CRF受体对五羟色胺系统的调节作用及早期环境因素的影响

早期环境因素持续影响脑与行为的发展,增加个体成年后应激相关精神疾病患病的易感性.应激反应的中枢启动因子促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子(corticotropin-releasing factor,CRF)通过两种受体CRF1和CRF2调节中缝背核(dorsal raphe nucleus,DRN)-五-羟色胺(serotonin,5-HT)系统,后者已被证实在应激相关情绪疾患发病和治疗过程中发挥重要作用.已知CRF受体以相互影响相互拮抗的方式动态调节DRN-5-HT系统,提示这两种受体相对作用的调节对于协调复杂环境中DRN-5-HT系统的应激反应过程起着关键性作用.早期环境因素和遗传因素交互作用导致CRF受体的分布和反应性持续改变并造成DRN-5-HT系统反应异常,可能是导致应激反应和精神疾病易感性个体差异的重要神经基础.     

Social relationships,stressful life events,and self-reported physical health: Genetic and environmental influences

Abstract

This study investigates how the associations between self-reported health, stressful life events, and social relationships are mediated by genetic and environmental influences and how much of the variance in health is in common with variation in these psychosocial factors. The analyses are based on questionnaire data from 576 pairs of twins reared apart and twins reared together. The data revealed that for men environmental influences were solely important for variation in the psychosocial measures and were the primary mediators of the relationship with health. For women, on the other hand, a substantial portion of the variance in the psychosocial factors was due to genetic influences and these influences also contributed to the bulk of the correlations with health. The gender differences for the relationships and their mediation indicate that what should be regarded as a psychosocial factor of importance for health might differ between genders.     

Does confrontation with potential goal failure promote self-regulation? Examining the role of distress in the pursuit of weight goals

Implementation intentions planning in advance the situation in which one will act, have been proposed to be an effective self-regulatory technique for changing health behaviour. Encouraging people to receive text message reminders of their implementation intentions should enhance their strength and, thus, it was predicted that this combined approach would be particularly effective in increasing exercise. Participants (N = 155) were randomly allocated to one of five conditions (implementation intentions and SMS, implementation intention, SMS or one of two control groups) then completed self-report measures of exercise behaviour and motivation. Four weeks later, they responded to similar items. Results suggested that the combined intervention increased exercise frequency significantly more than the other strategies including the implementation intention group. It is proposed, therefore, that implementation intention effects can be enhanced via plan reminders.     

Lifestyle differences between smokers,ex-smokers and non-smokers,and implications for their health

Abstract

Much evidence has been published in order to demonstrate that smoking cessation leads to a decrease in morbidity and mortality. Using data from the Health and Lifestyle Survey respondents were divided into three groups: smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers and lifestyle characteristics such as diet and exercise were compared. Smokers were more likely to eat chips (French fries), fried food, butter and less likely to eat fresh fruit in winter, green vegetables and margarine high in polyunsaturated fats. Non-smokers were more likely than smokers and ex-smokers to take part in keepfit, jogging and swimming. Non-smokers in smoking households were more likely than non-smokers in non-smoking households to eat fried food, chips and butter and less likely to eat fruit in winter or margarine high in polyunsaturated fats. Results suggest that part of the assumed health benefits of smoking cessation are due to ex-smokers having a healthier diet than that of smokers.     

Attributions Toward Injury in a Military Physical Training Environment

The effects of military culture on causal attributions in a physical training environment were examined. The participants were male Australian Defense Force (ADF) members: 49 physical training instructors (mean age = 32.21 years) and 63 physical training participants (mean age = 34.22 years). Participants filled out a questionnaire describing 3 injury scenarios, each with a different severity of injury. The participants assigned causal attributes on 4 dimensions: lack of ability, environmental condition, lack of effort, and bad luck. There were main effects for scenario (low, moderate, and high severity of injury) and group (physical training instructors and injured trainee). Military culture may therefore encourage attributions that are internal and unstable. The results demonstrate the significant effect of military context on “normal” attribution biases. Therefore when seeking explanation of causation, there is a need to be aware of the tendency for those involved to distort attributions and how these distortions may be affected by a military context.     

