Implicit Affective Rivalry: A Behavioral and fMRI Study Combining Olfactory and Auditory Stimulation.

Aversive odors are highly salient stimuli that serve a protective function. Thus, emotional reactions elicited by negative odors may be hardly influenceable. We aim to elucidate if negative mood induced by negative odors can be modulated automatically by positively valenced stimuli.

Investigating the impact of overnight fasting on intrinsic functional connectivity: a double-blind fMRI study.

The human brain depends mainly on glucose supply from circulating blood as an energy substrate for its metabolism. Most of the energy produced by glucose catabolism in the brain is used to support intrinsic communication purposes in the absence of goal-directed activity. This intrinsic brain function can be detected with fMRI as synchronized fluctuations of the BOLD signal forming functional networks.

Effects of overnight fasting on working memory-related brain network: an fMRI study.

Glucose metabolism serves as the central source of energy for the human brain. Little is known about the effects of blood glucose level (BGL) on higher-order cognitive functions within a physiological range (e.g.

Executive control in chronic schizophrenia: A perspective from manual stimulus-response compatibility task performance.

Background: Antisaccade deficits are a well-documented pathophysiological characteristic in schizophrenia. However, it is yet unclear whether these findings reflect a specific oculomotor deficit, general psychomotor impairment or disturbance in executive control mechanisms.

Methods: Performance in a manual stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) task and a neuropsychological test-battery covering different cognitive and motor domains were obtained in 28 patients with chronic schizophrenia.

Passive mechanical forces upregulate the fast myosin heavy chain IId/x via integrin and p38 MAP kinase activation in a primary muscle cell culture.

We have studied the mechanism by which a previously described primary muscle culture growing on microcarriers predominantly expresses fast myosin heavy chain (MHC) IId/x. We have measured MHC IId/x mRNA and protein levels, mRNA of MHC I and markers of muscle metabolism, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and mechano-growth factor (MGF) transcripts, indicators of the activation of the Akt-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) axis, the p38-, ERK1/2-, and JNK-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP) kinase pathways, and of protein phosphatase PP2A, and we have assessed the involvement of integrin. By placing the culture flasks on a rotary shaker, we induce a continuous motion of the culture medium in which the carrier-myotube aggregates are suspended.

Anti-inflammatory drugs in psychiatry.

Nervous and immune system interact through many different messenger substances such as neurotransmitters, cytokines or neuropeptides. For instance, neuropeptides are capable of affecting the metabolism of cells belonging to the immune system. Conversely, cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interferon (IFN)-alpha and IFN-gamma, contribute to the receptor resistance of neuropeptides, reduce the availability of amino acids which are needed for the synthesis of neurotransmitters or show neurotoxic effects.

The TNF-alpha system: functional aspects in depression, narcolepsy and psychopharmacology.

Changes of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) system have been shown to be involved in the development of psychiatric disorders and are additionally associated with changes in body weight as well as endocrine and metabolic changes in psychiatric patients. TNF-alpha might, for example, contribute to the pathogenesis of depression by an activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, an activation of neuronal serotonin transporters and the stimulation of the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase which leads to tryptophan depletion. On the other hand, during an acute depressive episode, an elevated HPA axis activity may suppress TNF-alpha system activity, while after remission, when HPA axis activity has normalized the suppression of the TNF-alpha system has been shown not to be apparent any more.