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The Behavioral and Brain Sciences Mar 2022Consciousness directs the actions of the agent for its own purposive gains. It re-organises a stimulus-response linear causality to deliver generative, creative agent...
Consciousness directs the actions of the agent for its own purposive gains. It re-organises a stimulus-response linear causality to deliver generative, creative agent action that evaluates the subsequent experience prospectively. This inversion of causality affords special properties of control that are not accounted for in integrated information theory (IIT), which is predicated on a linear, deterministic cause-effect model. IIT remains an incomplete, abstract, and disembodied theory without explanation of the psychobiology of consciousness that serves the vital agency the organism.
Topics: Consciousness; Humans; Information Theory; Neurosciences
PubMed: 35319424
DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X2100203X -
Brain Sciences Aug 2021Little data are available for women diagnosed with a dual diagnosis. However, dual diagnosis in women presents increased stigma, social penalties, and barriers to access...
Little data are available for women diagnosed with a dual diagnosis. However, dual diagnosis in women presents increased stigma, social penalties, and barriers to access to treatment than it does for men. Indeed, it increases the probability of suffering physical or sexual abuse, violent victimization, gender-based violence, unemployment, social exclusion, social-role problems, and physical and psychiatric comorbidities. Thus, a transversal sex and gender-based perspective is required to adequately study and treat dual diagnosis. For this, sex and gender factors should be included in every scientific analysis; professionals should review their own prejudices and stereotypes and train themselves specifically from a gender perspective; administrations should design and provide specific treatment resources for women; and we could all contribute to a structural social transformation that goes beyond gender mandates and norms and reduces the risk of abuse and violence inflicted on women.
PubMed: 34439720
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11081101 -
Sleep Science (Sao Paulo, Brazil) Sep 2023Sleep has important clinical implications for neurorehabilitation after stroke. We aimed to systematically explore sleep (including naps) as an essential factor in the... (Review)
Review
Sleep has important clinical implications for neurorehabilitation after stroke. We aimed to systematically explore sleep (including naps) as an essential factor in the neurorehabilitation of patients after stroke. After titles and abstracts were screened, 49 full texts were reviewed, and 7 were included in this review. Data were extracted and assessed for quality and risk of bias. We looked at any neurorehabilitation setting, and compared sleep with no sleep and explored these factors in stroke patients versus healthy individuals. Rehabilitation is critical for many activities that may need to be learned or re-learned following stroke and for returning to everyday life. In this context, sleep is essential in neurorehabilitation and physical therapy practice as it supports neuroplasticity, memory, and learning. The available data suggest that sleep should be considered in the treatment plan for successfully targeted physiotherapy to optimize cognitive and motor learning. Physical therapists should advise about sleep hygiene and therapies to improve sleep, both quality and quantity.
PubMed: 38196757
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1772805 -
Frontiers in Neuroanatomy 2022
PubMed: 36081852
DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2022.1010058 -
Brain Sciences Oct 2022Sex (the biological attributes of females and males) and gender (socially constructed roles, behaviours, and identities) both affect molecular and cellular processes,...
Sex (the biological attributes of females and males) and gender (socially constructed roles, behaviours, and identities) both affect molecular and cellular processes, protective and vulnerability factors, social and relational life [...].
PubMed: 36291280
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12101346 -
Psychological Medicine Oct 2022Hallucinations occur in the absence of sensory stimulation and result in vivid perceptual experiences of nonexistent events that manifest across a range of sensory... (Review)
Review
Hallucinations occur in the absence of sensory stimulation and result in vivid perceptual experiences of nonexistent events that manifest across a range of sensory modalities. Approaches from the field of experimental and cognitive psychology have leveraged the idea that associative learning experiences can evoke conditioning-induced hallucinations in both animals and humans. In this review, we describe classical and contemporary findings and highlight the variables eliciting these experiences. We also provide an overview of the neurobiological mechanisms, along with the associative and computational factors that may explain hallucinations that are generated by representation-mediated conditioning phenomena. Through the integration of animal and human research, significant advances into the psychobiology of hallucinations are possible, which may ultimately translate to more effective clinical applications.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Hallucinations; Conditioning, Classical
PubMed: 36138518
DOI: 10.1017/S0033291722002100 -
World Journal of Psychiatry Jul 2021Depression is the most prevalent mental disorder in pregnancy, and yet it is less studied than postpartum depression despite the consequences it may have on both the... (Review)
Review
Depression is the most prevalent mental disorder in pregnancy, and yet it is less studied than postpartum depression despite the consequences it may have on both the pregnant woman and her offspring. Therefore, it would be important to know which risk factors may favour the appearance of antenatal depression in order to carry out appropriate prevention interventions. The aim of the present review was to identify the main risk factors of antenatal depression. We searched in databases PubMed and PsycINFO for articles published about the factors associated with antenatal depression from January 2010 through December 2020. The literature review identified three main groups of antenatal depression risk factors: sociodemographic, obstetric, and psychological. First, among the sociodemographic variables, the low level of studies and the economic income clearly stood out from the rest. Then, not having planned the pregnancy was the main obstetric variable, and finally, the main psychological risk factors were having a history of psychological disorders and/or depression as well as presenting anxiety, stress, and/or low social support during pregnancy. This review shows that the antenatal depression is affected by multiple factors. Most can be identified at the beginning of the pregnancy, and some are risk factors potentially modifiable through appropriate interventions, such as psychological factors. For this reason, it is important to carry out a good screening for depression during pregnancy and consequently, be able to prevent its appearance or treat it if necessary.
