Unit-price analysis of opioid consumption by monkeys responding under a progressive-ratio schedule of drug injection.

Several reports have indicated that drug consumption in self-administration procedures is a function of the ratio of the instrumental requirement to the dose of drug, a quantity termed unit price. We evaluated three predictions from this unit-price model in a reanalysis of data on opioid self-administration in rhesus monkeys responding under a progressive-ratio schedule (Hoffmeister, 1979). We evaluated whether consumption was inversely related to unit price, and compared the goodness of fit of an equation devised by Hursh, Raslear, Shurtleff, Bauman, and Simmons (1988) to that of a linear model predicting consumption as a function of dose. We also tested whether consumption was constant when the same unit price was comprised of different combinations of dose and instrumental requirement. Consumption declined overall as unit price increased. The equation devised by Hursh et al. and the linear model based on dose fit the data equally well. Drug consumption was not uniform at a given unit price. The analyses suggest limits on the unit-price model as a characterization of drug consumption.     

普萘洛尔修复即刻消退产生的二次创伤

恐惧消退能力的受损是创伤后应激障碍(posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD)的标志之一。以往的研究表明, 相较于延迟消退, 恐惧获得后短时间内进行的消退训练不能形成长时程的消退记忆, 这一现象被称为即刻消退缺损。然而, 目前并不清楚这种缺损是一次性的, 还是会继续影响其后的重消退。实验1中, 大鼠在恐惧习得后1小时(即刻消退)或24小时(延迟消退)开始进行消退训练, 24小时后进行重消退, 再24小时后进行消退记忆的测试。结果显示, 与延迟消退相比, 即刻消退效果缺损, 并引起第二天的重消退也出现效果缺损。实验2中, 恐惧获得后立即给予大鼠盐水或β-肾上腺素受体阻断剂普萘洛尔(10 mg/kg, i.p.), 然后测试即刻消退和重消退的效果。结果显示, 普萘洛尔虽没有阻止即刻消退的缺损, 但避免了重消退出现缺损。总之, 严重创伤后的即刻消退不但无法有效抑制恐惧反应, 还可能造成二次创伤, 会损害恐惧消退能力, 而普萘洛尔可修复即刻消退引起的重消退缺损。这些结果将有助于我们加深对PTSD病理机制和早期干预后果的认识。     

多巴胺D2受体参与调节感觉门控的机制

精神分裂症是一种常见的病因不明的精神疾病。大量文献表明精神分裂症患者所表现出来的认知紊乱和思维异常等症状与感觉门控功能的缺失有密切的关系, 感觉门控是指在充满刺激的环境中, 从外界的感觉信息中过滤无关的感觉信息然后执行与注意力相关的认知过程, 以对显著的刺激做出反应。研究感觉门控的经典范式是震惊反射的前脉冲抑制。研究发现多巴胺D₂受体可以参与调控前脉冲抑制的过程, 但是多巴胺D₂受体参与调控前脉冲抑制的机制仍不清楚。探讨多巴胺D₂受体参与调控感觉门控即前脉冲抑制的关键脑区、神经环路及分子机制, 有利于促进对精神分裂症感觉门控功能的深入研究。     

Sensitivity in detecting facial displays of emotion: Impact of maternal depression and oxytocin receptor genotype

The current study examined sensitivity in detecting emotional faces among children of depressed and non-depressed mothers. A second goal was to examine the potential moderating role of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR rs53576), which has been linked to emotion recognition in the past. Participants included 247 children (ages 8–14). Children completed a forced choice emotion identification task. Maternal history of major depressive disorder during children's lives was associated with children's sensitivity in detecting emotional faces among children homozygous for the OXTR rs53576 G allele, but not among carriers of the A allele. Among G homozygotes, children of depressed mothers exhibited increased sensitivity in detecting sad faces, and reduced sensitivity in detecting happiness, compared to children of non-depressed mothers.     

