Acute exposure to a novel stressor further reduces the habituated corticosterone response to restraint in rats

The present study sought to identify dishabituation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis response to different psychological stressors. Young adult male Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to five, 1 h sessions of restraint stress on five consecutive days. On the sixth day, and 2 h before additional exposure to restraint, animals were subjected to 30 min of a small (27cm square), elevated open field stressor (pedestal), which served as the dishabituating stimulus. We predicted HPA axis response dishabituation in chronically restrained rats exposed to the novel pedestal. Rats which underwent five days of restraint stress showed significantly blunted plasma corticosterone levels to restraint (habituation) as compared to restraint-nai've rats. However, rats which underwent five sessions of restraint responded with an enhanced habituation response when confronted with restraint shortly after exposure to the novel pedestal. Instead of HPA axis response dishabituation, we observed enhanced habituation. Subsequent experiments determined that a 1.25 mgkg corticosterone injection could substitute for pedestal exposure to produce enhanced restraint habituation.Combined treatment with both the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU40555 (30 mgkg)and the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist RU283 18 (50 mgkg) blocked the expression of enhanced habituation after pedestal exposure. Thus, the delayed corticosterone negative feedback produced by novel stress led to enhanced expression of corticosterone response habituation.     

The Dance: Essence of Embodiment

An analysis of movement, and particularly of dance,helps us to see in an extraordinarily effective way the meaningof embodiment. This paper then looks through the eyes ofdance theorists and at philosophers who consider dance andmovement and their meaning of embodiment. A study of movementand dance encompasses the fullest meaning of embodiment: that theembodied way of being-in-the-world is also an embedded way ofbeing in a world of others. Dance has critically importantsocial ramifications. In our own and other cultures, dance playsan important role in healing and in health enhancement.     

Factors Associated with Providers’ Work Engagement and Burnout in Homeless Services: A Cross‐national Study

The complexity of homeless service users’ characteristics and the contextual challenges faced by services can make the experience of working with people in homelessness stressful and can put providers’ well‐being at risk. In the current study, we investigated the association between service characteristics (i.e., the availability of training and supervision and the capability‐fostering approach) and social service providers’ work engagement and burnout. The study involved 497 social service providers working in homeless services in eight different European countries (62% women; mean age = 40.73, SD = 10.45) and was part of the Horizon 2020 European study “Homelessness as Unfairness (HOME_EU).” Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), findings showed that the availability of training and supervision were positively associated with providers’ work engagement and negatively associated with burnout. However, results varied based on the perceived usefulness of the training and supervision provided within the service and the specific outcome considered. The most consistent finding was the association between the degree to which a service promotes users’ capabilities and all the aspects of providers’ well‐being analyzed. Results are discussed in relation to their implications for how configuration of homeless services can promote social service providers’ well‐being and high‐quality care.     

Political Conviction and Epistemic Injustice

Philosophia - Epistemic injustice occurs when we fail to appropriately respect others as epistemic agents. Philosophers building on the work of Miranda Fricker, who introduced the concept, have...     

Adopted Individuals’ Views on the Utility and Value of Expanded Carrier Screening

Adoptees may not have family medical history and ethnicity information. Carrier screening assesses reproductive risk. Expanded carrier screening (ECS) screens for many genetic conditions regardless of a patient’s knowledge of family history and ethnicity. This study aimed to better understand the opinions and attitudes of adopted individuals on the use of ECS in determining a patient’s reproductive genetic risks. Specifically, the study assessed how adopted individuals feel that results of ECS may be useful to them and whether adoptees feel that meeting with a genetics professional in the process of undergoing ECS would be useful. Adult adoptees (N?=?124) were recruited online. Their opinions on ECS were explored. The majority reported they had never been offered carrier screening (92%). The majority of adoptees wanted ECS (76%). Neither the amount of contact with biological relatives nor having medical knowledge about biological relatives was significantly associated with adoptees’ desire to pursue ECS. There was a significant positive correlation between adoptees of higher education levels and the amount they would pay for ECS (p?=?0.004). The majority of participants (95%) indicated a genetics professional would be helpful when undergoing ECS. The findings suggest this population may want ECS and support from genetics healthcare professionals. Advocacy for genetic counseling and testing for adoptees appears justifiable.     

Examining How Romantic Relationship Quality Influences Individual Psychological Distress Over Time for Men and Women

Poor relationship quality can increase an individual’s psychological distress. There is substantial debate regarding the influence of relationship quality for men and women. Some have found that women’s psychological distress is affected more by poor relationship quality compared to men. Others have found that psychological distress is equally affected for men and women, but it may look different—depressive symptoms for women and total alcohol consumption for men. In this study we examined how men and women differed in changes in relationship quality and changes in psychological distress. Then, we examined how changes in one manifestation of psychological distress and changes in relationship quality were related and how this association differed for men and women. Women reported lower initial relationship quality and total alcohol consumption but higher initial depressive symptoms. Men and women only differed on changes in total alcohol consumption, with women decreasing less than men over 25 years. Finally, both changes in total alcohol consumption and changes in depressive symptoms were related to changes in relationship quality for women, but not men. The reverse direction did not differ by gender, although change in depressive symptoms was related to change in relationship quality. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Representational coexistence in the God concept: Core knowledge intuitions of God as a person are not revised by Christian theology despite lifelong experience

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Previous research has shown that in the minds of young adult religious adherents, acquired theology about the extraordinary characteristics of God (e.g.,...     

Who Do You Think You Are? Evolving Ethical Meaning Making

People must develop ways to determine and manage acceptable and unacceptable behaviors within their communities, although not all communities create the same ethical systems. Understanding differences in ethical systems, including between constructivists and their critics, might benefit from considering constructive-developmental theory, which views ethics as related to evolving individual self-identities in a context of accompanying cultural evolution. By considering that people's ethical frameworks evolve over the life span and that current society consists of people at various levels within that evolutionary process, we may arrive at a better understanding of ethical differences and include a wider range of perspectives in our discourse.