The interaction between dopaminergic and cholinergic pathways in the induction of behavioral responses has been previously established. In the brain, M2 receptors are found predominantly in presynaptic cholinergic neurons as autoreceptors, and in dopaminergic neurons as heteroceptors, suggesting a control role of acetylcholine and dopamine release, respectively. Our aim was to investigate the role of M2 receptors on the yawning and genital grooming of rats induced by apomorphine, a dopaminergic receptor agonist, focusing on the interaction between cholinergic and dopaminergic pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe original aim of psychology was to study and understand the spirit-from the Latin spiritus, literally "breath." The limitations of scientific methods in the past favoured psychology's aloofness in terms of studying the "intangible," while medicine developed methods of examining the body (Latin corpus: essential part). Until 20 years ago, knowledge of the localization of brain functions was limited to inferences from clinical observation of brain-lesioned patients or parallel studies of primate brains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In contrast to the impressive advances in somatic research of erectile dysfunction (ED), scientific literature shows contradictory reports on the results of psychotherapy for the treatment of ED.
Aim: Authors conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of psychological interventions for the treatment of ED compared to oral drugs, local injection, vacuum devices, or other psychological intervention.
Method: Distinct sources of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched: electronic databases (between 1966 and 2007), cross checking of references, and contact with scientific societies.
Although numerous inflammation pathways have been implicated in Alzheimer's disease, the involvement of the kallikrein-kinin system is still under investigation. We anatomically localized and quantified the density of kinin B(1) and B(2) receptors binding sites in the rat brain after the infusion of amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide in the right lateral brain ventricle for 5 weeks. The conditioned avoidance test showed a significant reduction of memory consolidation in rats infused with Abeta (68.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychol Psychother
December 2005
The search to understand response to trauma has turned to the contribution of personality factors. The way people process the stressor event is critical in determining whether a trauma will be configured or not. Neuroscience shows that the brain does not store memories, but traces of information that are later used to create memories, which do not always express a completely factual picture of the past experience.
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