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Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) Nov 2019: This paper addresses psychological resilience, a multidisciplinary theoretical construct with important practical implications for health sciences. Although many... (Review)
Review
: This paper addresses psychological resilience, a multidisciplinary theoretical construct with important practical implications for health sciences. Although many definitions have been proposed in several contexts, an essential understanding of the concept is still lacking up to now. This negatively affects comparisons among research results and makes objective measurement difficult. The aim of this review is to identify shared elements in defining the construct of resilience across the literature examined in order to move toward a conceptual unification of the term. : A literature review was performed using the electronic databases 'PubMed' and 'PsycINFO'. Scientific studies written in English between 2002 and May 2019 were included according to the following key terms: 'Psychological', 'resilience', and 'definition'. The review identifies five macro-categories that summarize what has been reported in the recent literature concerning the resilience phenomenon. They serve as a preliminary and necessary step toward a conceptual clarification of the construct. We propose a definition of psychological resilience as the ability to maintain the persistence of one's orientation towards existential purposes. It constitutes a transversal attitude that can be understood as the ability to overcome the difficulties experienced in the different areas of one's life with perseverance, as well as good awareness of oneself and one's own internal coherence by activating a personal growth project. The conceptual clarification proposed will contribute to improving the accuracy of research on this topic by suggesting future paths of investigation aimed at deeply exploring the issues surrounding the promotion of resilience resources.
Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Humans; Resilience, Psychological
PubMed: 31744109
DOI: 10.3390/medicina55110745 -
Nature Mar 2024Astrocytes are heterogeneous glial cells of the central nervous system. However, the physiological relevance of astrocyte diversity for neural circuits and behaviour...
Astrocytes are heterogeneous glial cells of the central nervous system. However, the physiological relevance of astrocyte diversity for neural circuits and behaviour remains unclear. Here we show that a specific population of astrocytes in the central striatum expresses μ-crystallin (encoded by Crym in mice and CRYM in humans) that is associated with several human diseases, including neuropsychiatric disorders. In adult mice, reducing the levels of μ-crystallin in striatal astrocytes through CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockout of Crym resulted in perseverative behaviours, increased fast synaptic excitation in medium spiny neurons and dysfunctional excitatory-inhibitory synaptic balance. Increased perseveration stemmed from the loss of astrocyte-gated control of neurotransmitter release from presynaptic terminals of orbitofrontal cortex-striatum projections. We found that perseveration could be remedied using presynaptic inhibitory chemogenetics, and that this treatment also corrected the synaptic deficits. Together, our findings reveal converging molecular, synaptic, circuit and behavioural mechanisms by which a molecularly defined and allocated population of striatal astrocytes gates perseveration phenotypes that accompany neuropsychiatric disorders. Our data show that Crym-positive striatal astrocytes have key biological functions within the central nervous system, and uncover astrocyte-neuron interaction mechanisms that could be targeted in treatments for perseveration.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Mice; Astrocytes; Corpus Striatum; Gene Editing; Gene Knockout Techniques; mu-Crystallins; Rumination, Cognitive; Synaptic Transmission; CRISPR-Cas Systems; Medium Spiny Neurons; Synapses; Prefrontal Cortex; Presynaptic Terminals; Neural Inhibition
PubMed: 38418885
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07138-0 -
HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine 2023Description As healthcare workers, invested in the wellbeing of our patients while also hoping to grow as individuals, we sometimes tend to view our jobs as a rigid...
Description As healthcare workers, invested in the wellbeing of our patients while also hoping to grow as individuals, we sometimes tend to view our jobs as a rigid duality-we are either "in love" with our practice and persevere flawlessly through all hardship, or we are "burnt out," coldhearted, and defeated by the heavy workload and expectations of medicine. In reality, we all sit somewhere in the middle of a blurry spectrum, balancing out physical, mental, and emotional pain with the immense honor of saving and cherishing human life, while simultaneously struggling to reconcile our altruistic goals with realistic but necessary human incentives. I want this open-ended work to acknowledge these challenging but critical "and yet" moments, and I hope anyone who is reading it can connect to the words personally and find new insight, regardless of where they are in life.
PubMed: 37753413
DOI: 10.36518/2689-0216.1507 -
Perfusion Oct 2022
PubMed: 35972907
DOI: 10.1177/02676591221120634 -
Handbook of Clinical Neurology 2023The motor phenomena accompanying frontal lobe disease are diverse, reflecting the various roles the frontal lobes play in the organization of motor control. The... (Review)
Review
The motor phenomena accompanying frontal lobe disease are diverse, reflecting the various roles the frontal lobes play in the organization of motor control. The principal frontal motor areas, the primary motor cortex, the premotor cortex, and the supplementary motor area, have different but interrelated functions in motor control. The principal efferent pathway of the primary motor cortex is the corticospinal tract which conducts fine motor control. Damage to the primary motor cortex and the corticospinal tract results in paralysis and loss of skilled, particularly distal, motor function. Lesions of the premotor cortex interfere with the preparation for the execution of movements and coordinating sequences of limb movement. Mediated through cortico-reticulospinal pathways, the premotor cortex adjusts axial and limb muscle activities. The fine motor skills of the corticospinal tract are superimposed upon these stabilizing movements. Supplementary motor area lesions interrupt self-initiated movements, release alien limb behaviors, and result in grasping. Paralysis, primitive reflexes, and frontal gait disorders are readily observed on examination, but difficulties initiating and sequencing movements are more subtle signs of perturbed higher motor control and require special examination procedures. Prefrontal motor syndromes include motor behaviors that only become apparent when the subject performs spontaneous or self-directed activities, unconstrained by instructions from the examiner. Clinical observation also reveals a slowness to respond to instruction with long delays before initiating action (inertia), but once underway they may be unable to stop (perseveration). Patients sit motionless without spontaneous movement or interest in their surrounds (apathy), yet exhibit distractibility, diverting attention to an incidental peripheral stimulus or an object with which they may then fiddle (environmental dependency and utilization behavior). Little spontaneous speech is initiated (abulia) but echolalia may be stimulated by the examiner's conversation. Restlessness, distractibility, perseveration, and environmentally dependent utilization behaviors coexist with apathy, inertia, and abulia. Mutism and akinesia may alternate with stereotypies and agitation in catatonia. These paradoxical combinations are of considerable diagnostic significance in recognizing frontal lobe motor syndromes.
