Blunt and Penetrating Airway Trauma.

Airway injury, be that penetrating or blunt, is a high-stakes high-stress management challenge for any airway manager and their team. Penetrating and blunt airway injury vary in injury patterns requiring prepracticed skills and protocols coordinating care between specialties. Variables including patient cooperation, coexisting injuries, cardiorespiratory stability, care location (remote vs tertiary care center), and anticipated course of airway injury (eg, oxygenating well and comfortable vs increasing subcutaneous emphysema) all play a role in determining airway if and when airway management is required.

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol potentiates fear memory salience through functional modulation of mesolimbic dopaminergic activity states.

Chronic or acute exposure to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, has been associated with numerous neuropsychiatric side-effects, including dysregulation of emotional processing and associative memory formation. Clinical and preclinical evidence suggests that the effects of THC are due to the ability to modulate mesolimbic dopamine (DA) activity states in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). Nevertheless, the mechanisms by which THC modulates mesolimbic DA function and emotional processing are not well understood.

Cannabidiol Modulates Fear Memory Formation Through Interactions with Serotonergic Transmission in the Mesolimbic System.

Emerging evidence suggests that the largest phytochemical component of cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), may possess pharmacotherapeutic properties in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. CBD has been reported to functionally interact with both the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) and serotonergic (5-HT) receptor systems. However, the underlying mechanisms by which CBD may modulate emotional processing are not currently understood.

Cannabidiol Counteracts Amphetamine-Induced Neuronal and Behavioral Sensitization of the Mesolimbic Dopamine Pathway through a Novel mTOR/p70S6 Kinase Signaling Pathway.

Unlabelled: Schizophrenia-related psychosis is associated with disturbances in mesolimbic dopamine (DA) transmission, characterized by hyperdopaminergic activity in the mesolimbic pathway. Currently, the only clinically effective treatment for schizophrenia involves the use of antipsychotic medications that block DA receptor transmission. However, these medications produce serious side effects leading to poor compliance and treatment outcomes.

Opiate Exposure State Controls a D2-CaMKIIα-Dependent Memory Switch in the Amygdala-Prefrontal Cortical Circuit.

The mammalian basolateral amygdala (BLA) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) comprise a functionally interconnected circuit that is critical for processing opiate-related associative memories. In the opiate-naïve state, reward memory formation in the BLA involves a functional link between dopamine (DA) D1 receptor (D1R) and extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling substrates, but switches to a DA D2 (D2R)/Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIα (CaMKIIα)-dependent memory substrate following chronic opiate exposure and spontaneous withdrawal. Using conditioned place preference (CPP) in rats paired with molecular analyses, we examined the role of intra-mPFC CaMKII, ERK and DAergic activity during the formation of opiate associative memories, and how opiate exposure state may regulate the functions of these molecular memory pathways.