运动区Beta节律的活动特点及功能意义

人类大脑运动皮质的Beta(15~30 Hz)和Mu节律(8~14 Hz)有共同的活动特征,研究指出二者可能是联合的脑电成分。然而越来越多研究表明运动区Beta节律可能独立于Mu节律,且具有特殊的功能意义。线索诱发的Beta节律降低、运动前Beta节律降低和运动后Beta节律回复增强都是Beta与Mu节律不同的活动形式,表明运动区Beta节律有其独特的心理意义。本文主要对运动区Beta节律不同于Mu节律的活动特征及已有的理论解释进行了梳理和分析,并结合儿童研究的数据,从发展的角度对运动后Beta节律的理论假说进行了评述,最后在此基础上为进一步探索运动区Beta节律的功能意义提出了研究的展望。     

Memory-Enhancing Treatments Do Not Reverse the Impairment of Inhibitory Avoidance Retention Induced by NMDA Receptor Blockade

The aim of the present research was to verify whether the impairment of retention induced by the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor blocker (+)-10,11-dihydro-5-methyl-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cycloheptene-5,10 imine (MK-801) can be reversed by memory-enhancing treatments. Adult female Wistar rats were trained and tested in a step-down inhibitory avoidance task (0.3-mA foot shock, 24-h training-test interval). Animals were given an ip injection of saline (SAL) or MK-801 (0.0625 mg/kg) 30 minutes before training, and an ip injection of SAL, epinephrine (EPI) (25 microg/kg), the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (NAL) (0.4 mg/kg), the glucocorticoid receptor agonist dexamethasone (DEX) (0.3 mg/kg), or glucose (GLU) (320 mg/kg) immediately after training. There was an impairment of inhibitory avoidance retention in the MK-801-SAL, MK-801-EPI, MK-801-NAL, MK-801-DEX, and MK-801-GLU groups. There was an enhancement of retention in the SAL-EPI, SAL-NAL, SAL-DEX, and SAL-GLU groups. A control experiment showed that the amnestic effects of MK-801 could not be attributed to decreased reactivity to the foot shock. The results suggest that memory-enhancing treatments directed at modulatory mechanisms do not reverse the memory impairment induced by NMDA receptor blockade.     

Advancing access to Medicare-funded mental health treatment during the opioid epidemic: A counselor advocacy analysis

Although advocacy is a priority for counseling professionals, little is known about counseling advocates’ participation in the legislative advocacy process. Recent legislation to address the opioid crisis allowed counseling advocates to provide public comments to advance counselor inclusion in the Medicare program. A thematic analysis of 548 public comments provided on behalf of the counseling profession yielded four categories: advocacy on behalf of (1) the proposed rule change; (2) broader Medicare inclusion; (3) the proposed rule change with an additional request for broader Medicare reimbursement; and (4) no clear advocacy. Subthemes included increasing access to care, qualifications necessary to provide care, and the urgency of the opioid epidemic, among others. Implications for the counseling profession and counselor advocacy are discussed.     

“Cuts in Action”: A High‐Density EEG Study Investigating the Neural Correlates of Different Editing Techniques in Film

In spite of their striking differences with real‐life perception, films are perceived and understood without effort. Cognitive film theory attributes this to the system of continuity editing, a system of editing guidelines outlining the effect of different cuts and edits on spectators. A major principle in this framework is the 180° rule, a rule recommendation that, to avoid spectators’ attention to the editing, two edited shots of the same event or action should not be filmed from angles differing in a way that expectations of spatial continuity are strongly violated. In the present study, we used high‐density EEG to explore the neural underpinnings of this rule. In particular, our analysis shows that cuts and edits in general elicit early ERP component indicating the registration of syntactic violations as known from language, music, and action processing. However, continuity edits and cuts‐across the line differ from each other regarding later components likely to be indicating the differences in spatial remapping as well as in the degree of conscious awareness of one's own perception. Interestingly, a time–frequency analysis of the occipital alpha rhythm did not support the hypothesis that such differences in processing routes are mainly linked to visual attention. On the contrary, our study found specific modulations of the central mu rhythm ERD as an indicator of sensorimotor activity, suggesting that sensorimotor networks might play an important role. We think that these findings shed new light on current discussions about the role of attention and embodied perception in film perception and should be considered when explaining spectators’ different experience of different kinds of cuts.     

Olfaction as a model system for the neurobiology of mammalian short-term habituation

Olfaction represents an ideal model system for the study of mammalian habituation given that it is an anatomically relatively simple system with strong reciprocal connections to the limbic system, driving both reflexive and non-reflexive (motivated) behaviors that are easily quantifiable. Data are reviewed here demonstrating short-term habituation of the odor-evoked heart-rate orienting reflex described according to the criteria for habituation outlined by Thompson and Spencer [Thompson, R. F., & Spencer, W. A. (1966). Habituation: A model phenomenon for the study of neuronal substrates of behavior. Psychological Reviews, 73(1), 16–43]. A necessary and sufficient mechanism of short-term habituation is then described, which involves a metabotropic glutamate receptor mediated depression of afferent input to the piriform (primary olfactory) cortex. Finally, evidence for, and a mechanisms of, dishabituation of the orienting reflex and cortical adaptation are described.