Topics: Humans; Syndrome; Frontotemporal Dementia; Apathy; Motor Cortex; Paralysis
PubMed: 37620084
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-323-98817-9.00008-9 -
Cureus Oct 2022The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it many hardships to the world as a whole. Mass infection and casualties due to disease state were rampant, which affected many...
The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it many hardships to the world as a whole. Mass infection and casualties due to disease state were rampant, which affected many families. Lockdown drove up the incidence of depression and isolated people from their loved ones. The toll on the general population was high, as was the toll on the medical community, a subset of the general population. It was a time of death and devastation, with supply chain issues creating personal protective equipment shortages and staffing being affected by illness, fear, age, and expertise. Despite the constraints, many places were able to rally staff together to provide adequate staffing for healthcare delivery purposes to serve our communities. Cross-specialty collaboration in the outpatient and inpatient setting as well as the use of technology aided our service to our community to help persevere through the many surges of the pandemic and come out with lessons learned as well as reflections.
PubMed: 36426308
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.30620 -
The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology... 2020Everyone who is successful in their career and in life has a story. While the storylines may differ from individual to individual, there is almost always something more...
Everyone who is successful in their career and in life has a story. While the storylines may differ from individual to individual, there is almost always something more to the plot than innate talents and skills. Obstacles, failures, and setbacks are common to everyone, but the successful somehow find a way to rebound, recover, and persevere. This editorial describes one such story of passion and grit of an award-winning pediatric pharmacist.
PubMed: 33214776
DOI: 10.5863/1551-6776-25.8.661 -
Behavior Genetics May 2022First described by Boissier and Simon in (Ther Recreat J 17:1225-1232, 1962), the hole-board has become a recognized test of anxiety and spatial memory. Benzodiazepines... (Review)
Review
First described by Boissier and Simon in (Ther Recreat J 17:1225-1232, 1962), the hole-board has become a recognized test of anxiety and spatial memory. Benzodiazepines acting at the GABA-BZD site increase hole-pokes in rats and mice, indicating a loss in behavioral inhibition concordant with the behavior of mutant mice deficient in the GABA transporter. Hole-poking also depends on arousal mechanisms dependent on dopaminergic transmission, as indicated by drug and null mutant studies. In addition, the behavior is modified in natural and null mutants affecting the cerebellum as well as null mutants affecting neuropeptides, growth factors, cell adhesion, and inflammation. Further research is required to determine convergences between genetic and pharmacological effects.
Topics: Animals; Anxiety; Arousal; Cerebellum; Exploratory Behavior; Mice; Rats; Receptors, GABA-A; Spatial Memory
PubMed: 35482162
DOI: 10.1007/s10519-022-10102-1 -
ELife Oct 2019After acknowledging that power differentials exist, can scientists find inspiration to persevere anyway?
After acknowledging that power differentials exist, can scientists find inspiration to persevere anyway?
Topics: Power, Psychological; Research Personnel; Sex Factors
PubMed: 31573511
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.52232 -
Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Dec 2022The success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 is nothing short of a medical revolution. Given its chemical lability the use of mRNA as a therapeutic has been... (Review)
Review
The success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 is nothing short of a medical revolution. Given its chemical lability the use of mRNA as a therapeutic has been counterintuitive and met with skepticism. The development of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines was the culmination of long and painstaking efforts by many investigators spanning over 30 years and culminating with the seminal studies of Kariko and Weissman. This review will describe one chapter in this saga, studies that have shown that mRNA can function as a therapeutic. It started with our seminal observation that dendritic cells (DCs) transfected with mRNA administered to mice inhibits tumor growth, and led to first-in-human clinical trials with mRNA vaccines in cancer patients. The clinical development of this patient-specific DCs-mRNA approach and use on a larger scale was hindered by the challenges associated with personalized cell therapies. Confirmed and extended by many investigators, these studies did serve as impetus and motivation that led scientists to persevere, eventually leading to the development of simple, broadly applicable, and highly effective protocols of directly injecting mRNA into patients, culminating in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Mice; COVID-19 Vaccines; COVID-19; mRNA Vaccines
PubMed: 36346283
DOI: 10.1089/nat.2021.0103