Inhibition of the LH Surge by Restraint Stress in Cyclic Rats: Studies on the Role of GABAA and GABAB Receptors

There is evidence that stress can alter the activity in the brain of gamma-aminobutyricacid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that has been implicated in the regulation of LH secretion. In the present study the role of GABA in the restraint stress-induced inhibition of the LH surge was investigated in the intact cyclic rat. Intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol (0.1, 0.5 or 1 μg) 5 min before the presumed onset of the pro-oestrous LH surge (at 0900 h) caused a dose dependent suppression of the surge. A single dose of the GABAB receptor agonist baclofen (1 μg; icv) injected at 0855 h postponed the onset of the LH surge, and repeated injections at 0855 and 1130 h suppressed the surge. These data indicate that GABA-ergic activity in the brain can inhibit the LH surge in the cyclic rat via GABAA and GABAB receptors. Pro-oestrous rats were subjected to 5 hrs of restraint starting at 0855 h. Pretreatment with the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculine (1 μg; icv) at 0840, 0940 and 1040 h or pretreatment with the GABAB receptor antagonist phaclofen (10 μg; icv) at 0840 h were ineffective in preventing the restraint-induced inhibition of the LH surge. The results suggest that GABAA and GABAB receptors are not involved in the inhibitory effect of restraint stress on the LH surge.     

Effects of Acute Stress or Centrally Injected Interleukin-1beta on Neuropeptide Expression in the Immune System

Acute stress stimulates the expression and release of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) from the hypothalamus, and the pro-opiomelanocortin products beta-endorphin and ACTH from the anterior pituitary. These neuropeptides are also expressed in immune tissues, and it has been proposed that they may modulate immune responses to stress through paracrine mechanisms. We subjected rats to restraint stress or central injection of interleukin (IL)-1beta to determine whether these acute stimuli can alter the expression of neuropeptides in the spleen and thymus. Restraint stress significantly increased the contents of all these neuropeptides in thymic, but not splenic, extracts. A single icv injection of IL-1beta increased contents of CRH, AVP, ACTH and beta-endorphin in the spleens of both sham-operated and adrenalectomised (ADX) rats. IL-1beta increased thymic contents of CRH and ACTH in sham-operated rats but these increases were not observed in ADX rats. These results suggest that the effects of IL-1beta on neuropeptide expression in the spleen are independent of glucocorticoids, whereas IL-1beta stimulation of neuropeptide expression in the thymus is dependent on circulating glucocorticoids. There were significant correlations between increases in CRH, ACTH and beta-endorphin in the spleen, and between CRH and ACTH in the thymus, consistent with the suggestion that IL-1beta-induced increases in ACTH and beta-endorphin may be mediated through CRH. These results provide evidence that stressors can directly influence neuropeptide expression in immune tissues. Thus stress may influence immune functions through paracrine mechanisms involving locally synthesised neuropeptides as well as through activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis.     

大学二年级学生人际宽恕与报复心理及其与抑郁的关系研究

采用沉思量表、报复动机量表、宽恕倾向量表、宽恕态度量表和流调中心用抑郁量表对236名大二学生进行问卷调查,综合探讨大学生人际宽恕和报复心理及其与抑郁的关系。研究发现:(1)男大学生的报复倾向显著高于女大学生。(2)宽恕倾向与报复倾向及对侵犯的沉思程度显著负相关。沉思程度和抑郁显著正相关。(3)沉思程度和宽恕倾向对抑郁分别具有显著的正向和负向的预测作用。(4)大学生的宽恕倾向和宽恕态度的相互作用以及宽恕倾向和报复倾向之间的交互作用对抑郁均没有显著预测作用。     

Existential perspectives on death anxiety

Construct validity is the hallmark of Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (1970), which has generated a healthy stream of research of paramount importance in the USA and all over the world. This paper contends that scores on this scale provide valuable scientific knowledge on group norms. To expand the concept of death anxiety it is necessary to supplement empirical with qualitative research. Persons with the same scores may show qualitatively different fears of death, and vice versa. Total reliance on empirical scales may not disclose the depth of bipolar meaning in a "life-death anxiety." Templer's scale is a mixture of fears, phobias, and obsessions with thoughts of illness, cancer, heart disease, and wars. A bipolar "life-death anxiety" continuum requires phenomenology to reach beyond the 15 items to the process of "experiencing." The scale addresses "thoughts" about the death of others even though its items are cast in the first person singular. This provides group norms of a "cognitive-affective" construct, with limited generality cross-culturally. Means do not disclose fully meaningful comparisons between persons or cultures. Death Anxiety as an existential anticipatory mode of "being-in-the-world" is embedded in a personal/genetic/cultural matrix that may vary individually and culturally.     

