Breaking Away: The Role of Homeostatic Drive in Perpetuating Depression.

We propose that the complexity of regulatory interactions modulating brain neurochemistry and behavior is such that multiple stable responses may be supported, and that some of these alternate regulatory programs may play a role in perpetuating persistent psychological dysfunction. To explore this, we constructed a model network representing major neurotransmission and behavioral mechanisms reported in literature as discrete logic circuits. Connectivity and information flow through this biobehavioral circuitry supported two distinct and stable regulatory programs.

Increasing Resilience to Traumatic Stress: Understanding the Protective Role of Well-Being.

The brain maintains homeostasis in part through a network of feedback and feed-forward mechanisms, where neurochemicals and immune markers act as mediators. Using a previously constructed model of biobehavioral feedback, we found that in addition to healthy equilibrium another stable regulatory program supported chronic depression and anxiety. Exploring mechanisms that might underlie the contributions of subjective well-being to improved therapeutic outcomes in depression, we iteratively screened 288 candidate feedback patterns linking well-being to molecular signaling networks for those that maintained the original homeostatic regimes.

Diabetes Camp Counselors: An Exploration of Counselor Characteristics and Quality of Life Outcomes.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of volunteering at a diabetes camp on emerging adults with and without type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Methods Thirty counselors with and 22 without T1DM (19.07 ± 2.