Neuroreport
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Near-miss plays an important role in the development of gambling addictions. In this study, we measured the neural correlates of the process by which near-miss outcomes are evaluated in simplified, static, slot-machine gambling using event-related potentials. ⋯ The subjective value and objective value of outcome were assessed separately to discuss FRN on outcome evaluation. It is suggested that FRN is mediated not only by the objective value of outcomes but also by the subjective value of feedback.
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Paroxetine increases the levels of neurosteroids, such as allopregnanolone (AP), that influence the excitability of the central nervous system by positive allosteric modulation of γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors. Here, we investigated the role of AP synthesis on the paroxetine-induced antihyperalgesic effect in a rat model of neuropathic pain induced by lumbar spinal nerve ligation (SNL). Subcutaneous administration of paroxetine in SNL rats, dose-dependently decreased the probability of hyperalgesic response and increased AP levels in the spine but not in either brain or serum. ⋯ Intrathecal injection of exogenous AP mimicked the analgesic effects of paroxetine in vehicle-treated SNL rats, whereas no additional analgesic effects were observed in paroxetine-treated SNL rats. Our findings suggest that the antihyperalgesic effect of paroxetine in a rat neuropathic pain model is AP-mediated. These results also suggest that pharmacological-based therapies targeting AP synthesis might be a promising treatment for neuropathic pain.
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Neurophysiological underpinnings of the integration of information during sentence comprehension have been studied since 1980. However, little is known about integrative processes in sentences containing a word that is semantically congruent, but factually incompatible with the context. ⋯ Eighteen healthy volunteers underwent functional MRI while listening passively to 40 correct and 40 incorrect sentences. The contrast between factually correct and incorrect sentence endings revealed large activation areas in the left inferior frontal gyrus, the left middle/superior temporal gyrus, and smaller activations of these areas' homologs in the right hemisphere, in the thalamus, and Brodmann area 6.