European Journal of Neuroscience
November 2011
Tanya L Daigle, William C. Wetsel, Marc G. Caron
It is well established that the cannabinoid and dopamine systems interact at various levels to regulate basal ganglia function. Although it is well known that acute administration of cannabinoids to mice can modify dopamine-dependent behaviors, the intraneuronal signaling pathways employed by these agents in the striatum are not well understood. Here we used knockout mouse models to examine the...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
October 21, 2011
Tori L. Schaefer, Curtis E. Grace, Matthew R. Skelton et al.
5 citations
Neonatal exposure to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces long-term learning and memory deficits and increased anxiety-like behavior. The mechanism underlying these behavioral changes is unknown but we hypothesized that it involves perturbations to the serotonergic system as this is the principle mode of action of MDMA in the adult brain. During development 5-HT is a neurotrophic...
Perspectives on Psychological Science
October 14, 2011
Britta K. Hölzel, Sara W. Lazar, Tim Gard et al.
2,997 citations
Cultivation of mindfulness, the nonjudgmental awareness of experiences in the present moment, produces beneficial effects on well-being and ameliorates psychiatric and stress-related symptoms. Mindfulness meditation has therefore increasingly been incorporated into psychotherapeutic interventions. Although the number of publications in the field has sharply increased over the last two decades,...
Clinical Neurophysiology
September 21, 2011
Aviva Berkovich-Ohana, Joseph Glicksohn, Abraham Goldstein
309 citations
ObjectiveThere is a growing scientific interest in mindfulness meditation (MM), yet its underlying neurophysiological mechanism is still uncertain. We investigated whether MM affects self-referential processing, associated with default mode network (DMN), either as short (state) - or long-term (trait) effects.MethodsThree levels of MM expertise were compared with controls (n=12 each) by...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 12, 2011
Oz Malkesman, Daniel Austin, Tyson Tragon et al.
91 citations
Research suggests that dysfunctional glutamatergic signalling may contribute to depression, a debilitating mood disorder affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Ketamine, a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, exerts rapid antidepressant effects in approximately 70% of patients. Glutamate evokes the release of D-serine from astrocytes and neurons, which then acts as a...
BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
September 1, 2011
Eileen Palmer
Sometimes, people coming into specialist palliative care units unexpectedly improve with simple, compassionate care. Is this a mystery? Or does compassion directly affect human biology in ways we are only just beginning to understand? There is a widespread belief that kindness and compassion matter. They are what we would want for ourselves, or our loved ones; central, across religions and...
Pharmacopsychiatry
September 1, 2011
Simone Grimm, Milan Scheidegger, Anke Henning et al.
Ketamine is a potent glutamatergic NMDA receptor antagonist with rapid antidepressant properties, thus providing a valuable research tool for the investigation of the neurobiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). Increasing evidence underscores the role of glutamate dependent neuroplasticity and glutamatergic neurotransmission and metabolism in the pathophysiology of MDD. This multimodal...
Anesthesia & Analgesia
July 26, 2011
Barbara Sinner, Oliver Friedrich, Wolfgang Zink et al.
61 citations
BACKGROUND: In the immature brain, neuronal Ca2+ oscillations are present during a time period of high plasticity and regulate neuronal differentiation and synaptogenesis. In this study we examined the long-term blockade of hippocampal Ca2+ oscillations, the role of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors and the effects of S(+)-ketamine on neuronal synapsin expression. METHODS: Hippocampal...
Pharmaceuticals
June 17, 2011
Vivian Capilla‐González, Vicente Hernández‐rabaza
4 citations
The capacity of the brain to generate new adult neurons is a recent discovery that challenges the old theory of an immutable adult brain. A new and fascinating field of research now focuses on this regenerative process. The two brain systems that constantly produce new adult neurons, known as the adult neurogenic systems, are the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus and the lateral...
Medical Hypotheses
June 12, 2011
A theoretical model of efficacy of concentrative meditation for cognitive rehabilitation of dementia.