On anxiety-specific actions of tranquilizers

Abstract

This study examined the role of social support in the relationship between work demand and psychological distress (GHQ 12) in correctional officers (N=419), a high stress occupational group. Work demands were positively associated with strain. There was no evidence that social support buffered the negative impact of work demands. Rather, consistent with most previous research findings, support showed direct benefits and these were discussed in the context of worker participation and control. The hypothesis that officers high in negative affectivity, as measured by trait anxiety would show greater reactivity to work demands was not supported. However, trait anxiety appeared to inflate the relationship between work stressors (work demand and work support) and psychological distress supporting recent suggestions that the role of trait anxiety in occupational stress should not be disregarded. Trait anxiety combined additively with work demand to predict individual differences in psychological distress, however social support moderated the impact of trait anxiety on strain.     

Psychosocial Influences on Substance Abuse in a Sample of South African Youth: A Qualitative Analysis

This study investigated the lived experience of substance abusers in the South African context. Participants were 10 individuals attending a drug treatment centre in Durban, South Africa. Data were collected using open-ended interviews with data being analysed using thematic analysis. Findings suggest that normative social influences and levels of social support play an important role in shaping, maintaining, and determining the trajectory of drug usage.     

斑马鱼模式动物在神经功能环路研究中的应用

斑马鱼是发育、遗传以及药物发现研究中常用的模式动物.作为重要的脊椎动物模式系统之一,斑马鱼与人类基因有高度同源性,中枢神经系统也与哺乳动物相似.近来,斑马鱼在神经科学研究以及生理心理学相关问题的研究中的应用日益广泛.研究者们对斑马鱼幼鱼及成鱼的行为表现及行为发育开展了多方面的研究.基于斑马鱼模式动物的特点及优势,遗传突变和药物筛选在对动物行为表现的分子机制的研究中起到重要的推动作用.     

基于“相关线索-自动化用药行为”联结的成瘾记忆消退

成瘾记忆消退致力于消除成瘾者相关线索与药物奖赏效应的联结,以达到消除心理渴求、戒断成瘾行为的目的,但其效果还十分有限。最近,大量的动物和人类实验研究发现:在相关线索下,成瘾者的激活脑区不仅包括中脑边缘皮层-背内侧纹状体,还延伸到感觉运动脑区-背外侧纹状体。这意味着成瘾记忆中存在相关线索与自动化(习惯性)用药行为的联结。所以,与成瘾相关的记忆可能包含两种不同的成分:一是与药物奖赏效应相关的情绪记忆,另一种是与用药动作、技能有关的动作记忆(程序记忆)。由于在成瘾阶段,药物奖赏效应对药物使用和复发的作用已经相对减少,因此,针对成瘾记忆的消退训练,以相关线索与自动化用药行为的联结为标靶,可能可以取得更好的效果,值得做进一步的深入探索。     

亲代孕前成瘾药物暴露对子代行为的影响及其表观遗传机制

孕前成瘾药物暴露不仅危害使用者的身体健康,而且会对子代的生理行为造成影响,近年来研究发现表观遗传机制在其中发挥重要作用。孕前成瘾药物暴露会对子代的成瘾易感性和焦虑样行为造成影响,引起子代的抑郁样行为和认知受损。这些现象可能是成瘾药物通过引起亲代生殖细胞内表观遗传修饰变化所致,其中包括印记基因、神经递质系统、BDNF三个方面的表观遗传修饰变化。此外,未来除了加强以上三个方面基因的研究,也需要增加其他方面基因的研究,以及寻找能预测子代异常行为的表观遗传生物标志物。     

Inhibiting doping in sports: deterrence is necessary,but not sufficient

The use of performance-enhancing drugs is a significant problem in sport. It cheats clean athletes of their hard-earned rewards from perfecting their skills though dedication and hard work. It defrauds fans by substituting a distorted playing field for a true competition. Anti-doping agencies have been charged with enforcing drug policies, primarily through the use of drug testing programs. We propose that drug testing, while important, is not sufficient to achieve deterrence. Engaging the principles of perceptual deterrence and development of a moral community of athletes can greatly enhance compliance with rules.     

