Individual differences in positivity offset and negativity bias: Gender-specific associations with two serotonin receptor genes

Individual differences in the evaluation of affective stimuli, such as the positivity offset and negativity bias may have a biological basis. We tested whether two SNPs (HTR2A; 102T>C and HTR1A; 1019C>G) related to serotonin receptor function, a biological pathway associated with affective regulation, were differentially related to positivity offset and negativity bias for males and females. Participants were 109 cigarette smokers who rated a series of affective stimuli to assess reactions to positive and negative pictures. Gender × genotype interactions were found for both SNPs. Males with the 102T allele showed a greater positivity offset than males with the 102C allele. For females, in contrast, the 1019C allele was associated with a greater positivity offset than the 1019G allele, whereas the 102T allele was associated with a greater negativity bias than the 102C allele. Identifying how gender differences may moderate the effect of serotonin receptor genes on affective information processing may provide insight into their role in guiding behavior and regulating affect.     

非正态分布测量数据对克隆巴赫信度α系数的影响

对“增大被试群体异质性,能提高测验信度”观点提出质疑。讨论非正态分布测量数据的偏度对克隆巴赫信度α系数的影响,以模拟方法验证Box—COX正态化变换对信度的高估现象,进而给出对克隆巴赫信度α系数估计的改进方法。     

用ROC评价AFP、VEGF和瘦素对HCC的诊断价值

用受试者工作特性曲线（ROC）对184例HCC患者和73例健康对照者的血清AFP、VEGF、Lep及三者联合检测结果进行评价。结果显示：AFP、VEGF、Lep测定结果在两组资料间比较均有统计学意义（P〈0．01）。HCC患者的AFP、VEGF、Lep与三者联合检测在ROC曲线下面积分别为0．902、0．841、0．712和0．952。AFP、VEGF、Lep对HCC的临床诊断临界点分别为25ug／L、25lng／L和15ug／L。因此,AFP、VEGF、Lep三者联合检测可显著提高对HCC诊断的灵敏度和有效性,优于AFP、VEGF、Lep的单项检测。     

海马NMDA受体经SP-NK1受体通路参与慢性应激诱发的抑郁样行为

为探讨海马N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸(N-methyl-D-aspartic acid, NMDA)受体与P物质(Substance P, SP)及其神经激肽1 (neurokinin1, NK1)受体在慢性不可预见性温和应激(chronic unpredictable mild stress, CUMS) 中的作用及其关系, 通过建立CUMS动物模型, 大鼠海马微量注射给药, 测量大鼠体重, 并采用糖水偏爱测试、旷场实验和悬尾实验等方法对大鼠进行行为学检测, 运用高效液相色谱(HPLC)法分析大鼠海马组织中SP和谷氨酸(glutamate, Glu)的含量变化。结果显示, CUMS诱发大鼠表现出明显的抑郁样行为, 海马组织中SP和Glu水平显著增加; 海马注射NMDA, 大鼠表现出与CUMS/SAL组相似的抑郁样行为, 且海马组织中SP的含量比正常对照组显著增加; 微量注射NK1受体阻断剂CP-96345和/或NMDA受体阻断剂MK-801后, 大鼠抑郁样行为明显改善, 且MK-801使CUMS导致的大鼠海马P物质水平升高得到明显控制, 而CP-96345没有明显改变CUMS引起的海马Glu水平升高; CP-96345使NMDA引起的抑郁样行为得到极显著改善。以上结果表明, 慢性应激引起大鼠海马Glu过量释放, 通过激活NMDA受体, 促进P物质合成释放增加, 激活NK1受体, 是导致抑郁样行为发生的重要途径之一。     

Alpha synchronization as a brain model for unconscious defense: An overview of the work of Howard Shevrin and his team

Howard Shevrin and his team have developed a stringent subliminal priming methodology, which experimentally approximates a situation of an internal, mental triggering of unconscious defense. Through a series of four studies they thus are able to bring evidence for this type of unconscious defense. With event‐related potentials, three clinical studies show how synchronization of a specific brain wave, the alpha wave, known for its inhibitory function, is also induced by subliminally presented conflictual subject‐specific stimuli. Therefore, alpha synchronization could serve as the brain mechanism of unconscious defense. The results only make sense if we suppose the existence of a dynamic unconscious, which has inherited childhood conflicts, and with privileged connections to neurotic symptom characteristics. Moreover, by showing that the unconscious conflict phrases, inferred by clinicians from clinical interviews, have a similar brain behavior, Shevrin and his team provide evidence that these inferences are not simply clinician‐dependent subjective interpretations but also imply some form of independent mental reality. Finally, interpretation of the results has led us to propose two distinct physiological mechanisms for defense: one, unconscious defense, by alpha synchronization in connection with the drive derivatives, and another, repression, based on the indications of reality in connection with the ego.     

