The effects of brain serotonin deficiency on the behavioral and neurogenesis-promoting effects of voluntary exercise in tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (R439H) knock-in mice.

Exercise is known to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms. Although the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this effect remain unknown, exercise-induced increases in neurotransmitter release and hippocampal neurogenesis have been hypothesized to play key roles. One neurotransmitter that has been implicated in both antidepressant-like effects and the regulation of hippocampal neurogenesis is serotonin (5-HT).

Construction of item-level scales from the Personality Assessment Inventory to assess levels of personality functioning.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) introduced the clinician-rated Levels of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS) as an indicator of general personality functioning based on four elements: Identity, Self-Direction, Empathy, and Intimacy. Construct validation strategies were employed to select and evaluate items from the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 2007) to measure the four elements of the LPFS. In Study 1, conceptual ratings of PAI items produced lists of candidate items for the four elements.

Brain serotonin deficiency and fluoxetine lead to sex-specific effects on binge-like food consumption in mice.

Rationale: Although pharmacotherapies are often effective in reducing binge eating in conditions such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, subsets of patients do not benefit sufficiently from existing treatments, and the reasons for treatment failure remain unclear.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate whether genetic reductions in brain serotonin influence binge eating and/or the ability of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, to reduce binge eating in mice.

Methods: This study used a validated model of binge-like consumption of high-fat diet to compare binge-like food intake in control and fluoxetine-treated wild-type and serotonin-deficient mice from the tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (R439H) knock-in line.

The Effects of Brain Serotonin Deficiency on Responses to High Fat Diet in Female Mice.

Clinical studies have reported an increased risk of depression and anxiety disorders among individuals who are obese, and women are more likely than men to suffer from depression, anxiety, and obesity. However, the effects of obesity-promoting diets on depression- and anxiety-like behavior remain controversial. A recent study from our group used the tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (R439H) knock-in mouse line to evaluate the impact of genetic brain serotonin (5-HT) deficiency on behavioral responses to high fat diet (HFD) in male mice.