Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Jan 2003
Comparative StudySex differences in brain maturation in maltreatment-related pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder.
Recent investigations suggested that pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with adverse brain development. However, sex differences are poorly understood. ⋯ These data suggest that there are sex differences in the brain maturation of boys and girls with maltreatment-related PTSD. Longitudinal MRI brain investigations of childhood PTSD and the relationship of gender to psychosocial outcomes are warranted.
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Age-graded decrements in accuracies and maximum speed of fine motor movements observed in numerous experimental studies have nurtured general factor explanations like the assumption of general age-related slowing of central cognitive processes. This review focuses on two domains of investigation that yielded challenges to general factor models. ⋯ It is argued that the process dissociations observed at the behavioral level in developmental (i.e. age and expertise) studies reflect individuals' long-term adaptations to internal and external performance constraints. The outcomes of these adaptation processes are stable interindividual differences in component processes.
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Dec 2001
Comparative StudyHippocampal involvement in the expression of kindling-induced fear in rats.
Kindling dramatically increases fearful behavior in rats. Because kindling-induced fear increases in magnitude as rats receive more stimulations, kindling provides a superb opportunity to study the nature and neural mechanisms of fear sensitization. Interestingly, these changes in behavior are accompanied by increased binding to inhibitory receptors and decreased binding to excitatory receptors in the CA1 and dentate gyrus regions of the hippocampus. ⋯ We found that FOS immunoreactivity was significantly decreased in the CA1 region, dentate gyrus, and perirhinal cortex of kindled rats compared to sham-stimulated rats. These results support our hypothesis that kindling-induced fear may be produced by inhibition within hippocampal circuits. They also suggest that neural changes within the hippocampus may be important for the sensitization of fear.
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Jun 2000
ReviewSex-related hormonal influences on pain and analgesic responses.
Considerable evidence indicates sex-related differences in pain responses and in the effectiveness of various analgesic agents. Specifically, females are at greater risk for experiencing many forms of clinical pain and are more sensitive to experimentally induced pain relative to males. Regarding analgesic responses, nonhuman animal studies indicate greater opioid analgesia for males, while a limited human literature suggests the opposite. ⋯ Next, human studies regarding gonadal hormonal influences on experimental pain responses are reviewed. Several potential mechanisms underlying hormonal effects on nociceptive processing are discussed, including hormonal effects to both peripheral and central nervous system pathways involved in pain transmission. Finally, based on these findings we draw several conclusions and make specific recommendations that will guide future research as it attempts to elucidate the magnitude and importance of sex-related hormonal effects on the experience of pain.
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewThe cognitive-energetic model: an empirical approach to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a childhood psychiatric disorder which when carefully defined, affects around 1% of the childhood population [Swanson JM, Sergeant JA, Taylor E, Sonuga-Barke EJS, Jensen PS, Canwell DP. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and hyperkinetic disorder. Lancet 1998;351:429-433]. ⋯ Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: from brain dysyfunctions to behaviour. Behavioural Brain Research 1998;94:1-10]. A plea for an integrated attack on this research problem is made and the suggestion that conceptual refinement between levels of analysis is essential for further fundamental work to succeed is offered here.