The Theory-Practice Gap in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Reflections and a Modest Proposal to Bridge the Gap

This paper examines the issues related to the gap between theory and practice in the area of cognitive-behavioral therapy. The article begins with a review of the evidence for such a gap, and having demonstrated that the gap exists, provides a discussion of some of the factors that are likely important in its genesis and maintenance. The article then focuses on potential strategies to reduce the theory-practice gap that go beyond the common recommendation for both efficacy and effectiveness research. In particular, we provide recommendations for protocol planning and design, training and competency maintenance, dissemination research, and implementation and policy change. We conclude with the proposition that theory and research should not only inform practice, but that practice should have a reciprocal benefit on theory and research.     

Sanctity of human life in war: ethics and post traumatic stress disorder

This reflective paper focuses on the moral and ethical difficulties medical care providers meet in applying DSM-IV criteria of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in therapy and in Compensation and Pension Examinations. Providers may be less interested in articulating a philosophy of life or their own ontology than about documenting care for the patient or providing effective management of symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The veteran comes for assessment or therapy after an embodiment of war conflicts. Examiners and therapists spend time in clinical judgments and ethical consideration. Ethical decisions involve the sanctity of human life and the distinction made between acceptable civil and war behavior. Insight into the conflicting values found in the veterans' struggle to cope with the stress of war is needed. The stress of sending young men into harm's way is an ethical issue for veterans and the society which sends them and thereby compromises the sanctity of human life. These ethical components require the doctor and the veteran to articulate their values within ontology or a personal philosophy of life. That exchange contributes to accurate assessment and adequate therapy. Not understanding the importance of personal ontologies in treatment may make the veteran's self-disclosure difficult. Self-disclosure of one's ontology is one side of coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The other side is for powerful decision-making groups to disclose to the young recruits the full and honest account of the human cost of war before sending them into harm's way.     

Information processing bias against emotional facial expressions in social anxiety

The present study examined whether information processing bias against emotional facial expressions is present among individuals with social anxiety. College students with high (high social anxiety group; n  = 26) and low social anxiety (low social anxiety group; n  = 26) performed three different types of working memory tasks: (a) ordering positive and negative facial expressions according to the intensity of emotion; (b) ordering pictures of faces according to age; and (c) ordering geometric shapes according to size. The high social anxiety group performed significantly more poorly than the low social anxiety group on the facial expression task, but not on the other two tasks with the nonemotional stimuli. These results suggest that high social anxiety interferes with processing of emotionally charged facial expressions.     

Toward a phenomenology of trance logic in posttraumatic stress disorder

Some induction procedures result in trance logic as an essential feature of hypnosis. Trance logic is a voluntary state of acceptance of suggestions without the critical evaluation that would destroy the validity of the meaningfulness of the suggestion. Induction procedures in real and simulated conditions induce a conflict between two contradictory messages in experimental hypnosis. In military induction the conflict is much more subtle involving society's need for security and its need for ethics. Such conflicts are often construed by the subject as trance logic. Trance logic provides an opportunity for therapists using the phenomenology of "presence" to deal with the objectified concepts of "avoidance," "numbing" implicit in this kind of dysfunctional thinking in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. An individual phenomenology of induction procedures and suggestions, which trigger trance logic, may lead to a resolution of logical fallacies and recurring painful memories. It invites a reconciliation of conflicting messages implicit in phobias and avoidance traumas. Such a phenomenological analysis of trance logic may well be a novel approach to restructure the meaning of trauma.     

Toward an Integration of Interpersonal Risk Models of Depression and Cognitive‐Behaviour Therapy

Empirical research has increasingly focused on interpersonal variables associated with the development and maintenance of depression. This article outlines some key interpersonal risk factors for depression, including anxious attachment, sociotropy, excessive reassurance seeking, interpersonal stress generation, reduced social support, social skills deficits, and social avoidance. Recommendations are made for how cognitive‐behavioural therapy may be adapted to address such factors. Specifically, suggestions are offered for how cognitive and behavioural interventions, such as cognitive restructuring, behavioural activation, behavioural experiments, and skills training, may be used with depressed clients to promote positive relationships and reduce maladaptive interpersonal behaviours.