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Frontiers in Physiology 2023Taste or gustation is the sense evolving from the chemo-sensory system present in the oral cavity of avian species, which evolved to evaluate the nutritional value of... (Review)
Review
Taste or gustation is the sense evolving from the chemo-sensory system present in the oral cavity of avian species, which evolved to evaluate the nutritional value of foods by detecting relevant compounds including amino acids and peptides, carbohydrates, lipids, calcium, salts, and toxic or anti-nutritional compounds. In birds compared to mammals, due to the relatively low retention time of food in the oral cavity, the lack of taste papillae in the tongue, and an extremely limited secretion of saliva, the relevance of the avian taste system has been historically undermined. However, in recent years, novel data has emerged, facilitated partially by the advent of the genomic era, evidencing that the taste system is as crucial to avian species as is to mammals. Despite many similarities, there are also fundamental differences between avian and mammalian taste systems in terms of anatomy, distribution of taste buds, and the nature and molecular structure of taste receptors. Generally, birds have smaller oral cavities and a lower number of taste buds compared to mammals, and their distribution in the oral cavity appears to follow the swallowing pattern of foods. In addition, differences between bird species in the size, structure and distribution of taste buds seem to be associated with diet type and other ecological adaptations. Birds also seem to have a smaller repertoire of bitter taste receptors (T2Rs) and lack some taste receptors such as the T1R2 involved in sweet taste perception. This has opened new areas of research focusing on taste perception mechanisms independent of GPCR taste receptors and the discovery of evolutionary shifts in the molecular function of taste receptors adapting to ecological niches in birds. For example, recent discoveries have shown that the amino acid taste receptor dimer T1R1-T1R3 have mutated to sense simple sugars in almost half of the living bird species, or SGLT1 has been proposed as a part of a T1R2-independent sweet taste sensing in chicken. The aim of this review is to present the scientific data known to date related to the avian taste system across species and its impact on dietary choices including domestic and wild species.
PubMed: 37745254
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1235377 -
Journal of Affective Disorders Oct 2023Postpartum depression (PPD) is a prevalent public health issue. Although ketamine has prophylactic effects on PPD in women undergoing cesarean section, the effects of... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
Postpartum depression (PPD) is a prevalent public health issue. Although ketamine has prophylactic effects on PPD in women undergoing cesarean section, the effects of esketamine on PPD remain unclear. This trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy of perioperative esketamine infusion on PPD risk by assessing Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores and blood biomarkers.
METHODS
A total of 150 participants undergoing elective cesarean section were randomly allocated to receive either esketamine or normal saline. Since 27 participants were excluded due to consent withdrawal or loss to follow-up, 123 patients were included. The primary outcome was the prevalence of PPD risk. Secondary outcomes included the prevalence of postpartum anxiety (PPA) risk, levels of biomarkers, postoperative pain intensity, and cumulative sufentanil consumption.
RESULTS
The prevalence of PPD and PPA risk at 3 days, 42 days, 3 months, and 6 months postpartum did not differ between the two groups. Furthermore, EPDS scores, pain intensity at rest, and during coughing on postoperative days (POD) 1 and 2 did not differ between the two groups. Sufentanil consumption during 0-12 h, 12-24 h, 0-24 h, and 0-48 h postoperatively were significantly lower in the esketamine group compared to the control group. Blood biomarkers did not differ between the two groups on POD 3.
LIMITATIONS
The sample size was small. PPD risk was simply screened, not diagnosed.
CONCLUSIONS
Perioperative administration of esketamine did not decrease the incidence of PPD risk in women after elective cesarean section. However, esketamine reduced opioid consumption.
Topics: Humans; Female; Pregnancy; Cesarean Section; Ketamine; Depression, Postpartum; Sufentanil; Biomarkers
PubMed: 37482224
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.07.103 -
Acta Psychologica May 2024The aim of this study was to systematically examine the effect of awe-inducing stimuli on the judgment of time. Three experiments were conducted using temporal bisection...
The aim of this study was to systematically examine the effect of awe-inducing stimuli on the judgment of time. Three experiments were conducted using temporal bisection tasks in which participants viewed awe-inducing and no awe-inducing images presented for different durations and were asked to judge whether their duration was similar to a short or long anchor duration. Images of panoramic landscapes and images of the faces of well-known and admired people were used in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. In experiment 3, they did not judge the duration of the images, but that of a neutral stimulus occurring during the presentation of images. In each experiment, participants rated the awe-inducing and no-awe-inducing images according to their components: admiration, beauty, awe, emotional valence, arousal, symbolic self-size, and full-body self-size. Results consistently showed significant time distortions when participants viewed the different awe-inducing images compared to the no-awe images, although the effect was weaker for the images of faces than for those of landscapes. Time distortion took the form of temporal lengthening in Experiments 1 and 2 and shortening in Experiment 3. These different temporal distortions are consistent with attention effects due to awe-inducing stimuli which capture attention to the detriment of time processing.
Topics: Humans; Time Perception; Emotions; Arousal; Time Factors; Judgment
PubMed: 38522351
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104232 -
Nature Neuroscience Jul 2023Brain orexin (hypocretin) neurons are implicated in sleep-wake switching and reward-seeking but their roles in rapid arousal dynamics and reward perception are unclear....
Brain orexin (hypocretin) neurons are implicated in sleep-wake switching and reward-seeking but their roles in rapid arousal dynamics and reward perception are unclear. Here, cell-specific stimulation, deletion and in vivo recordings revealed strong correlative and causal links between pupil dilation-a quantitative arousal marker-and orexin cell activity. Coding of arousal and reward was distributed across orexin cells, indicating that they specialize in rapid, multiplexed communication of momentary arousal and reward states.
Topics: Orexins; Neuropeptides; Pupil; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Neurons
PubMed: 37336973
DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01365-w