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Bulletin Du Cancer Jun 2024
PubMed: 38851993
DOI: 10.1016/j.bulcan.2024.04.008 -
Psychotherapy (Chicago, Ill.) Sep 2023In this article, we describe methods for working with dreams and nightmares in individual psychotherapy, provide clinical examples, and review research evidence of... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
In this article, we describe methods for working with dreams and nightmares in individual psychotherapy, provide clinical examples, and review research evidence of immediate and distal outcomes of each method. An original meta-analysis of eight studies using the cognitive-experiential dream model with 514 clients showed moderate effect sizes for session depth and insight gains. In the nightmare treatment literature, a previous meta-analysis of 13 studies with 511 clients showed moderate to large effects in reducing nightmare frequency and small to moderate effects in decreasing sleep disturbance for imagery rehearsal therapy and exposure, relaxation, and rescripting therapy. Limitations of the current meta-analysis of cognitive-experiential dreamwork and of the reviewed research on nightmare methods are described. Training implications and therapeutic practice recommendations are provided. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Dreams; Psychotherapy
PubMed: 37104805
DOI: 10.1037/pst0000484 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences May 2024The vividness of imagery varies between individuals. However, the existence of people in whom conscious, wakeful imagery is markedly reduced, or absent entirely, was... (Review)
Review
The vividness of imagery varies between individuals. However, the existence of people in whom conscious, wakeful imagery is markedly reduced, or absent entirely, was neglected by psychology until the recent coinage of 'aphantasia' to describe this phenomenon. 'Hyperphantasia' denotes the converse - imagery whose vividness rivals perceptual experience. Around 1% and 3% of the population experience extreme aphantasia and hyperphantasia, respectively. Aphantasia runs in families, often affects imagery across several sense modalities, and is variably associated with reduced autobiographical memory, face recognition difficulty, and autism. Visual dreaming is often preserved. Subtypes of extreme imagery appear to be likely but are not yet well defined. Initial results suggest that alterations in connectivity between the frontoparietal and visual networks may provide the neural substrate for visual imagery extremes.
Topics: Humans; Imagination; Memory, Episodic; Dreams
PubMed: 38548492
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.02.007 -
International Journal of Molecular... Oct 2023The interaction of the activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), a key effector of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in the endoplasmic reticulum, with the neuronal...
The interaction of the activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), a key effector of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in the endoplasmic reticulum, with the neuronal calcium sensor Downstream Regulatory Element Antagonist Modulator (DREAM) is a potential therapeutic target in neurodegeneration. Modulation of the ATF6-DREAM interaction with repaglinide (RP) induced neuroprotection in a model of Huntington's disease. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with no cure, characterized by the progressive loss of motoneurons resulting in muscle denervation, atrophy, paralysis, and death. The aim of this work was to investigate the potential therapeutic significance of DREAM as a target for intervention in ALS. We found that the expression of the DREAM protein was reduced in the spinal cord of SOD1G93A mice compared to wild-type littermates. RP treatment improved motor strength and reduced the expression of the ALS progression marker collagen type XIXα1 ( mRNA) in the quadriceps muscle in SOD1G93A mice. Moreover, treated SOD1G93A mice showed reduced motoneuron loss and glial activation and increased ATF6 processing in the spinal cord. These results indicate that the modulation of the DREAM-ATF6 interaction ameliorates ALS symptoms in SOD1G93A mice.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Mice, Transgenic; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Activating Transcription Factor 6; Neuroprotection; Motor Neurons; Kv Channel-Interacting Proteins; Superoxide Dismutase; Disease Models, Animal
PubMed: 37958767
DOI: 10.3390/ijms242115783 -
The Canadian Journal of Cardiology Apr 2024
PubMed: 38604338
DOI: 10.1016/j.cjca.2024.04.004 -
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual... Sep 2023Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial, heterogeneous disease of the ocular surface with one etiology being ocular surface inflammation. Studies using animal models...
PURPOSE
Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial, heterogeneous disease of the ocular surface with one etiology being ocular surface inflammation. Studies using animal models demonstrate the role of ocular surface immune cells in the inflammatory pathway leading to DED, but few have evaluated humans. This study described the white blood cell population from the ocular surface of patients with DED and assessed its association with DED signs and symptoms in participants of the Dry Eye Assessment and Management (DREAM) study.
METHODS
Participants were assessed for symptoms using the Ocular Surface Disease Index, signs via corneal staining, conjunctival staining, tear break-up time, and Schirmer test, and Sjögren's syndrome (SS) based on the 2012 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria. Impression cytology of conjunctival cells from each eye was evaluated using flow cytometry: T cells, helper T cells (Th), regulatory T cells (Tregs), cytotoxic T cells, and dendritic cells.
RESULTS
We assessed 1049 eyes from 527 participants. White blood cell subtype percentages varied widely across participants. Significant positive associations were found for Th and conjunctival staining (mean score of 2.8 for 0% Th and 3.1 for >4.0% Th; P = 0.007), and corneal staining (mean score of 3.5 for 0% Th and 4.3 for >4.0% Th; P = 0.01). SS was associated with higher percent of Tregs (median 0.1 vs. 0.0; P = 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS
Th were associated with more severe conjunctival and corneal staining, possibly indicating their role in inflammation leading to damage of the ocular surface. There is no consistent conclusion about Tregs in SS, but these results support that Tregs are elevated in SS.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Dry Eye Syndromes; Sjogren's Syndrome; Conjunctiva; Leukocytes; Inflammation
PubMed: 37669063
DOI: 10.1167/iovs.64.12.7 -
Nature Communications Jul 2023Rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep is a distinct behavioral state associated with vivid dreaming and memory processing. Phasic bursts of electrical activity, measurable as...
Rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep is a distinct behavioral state associated with vivid dreaming and memory processing. Phasic bursts of electrical activity, measurable as spike-like pontine (P)-waves, are a hallmark of REM sleep implicated in memory consolidation. However, the brainstem circuits regulating P-waves, and their interactions with circuits generating REM sleep, remain largely unknown. Here, we show that an excitatory population of dorsomedial medulla (dmM) neurons expressing corticotropin-releasing-hormone (CRH) regulates both REM sleep and P-waves in mice. Calcium imaging showed that dmM CRH neurons are selectively activated during REM sleep and recruited during P-waves, and opto- and chemogenetic experiments revealed that this population promotes REM sleep. Chemogenetic manipulation also induced prolonged changes in P-wave frequency, while brief optogenetic activation reliably triggered P-waves along with transiently accelerated theta oscillations in the electroencephalogram (EEG). Together, these findings anatomically and functionally delineate a common medullary hub for the regulation of both REM sleep and P-waves.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Sleep, REM; Electroencephalography; Pons; Medulla Oblongata; Neurons; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; Sleep
PubMed: 37400467
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39496-0 -
Cancer Research Sep 2023The androgen receptor (AR) pathway regulates key cell survival programs in prostate epithelium. The AR represents a near-universal driver and therapeutic vulnerability...
UNLABELLED
The androgen receptor (AR) pathway regulates key cell survival programs in prostate epithelium. The AR represents a near-universal driver and therapeutic vulnerability in metastatic prostate cancer, and targeting AR has a remarkable therapeutic index. Though most approaches directed toward AR focus on inhibiting AR signaling, laboratory and now clinical data have shown that high dose, supraphysiological androgen treatment (SPA) results in growth repression and improved outcomes in subsets of patients with prostate cancer. A better understanding of the mechanisms contributing to SPA response and resistance could help guide patient selection and combination therapies to improve efficacy. To characterize SPA signaling, we integrated metrics of gene expression changes induced by SPA together with cistrome data and protein-interactomes. These analyses indicated that the dimerization partner, RB-like, E2F, and multivulval class B (DREAM) complex mediates growth repression and downregulation of E2F targets in response to SPA. Notably, prostate cancers with complete genomic loss of RB1 responded to SPA treatment, whereas loss of DREAM complex components such as RBL1/2 promoted resistance. Overexpression of MYC resulted in complete resistance to SPA and attenuated the SPA/AR-mediated repression of E2F target genes. These findings support a model of SPA-mediated growth repression that relies on the negative regulation of MYC by AR leading to repression of E2F1 signaling via the DREAM complex. The integrity of MYC signaling and DREAM complex assembly may consequently serve as determinants of SPA responses and as pathways mediating SPA resistance.
SIGNIFICANCE
Determining the molecular pathways by which supraphysiological androgens promote growth arrest and treatment responses in prostate cancer provides opportunities for biomarker-selected clinical trials and the development of strategies to augment responses.
Topics: Male; Humans; Androgens; Receptors, Androgen; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; Signal Transduction; Prostatic Neoplasms; Cell Line, Tumor
PubMed: 37352376
DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-2613 -
Journal of Sleep Research Apr 2024
Topics: Humans; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Dreams; Mental Health; Depression; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
PubMed: 38384134
DOI: 10.1111/jsr.14188 -
Consciousness and Cognition Apr 2024Aphantasia is a condition that is often characterized as the impaired ability to create voluntary mental images. Aphantasia is assumed to selectively affect voluntary... (Review)
Review
Aphantasia is a condition that is often characterized as the impaired ability to create voluntary mental images. Aphantasia is assumed to selectively affect voluntary imagery mainly because even though aphantasics report being unable to visualize something at will, many report having visual dreams. We argue that this common characterization of aphantasia is incorrect. Studies on aphantasia are often not clear about whether they are assessing voluntary or involuntary imagery, but some studies show that several forms of involuntary imagery are also affected in aphantasia (including imagery in dreams). We also raise problems for two attempts to show that involuntary images are preserved in aphantasia. In addition, we report the results of a study about afterimages in aphantasia, which suggest that these tend to be less intense in aphantasics than in controls. Involuntary imagery is often treated as a unitary kind that is either present or absent in aphantasia. We suggest that this approach is mistaken and that we should look at different types of involuntary imagery case by case. Doing so reveals no evidence of preserved involuntary imagery in aphantasia. We suggest that a broader characterization of aphantasia, as a deficit in forming mental imagery, whether voluntary or not, is more appropriate. Characterizing aphantasia as a volitional deficit is likely to lead researchers to give incorrect explanations for aphantasia, and to look for the wrong mechanisms underlying it.
Topics: Humans; Imagination; Imagery, Psychotherapy; Volition
PubMed: 38564857
DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2024.103679