The Campbell Paradigm as a Conceptual Alternative to the Expectation of Hypocrisy in Contemporary Attitude Research

Hypocrisy—professing a general attitude without implementing corresponding attitude-relevant behavior—is, according to Ajzen and Fishbein (2005), commonly found in attitude research that aims to explain individual behavior. We conducted two studies that adopted the Campbell paradigm, an alternative to the traditional understanding of attitudes. In a laboratory experiment, we found that specific attitude-relevant cooperation in a social dilemma was a function of people’s pre-existing general environmental attitude. In a quasi-experiment, we corroborated the reverse as well; engagement in attitude-relevant dietary practices was indicative of environmental attitude. When using Campbellian attitude measures, there is no room for hypocrisy: People put their general attitudes into specific attitude-relevant practices, and differences in people’s general attitudes can be derived from their attitude-relevant behavior.     

CONFUCIAN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS,CLIMATE ENGINEERING,AND THE “PLAYING GOD” ARGUMENT

The burgeoning literature on the ethical issues raised by climate engineering has explored various normative questions associated with the research and deployment of climate engineering, and has examined a number of responses to them. While researchers have noted the ethical issues from climate engineering are global in nature, much of the discussion proceeds predominately with ethical framework in the Anglo‐American and European traditions, which presume particular normative standpoints and understandings of human–nature relationship. The current discussion on the ethical issues, therefore, is far from being a genuine global dialogue. The aim of this article is to address the lack of intercultural exchange by exploring the ethics of climate engineering from a perspective of Confucian environmental ethics. Drawing from the existing discussion on Confucian environmental ethics and Confucian ethics of technology, I discuss what Confucian ethics can contribute to the ethical debate on climate engineering.     

An Examination of the “Greening of Christianity” Thesis Among Americans, 1993–2010

Some environmental and religious scholars, religious leaders, and media figures have claimed there has been a “greening of Christianity” in the United States since the mid‐1990s. Such a trend would be socially significant, as the integration of Christian values and environmental values may invigorate both domains. Using nationally representative data from the 1993 and 2010 General Social Surveys, we analyze how green self‐identified Christians in the U.S. general public are in their pro‐environmental attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Using structural equation modeling, we find no clear evidence of a greening of Christianity among rank‐and‐file Christians in the general public between 1993 and 2010. Indeed, the patterns of our results are quite similar to those from earlier decades, which documented that self‐identified Christians reported lower levels of environmental concern than did non‐Christians and nonreligious individuals. We did find evidence of some greening among evangelical Protestants, especially relative to mainline Protestants, between 1993 and 2010. We close by suggesting a few fruitful avenues for further research in this area via variable‐oriented, case‐oriented, and experimental studies and discussing some theoretical implications of our findings.     

Differential Effects of Personality Traits and Environmental Predictors on Reproductive and Creative Imagination

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to analyze the effects of both personality and environmental variables on the imagination of video/film major university students; and (2) to test the mediator effect resulting from the variable of social climate. The results of this study supported both indicators of imaginative capabilities and environmental influences. The hypothesis of the study—that the variable of social climate mediates the effects of personality/environmental predictors and both types of imagination—was partially supported. The structural model also showed that most personality traits have direct effects on imagination, whereas most environmental predictors have indirect effects. Practical applications of this study were suggested, future inquiries were discussed, and limitations were acknowledged.     

Who's the Pest? Imagining Human–Insect Futures Beyond Antagonism

Joining the effort to reimagine our relationships with insects, the Wellcome Collection's ‘Who's the Pest?’ programme attempts to challenge the stigma of insects as ill-disposed ‘bugs’. The article reviews two events in the series, the workshop ‘Insects au gratin’ and the debate ‘Insects vs. humans’, and places them in the context of recent engagements with ‘pests’ in the public realm.