Hippocampus
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Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric illness characterized by restricted eating and irrational fears of gaining weight. There is no accepted pharmacological treatment for AN, and AN has the highest mortality rate among psychiatric illnesses. Anorexia nervosa most commonly affects females during adolescence, suggesting an effect of sex and hormones on vulnerability to the disease. ⋯ The proportion of mature spines on dendrites from the P44-ABA animals is similar to that on dendrites from P55-CON animals. These results suggest that the experience of ABA may cause precocious anatomical development of the ventral hippocampus. Importantly, we found that adolescence is a period of continued development of the hippocampus, and increased vulnerability to mental disorders during adolescence may be due to insults during this developmentally critical period.
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Learning and memory deficits are a source of considerable morbidity after traumatic brain injury (TBI). We investigated the effect of different patterns of hippocampal stimulation via a fornix electrode on cognitively demanding tasks after TBI. ⋯ Deficits in learning and memory after TBI are improved with TBS of the hippocampus. HFS and LFS do not appear to produce as great an effect as TBS.