Brain activity during a post-stress working memory task differs between the hormone-present and hormone-absent phase of hormonal contraception.

Taking hormonal contraceptives (HCs) affects the magnitude of the hormonal stress response and cognition. HCs are usually administered in a monthly cycle with both synthetic-hormone-containing and synthetic-hormone-absent phases. The synthetic hormones contained in HCs affect a wide range of neurophysiological systems, suggesting that effects of the medication might only be observed during the synthetic-hormone-containing phase of the HC cycle.

Isometric exercise facilitates attention to salient events in women via the noradrenergic system.

The locus coeruleus (LC) regulates attention via the release of norepinephrine (NE), with levels of tonic LC activity constraining the intensity of phasic LC responses. In the current fMRI study, we used isometric handgrip to modulate tonic LC-NE activity in older women and in young women with different hormone statuses during the time period immediately after the handgrip. During this post-handgrip time, an oddball detection task was used to probe how changes in tonic arousal influenced functional coordination between the LC and a right frontoparietal network that supports attentional selectivity.

Osteoporosis: A Review of Treatment Options.

Approximately 10 million men and women in the U.S. have osteoporosis,1 a metabolic bone disease characterized by low bone density and deterioration of bone architecture that increase the risk of fractures.

Pharmacological Treatment of Insomnia.

Up to 70 million U.S. adults have chronic sleep and wakefulness disorders.

The effects of lovastatin on proteasome activities in highly purified rabbit 20 S proteasome preparations and mouse MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells.

A number of clinical studies suggest that the use of the lipid-lowering agents collectively referred to as statins (hydroxymethyl glutaryl coenzyme A [HMG-CoA] reductase inhibitors) is associated with increased bone density, reduced fracture risk, and net bone anabolism. Statins (< or =5 micromol/L) stimulate rodent bone formation, but the mechanistic basis remains unclear. Since statins and the proteasome inhibitor lactacystin are structurally similar, and high doses (> or =40 micromol/L) of statins can inhibit the chymotryptic activity of the proteasome, it has been hypothesized that statins exert their anabolic effects on bone, in part, by inhibiting the proteasome, the major eukaryotic intracellular regulatory protease.