Trait Emotional Intelligence,Self‐Reported Affect,and Salivary Alpha‐Amylase on Working Days and a Non‐Working Day

This study examined the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (EI) and variation in psychological (positive affect: PA, negative affect: NA) and psychophysiological (salivary alpha‐amylase: sAA) indicators among Japanese employees over 3 consecutive days (working day 1, non‐working day, working day 2). The analyses revealed that higher trait EI was associated across the days with higher PA, but not with NA. Moreover, diurnal sAA levels were lower in the high trait EI group than in the low trait EI group on the intervening non‐working day, and this difference between the EI groups continued to show a tendency to significance on working day 2. The results indicate that higher EI may be related to the preservation of higher levels of PA and lower levels of sympathetic activity in recovery in the naturalistic condition.     

褪黑素受体MT1在骨肉瘤中的表达及临床意义

采用免疫组化法检测MT1在40例骨肉瘤及20例骨软骨瘤组织中的表达。结果显示MT1在骨肉瘤中的表达率（70％）明显高于骨软骨瘤（35％）（P〈0．05）。MT1的表达与骨肉瘤的Enneking分期、复发和转移相关（P〈0．05）,而与性别、年龄、肿瘤体积、Dahlin＇s组织学分型无关（P〉0．05）。因此,MT1可作...     

The role of nucleus accumbens and dorsolateral striatal D2 receptors in active avoidance conditioning

The role of dopamine (DA) in rewarding motivated actions is well established but its role in learning how to avoid aversive events is still controversial. Here we tested the role of D2-like DA receptors in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) of rats in the learning and performance of conditioned avoidance responses (CAR). Adult male Wistar rats received systemic, intra-NAc or intra-DLS (pre- or post-training) administration of a D2-like receptor agonist (quinpirole) or antagonist ((−)sulpiride) and were given two sessions in the two-way active avoidance task. The main effects observed were: (i) sulpiride and lower (likely pre-synaptic) doses of quinpirole decreased the number of CARs and increased the number of escape failures; (ii) higher doses of quinpirole (likely post-synaptic) increased inter-trial crossings and failures; (iii) pre-training administration of sulpiride decreased the number of CARs in both training and test sessions when infused into the NAc, but this effect was observed only in the test session when it was infused into the DLS; (iv) post-training administration of sulpiride decreased CARs in the test session when infused into the NAc but not DLS. These findings suggest that activation of D2 receptors in the NAc is critical for fast adaptation to responding to unconditioned and conditioned aversive stimuli while activation of these receptors in the DLS is needed for a slower learning of how to respond to the same stimuli based on previous experiences.     

Endogenous opioid peptides contribute to associative LTP in the hippocampal CA3 region

The medial and lateral perforant path projections to the hippocampal CA3 region display distinct mechanisms of long-term potentiation (LTP) induction, N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) and opioid receptor dependent, respectively. However, medial and lateral perforant path projections to the CA3 region display associative LTP with coactivation, suggesting that while they differ in receptors involved in LTP induction they may share common downstream mechanisms of LTP induction. Here we address this interaction of LTP induction mechanisms by evaluating the contribution of opioid receptors to the induction of associative LTP among the medial and lateral perforant path projections to the CA3 region in vivo. Local application of the opioid receptor antagonists naloxone or Cys2-Tyr3-Orn5-Pen7-amide (CTOP) normally block induction of lateral perforant path-CA3 LTP. However, these opioid receptor antagonists failed to block associative LTP in lateral perforant path-CA3 synapses when it was induced by strong coactivation of the medial perforant pathway which displays NMDAR-dependent LTP. Thus strong activation of non-opioidergic afferents can substitute for the opioid receptor activation required for lateral perforant path LTP induction. Conversely, medial perforant path-CA3 associative LTP was blocked by opioid receptor antagonists when induced by strong coactivation of the opioidergic lateral perforant path. These data indicate endogenous opioid peptides contribute to associative LTP at coactive synapses when induced by strong coactivation of an opioidergic afferent system. These data further suggest that associative LTP induction is regulated by the receptor mechanisms of the strongly stimulated pathway. Thus, while medial and lateral perforant path synapses differ in their mechanisms of LTP induction, associative LTP at these synapses share common downstream mechanisms of induction.     

Cholinergic dependence of taste memory formation: evidence of two distinct processes

Learning the aversive or positive consequences associated with novel taste solutions has a strong significance for an animal's survival. A lack of recognition of a taste's consequences could prevent ingestion of potential edibles or encounter death. We used conditioned taste aversion (CTA) and attenuation of neophobia (AN) to study aversive and safe taste memory formation. To determine if muscarinic receptors in the insular cortex participate differentially in both tasks, we infused the muscarinic antagonists scopolamine at distinct times before or after the presentation of a strong concentration of saccharin, followed by either an i.p. injection of a malaise-inducing agent or no injection. Our results showed that blockade of muscarinic receptors before taste presentation disrupts both learning tasks. However, the same treatment after the taste prevents AN but not CTA. These results clearly demonstrate that cortical cholinergic activity participates in the acquisition of both safe and aversive memory formation, and that cortical muscarinic receptors seem to be necessary for safe but not for aversive taste memory consolidation. These results suggest that the taste memory trace is processed in the insular cortex simultaneously by at least two independent mechanisms, and that their interaction would determine the degree of aversion or preference learned to a novel taste.