Molecular and Environmental Determinants of Addictive Substances.

Knowledge about determinants of addiction in people taking addictive substances is poor and needs to be supplemented. The novelty of this paper consists in the analysis of innovative aspects of current research about relationships between determinants of addiction in Polish patients taking addictive substances and rare available data regarding the relationships between these factors from studies from recent years from other environments, mainly in Europe, and on the development of genetic determinants of physiological responses. We try to explain the role of the microelements Mn, Fe, Cu, Co, Zn, Cr, Ni, Tl, Se, Al, B, Mo, V, Sn, Sb, Ag, Sr, and Ba, the toxic metals Cd, Hg, As, and Pb, and the rare earth elements Sc, La, Ce, Pr, Eu, Gd, and Nd as factors that may shape the development of addiction to addictive substances or drugs.

Role of antioxidants in the neurobiology of drug addiction: An update.

Relationships between protective enzymatic and non-enzymatic pro-antioxidant mechanisms and addictive substances use disorders (SUDs) are analyzed here, based on the results of previous research, as well as on the basis of our current own studies. This review introduces new aspects of comparative analysis of associations of pro-antixidant and neurobiological effects in patients taking psychoactive substances and complements very limited knowledge about relationships with SUDs from different regions, mainly Europe. In view of the few studies on relations between antioxidants and neurobiological processes acting in patients taking psychoactive substances, this review is important from the point of view of showing the state of knowledge, directions of diagnosis and treatment, and further research needed explanation.

Long-Acting Buprenorphine Formulations as a New Strategy for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder.

Long-acting buprenorphine formulations have been recently marketed for the Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) of opioid use disorder (OUD) associated with medical, social, and psychological support. Their duration of action ranges from one week up to 6 months. The non-medical use of opioids is increasing with a parallel rise in lethal overdoses.

Initial study on an expert system for spine diseases screening using inertial measurement unit.

In recent times, widely understood spine diseases have advanced to one of the most urgetn problems where quick diagnosis and treatment are needed. To diagnose its specifics (e.g.

Initial Study on COMT and DRD2 Gene Polymorphisms as Well as the Influence of Temperament and Character Trait on the Severity of Alcohol Craving in Alcohol-Dependent Patients.

The main aim of this work was to determine the impact of COMT and DRD2 gene polymorphisms together with temperament and character traits on alcohol craving severity alcohol-dependent persons. The sample comprised of 89 men and 16 women (aged 38±7). For the sake of psychological assessment various analytic methods have been applied like the Short Alcohol Dependence Data Questionnaire (SADD), Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS) or Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) test.

Evaluation of Risk Behavior in Gambling Addicted and Opioid Addicted Individuals.

Evidence suggests that both opioid addicted and gambling addicted individuals are characterized by higher levels of risky behavior in comparison to healthy people. It has been shown that the administration of substitution drugs can reduce cravings for opioids and the risky decisions made by individuals addicted to opioids. Although it is suggested that the neurobiological foundations of addiction are similar, it is possible that risk behaviors in opioid addicts may differ in detail from those addicted to gambling.

Comparison of Smoothing Filters' Influence on Quality of Data Recorded with the Emotiv EPOC Flex Brain-Computer Interface Headset during Audio Stimulation.

Off-the-shelf, consumer-grade EEG equipment is nowadays becoming the first-choice equipment for many scientists when it comes to recording brain waves for research purposes. On one hand, this is perfectly understandable due to its availability and relatively low cost (especially in comparison to some clinical-level EEG devices), but, on the other hand, quality of the recorded signals is gradually increasing and reaching levels that were offered just a few years ago by much more expensive devices used in medicine for diagnostic purposes. In many cases, a well-designed filter and/or a well-thought signal acquisition method improve the signal quality to the level that it becomes good enough to become subject of further analysis allowing to formulate some valid scientific theories and draw far-fetched conclusions related to human brain operation.

Summary of over Fifty Years with Brain-Computer Interfaces-A Review.

Over the last few decades, the Brain-Computer Interfaces have been gradually making their way to the epicenter of scientific interest. Many scientists from all around the world have contributed to the state of the art in this scientific domain by developing numerous tools and methods for brain signal acquisition and processing. Such a spectacular progress would not be achievable without accompanying technological development to equip the researchers with the proper devices providing what is absolutely necessary for any kind of discovery as the core of every analysis: the data reflecting the brain activity.

Pitch Syntax Violations Are Linked to Greater Skin Conductance Changes, Relative to Timbral Violations - The Predictive Role of the Reward System in Perspective of Cortico-subcortical Loops.

According to contemporary opinion emotional reactions to syntactic violations are due to surprise as a result of the general mechanism of prediction. The classic view is that, the processing of musical syntax can be explained by activity of the cerebral cortex. However, some recent studies have indicated that subcortical brain structures, including those related to the processing of emotions, are also important during the processing of syntax.

Improvement of saccadic functions after dosing with methadone in opioid addicted individuals.

In the current experiment, we used the saccadometric test to study the effect of a single therapeutic dose of methadone on the integrity of cortico-subcortical brain functioning. In this prospective study, we used the Saccadometer System (Advanced Clinical Instrumentation, Cambridge, UK). The saccadometric test was performed before and 1.

Oculomotor disturbances in HIV-positive individuals treated with methadone.

Introduction: Methadone substitution is claimed to be the most effective way of pharmacological management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients addicted to opioids. Possible and clinically the most relevant drug interactions are those between methadone and antiretroviral agents [13,18,25,32]. HIV causes cognitive impairment by infiltrating the central nervous system (CNS) in the initial phase of infection.

Risk behavior in opioid-dependent individuals after the administration of a therapeutic dose of methadone.

Background And Objectives: Evidence suggests that methadone may play a protective role in the faulty decision-making in heroin-addicted individuals. This may reduce craving for opioids and the risky decisions associated with active opioid use.

Methods: We tested the effect of a daily therapeutic dose of methadone on faulty decision-making in eighty (n = 80) individuals with a history of opioid addiction.

[Early postoperative assessment of cognitive functions after stereotactic pallidotomy in patients with primary dystonia - preliminary results].

Background And Purpose: The newest studies notify that globus pallidus, besides the motor control, plays an important role in cognitive functioning of: memory, attention, linguistic skills, visuospatial ability, and executive functions. Stereotactic pallidotomy (the lesion of the motor region of the globus pallidus) is one of the surgery options that is used in the treatment of the primary dystonia. Motor region is located in the postero-ventral part of the internal globus pallidus.

Psychomotor and executive functioning after unilateral posteroventral pallidotomy in patients with Parkinson's disease.

The goal of the study was to explore the immediate effects of unilateral posteroventral stereotactic pallidotomy (PVP) on psychomotor and executive functioning in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The original drawing task, conducted on a digitizing tablet, and neuropsychological tests were administered to 25 patients with PD, 2 or 3 days before and after the surgery. To assess executive functions, the following tests were used: Trail Making Test (TMT), Stroop Colour Interference Test and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).