China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Psychological Medicine
Published in John S. Axford, Chris A. O'Callaghan, Medicine for Finals and Beyond, 2023
Harrison Howarth, Jim Bolton, Gary Bell
Depressive disorder covers a heterogeneous range of disorders with different causes. For some, there is an inherited vulnerability. Depressed mood is accompanied by neurochemical changes, including serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine. Predisposing factors include separations from caregivers in childhood and parental violence. In at least 70% of cases there is an identifiable stressful trigger to an episode of depressive disorder.
Conclusion
Published in Jay A. Goldstein, Chronic Fatigue Syndromes, 2020
Since we are only a few thousand years from the hunter-gatherer stage, it may be that we are still nutritionally adapted to that level of sustenance. Patients on macrobiotic diets can reverse atherosclerosis, and a recent report attested to the efficacy of a vegetarian diet in treating rheumatoid arthritis. 9 Many sorts of relative metabolic blocks could be postulated in CFS, and nutritional strategies abound for dealing with them. I have not had much success with this approach, but I probably have a sampling bias in my patient population. Even nutritional approaches addressed to neurochemical interventions, such as low-tyramine diets, are only mildly helpful (with the notable exception of alcohol avoidance).
Fibromyalgia Associated Syndromes
Published in Robert M. Bennett, The Clinical Neurobiology of Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain, 2020
Just as with FMS and CFS, there is considerable controversy regarding somatoform disorders. This controversy generally takes a different form than that surrounding FMS and CFS. For example, there has been little “burden of proof’placed on proponents of the concept of somatoform disorders, since by definition these conditions are acknowledged to have a “psychiatric” rather than “physical” basis. This is problematic, since there are multiple objective physiologic abnormalities noted in individuals with FMS and CFS that might explain symptomatology. Thus, it becomes difficult to characterize these symptoms as “physiologically unexplained” (19,20). Moreover, even undeniably psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and major depression, are characterized by symptoms that are no longer considered biologically unexplained, as we learn that these illnesses are likely to be mediated in large part by central neurochemical imbalances.
Dose-dependent subacute cardiovascular effects of modafinil in rats
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
Dilan Canyurt, Lokman Hekim Tanriverdi, Onural Ozhan, Mehmet Cansel, Hakan Parlakpinar, Nigar Vardi, Yilmaz Cigremis, Azibe Yildiz, Yucel Karaca, Seyma Yasar, Ahmet Acet
Modafinil is used to treat various sleep disorders, characterized by excessive sleepiness that may happen with sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or shift work problems (Ballon and Feifel 2006). Modafinil was first approved by the FDA for narcolepsy in 1998 (Mitler et al. 1998). Modafinil has been shown to enhance executive functions (including attention) with comparable effectiveness to amphetamine drugs and also decreased incidence of side effects and addiction in these sleep-deprived individuals (Minzenberg and Carter 2008). The net mechanism of action of modafinil is not yet known today. However, when the neurochemical effects are examined, it has been shown in the animal studies that modafinil interacts with dopaminergic, noradrenergic, glutamatergic, GABAergic, serotoninergic, orexinergic, and histaminergic means (Makela et al.2003). Modafinil has been found to have a weak but highly selective binding affinity especially for dopamine reuptake regions (Mignot et al.1994). Modafinil is thought to act as part of the hypocretin/orexin agonist, which has a stimulating effect on adrenergic neurons in locus cereus (Elovic 2000, Pierre 2007).
Exploring the metabolomic profile of cerebellum after exposure to acute stress
Published in Stress, 2021
Aikaterini Iliou, Angeliki-Maria Vlaikou, Markus Nussbaumer, Dimitra Benaki, Emmanuel Mikros, Evangelos Gikas, Michaela D. Filiou
Changes in brain areas are mediated by a series of neurochemical messengers inducing behavioral effects. The cerebellum is connected with stress-related brain regions and processes neurochemical mediators (Rabellino et al., 2018). Cerebellar molecular changes, induced in response to acute or chronic stress, have been observed in animal models. Sabbot and Costin show decreased calcium levels in the cerebellum of male rats (Sabbot & Costin, 1974), while Watanabe et al. report opposite findings in both rats and mice (Watanabe et al., 1987) exposed to a cold environment stress. In patients with cerebellum-confined disorders, impairments of emotional processes have been described, thereby highlighting the role of cerebellar interconnectivity in behavior and higher order functions (Schmahmann & Sherman, 1998). Thus, it has been suggested that the cerebellum may play a role in mood regulation due to its functional and anatomical connections to brain regions central to neuropsychiatric disorders (Konarski et al., 2005). Interestingly, it has been also proposed that dysfunctional neural circuitries connecting cerebellum, cortex and hypothalamus may be responsible for cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia (Andreasen et al., 1996).
The neurochemistry of hypnotic suggestion
Published in American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 2021
David J. Acunzo, David A. Oakley, Devin B. Terhune
Despite methodological and theoretical advances in the cognitive neuroscience of hypnosis (Landry, Lifshitz, & Raz, 2017; Oakley & Halligan, 2013; Terhune, Cleeremans, Raz, & Lynn, 2017), there has been relatively scant attention to the role of different neurochemicals in response to hypnotic suggestions. A wealth of studies has direct bearing on potential neurochemical mechanisms but to our knowledge they have not yet been systemically integrated and scrutinized. Here we aim to fill this conceptual gap in current research on the neuroscience of hypnotic suggestion. As a set of signposts for potential implications of neurochemical targets, we firstly introduce a lexicon of terms and highlight the value of hypnosis in various contexts. Next, we describe and evaluate research implicating specific neurochemicals in hypnotic responding. We subsequently attempt to integrate these results and highlight a range of methodological challenges to outline research questions that warrant further empirical attention.