Blockade of nucleus basalis magnocellularis or activation of insular cortex histamine receptors disrupts formation but not retrieval of aversive taste memory

Recent research, using several experimental models, demonstrated that the histaminergic system is clearly involved in memory formation. This evidence suggested that during different associative learning tasks, histamine receptor subtypes have opposite functions, related to the regulation of cortical cholinergic activity. Given that cortical cholinergic activity and nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) integrity are needed during taste memory formation, the aim of this study was to determine the role of histamine receptors during conditioned taste aversion (CTA). We evaluated the effects of bilateral infusions of 0.5 μl of pyrilamine (100 mM), an H₁ receptor antagonist, into the NBM, or of R-α-methylhistamine (RAMH) (10 mM), an H₃ receptor agonist, into the insular cortex of male Sprague-Dawley rats 20 min before acquisition and/or retrieval of conditioned taste aversion. The results showed that blockade of H₁ receptors in NBM or activation of H₃ receptors in the insular cortex impairs formation but not retrieval of aversive taste memory. These results demonstrated differential roles for histamine receptors in two important areas for taste memory formation and suggest that these effects could be related with the cortical cholinergic activity modulation during CTA acquisition.     

Belief in a just world and well-being of bullies,victims and defenders: a study with Portuguese and Indian students

Abstract

Previous findings characterize the belief in a just world (BJW) as a valuable resource for maintaining positive well-being and assimilating injustice. The present cross-sectional study applies just world research to school bullying and tested the hypotheses that the personal BJW is positively correlated with subjective well-being, here particularly school distress. In this paper the generalizability of this association is tested in victims, bullies, and defenders, and across gender and also two countries with different cultures, Portugal and India. We will test if BJW can best be interpreted as a personal resource (main effect) or a buffer (moderator) for the distress of victims, bullies and defenders of the victims. The participants were 465 school students (Portuguese sample: 187 students aged between 12 and 18 years; Indian sample: 278 Indian students aged between 14 and 17 years). Overall, the results of the study supported the personal resource hypothesis. The stronger the adolescents’ endorsements of the BJW the less they felt distressed at school, and this was true independent of their bullying behavior and within both sexes and across both samples, although boys, bullies, and Portuguese adolescents experienced more distress and defenders experienced less distress at school.     

Psychosocial Adjustment in Male-to-Female Transsexuals: An Overview of the Research Evidence

Transsexualism has been defined as an extreme gender dysphoria; it refers to unhappiness with one's biological sex and the desire to have the body of the opposite sex and to be regarded by others as a member of that other sex. Transsexualism is not a common condition, but its prevalence is not yet known. A large number of transsexuals receive hormonal treatment and sex reassignment surgery (SRS). In spite of years of poor quality research, due in part to methodological problems, recent research on surgical outcomes has provided important information. However, psychological research into transsexualism has ignored the cognitive style and psychological functioning of transsexuals, and very little effort has been made to incorporate research findings into the development of psychological treatments to improve the quality of life for transsexuals.     

Workplace mobbing and effects on workers' health

In this work, we analyze various consequences of the phenomenon of mobbing on the health of a work sector with special characteristics: the agro fruit sector. For this purpose, we collected data from a sample of 396 workers (61 men and 331 women) belonging to this sector in the Region of Murcia (Spain). A questionnaire with the following measurement instruments was administered: a Spanish adaptation of the revised Negative Acts Questionnaire (Sáez, García, & Llor, 2003), the Psychosomatic Problems Questionnaire (Hock, 1988), and a measure of absenteeism. The results revealed a significant and positive relation between workplace mobbing and psychosomatic symptoms, but not with absenteeism. The implications of the results for future research are discussed.     

Psychometric properties of the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) among HIV/AIDS patients

AIDS patients and HIV carriers who are aware of their condition are under multiple kinds of stress with adverse effects on their emotional state and personal and social activity. This paper reports the psychometric properties of the DAS (Death Anxiety Scale) using the Spanish version in the clinical setting. The sample is made up of 148 HIV/AIDS patients (109 men and 39 women). The internal consistency of the scale was .72 and its test-retest reliability was .70. Principal components analysis extracted five factors that jointly accounted for 56.5% of the total variance. As, on the whole, these results are very similar to those reported by other authors, it is concluded that the Spanish DAS is a valid instrument for the assessment of death anxiety in Spanish HIV/AIDS patients.     

Psychometric properties of the Escala de Autoeficacia para el Afrontamiento del Estrés (EAEAE)

This paper presents the theoretical construct of and an instrument for its assessment, the Escala de Autoeficacia para el Afrontamiento del Estrés (EAEAE; in English, Coping with Stress Self-Efficacy Scale), as well as the results obtained concerning its psychometric properties from an adult population. 812 individuals, aged 18 to 64 years old ( M = 26.46, SD = 9.93, 62.6% females and 37.4% males), recruited from various contexts, participated in this study. Participants completed the EAEAE along with other measures of constructs theoretically related to this specific self-efficacy. The EAEAE shows appropriate reliability in its complete form as well as in its two subscales of Efficacy Expectations and Outcome Expectations, and adequate factorial construct validity (which reveals the bi-dimensionality of the instrument), and convergent validity with the remaining measures. The characteristics of brevity and ease of application of the scale, in addition to its adequate psychometric properties, indicate that the EAEAE is an appropriate tool to assess and investigate coping with stress self-efficacy in research as well as clinical settings.