Cognitive function of youths born to mothers with opioid and poly-substance abuse problems during pregnancy

Previous research has provided inconclusive evidence regarding the neuropsychological difficulties of children born to mothers partaking in opioid or poly-drug use during pregnancy. Little is known about how these children fare as they get older. The present longitudinal study includes follow-up data on 45 children born to mothers who used heroin and poly-drugs and a group of 48 children without prenatal drug exposure. Most of the drug-exposed youths were placed in permanent foster or adoptive homes before one year of age. The youths (ages 17 to 21) were administered 10 neuropsychological tests. The drug-exposed youths had cognitive and fine motor functions within the normal range compared to population norms but performed significantly worse than the non-exposed group. There were indications of generally lower cognitive functions rather than specific problems with executive functioning. Lower mean birthweight in the risk group (619 grams mean difference, p < .001) only partially mediated the group differences in cognitive functioning. There was a tendency for youths who had few and early changes in their caregivers or who were born to mothers who had used the least number of different drugs during pregnancy to have the best cognitive scores. The study indicates that youths born to mothers who used multiple drugs during pregnancy are vulnerable relative to their peers within a wide range of cognitive functions. The vulnerability seems to be related not only to the mother’s drug use during pregnancy but also to factors such as birthweight and unstable parental care during infancy.     

Drug Use and Self-Harming Behavior Among Incarcerated Men: Does Childhood Abuse,Anger, and Executive Function Make a Difference?

Childhood abuse, anger, drug-related problems, and self-harm are commonly seen among incarcerated individuals. Forty-three young incarcerated males from an Istanbul prison were assessed for childhood abuse, anger, drug use, self-harming behavior, and executive function (EF). Further, 58% of the sample was using drugs, and 60.5% showed self-harming behavior. Performing a backward stepwise binary logistic regression model, it was found that the likelihood of using drugs was determined by EF measured by the Trail Making Test form A, childhood abuse, anger, and self-harm. On the other hand, self-harm was determined by childhood abuse, anger, and drug use.     

Drug addiction. Is it a disease or is it based on choice? A review of Gene Heyman's Addiction: A disorder of choice.

In Addiction: A disorder of choice, Gene Heyman surveys a broad array of evidence—historical, anthropological, survey, clinical, and laboratory‐based to build an argument about the role of basic choice processes in the phenomena that comprise drug addiction. He makes a compelling, multifaceted argument that conceptualizing drug addiction as a chronic disease (like schizophrenia or diabetes) is both misleading and erroneous. In developing his argument, he points out that the best survey data available indicate that most drug addicts quit their addiction, a fact inconsistent with a chronic‐disease model. He illustrates how basic, normal choice processes can lead to addiction, arguing that people do not choose to be addicts, but that normal choice dynamics can lead them to that condition. He points to a variety of factors that keep most from becoming addicted, with a focus on the role of choice governed by choice‐by‐choice contingencies versus choice governed by the outcome of sequences of choices, a difference in an under‐described activity called framing. His view is consistent with the most effective treatments currently available, and provides a basis for continued basic research on choice as well as research on treatment and prevention.     

Analyzing behavior implied by EWA learning: An emphasis on distinguishing reinforcement from belief learning

An important issue in the field of learning is to what extent one can distinguish between behavior resulting from either belief or reinforcement learning. Previous research suggests that it is difficult or even impossible to distinguish belief from reinforcement learning: belief and reinforcement models often fit the empirical data equally well. However, previous research has been confined to specific games in specific settings. In the present study we derive predictions for behavior in games using the EWA learning model (e.g., Camerer & Ho, 1999), a model that includes belief learning and a specific type of reinforcement learning as special cases. We conclude that belief and reinforcement learning can be distinguished, even in 2×2 games. Maximum differentiation in behavior resulting from either belief or reinforcement learning is obtained in games with pure Nash equilibria with negative payoffs and at least one other strategy combination with only positive payoffs. Our results help researchers to identify games in which belief and reinforcement learning can be discerned easily.