The Effects of a Blended Care Intervention in Partners of Patients With Acquired Brain Injury - Results of the CARE4Carer Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To assess effects of the CARE4Carer blended care intervention on caregiver mastery and psychosocial functioning compared with usual care in partners of patients with acquired brain injury (ABI).

Design: Multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Nine sites for rehabilitation medicine.

Burden, anxiety and depressive symptoms in partners - course and predictors during the first two years after stroke.

Background: Partners of patients with stroke are at high risk for burden, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Previous studies have reported contradictory results and did not investigate these three courses simultaneously. In this study we comprehensively studied the courses and predictors of burden, anxiety and depressive symptoms in partners of patients with stroke during the first two years after stroke.

Intra- and interpersonal effects of coping style and self-efficacy on anxiety, depression and life satisfaction in patient-partner couples after stroke.

Many stroke patients and partners suffer from anxiety, depression, and low life satisfaction. Psychological factors such as coping style and self-efficacy can be protective factors within individuals. The close relationship between stroke patients and partners suggests that there may be interdependence in psychological functioning.

A genome-wide signature of glucocorticoid receptor binding in neuronal PC12 cells.

Background: Glucocorticoids, secreted by the adrenals in response to stress, profoundly affect structure and plasticity of neurons. Glucocorticoid action in neurons is mediated by glucocorticoid receptors (GR) that operate as transcription factors in the regulation of gene expression and either bind directly to genomic glucocorticoid response elements (GREs) or indirectly to the genome via interactions with bound transcription factors. These two modes of action, respectively called transactivation and transrepression, result in the regulation of a wide variety of genes important for neuronal function.

Specific regulatory motifs predict glucocorticoid responsiveness of hippocampal gene expression.

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is an ubiquitously expressed ligand-activated transcription factor that mediates effects of cortisol in relation to adaptation to stress. In the brain, GR affects the hippocampus to modulate memory processes through direct binding to glucocorticoid response elements (GREs) in the DNA. However, its effects are to a high degree cell specific, and its target genes in different cell types as well as the mechanisms conferring this specificity are largely unknown.