PubMed: 34327125
DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v11.i7.325 -
Canadian Journal of Diabetes Dec 2020Hyperglycemia is the defining feature of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) and results from deficient insulin production, impaired insulin-stimulated... (Review)
Review
Hyperglycemia is the defining feature of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) and results from deficient insulin production, impaired insulin-stimulated glucose uptake or both. It is now well established that hyperglycemia results in profound metabolic complications, but the effect of diabetes and its associated metabolic effects on homeostatic and hedonic appetite control has received less attention. Inappropriate food choices and excess food intake might promote weight gain, further exacerbating the metabolic consequences of T1D and T2D. The need to control blood glucose through diet, physical activity and/or medication as a consequence of impaired insulin secretion and/or sensitivity adds a further level of physiological and behavioural complexity to the processes underlying food choice and appetite control. Alterations in appetite-related processes have been noted in people with T2D, but the effect of T1D on appetite is largely unexplored. Peripheral neuroendocrine signalling appears disrupted in people with T2D, and brain regions involved in the central modulation of appetite might display central insulin resistance. However, it is difficult to isolate the consequences of T2D from those of obesity. Health-care policy advocates the use of physical activity as a means of preventing and treating T2D via the promotion of weight loss and its independent influence on insulin sensitivity. Exercise-induced perturbations to energy balance can elicit biological and behavioural compensation that attenuates weight loss, and diabetes pathophysiology might alter the strength of such compensation. However, the effect of exercise on appetite in people living with diabetes has yet to be fully explored.
Topics: Appetite Regulation; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Exercise; Feeding Behavior; Homeostasis; Humans; Reward
PubMed: 33279099
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcjd.2020.10.018 -
Biology of Sex Differences Sep 2023In addition to social and cultural factors, sex differences in the central nervous system have a critical influence on behavior, although the neurobiology underlying...
BACKGROUND
In addition to social and cultural factors, sex differences in the central nervous system have a critical influence on behavior, although the neurobiology underlying these differences remains unclear. Interestingly, the Locus Coeruleus (LC), a noradrenergic nucleus that exhibits sexual dimorphism, integrates signals that are related to diverse activities, including emotions, cognition and pain. Therefore, we set-out to evaluate sex differences in behaviors related to LC nucleus, and subsequently, to assess the sex differences in LC morphology and function.
METHODS
Female and male C57BL/6J mice were studied to explore the role of the LC in anxiety, depressive-like behavior, well-being, pain, and learning and memory. We also explored the number of noradrenergic LC cells, their somatodendritic volume, as well as the electrophysiological properties of LC neurons in each sex.
RESULTS
While both male and female mice displayed similar depressive-like behavior, female mice exhibited more anxiety-related behaviors. Interestingly, females outperformed males in memory tasks that involved distinguishing objects with small differences and they also showed greater thermal pain sensitivity. Immunohistological analysis revealed that females had fewer noradrenergic cells yet they showed a larger dendritic volume than males. Patch clamp electrophysiology studies demonstrated that LC neurons in female mice had a lower capacitance and that they were more excitable than male LC neurons, albeit with similar action potential properties.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, this study provides new insights into the sex differences related to LC nucleus and associated behaviors, which may explain the heightened emotional arousal response observed in females.
Topics: Female; Male; Mice; Animals; Locus Coeruleus; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neurons; Norepinephrine; Emotions
PubMed: 37770907
DOI: 10.1186/s13293-023-00550-7 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2022
PubMed: 35936350
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.928054