Altered physical pain processing in different psychiatric conditions.

Several reports indicate either increased or decreased pain sensitivity associated with psychiatric disorders. Chronic pain is highly prevalent in many of these conditions. We reviewed the literature regarding experimental pain sensitivity in patients with major depression, bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.

Repeated unpredictable threats without harm impair spatial working memory in the Barnes maze.

Psychological stressors elicit the anticipation of homeostatic challenge, whereas physical stressors are direct threats to homeostasis. Many rodent models of stress include both types of stressors, yet deficits, like those reported for working memory, are often attributed to psychological stress. To empirically test whether intermittent psychological stressors, such as repeated threats, are solely sufficient to impair spatial working memory, we developed a novel rodent model of stress that is restricted to the anticipation of threat, and free of direct physical challenge.