreased S-IgA observed following the recovery period. Collectively, these data provide further insight into the interaction between psychosocial stress, endocrine, and immune functioning.